Hi Sweetie!
What a busy day today! After breakfast I took Apollo for a short, four mile ride, doing some of the trails backwards for a change, just because, as you know, every trail looks completely different going in the opposite direction! After we got back, I decided to run into town. I was getting low on horse feed and my Tractor Supply 10% discount expired today, so I ran out to stock up on everything, and they had every kind of feed I needed for a change! After that I was going to head to Walmart when I saw a Meiers right in front of me, so I decided to give them a try. I know we were always impressed with them, and it turned out to be very serendipitous, as they had a few things that I haven't been able to find lately, most importantly, JOINT JUICE! Walmart stopped carrying it and I haven't been able to find it anywhere, but there it was! I stocked up on it bigtime, I probably have a six-month supply now! I also got some new sunglasses, Walmart's selection was horrible, but this one had a sale going on so I bought two nice pairs. So I'll be going to Meiers whenever I can find one for awhile. When I got back, I started a load of laundry, then decided to take one last trip on the lake with the kayak, so I headed over to the boat launch and had a nice one hour paddle around. I crossed the lake over to the beach again and took a swim, then let the wind, which was a bit stronger today, help me drift back, though it wasn't exactly going in the right direction so I had to compensate occasionally. And I saw a bald eagle fish hunting! What a magnificent bird! The cormorants were still around, too, along with a bunch of others. Once I got back to camp, I deflated the kayak and put it away, and proceeded to start doing some packing. Evidently there's rain and cooler temps coming in overnight, and rain is forecast tomorrow. I considered taking down the screen room today, but it was so dang hot, in the 90's today, I decided I'd take a chance. It's scattered showers, not an all day rain, so hopefully I can get everything in before it gets too wet, if the forecast turns out to be right for a change :-). Then I filled up the water tank and the horses' water, then I pulled the truck around to the back of the trailer and topped off the tires. I had noticed when I put the spare on that it was about 10 pounds of pressure less than it should be, so I got out that Slime inflator and fixed that, then checked and found that the rest were down just a bit, so I did the rest. I checked all the fluids and everything on the truck, I must have a leak in the power steering unit (even though it's only about a year old) because it was low again. When I changed the oil a few weeks ago I noticed quite a bit of wetness down there, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from, now I think I know. I'll have to take a look at that sometime, see if I can fix it. Everything else was good, though. It was 8:00 by the time I got everything done, but I feel like I'm as ready as I need to be. It's going to be in the 70's tomorrow, so it will be much easier to work in the cooler weather, if it's not too rainy. Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to print! I've had my shower, now I'm off to bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Had another great day today, slept so late Trish went on a ride without me, but that's fine! I knew she was an early riser, and I slept later than I expected, and then I joined her as soon as she got back from her short ride and did just under another five miles. This is such a small trail area that we keep having to repeat trails just to get some miles in. When we got back we took the kayak out on the lake again for a couple of hours in the beautiful sunny weather. Once we got back, she was packed up and ready to go in no time, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my travel schedule for August and September. I just remembered the horses will be due for a new Coggins and Extended Health Certificate pretty soon, so I had to start researching that as well. It seems to be coming together, but I'm having one problem at a place I'd like to go, but there are two nights in my planned two week-long stay that are already booked, so I'll either have to move from my site to another site for the last three days, or move on to the next campground, if they'll let me stay longer than the usual 14 days. A quandary I'll have to resolve somehow. Otherwise, I think I've got a plan to get me through to the Skymont Endurance Ride in October, all subject to change, of course! So a great day, beautiful weather, good company, couldn't ask for more! But it's late and it's time for shower and bed, so good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin'!
Life couldn't get much better with days like this. My new friend Trish arrived around 11:00 with her TW named Eli, and once she got settled in next door, we saddled up and went out for a lovely ride. The weather was perfect, not too hot, though hotter than it's been, but it's nice and cool in the deep woods and even the open areas weren't too bad. Of course, Lola came along and enjoyed herself, too, dropping her belly into mud puddles whenever she had the chance. After we got back, we changed into swimwear and took the kayak out to the lake where we paddled and drifted, watching the birds fish (I looked them up later, they were cormorants, sit on stumps like a wading bird, but fly like a duck when they're taking off) and generally just enjoying the sun and the breeze on the lake. We got back from that adventure hungry, and she had brought a bunch of stuff along, like leftover pizza, summer squash and cold pea salad, all of which was lovely, and after that, we headed back out for another ride on the other side of the park, basically going on all the trails we didn't go on earlier. Once we put the horses away, she went off to the bathhouse to shower while I did the same in my trailer, then she came over and we watched a recording of when you did the one-man show Clarence Darrow in Monteagle, which she thoroughly enjoyed. By then it was almost 10:30, so we obviously had to call it a night. She's an early riser, so we parted ways for the night. Looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow! Couldn't have asked for a better day! Fantastic! Off to bed now, good night, my love!

Hi Babe!
After another decent night sleep and a good breakfast, I saddled up Apollo today, he certainly needs some exercise! I planned about a 5-6 mile trip around the park, finishing off a couple of trails I missed the other day of Flash. Another nice ride, absolutely perfect weather, very easy, mostly flat, good footing. I also found the trailhead for a trail that leads to the lake, but it looks like it's supposed to be just for hikers, not sure if horses are allowed on it. Maybe I'll ask about it, or maybe I'll just try it out and see what happens :-). I was hoping that with the change in diet to alfalfa that Apollo might show a bit more energy, but not so much. Sigh... I love him to death but he's gotten so slow, especially compared to Flash, it's so boring to ride him. Oh, well, he's still my go-to horse! As long as where I'm going to isn't far or fast! It was a nice ride though. Gave him a bath, then I expanded the fence a bit, no one seems to mind the fence so I spread it out a bit to let them get to some more clover. After a quick snack, I got out the inflatable kayak and proceeded to inflate it, changed into my bathing suit, got everything I needed together and drove down to the boat launch where I had an easy launch. The wind was coming from the perfect direction, so I paddled upwind all the way across the lake, stopped briefly near the beach to swim, just to get wet, then paddled a little bit parallel to the shore, then finally stopped paddling and let the gentle breeze push me all the way back to the boat ramp while I luxuriated in the beautiful sun and surf. I should probably feel guilty for enjoying myself so much, but alas, I don't! A perfect summer day! Was out on the water for almost two hours, then headed back to ramp, then back to camp. What a beautiful day! I read for awhile, had some dinner, watched a little TV, now I've just got to shower and get to bed. It's a lot cooler tonight, so I'm hoping for a really good night sleep. And my friend Trish is coming tomorrow, she's rented the site next to me and bringing her Tennessee Walker, so we should get a good ride in tomorrow, and maybe a kayak trip as well. Just having too much fun! I don't know how I stand it! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Slept a bit late this morning, after being woke up in the middle of the night by Lola charging out the door after some critter. I guess I didn't close it all the way. She had a nice little walkabout while I waited for her to return and she finally did. She definitely needs some exercise, so after breakfast and some chores, I saddled up Flash and we hit the trails. I planned a route that would let us do almost a full perimeter, except one trail that went right by the road which I decided to avoid for Lola's sake. We had to do one section twice just to get over six miles! I don't know if it was because of all the riding Flash and I have been doing, or if it's because he had a day of rest, or because it was a little cooler (though the humidity is still pretty high), or if it's the fact that I've been transitioning them over to alfalfa, but he was full of P&V today! We walked a little bit at first, but then he asked for permission to go faster (granted) and proceed to start gaiting at quite a nice pace, and he kept at it almost non-stop the rest of the trip. My GPS was recording some of his splits upwards of 7+ miles an hour! Under those conditions, of course, it didn't take us long to cover practically the whole park in no time! Sweetie, this would have been the perfect place for you to ride, mostly level, lots of woods, very easy going, and just the right length of trails for you. Definitely missed you today! Anyway, we got back in short order, sprayed everyone down again (the horseflies are really bad here right now), then started my third load of laundry since I got here, changed clothes, and headed out to do some shopping. South Bend is only about 15 minutes away, so it's very convenient. I went to Kohls to get some new undershorts to replace the old girdles I've pretty much worn out (not surprising, I've had them since the 1970's!), but they're perfect for long distance riding (I discovered the padded bicycle shorts don't work, too much rubbing in all the wrong places! Yeah, I know, TMI!) Then I went to Joann's Fabrics and bought three yards of tan velcro. I've decided rather than trash this mostly good screen room, I'd go ahead and put velcro on the door for now, so I can get a few more seasons out of it. Seems like such a waste to junk it when I can fix it with $12 of velcro and an hour or less of sewing. When it does wear out, I can bring out my other, brand spanking new one in a couple of years as a replacement. That's one of tomorrow's jobs, along with repairing a hose and a few other things. Then I went to Walmart for a little regular shopping, got my hair cut (long overdue!), filled up with diesel at $2.08/gallon and was back in camp in no time. Some potato soup for dinner (in honor of Potato Creek, of course!), and now I'm settling down for the evening. Love you, darling! Good night!

Hi Sweetie,
Today was my last chance to finish up all the trails here, and now that Flash was fit, we headed out right after breakfast. There's essentially two main trails here, but they often merge, have connectors, and occasionally have another loop go off them, and I've already covered pretty much all of them except the ones in the very northern part of the park, so that's where we headed. If you like trails that are a combination of woods and fields, you'd like this place. It was a bit too open for my taste, with many trails essentially just skirting fields, and in the case of one loop, around an entire cornfield, and it was quite hot today, so it was a lot of sun. There are a few scenic loops, but we've done all those already, so this was more like just a ride around a farm with an occasional lake view. Flash was good, though, we had a lot of nice canters and fast gaiting, and Lola just loved running along side and behind. We only ran into one large group, and Lola still managed to go way off into the woods to pass them and catch up. She really is a brilliant dog. I also stopped at Bozarth's Camp Store, which is apparently an iconic destination here, just to see what it looked like. They had a lot of fishing and camp supplies and a grill serving classic junk food, so I passed on food. I was saving myself for some incredible cantaloupe I had bought the other day, with some cottage cheese and a few black cherries one of the Rosebud ladies brought me last week, delicious! I also had bought some lovely smoked salmon and noshed on that a bit later. Not surprisingly, the loud generator was going full blast when I got back, and I don't think there was even anyone in their camp! I gave Flash and Lola both a bath, took my shower early, and had to put the generator on for a lot longer today to run the AC, it's a very hot day, and not going to drop much tonight. OMG, they just turned their generator off, and it's only 10:18! Must have had a busy day and they're going to be early. They've had their radio blasting country music for hours, so I haven't been able to spend much time in the screen room, just too noisy. I swear, I hate weekends in parks, give me a nice quiet weekday any day! But I got all the trails GPS'd except one connector trail I just couldn't fit in easily enough at the far north end. It was a nice 4-plus hour ride though, very enjoyable. Hope I can sleep in this heat! At least the next place, Potato Creek, has electric, so I'll be able to run my AC a bit more. I'm holding out on doing any more laundry until I get there, too. Well, I'm going to bed and leaving the little fan on tonight, at least until the batteries give out or it finally cools down enough. Good night, darlin'! Love you!