Hi Babe,
Had a good night sleep, woke up a few minutes before my alarm, started the day by cranking on the generator to see how long it would last. Got chores and breakfast done, and at 30 minutes, I had to shut the generator off, it didn't quit! Yay, progress! It did feel pretty hot, but at least I got the batteries charged up a bit. A sunny day helped some more with the solar panel, too. After breakfast, I got Flash saddled up and we went over and registered for the Poker Run, leaving right at 9:30. We took the loop counterclockwise, and it seemed like a really long time before we finally reached one of the bags with chips in it, and I was beginning to think I had missed one before that, so when we finally ran into a couple of women coming the other way, I asked them how many chips they'd found, and were by ourselves until we ran into a couple of women. I asked how many chips they had found, and they said only one, and since there were supposed to be three, I figured I must have missed it. They offered to pick up my chips for me, which I appreciated, but then as I continued, I discovered from the next group that, in fact, I hadn't missed it, they had! When I got to the last bag, a grabbed a couple of extra chips for them, but then I never could find them again, unfortunately. Not surprisingly, Flash and I got back to camp first (he galloped most of the way back to camp as soon as we hit the straightaway on Trail 10!), and kept moving fast the rest of the way. Both my hands were duds (one had me drawing to an inside straight on the last card!), but I did manage to sell a couple of books, which I hadn't figured on, so that was nice. Had lunch, chatted with Maureen and some other ladies, and generally enjoyed the event. Got back to my camper at 2:00, took Lola for a walk, then settled down for the afternoon, working on some more plans for travel in the next few weeks before getting into my evening routine. At 6:30, I started the generator again, running it for nearly 45 minutes! More progress! Granted, the ambient temps are a tiny bit cooler, but as long as I can run it half an hour twice a day, I'm good! A couple of episodes of House, and I'm soon off to shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
The first chance I had I called down to Cummins, only to learn the guy, Ron, I was supposed to talk to, was out and wouldn't be back until next Wednesday. Spoke to Mark, who had no experience with generators, and the only advice he could offer was to be more thorough getting out the possible mouse's nest, and to call back on Monday when a generator guy would be there. I started the generator and was pleased it ran about 20 minutes before cutting off, enough the charge the batteries a bit. Next, I took a ride into town and bought a cute little wet/dry dustbuster size vacuum at Harbor Freight (3-year warranty if I ever need to check back), though the battery and charger were three times more expensive, but I needed it, so there you go. Went to Lowe's and found another compatible bolt for the spark arrestor, got back to camp, was happy to see some sunshine on the solar panel, which will help build up the batteries, installed the bolt and vacuumed as much as I could of the offending mouse next area. Started the generator again, and it ran another 22 minutes, again, charging the batteries. I figure even if it only works for 20 minutes, if I do that 2 or 3 times a day, it's about the same as my previous 30-60 minutes anyway, so at least I have that! With that in mind, I was relaxed enough to saddle up Flash and take him on a nice ride by the lake, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. On the way back, he became his usual speed demon self, and we had a great ride! Got back to camp, stopped by Ron and Lori's, who hadn't left yet, to update them on the latest, and to talk saddles and gaited horses. Got back to my site, put Flash away, then had a long conversation on the phone with Terri from Tennessee, who was so intrigued by my presentation about my Africa trip last fall that she and her daughter have booked a trip for February, and had a lot of questions about it, which I was happy to answer. Then I did a bit more vacuuming on the generator with my new vacuum, and started it again, and got another 12 minutes out of it, all of which is contributing to my battery, for which I am very grateful! Settled down for the evening, started the generator once more near dark, this time leaving the compartment hatch open, and it nearly 25 minutes. I don't know if that was because of the ambient temperature being cooler or what, but I was grateful for the battery charge! Had dinner and some TV, now I'm ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
A good night sleep, chores, the usual, then I saddled up Apollo to take him and Lola for a fairly short ride. I had hoped to find a trailhead that's indicated on the map, but I couldn't find it, where I thought I would find it was completely overgrown, so instead, we headed down the Shore to Shore trail to the river and back, about 2.8 miles in all. He stumbled a lot, especially in the beginning, but he improved as we went on. I'll need to do some more exploring tomorrow to try to find a river route that will get us there. In the afternoon, I went down to my friend Sandy's, and with her and her husband Bill trailered their boat down to the local park and launched it, and took a lovely toodle around Tawas Bay for a couple of hours. Got back to camp about 7:00, fed the horses and settled down for the evening. Felt like a vacation day! Good to be back on the water again, hope we can do some kayaking on the river before I leave the area as well. Meanwhile, had a pleasant evening, ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Woke up before my alarm, finished my morning routine and was saddling up Flash early for our 9:00 start on removing the pink ribbons from the 15 mile trail. Rode down to camp and chatted for a minute, then headed out on the trail. As always, Flash was brilliant, knowing just when to stop or slow down, and for how long. The trails here are really beautiful, it was no hardship running them again. Got back about 12:30, just in time for lunch, after which I returned Flash to Apollo, then walked Lola down to camp to see what else I could do to help. Not much else, chatted for a bit, finally said my good-byes and walked back to my site in the family camp, suddenly feeling totally exhausted. Looked it up and saw that I hadn't taken any kind of day off in two and a half weeks! I feel as tired as when we would finish working a national convention! It doesn't help that it's gotten quite hot today. While I was out on trail, I finally managed to get a signal, did my Spanish lesson (had a scare last night that I had lost my 1504 day streak!), and was able to look up the FedEx delivery for my Starlink, which they are saying will be Thursday. Wish it were sooner, but it's better than the 2-3 week delivery time they quoted on their site. Sat down in my recliner and tried to read, but kept nodding off. I'm planning on taking it easy the next couple of days, though I do have to go get my tire done and do some shopping tomorrow, so maybe after that. Meanwhile, I'll keep struggling with what little signal and internet I have! I sure hope this Starlink is everything it's been billed for! Finally had to break down and put on the AC for a bit to blow out the hot air, poor Lola has been panting most of the day. Planning on an early bedtime again to night! Good night, Darlin'! Love you!

Hey Babe!
What gorgeous weather we are having, so much more comfortable than down in Indiana! Was below 50 when I got up, warmed up nicely! Forgot to set my alarm, and slept until 8:00, so I had to rush chores and breakfast to make it down the group camp by 9:00. Drove down, but discovered that the meeting I thought was at 9:00 wasn't really, but after speaking with several folks, it was determined that a section of the ten-mile loop had been marked the wrong way, so I offered to ride out there and straighten it out. Drove back to my camp, saddled up Flash, and headed out on trail. He started out slow for about the first 100 yards, but then he picked up to his normal speed, and when we turned off the first loop in the opposite direction from yesterday, he re-engaged his brain and came alive. The first section was along the AuSable river, and it was gorgeous! Eventually we crossed Rollaways Road and ended up on some fabulous hard packed sand roads which made Flash immediately want to canter, which we did, for miles, only stopping to change the markers. We did the whole ten miles, including the markers, and still got back to camp in less than two hours! True speed demon today! What a pleasure this horse is to ride! Once we got back to camp, there wasn't anything else I could help with, so I went back to my site, then drove out to find a cell phone signal good enough to get an internet connection. I drove most of the way Hale, about 8 miles or so, before I got a connection good enough for internet, and then for some reason, I still wasn't able to make a phone call! Four bars and I couldn't make a call??!! What's up with that, Verizon! I was delighted to see an email from Starlink saying my unit had been shipped (yay!), but FedEx tracking said they hadn't received the package yet. Coming from Washington State, but hopefully it will arrive early next week. What a godsend that will be! Went back to the group camp at 4:00 when the vetting was supposed to start, but neither vet arrived until after 5:30, so vetting didn't start until after we ate, around 6:15. We did manage to get everyone vetted in before the ride meeting at 7:00, which lasted nearly an hour, but several people introduced themselves to me after Barb called me out for my trail-marking, including Jan G. who had offered to put me up at her place when I broke down earlier this week, and several others I had met previously during the 2023 Shore to Shore ride. Seems most of them have been following me on Facebook! Just as I was leaving, I noticed my phone had a bit of a signal in the spot where I parked my truck, so I did a quick Spanish lesson (I had forgotten to do it while I was out today) and checked a few other things quickly before it petered out on me. So intermittent, so crazy! Anyway, got back to my site, fed the horses and took Lola for a walk. Ready to settle down for a short tea and ice cream break, shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Went to bed at a reasonable hour and was rewarded with a good night sleep. Woke about 7:00, but read until I got up at 8:00. Flash and Apollo had a nice run around the paddock this morning, so taking Flash for a ride was a must today! Brian had slipped by at some point and left me markers, though I still wasn't sure what the plan was. Did chores and breakfast, then Brian came by on his ATV and we chatted a bit. Turns out Harry and Cheryl for the MTRA are here to help with the ride, I met them back in 2023 when I did the two Shore to Shore rides, so we walked over there and chatted with them for a bit. Eventually the ranger came by and opened the group camp gate just before noon, so I came back and saddled up Flash and headed over, finally meeting Ride Manager Barf in person. She determined that she would ride and mark the 10 mile and I would ride and mark the 15 mile ride, so I went back for the markers and hit the trail. We're only doing ribbons, the MTRA folks will finish it up, with some supervision, since they're not as experienced in endurance-style trail marking. I remembered that this was my favorite section of trail on the S2S rides and it once again put me in my happy place! It runs right along the AuSable River for most of the way, then it turned on a sand road for a a mile or so, then south again, doing a lollipop configuration back to the S2S. Flash loved it! Only a little bit of it was rocky, so he really got moving when we hit the rest of it! We left just before 2:00 and were coming into camp at 5:00, so 15 miles in three hours, while marking trails and occasionally clearing a few branches, well, we made good time! I thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Nice trails, great horse, perfect cloud-free sky in the mid-70's, just what I crave! Happy day! Once I got back and put Flash away, I tried to check my email, stock portfolio and do my Spanish lesson, but the cell phone signal here just wasn't having it, so I ended up driving all the way to the end of Rollaway Rd., and even then I was only barely able to do my lesson. Can't wait to get my new Starlink, I'm sick and tired of all the time I am TRYING to get internet service through my phone when the signal is so bad. I don't know what's up with Verizon, they usually have the best coverage, but Northern Michigan seems all but barren of signal, darn it. Finally got back to camp and settled down, made some dinner (after starving all day!, but my weight was down this morning, so I'm not complaining!), and am now just trying to finish off a few things before shower and bed. I hate it still being so light at 9:30 at night! KILL DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!! Anyway, overall a great day, off to shower and bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had another lousy night sleep, tired of feeling tired, not sure what's causing it, except Lola being restless again. Sigh... Woke up not only to hot and humid weather, it was also very smoky. Apparently there are wildfires in Canada that are causing all kinds of smoke pollution, and it all drifting this way. It seems to be worse in Michigan, where I am planning to go on Monday, but hopefully the rain over the weekend will help clear it up. Anyway, had about a six mile ride which took several hours because I spent most of it doing trail clearing. Lots of raspberry brambles, and have the scratches to show for it, plus a lot of other bushes and trees that needed to be cut back as well. Flash was his usual patient self, letting me drop all kinds of limbs and branches on his head in the process. Got back around 2:00, read for some of the afternoon, then walked Lola up to Linda's trailer where I got a quick tutorial on how the ride will be done tomorrow. Sounds interesting, looking forward to it. It doesn't start until noon, and there's rain and heat in the forecast, so I hope we're not rained out. Had a quiet evening of House episodes, determined to get to be earlier tonight, hoping to reset my body clock, though my lack of sleep is mostly being caused by Lola being restless, so I'm not sure what I can do about that. Anyway, off to shower and bed. Good night, baby. Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had another crappy night sleep. Don't know what's going on, though this morning my sleeping issue was compounded by Lola getting very restless before daybreak, so that didn't help my already annoying sleep issue. Got up a bit after 8:00, did chores, printed off a change of address letter for the British pension, then saddled up Apollo for a short ride, about 1.6 miles, just for some exercise for him. After we got back, I headed out for a bunch of errands, stopping to finally talk to Linda, who's helping organize the ride this weekend, then headed down to Plymouth to Tractor Supply, topped off three tanks of propane and picked up some horse feed, then Walmart for what was supposed to be just a few things, and turned into $175, picked up fuel at a Speedway with the lowest price around, $4.60 with my member discount (glad to see prices have been dropping lately!), stopped at the post office to mail the aforementioned letter, and finally picked up a dozen bales of 2nd cutting hay at a local haymaker. Nice grass hay, the going price lately is $7 a bale. Can't say I blame them with the high cost of diesel, though I expect that will go down as the summer progresses. Got back to camp after 4:00, stored the hay and feed, and finally settled down for the afternoon. Had some visitors around 5:00, the family that came by the other day. They gave me a lovely thank you card, a key chain and some more peppermints for the horses, which we promptly started to feed my boys. We ended up putting both girls on both horses and walking them in a circle around the paddock a few times. Gotta do everything we can to make new cowgirls! They stayed about 45 minutes, then I went on to make my dinner and have a couple of drinks, hoping it might make me sleep a bit better. I'm determined to adjust my sleep cycle so that I can sleep better, but it all goes back to HATING DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!! It's crazy that it's still light at 9:30, and it's only going to get worse as I go farther north, but I guess it can't be helped. Took Lola for her last walk of the day, came upon Linda and her granddaughter and chatted a few minutes with them before finally getting back to the camper and finishing the night with another bourbon (hoping it will help me sleep). At least it was a productive day! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Not a very good night sleep for some reason, got chores and breakfast done, then saddled up Flash for a spin around the park. I had met up with two ladies yesterday who are involved with the ride this weekend, and they indicated that the trails were in pretty good shape, so I decided not to take my clearing tools and just have a pleasure ride. Turned out there is a lot of clearing that could be done, but I was kind of glad I didn't take my tools along, or it would definitely have been a work day and not a pleasure ride. We did about seven miles, which is practically every trail in here, not really a lot, but what's here is pretty nice, except for the brambles. Was only out for about an hour and a half. Flash was in a pretty good mood, doing a nice four+ mph walk the whole way. Got back to camp and spent some time working on the kitchen faucet, something inside of it slipped, but I only made a marginal improvement. Another thing on my list of trailer repairs the next time I take it in. Then I spent time finding hay and making an order at Tractor Supply, although the nearest TSC doesn't refill propane tanks, so I'm have to go quite a bit out of my way for that, but I also need horse feed, so I'll make that trip tomorrow. Pretty hot today, can't wait to be heading north so I can enjoy the summer weather without it being too hot to ride or do anything else outside! Settled down for the rest of the day and evening, cleaned up my saddle a bit, it was pretty muddy from the previous muddy days, tried to hook up with Linda, the gal ride organizer Marti suggested I get together with, but all three times I went by, either on horseback or walking Lola, she wasn't there. Hopefully we'll catch up tomorrow! Horses are good in a nice fenced in pen, and Lola's enjoying some freedom. I've been letting her out alone since there's no one else near us and she's not fit enough to get too far, though I've been walking her on her leash when we go farther. Anyway, an otherwise quiet day, and ready for bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had a good night sleep, woke up before my alarm, got breakfast and chores done before heading out to check out some more trails. I had intended to do all of the remaining loops, about 10 miles, but Flash was showing signs of some gimpiness, so I cut it back to the two southern loops and two shortcut trails, about five miles in all. The trails are not difficult per se, but they are not pleasant inasmuch as there are long stretches of mud, some of it quite deep, and more long stretches of gravel. The combination is my least favorite, because I'd like to use boots for the gravel, but with deep mud, I'll be so concerned about losing a boot it won't be very enjoyable. I'm sure Flash will be happy to have the rest of the week off! When I got back, I ponied Apollo around the campground loop a couple of times just to get him some exercise. After putting them both away, I headed out to nearby Huntington to do some shopping. I was disappointed to learn that the Tractor Supply there doesn't do propane fillups (even though it says they do on the website), so I wasn't able to fill up my two empty tanks. No worries, though, I won't need any more for a couple of weeks, since I have electric here and at the next stop. Went to Ace Hardware to try to find a cap for the hub on my utility cart, I lost it back at Tippecanoe and my wheel has been falling off. They didn't have exactly the right thing, but in the end, with a little German ingenuity and a sledge hammer, I managed to make it work. Was very happy to see diesel prices coming down, found a Phillips that had diesel at $4.59, so I topped off. Guess the Iran war is getting more settled and the Hormuz strait is more open. I don't know, I never watch the news anymore, too depressing. Finished off at Walmart, as usual, and stocked up on all the usual stuff, plus a few extras just to solve a few issues and repairs. Settled down for the usual evening routine, off to shower and bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!