Hi Babe!
After a very cold night that led into a very cold morning, I decided it was too cold to ride, plus I had been putting off some followup work from the Workshop last week, so I took the day off to mostly work on the computer to get all that done. I needed the rest, though, I was tired from all the exercise from yesterday. Barely had enough energy to do up to the dining hall for meals, then a quick shower, one short hour of TV, and to bed with me! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
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Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 – Double Rides Today
Hey Sweetie!
Busy, busy today! When I went to bed last night and set my alarm, it said 9:14 until my alarm would go off. Ridiculous, right? I tried to read for a bit but fell completely asleep in moments, then woke up once or twice when Lola was really restless (which surprised me, I thought she would be tired from the ride yesterday!), had some weird dreams, but didn’t wake up until the alarm went off! Obviously, I needed it! Had a bit of a scare first thing, though, when I went out to feed the horses, the gate on the electric fence was on the ground and the horses were gone! I called but got no answer, so I jumped into my truck and started heading to the back of the campground, and there they were, just meandering up from the trailhead! I thought they’d be on the grass eating, but they evidently decided to explore the woods, too! I led them home and gave them breakfast, and tightened the handle on the gate. It was really windy last night, so I though maybe the handle had swung loose, so I tightened that up. After breakfast, I saddled up Flash, and I was going to meet my new friends from Alabama and ride with them, but I missed them, so I ended up with the group ride, catching them just as they were heading out, I only just had enough time to get Lola in her orange vest and catch up with them. It was another lovely ride, a lot of variety of trail surfaces, but this was a group that really wanted to move out, so Flash got a good workout whenever we were on roads where they could stretch out. There was another dog with us, Waylon, and they got along fine, but at one point, one horse kicked at Lola because she got too close (she’s gotten over her fear of being in a pack of horses, too much so), so it was a good lesson. She didn’t get hurt, but she spent the rest of the ride paralleling us in the woods rather than being on the trail with us, so lesson learned! When we got back to camp, I called out Apollo’s name, and when he whinnied back, it came from the barn rather than the pen! Lo and behold, the gate handle was on the ground again, and upon further examination I found the ground clamp had come undone, so there was no current going through the fence, so that explained part of it. I fetched Apollo out of the barn (my neighbor put him away for me, thank you very much!), and I rinsed down Flash and put him away, then saddled up Apollo for the second ride of the day. After all, I came to ride, so I’m going to ride! I had mentioned to one of the guides that I kept seeing this sign for the waterfall and cave but hadn’t been there yet, so it was decided the afternoon ride would take us there. Another lovely ride, and the cave and the waterfall were beautiful, and Apollo had to work hard at keeping up with all the gaited horses, which was a good workout for him. Got back with him, rinsed him down and put him away, gave them some hay, put my tack away, emptied the back of the truck with the feed I bought yesterday, got that put away, cleaned up the manure in the paddock area for the first time in a couple of days, I’ve been so busy! Headed off to the dining hall for dinner, met up with my Alabama friends and got their contact info, something I should have done this morning, though from what I heard they had quite a rough ride, so I’m guessing I was better off on the group ride anyway. Tried my hand at a game of poker (the poker run kept getting postponed so we had it tonight), lost with a pair of twos, then headed back to camp to feed everyone and put the horses’ blankets on. Rain is coming in, and colder weather, highs only in the mid-50’s tomorrow, quite a plunge from the upper 70’s we’ve been having, going to have to wear my long underwear tomorrow! Anyway, even though it’s not even 8:00 yet, I’m going to take my shower, maybe watch an hour of TV while I have some Sleepytime tea, then head to bed again nice and early. I took Lola on the morning ride, not the afternoon ride, but I’m hoping it’s enough to keep her sleeping through the night. Heading off now, so good night, babe! Love you!
Filed Under: Ride Day
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 – Second Ride at Circle E and Errands
Hi Babe,
Had a great night sleep, but still doesn’t seem like I’m entirely catching up. Maybe at my next stop I can actually take a whole day off! Had a nice breakfast, then saddled up Flash because I wanted to go on the longer morning ride today, and arrived at the meet point on time at 9:00. No one else showed up until almost 9:45, apparently everyone was talking at breakfast and got delayed. Most folks here all know each other, I’m the odd woman out, but that’s okay, I’m making friends. Once woman on the ride today has a winter home near Vero, and we had met her on the cattle drive. I remember getting her information, but never got around to calling her to ride. Maybe this year since I’m not so busy. Anyway, it was a fabulous ride, about eight and a half miles. Some of it was on gravel, but most was better footing, though there were a few stretches with a lot of rock. The round natural rocks don’t seem to bother Flash too much, it’s the rough-edged cut gravel that he hates, so he was mostly in good shape today. He got so beat up by the herd at the boarding place, he’s got cuts and scabs all over him, but they seem to be healing. Though it was only 8+ miles, we were out nearly four hours, these groups tend to do a lot of stopping and chatting, plus a stop for a munchie. I hadn’t brought anything, but one of the wranglers had plenty, so I got fed. We went through some very nice areas, typical Tennessee with lots of cliffs and crags and Indian caves and the occasional waterfall, and lots of fall wildflowers. Some of the trees are changing, but not too much yet. As soon as we got back I started calling around all the Tractor Supplies for horse feed, and practically no one carries the Perform or the Balancer anymore, but I did manage to find some in Tullahoma. I headed up there and bought enough to stock up, but hadn’t gotten my coupon for a discount until I got home. I knew I should have checked my email on my phone, I would have had it then! Anyway, now I’m set for awhile. Went to the Walmart in Winchester, filled up with fuel and shopped for some essentials. I didn’t bring Lola with me because the people that board her forgot to give me her leash, harness and vest back, they’re supposed to be sending it to me today but it hadn’t gotten there before I left. The package was sitting on my chair when I got back, and when I opened it, I discovered they had only sent the vest and the harness, not the leash! I have no idea why they would do that. Anyway, before dinner I did a few quick chores, then headed over to the dining hall for another nice meal. There was enough of a crowd over there (though still pretty small) that I decided to do my Snowy River for them, and most of them were very attentive, especially two little kids that sat right down front. After that they were doing karioke, so I headed back to camp to feed the horses. I’m feeling tired and am hoping to get to bed earlier tonight, so I’m getting this done early, and hope to get everything else done early, too. So good night, sweetie! Love you!
Filed Under: Ride Day
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020 – Housework and First Ride at Circle E
Hi Darlin’,
Had a good night sleep, but still feeling a bit tired, got up with the alarm for breakfast, then did some housework, put everything away from the suitcases and other bags that had stuff in them and were just lying around. Tidying, basically, with some cleaning mixed in. Did a bit more computer work, then saddled up Apollo for what was supposed to be a Poker Run, but since there was only two of us, we decided to skip it and just take a little ride, save the PR for tomorrow when more people would be here. Had quite a nice ride, though it is quite rocky here, and I don’t really have a pair of boots for Apollo, though I did find an old Cavallo Simple boot, I decided to just carry them and see if I needed them. There were a few gravel roads, but not too bad, so we managed okay. A few beautiful spots around in the woods here, and it was me and a woman named Donna and the trail boss Shane and his daughter Bella, so it was a nice ride. Got back in plenty of time for dinner, and Donna and her group came over to check out the trailer. They’re staying in cabins with their eye on getting a trailer big enough to spend some serious time in, which is why they were interested in seeing mine. Anyway, after that we went to dinner, busiest night yet with more people coming in. It was Bingo night, but I elected to come back and try to get some more rest, so one movie, then shower, and soon to bed! Going to do the morning ride tomorrow, though it’s supposed to be pretty cold, so much so that I put the blankets on the horses tonight. Don’t want them growing too much of a winter coat before we get to Florida! So good night, my love! Love, you!
Filed Under: Ride Day
Monday, Oct. 12, 2020 – Mostly Work and Rest
Hi Sweetie,
Got up early so that I could partake of the breakfast at the dining hall, which was quite nice, then spend most of the day working on various computer and email projects, trying to solve a bunch of issues. I managed to get a lot done, and though I had hoped to maybe take a ride with the afternoon group, I was still busy, and too tired,to go, so I just rested (if you can call computer work and phone calls resting!), until dinner, which was a nice meatloaf with all the fixings, then spent the evening watching a movie, then stsarted a new BBC series call The Moonstone. A rather mundane day, but at least I got all my laundry done, it’s nice to have electric and nearby water. Horses are quite happy in a large paddock I created with the electric fence, and all is right with the world right now! Just need to get some more rest to recover from all the recent activity! So off to bed! Love you, babe! Good night!
Filed Under: Uncategorized
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020 – Travel Day to Circle E, Trailer Problems
Hi Babe,
Had a good night sleep, to bed early last night and slept through to about 8:30, so I was feeling surprisingly refreshed this morning. I began by heading out to Publix to pick up a couple of things, and to fill up with fuel at the TA truck stop on the corner. I sat down for breakfast there as well, so I wouldn’t have to worry about doing dishes. I was on time and feeling pretty good, but unfortunately, that didn’t last. When I went to close the compartment underneath before hooking up the truck, I discovered not one, but TWO compartments doors were hanging down. One I didn’t even know was there, and when I tried to lock it, the lock was frozen solid. Then I tried the other one, which I remember I had tried to open previously but the lock was frozen on that one, too, so how they got it open I have no idea. It was still drizzling off and on, and the ground was soaking wet, so I got filthy trying to fix it. In the end, I was able to get one lock unstuck with pliers, channel locks and silicon spray, but the other was impossible, so I ended up just strapping it up with a zip tie, another job for me to do. Then I started looking around and discovered the spigot on the side had come off and was hanging 4 inches off of the side, and a piece of trip was coming off as well. More work for me to do!! But that will come later, for now I just got the compartments closed, hooked up, and drove to the boarding place to pick up the horses and Lola, where I arrived nearly two hours later than expected. They were fine with it, I just hate not being there when I promise to be. Anyway, I picked them up and we headed down to the Circle E guest ranch, arriving around 3:00. I made the mistake of stopping the truck instead of letting it run to cool down, and by the time I got registered, my truck wouldn’t start. That’s about the last thing I need now, to have problems with my truck! I figured it had just overheated from that long tough climb to get up here, remember that? I should have left it running. Anyway, I did other things waiting for it to cool, picked a new spot to camp on this side of the road to be closer to the activities and the dining hall, and started to put up the electric fence, which I didn’t realize I could do or I wouldn’t have paid for stalls, and by then, the owner was called and he was able to start the truck by pumping a little device to get more fuel into it. I guess there was some kind of air lock caused by the overheating, so I had him show me what he did so I’d know next time. So I finally started to pull the trailer around to the site, only to end up getting stuck, the ground having gotten very soft from all the rain, and there are no sites on gravel. I ended up having a backhoe help get me out, then I was able to line it up better and get in okay. I let the horses out on their anchors until I got settled in and the fence completed, then settled down for the evening. I’m very glad there is a good cell phone signal here, good enough for streaming, so I watched a movie, and I’ll be able to get some work done. I’m so far behind on so many things now, the unfortunately cost of taking time off for recreation! But it was worth it, this last trip to the Grand Canyon was fabulous! Nice and quiet here, looking forward to a good night sleep. Love you, darlin’! Good night!
Filed Under: Uncategorized
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020 – Travel Day Back to Tennessee
Hey Darlin’,
Whew, what a day! I set my alarm fro about 4:30, since I wasn’t sure how long it would take to do the double shuttle trip to the airport, was happy the drop-off was much easier than the acquisition of the car, so I actually ended up getting to the airport by 6:30, which gave me two hours of waiting. Guess I should have slept in a bit! Once again it was announced there would be no food or beverage service, but in first class they did offer us something. I took the cheese and fruit plate, but it was nowhere near as good as the one I got on the trip in. Anyway, the flights were otherwise uneventful, though it was a struggle with all my luggage to get to the truck, and it was raining pretty good. There was a hurricane in the Gulf recently and the remnants were just arriving, so lots of rain yesterday, today and forecast for tomorrow. I piled everything in and headed down to the ag center across from the trailer place again. They didn’t park the trailer in the same place I left it, so it was on a bad slope, away from the slide, unfortunately, and I was afraid if I put the slide out all the way I’d never get it back in without some serious finagling, so I only pulled the slide about halfway out so I wouldn’t have to face that problem. I also noticed one of the compartment doors underneath was hanging down, but it was too late to do anything about it, and it was still raining, so I just settled in for the evening, extremely tired from all the activity of the last few days. Fortunately I have enough water for a shower, so I’m off for that and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!
Filed Under: Uncategorized
Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 – Day Two of Workshop
Hey Sweetie,
Another successful workshop done! Another great group from this company, everyone made loads of progress, even my most stubborn students came a long way! After I finished up and headed back to the hotel, I did some preliminary packing. Because I made the mistake of renting a car from Fox, whose return lot IS NOT the same as everyone else’s, I’m going to have to build in an extra half hour (at least) to my morning to get to the airport on time, so I’m looking at a 4:30 wake up call! It’s going to be a long day tomorrow! I’m disappointed in the trailer place, I only just got an email from earlier in the day that said the ONE THING that was my top priority didn’t get done, and neither was my second priority. Instead they did stuff I probably could have done myself and charged me over $600 for it, mostly labor. Grrrr… Not happy about that. I wouldn’t have minded so much if they had at least sealed the dent in the gooseneck, since I’m trying to avoid leaking (and it’s supposed to rain there all weekend!), but to do all the peripheral stuff without doing the priority stuff has really disappointed me (read, I’m P.O!!!). It would have been nice if they had let me know that 10 days ago! Anyway, I’m going to be up really early and hoping I can get to sleep early for my long day tomorrow, so I’m going to try to start now. Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Filed Under: Uncategorized
Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020 – Day One of Workshop
Hi Darlin’!
Had a fantastic night sleep! Was worried that with all the resting and napping during the day I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I had my sleepytime tea and a couple of ibuprofen before I went to bed, and slept magnificently! Woke up super refreshed, had cereal in my room after my shower, arrived at the client’s ten minutes ahead of schedule, got the room set up, met all the participants, and had a great day! Another great group from this company. Very enthusiastic and attentive, I think it’s going to be a terrific day tomorrow as well. I have enough leftovers from lunch for a nice dinner, so I’m staying in the room and having another relaxing evening. They didn’t make up the room today, but that’s apparently their new protocol, service every three days is the new norm, which is fine, just didn’t expect the find the room the way I left it. Anyway, time for bed shortly, looking forward a typically easier second day! Good night, babe! Love you!
Filed Under: Uncategorized
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020 – Another Rest Day
Hi Sweetie.
Had a decent night sleep but still felt pretty tired for some reason this morning. Stayed in and read most of the day, reviewed my material for tomorrow, took one sort trip out to buy a headset for my computer, my old one only had one ear working and I wanted something for the plane. Other than that, a very quiet day, evidently just what I need to finish my recovery from all the activity last week. Off to bed now, nice and early! Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Filed Under: Uncategorized