Hi Darlin',
A typical "day before I move on" scenario, doing laundry, housekeeping and some packing, though I also took a quick trip into town to drop off a letter and pick up a couple of things I missed when I shopped the other day. I didn't want to wait until I got to the Biltmore, as shopping there is pretty far away, relatively speaking. Linda was kind enough to let me use her Jeep so I wouldn't have to unhook my truck from the trailer, so I put a little gas in it as a thanks. Otherwise, a fairly uneventful day. Since I'll be coming back here, I've decided to leave Apollo here tomorrow. It will be a lot less work taking care of just one horse while I'm there, and Apollo will have plenty of room to stretch out in the big pasture he's in, though I know Flash will be a bit upset about it, but there will be plenty of horses around in the next few days to keep him company, and it's only for a week. I won't have time to ride Apollo anyway, so he'll get more exercise here. Having my tea and cookies, won't be long out of bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Spent another morning waiting to see if the mechanic would show up, finally decided to check on it ourselves. I first started to try to jack up the trailer with the bottle jack, but the ground was so soft the board kept sinking. Finally I had to connect the truck and run it up on the Jiffy Jack. We had a heckuva time trying to get the lugs loose, we ended up needing a long breaker bar to accomplish it, my impact wrench, despite being a very strong one, just couldn't get three of them off. I tried another tire later, and nothing moved on that one either. Somebody obviously went way overboard when they tightened these lugs the last time! About the only thing that got accomplished from a couple of hours messing around with it was that I confirmed that even though power was getting to the brakes, it wasn't activating the drums at all, and also learned where the correct hole is for the wires to go in (the last guy put them through the brake adjustment hole, would you believe!). I thought about changing it myself, but after watching a couple of videos decided I didn't have the right tools to do the job, so I'll let it go for now. Rather disappointing, I was really hoping we could get it done this week, but no go! On the plus side, Linda knows a place that specializes in trailers about 25 miles away, and she's offered me accommodations if they have to keep it overnight, so I'm going to try to get an appointment for the week after Biltmore and come back here, which at least temporarily solves my problem of where to go after Biltmore! Got everything back together and tools put away just before some rain came it, so I settled down to an afternoon of reading and movies. Getting close to bedtime now, so good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Not a good night sleep, woke up in the middle and couldn't sleep for a long time, finally went out and didn't wake up until after 9:00. I seriously have to get to bed earlier and get my circadian rhythm back! Today a local mechanic was supposed to come out, so I didn't take a ride on Apollo like I had hoped to, did a couple of repairs like zip-tying the front bumper on the truck (my previous repair with nut and bolt didn't work) and fixing the water filter which was leaking pretty bad. I remember you put on this elaborate plumbing attachment because we didn't think a garden hose would fit in it, but today, I took that all off and DID manage to get a garden hose on it, and it works fine now, no leaks! I finished off a few things prepping for the Biltmore work next week, then tried to find a leak I have in the slide-out that I was hoping I could find when it started to rain a bit, but still haven't found it. It didn't rain very hard or for very long, guess I'll have to keep searching! Waited all day for the mechanic, but he turned out to be a no-show, for today at least. Apparently, he works on the local school buses and two broke down today, so he couldn't come. Spent the rest of the day just killing time, reading, playing computer games, watching a movie, etc. I'm determined to get to bed early tonight, so tea is already made and I'll be doing my Spanish lesson, taking my shower, and going to bed forthwith! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
A great night sleep, slept late, really felt rested today. After morning chores and breakfast I headed into Cleveland to do some shopping. Picked up a bag of feed and a new manure rake at Tractor Supply, dropped off that package to Amazon that had the wrong component in it, had a much needed haircut, was surprised to find a place that sold frozen custard, so I had to stop in and get a cone. Been looking for custard places up north all summer, who'd of thunk I would find one in rural Tennessee? It was delicious! Filled up with fuel for just $3.15/gal., cheapest I've paid in ages, and finally finished off at Walmart for just a few items I needed, though, of course, I bought more than what I went in for, as usual. Got back to the farm and spent the rest of the afternoon working on trail maps at the Biltmore for my trail checking next week. They're using quite a few different trails than in the Spring ride, so it should be a lot of fun! I managed to create a .gpx file for every trail except one, which was overlooked in the packet of maps that were sent to me, but finally got it late in the evening and was able to finish off that prep work. Settled down for the evening after I gave the horses a couple of apples (I'm trying to get them in the habit of coming down to the gate, but they can't seem to hear me across this big pasture!), soon ready for shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Pix to come.

Hi Darlin'!
A good night sleep, a fairly easy final pack up, and other than taking down the paddock fence and cleaning up that area, everything went smoothly. Got out a bit after 9:00. I was a bit worried the park guys might come along and ask what I was still doing there, since the entire area is completely barren except for the porta-potties, but one drove by and didn't stop, so it was all good. Most the google maps directions had me going cross country, and it was definitely shorter mileage-wise, but I wasn't about to go over those hills with this trailer at the moment, so we stuck to the freeways, going west on I-40 and south on I-75, which actually got me there at just about the same time, right at 12:30. I'm spending the week with my friend Linda, who always takes such good care of me when I camp down at Lost Corral, but she invited me to stay at her place, which is probably easier for her than picking me up down there, and definitely nice for me and the whole family. I get electrice and water, my horses get a huge green pasture, and Lola gets to be free and has other dogs to keep her company. Got in position next to the barn very easily, and got hooked up with everything in no time. Linda and I sat and chatted for awhile, then I got busy doing housework and laundry, since I'd let it all go during the ride week. Did some computer work, finally settled down for the evening to dinner, and was finally able to watch an hour of TV! The signal isn't great here, but it's certainly better than what I've had the last couple of weeks, and good enough for live streaming, so I'm a happy camper! I might even be able to load up some of the pictures I haven't been able to get up before! Anyway, I've got an early morning, so I'm heading to shower and bed nice and early, too. Good night, sweetie! Love you!