Hey Sweetie,
I’m obviously getting into the swing of these lazy, end of summer days. Another great night sleep, and right after chores I found a guy selling hay that was only about 15 minutes away. Evidently most of what they grow around here is about 70 percent alfalfa, 30 percent orchard grass, and if I wanted a lower ratio I’d have to travel 40 minutes, so I decided to go for the more rich stuff, but at $6 a bale it was hard to pass up. Maybe since it’s not pure alfalfa it won’t make the horse go completely crazy, but I don’t mind a little extra pep, especially in my old slug, Apollo. That didn’t take long, though I didn’t transfer it to the trailer yet, I thought it would be easier if I can back up into the side door, but there’s no room at the moment, too many campers. I debated about going for a ride, but I really like to take Lola with me, and I didn’t want to be on the trail with so many other people, especially kids, it might have created a conflict. I haven’t seen anyone else take a dog on the trail so I suspect it’s frowned upon, but if I wait until it’s less crowded, I supposed it wil be okay. After all, I did it twice last week already. Anyway, I spent most of the day reading, playing the occasional computer game, and finished off with some more Voyagers. I’m down to the end of the last season, so I’ll be looking for something else soon. And now, it’s that time again! Good night, babe! Love you!
Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020 – Mostly Lazy Day
Hi Hon,
Yet another great night sleep, a cool front came through so I didn’t even have to run the fan last night, it actually got down to 53 degrees! Perfect! It warmed up nicely later, not a cloud in the sky, and this place was so packed with people, a perfect 3-day weekend for most folks. Lots of kids here, glad to see the horse camping tradition lives on in the next generation. I spent the morning preparing paperwork to support my cause against the union, got that sent in, did my monthly bookkeeping (which doesn’t require much these days, so few expenses!), looked for some hay (these last bales are so poorly packed and light they’re not lasting for five minutes!),
then spent most of the rest of the day in the screen room just reading. A fabulous, lazy day. Added apples to the horses’ dinner just for fun, then settled down to finish a Voyager I fell asleep during last night, then watched a movie for a change, about a woman who drifted for over 40 days in a disabled yacht after a hurricane, based on a true story. Pretty interesting. But now it’s that time again! Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Friday, Sept. 4, 2020 – Short Ride on Apollo, Reconfigured Camp
Hi Baby,
I had another great night sleep last night, despite the number of trailers that came in yesterday. It’s amazing what room darkening drapes and earplugs can block out! I had a leisurely morning, putting some hooks on Lola’s safety vest to she can’t roll it off, and I still haven’t heard back for Equity about my questions, though the guy claims he sent me a response yesterday, I still haven’t got it, even when I asked him twice. Sigh. Well, everything seems better after a ride, so I saddled up Apollo and headed out on a circuit I had GPSed. Nevertheless, I still got turned around a cut off a corner I had planned on. The trails here aren’t very well marked, and as I mentioned before, there are no markers on the map at all, just dashes for all the bridle trails, so that’s not any help. It wasn’t a bad ride, but there’s still a lot of mud out there, though not so much on the trails I took today. It was a short ride, less than five miles, but it was enough. As soon as I got back to camp, after I rinsed off Apollo and Lola (who loves nothing more than to lay down in every mud puddle she could find), and just about the time I was finished, a DNR guy came along to tell me I had to remove my fence. We had a very civil conversation about the dangers of a hitching post, and he ended up calling his supervisor, who came out and furthered the discussion. They weren’t willing to let me highline on any trees, but there were a few sites that weren’t being used and they said I could put my highline between a couple of posts out there. It was a ways from my campsite and I had just finished filling up three water tubs (there is a site that’s reserved between me and the spigot, so I figured I should stock up this morning, topping off my house tank and filling all three big tubs), so in the end, in order to cause less trouble, I decided just to put my highline up on the posts at my site. Not ideal, but it was a lot easier than moving everything over, then having to carry everything all the time. Anyway, got that done, then settled down to read for awhile. I sent a text to my childhood friend Mary wishing her a happy birthday, and she called and we chatted for awhile. Lots more trailers came in, this place is just about fully booked, what with it being Labor Day weekend. Got the horses fed, and now I’m all set to settle down for the evening. Looking forward to more of that delicious ice cream! So I’ll sign off a bit early, since you know what the rest of my evening will be like! Love you, sweetie! Good night!
Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020 – Computer and Shopping Day
Hi Honey,
A wonderful night sleep, despite the rain, slept later than I probably should have, but after breakfast and chores, I delved into trying to satisfy the absurd requirements of the union in order to get a contract, until I concluded that I couldn’t do it without further guidance from their “safety board,” so I wrote a letter asking for clarification on half a dozen items and sent it off. Somehow I doubt I’ll get the response I need, so far they keep avoiding all of my questions, and I don’t suppose this will be any different. I’ve already filed a complaint with a government organization against them, we’ll see how that goes. Anyway, it was 2:00 before I went out to nearby Hamilton to shop, going to Meijers for some more of the hard-to-find joint juice, then Rural King for horse feed (they keep a much more complete stock of Nutrena feeds than Tractor Supply), finally Walmart for the rest of my essentials. I have to confess, I bought a new kind of limited edition ice cream that is just too decadent for words. Turkey Hill Brown Sugar Bourbon Vanilla. Hmmm, hmm good! It might not quite surpass Blue Bell Spiced Pumpkin Pecan, but it certainly runs a close second! I took a detour for fuel, because Walmart didn’t have a gas station and the ones nearby were all at 2.69 a gallon for diesel, but a few miles away there was one for 2,29 a gallon, so it was worth the detour. Got back about six, starving, so I made myself a cup of Ramen noodles (my new favorite food!), then fed the horses and Lola, and settled down for the evening. Won’t be up late tonight, heading off to shower and bed soon! Good night, my sweet! Love you!
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 – First Ride at Hueston Woods
Hi Sweetie,
I had a fantastic night sleep! In bed by 9:30, asleep shortly after, slept straight through till 7:30, stayed in bed to read until 9:00, felt so rested, yay! I really needed it. Well, after breakfast and some work on the computer, I saddled up Flash and we headed out on the trails. I’m glad I GPSed a trail to follow, because while the trails are actually marked with letters (A, B, C, D), none of those letters are on the map! In fact, there’s no guidance on the map whatsoever as to what trail you’re on, so I just kept following my GPS map as best I could. Unfortunately, the first trail I came to that I wanted to go down was closed off, so all my plans changed anyway. It’s not that big of a park, so there’s no getting lost here, I just kept going until I found trails that were open and went in the same general direction. It quickly became clear why they’re improving the trails with gravel, though, some of the trails are complete mud bogs! The sections that they repaired recently are really well done, Flash had no problem with them at all, though he did have his boots on. I was actually surprised how long they stayed on considering how much deep mud we went through, until he finally lost one climbing a hill in a bog, which I retrieved, then took the other one off. The rest of the trail was mostly dirt and mud, we only ran into the tiniest bit of small gravel after than, and it didn’t seem to bother Flash at all. It was exactly 8 miles, just the right amount for a first day of exploration. We essentially did the entire perimeter of the park, except one section I somehow got off track on, and the only thing really left here are a few internal trails that go between the perimeter trails. Like I said, it’s a small park. It has a nice lake, though, so weather permitting, I’ll inflate my kayak and have a day or two on the lake while I’m here. Meanwhile, we got covered with mud, so I had to do some horse and equipment cleaning when I got back, then settled down for the evening. I’m going to try to get to bed early again tonight, just so I don’t get run down again. There’s rain in the forecast tomorrow, so I might just go get my weekly shopping done while I have the chance. Anyway, I’m headed off for a shower and to bed, and to keep reading an interesting Dean Koontz novel about a very smart dog. Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020 – Rest Day
Hi Babe,
Couldn’t get to sleep last night, so I woke up tired this morning, and it didn’t get any better throughout the day. I knew I needed a day off, so I spent the day reading, arguing with Equity via email, until finally, it was dinnertime, when I started watching a little TV. It wasn’t long before I was falling asleep in my chair, and just as I decided to take my shower and get ready for bed, it started to rain, four hours ahead of schedule. Good thing I have earplugs! So, now I’m off to wash dishes, take my shower and go to bed, also hours ahead of schedule. I hope I sleep better tonight! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Monday, August 31, 2020 – Travel Day to Hueston Woods, OH
Hey Sweetie,
Once again, I went to bed expecting one kind of weather and woke up to something else. Forecast last night was a 30% chance of rain for about an hour later in the morning, woke up with rain coming down heavily and a 100% chance of rain, duh! Fortunately the radar showed it wouldn’t last too long, and that Hueston Woods was sunny, so I crawled back into bed to wait it out. Once it started to wane a bit, I got up and had breakfast, and by the time I was done, the rain had gone. I finished packing up, hooked up and pulled out the trailer, loaded up the horses and off we went! It was an uneventful trip (my favorite), except when I arrived at Hueston Woods, I noticed a long scratch a several dents along the compartments under the manger. I have no idea how they got there. I’m sure I didn’t run into anything, but I don’t know how anything could have run into me, though I did stop by the side of the road one time, but I pulled off pretty far, and I would have thought I would have noticed if someone slid along my side. I took the long route on purpose, to keep me mostly on freeway, but I don’t know, it’s a mystery. Anyway, my first stop at Hueston Woods when I arrived at 2:00 was at the dump, since Hocking doesn’t have one, and then off to my site, which is in the middle of a row of sites. There must be some kind of event or something here this weekend, because practically every site is booked. I barely have enough room for the trailer here, but I managed to get in okay. I had do to some extra maneuvering, because the electric boxes are side by side every other site, which means for my site it’s on the wrong side of the trailer, so I had to stay close to one side to make sure it would reach, just barely! That gave me a tiny bit of room to put up an electric fence around the (sigh) hitching post, and up along the slide-out, but it’s hardly enough to turn around in. The good news it that the newer maps show a lot more trails than the older maps did, so it looks like we have a lot of trails to explore. The bad news is they’re busy “upgrading” the trails with gravel, big chunks on the bottom, then some of that netting material, then small chunks on top. Looks like it’s going to be boots for the boys for the next 10 days! I really can’t understand why these decisions are made, everyone I talk to KNOWS that horses don’t like gravel, but some bureaucrat somewhere has decided that this is the way to do it, and that’s that! Frustrating. Anyway, I was completely set up with screen room, fence, grill, the whole works by about 5:00, then settled down for a nice grilled pork shop and sides and an evening of reading, TV and extremely frustrating letters back and forth to Equity about meeting their absurd covid requirements. Grrrr! For a union of artists, they have NO imagination. Anyway, I finally showered, and am off to bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Sunday, August 30, 2020 – Final Trail Recorded!
Hi babe!
All went according to plan today! I had a good night sleep, and after breakfast I saddled up Apollo and headed for Buckskin Canyon. The guys up the hill decided to take the pink trail that I recommended, they were looking for something challenging, and that one certainly has it’s moments! Other than losing a boot a couple of times (there are some thick bogs after all the rain the other day), but only for a few minutes, thank goodness. We finally made it to where the red trail turned off, and I took what looked like a forest road downhill a bit, but that quickly turned into quite a challenging downhill grade, quite scary at a couple of points, but we made it down just fine. Thank a nice but short stretch along the creek before another almost straight climb out. What I didn’t understand was the third arrow on the intersection. The trail I took one way I thought was going to bring me back to that point, but it never did! So I have no idea where that arrow was pointing, but I’m not worried about it. According to the map, when I overlaid the recorded GPS trail, it was a perfect match to the map, so I’m happy. So I’ve ridden and mapped every single trail in Hocking State Forest now. I wanted to get it done, because I knew I would regret leaving it, since I don’t plan on coming back here for many years (if at all), simply because there are too many other places yet to visit! No regrets! It did make for a long day, though. The ride was just about 3 hours, then I had to start putting everything away for my departure tomorrow, and that took the usual few hours, plus I did three loads of laundry, checked all the essentials on the truck and trailer, etc., so it was a busy day! Didn’t do as much housekeeping as I usually do, but then I did some earlier this week, so it’s not looking too bad. I think Lola will be happy to go someplace new, she’s exhausted from all these long rides we’ve been taking. Like me, she seems to be stiff first thing in the morning, but that could just be from all the exercise. We’re both going to need a day or two off to recover! I like this place a lot, but I’m ready to move on to the next few places, none of which I’ll have time to stay two weeks in, so it will be a busy month of moving. I’ve had dinner and fed a big dinner to Lola (I made her another batch of satin balls, with all this exercise she’s been looking thin again), so she’s content now, too. It’ll be an early night for me, need to get a good start in the morning. That’s all for now! Good night, my love!
Saturday, August 29, 2020 – Surprising Long Ride Day
Hey Darlin’!
I went to bed last night convinced it would be too rainy today to ride today, and by the time I woke up, the whole forecast had changed to almost NO rain, cloudy in the morning and clearing in the afternoon! Evidently the front moved through faster than they expected (are they EVER right these days?), so after chores and breakfast I saddled up Flash and we headed out just before noon. Since there were still a couple of trails way out on the eastern side of the forest I hadn’t done yet, I decided to take the opportunity to do so. We weren’t out 15 minutes before the sun started coming out, and it turned into a glorious day! Of course, some of the trails were quite muddy, as I expected, but we managed to keep his boots on until we hit one very mucky spot way out on the orange trail, and I knew that most of the rest of the trail was just dirt, so I took them off for awhile. We rode all the way into the valley to Twin Falls, and I thought the map showed that the trail kept going, so Flash and I started up a very steep hill before I realized there was no trail there, so we had to come down, very slowly, switch-backing every two steps to keep from sliding down the hill. Then we went back and rode into Chapel Cave, which was pretty cool, both literally and figuratively, then came all the way up the orange trail until we got to Airplane Rock, where I stopped to rest him for a bit. There were two girls and a guy there when I stopped, and we got to talking, and would you believe it? The guy used to be a counselor at Skymont Boy Scout Reservation under old Harvey Raper!! I told him how Harvey was the first person we became friends with when we moved there, and we got to chatting about that for awhile. What a small world! Well, they moved on, and we rested for a bit before heading back. I put his boots on again as we started getting to the gravel parts, and we managed to keep them on almost all the way home, losing one on the very last really deep muddy spot on the last hill home. Before we got that far, though, I met a couple of guys, Dane and Jeff, who were camping up here. Both recently retired and tempted to do what I’m doing, but I don’t think they have the partners for it. Anyway, we chatted for quite a while before I finally started back to camp. The whole ride was over 14 miles, but it was over 5 hours in the saddle with all the stops, but a thoroughly enjoyable day! I rinsed Flash down and put him away, and started getting dinner ready, since I had completely missed lunch! Had a nice fat pork chop on the grill, one of the ones I was given at Tippecanoe by a camp neighbor, it was practically an inch thick! Delicious! Then I filled up with water since I have laundry to do tomorrow, and I was down on the final red light, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t run out tonight while taking my shower. After dinner, I walked up to the guys’ camp, we had been talking about Brown County, and I had a trail map from there so I took it up to them. We got to chatting again, really nice guys from my era, I did my Snowy River for them and they seemed to be duly impressed. We might ride together tomorrow. I usually don’t ride on the day I pack up, but I really would like to take Apollo for one last ride (he was literally pouting with his back to me after we got back to camp and I was letting Flash eat clover!), and I still would like to try to do that one final loop down at Buckskin Canyon, now that I’ve seen the map more closely I think I can make it okay. That would mean I would then have mapped every single trail out here! And it’s supposed to be a gorgeous day tomorrow, with lots of sunshine and cooler temps, down in the 50’s tonight, yay! I figure it only takes me about two hours to break down, I should have plenty of time to do that, and I can still spread it out through the afternoon and evening. I do have to move my hay from the truck into the trailer, but these bales are so light I won’t have a problem, and I’m down to my last bale in the trailer anyway. Well, enough pontificating, time for shower and bed! Good night, my sweet! Love you!
Friday, August 28, 2020 – Rainy Day
Hi Babe.
A good night sleep and a lazy, rainy day. Did little else but the minimum of chores, put the horses out on anchors for a bit to get some fresh grass and clover, repaired a tear on the dining bench that Lola made, read for awhile, watched TV, played games on the computer, just a relaxing, luxuriously boring day. Unfortunately, it looks like rain again tomorrow, clearing up on Sunday, so I guess I’m not going to get another ride in, since Sunday I’ll be packing up. I imagine the trails are super muddy by now with all the rain we’ve been having, and the remnants of Hurricane Laura will be coming through overnight, which will only make it worse. The trails here do tend to get muddy, though I will say, this is the quietest Friday night I’ve ever seen, so not many horses out on the trails today! Heading for shower and bed, we’ll see what the rest of the weekend brings. Good night, sweetie! Love you!