Hey Darlin’,
Another good night sleep, slept later than I figured, so I guess I need it! Did some laundry, got my housework done, did a little work on the computer, then in the afternoon I saddled up Flash for another recon ride, still trying to solidify as many trails as I can. Had a dickens of a time on the yellow trail on Sunday, so I wanted to go back and try to make sense out of it, and ended up getting more confused than ever, though after several passes on it, I finally made some decisions about where it should go. Crazy how bad this one section is. Figured a few other places out as well, so in the end, it was a productive day. Got back and rinsed Flash down, then took my laundry down and settled down for the evening. A good day! Heading off to shower and bed, trying to do it a little bit earlier each night, hoping to get back on a schedule that doesn’t have me sleeping till 9:30! Anyway, good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Despite being exhausted from all the work yesterday, I had a terrible time getting to sleep. I guess I was keyed up or something, I didn’t even get to bed until midnight, then I had to read for a long time before I finally fell asleep. I woke up once early, took ages to fall asleep again, then when I finally DID wake up naturally, it was 10:30! Yowsa! Still felt tired, though. Did my chores and rested for the most part, put my tools and stuff from yesterday away, then finally Jeff and his boarder and her veterinary mom finally made it out to camp for a ride around 4:30, so by the time they got unloaded and saddled up, it was 5:00 before we got on the trail. Flash was fine at first, but then got real excited when Kristen’s little speedy Paso passed him, then it was all fighting again. Apollo got a bit excited too, and at one point when we met a hunter on the trail, Apollo spun so fast that Jeff came off. I know how hard it is to stay on when he does that, he spins like a cow horse! He jumped a couple of other times on him too, but didn’t throw Jeff again. That’s a lot of energy for a 25 year old horse! I was still trying to finalize a couple of trails, so I was GPSing along the way, but we got off track a couple of times, either because we lost track, the trail faded away, or we speeded past them. I made some headway, though, I just need to do it one more time to get a final reading. It was a good ride, but it was a bit tough with one sluggish (well, not so sluggish today!) quarter horse, a TW and two Pasos! Quite the grouping! We got back to camp safely and just before the sun set, then sat around and chatted for a bit. They all left just as dusk was turning into night and the mosquitoes were coming out, then I grilled a burger and settled down for the night. Going to try to get to bed earlier, hopefully get back on a better sleep schedule. Can’t be getting up after 10:00 anymore! So off I go! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Had an okay night sleep, but it was really hot during the night, couldn’t hardly even put a sheet over me without sweating. Finally slept through morning. After chores and breakfast, Apollo and I headed out on the trail for about a 7.5 mile recon ride. I’m still trying to work out the exact position of a number of trails close to camp, because they are so different from what is on the original map. I keep trying to find THOSE trails, so I keep getting turned around because they apparently just don’t exist anymore. Got a couple more like that I need to verify, but I’m getting close. Apollo was good once I got him through the gate, though he was a bit reluctant at first again, though better than the other day. He keeps looking at me like he wants to go, then has some compulsion to be disagreable for a moment before acquiescing to the inevitable. Silly horse! it was a nice ride, though. The forecast showed rain coming in around 1:00, so I had it timed perfectly, but then we got a little sprinkle at about 12:20, just as we were arriving in camp! That was over quickly, and I got everything put away, and then we had a little bit of rain for a short time after that, nowhere near enough, though, we really needed more. Good thing, though, it’s supposed to rain after midnight and really cool things down a bit for the next few days, for which I am very grateful! Of course, that’s if you believe the weather man… Anyway, James came by and dropped off more materials for me, including some hardware and posts, so we should be all set for Saturday. I’ve even been able to arrange to have someone with a long trailer to pick up 16′ boards on Saturday morning, so we should have everything we need! Finally settled down for the evening, I’m still sweating in my chair, looking forward to a shower and bed! Early morning, spending the day with James, going to a couple of other properties with horse potential that he wants me to look at. Could be an exciting adventure! Anyway, time to say good night, my sweet! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Cool enough for another great night sleep, then chores and breakfast and a little route planning, and said good-bye to Laura from Ontario before Flash and Lola and I headed out. Managed to GPS another 17.6 miles of trails, some of it brand new. I’m getting close to getting them all the designated trails done. All that’s left are a bunch of side roads that I have to explore a bit more, just to see if they go anywhere or if they just dead end. We were out until nearly 4:00, and by the time I downloaded all my pix and GPS routes, it was nearly suppertime. Learned that over half a dozen people are already planning on coming to the work day on Saturday, which I’m glad to learn since I was late getting it announced. Somewhere along the line, I missed a week this month! Getting later than I thought a lot faster! Anyway, settled down, grilled a steak on my new grill, watched a little TV, now I’m more than ready for my shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Another hot night, and even though I ran the AC for nearly an hour, it was still hot by the time I went to bed! Never mind, once I get to sleep it doesn’t matter. After chores and breakfast, I saddled Flash and was out before 10:00, while the weather was a bit cooler. Not as hot today, thank goodness, but in the sun it was till plenty hot! Poor Lola, I wasn’t sure she was going to make it since there is so little water on the trail, but we finally managed to find a few water holes on the way, and she was fine. She even want to play frisbee at dinner time, which surprised me, I thought she would be too bushed, but she seems to have recovered okay. It was a long ride, but we took a few breaks and I had some water on board which I shared with Lola, so it was fine. Covered a lot of trails today, too, so I’m making some headway at last. It was lovely today, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Got back to camp, did a little computer work, and it wasn’t long before it was suppertime and evening TV time, and now it’s shower time and bed time! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Another warm night and hot day, unseasonably so, really. Called your sister today, meant to do it yesterday but the morning got away from me. She’s doing well, was actually in a physical therapy session when I called, so it was short and sweet. Got out on the trail fairly early to try to avoid the heat, happy there was a nice breeze, which helped tremendously. I did some hair scraping off Apollo before I saddled him, his winter coat is coming out big-time, but I’m sure he’s a lot more comfortable as a result. We went for just about four miles, just a bit over an hour, just to give him some exercise and to check out a couple of trails closer to camp, though at first he fought hard against leaving camp, so we had “words.” He finally saw things my way. It seems I’ve done all the horse trails, now I’m on to the so-called hiking trails, though evidently, it’s up to the landowner (i.e. SFWMD) to determine which trails are hiking and which are horse. Hoping I can convince James to let them all be both, which seems more practical. I kept seeing markers for a blue trail, though there had never been a blue trail on the map that I can find, but it seems it’s a connector for the white trail from a small campground. Anyway, it’s on the map now! I spent most of the afternoon on the computer trying to create the final version of the trails on Google Earth, as well as to see which trails I need to confirm for sure. Still a lot of work to do, both on the ground and on the computer, but at least I’m a little more organized and making progress. I also downloaded an interesting program called Relive, which takes your GPS information and makes a video out of it, and matches it with whatever pictures you tak along the way. That could be very useful if I can figure out how to match up my digital camera photos rather than my phone. You know how hard it is to take pix from my phone when I’m on Flash, I don’t have enough hands! Finally settled down for the evening to a couple of episodes of the latest series. I ran the AC for awhile, which was wonderful, experimenting with closing all the windows to see if it would help. Maybe a little, but of course it started getting warm once I turned the AC off. Supposed to have a cold front come through overnight, hopefully it will be a bit cooler tomorrow. Anyway, time for shower and bed! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Happy 88th Birthday, my darling!
As always, you were in my thoughts today, even more so because it’s your birthday today. A little busy today, first with a 15 mile ride on Flash, once again seeking new and old trails to be marked and/or recovered, though I have to speak with James at the SFWMD to figure out which will be which. It was a hot day again today, maybe not record temps, but pretty close. Flash and I did a lot of gaiting and cantering, especially toward the end, because I had made arrangements to have lunch with brother Glenn and Dena and we were pushing it on time. We managed to get back to camp just before 1:00, so I was only a couple of minutes late for our 1:15 lunch date at a Mexican restaurant in Indiantown. Brother Jeff joined us as well, so it was a good opportunity to spend time with the family, and to toast your birthday. Glenn’s been looking at investment real estate for a week now, finally found something he’s put an offer on, looks like he’ll get it if the inspection goes well. Afterward, I stopped at the Post office for my new grill and went shopping at the IGA and Dollar General. My old grill had some parts that were completely wearing out, and they quit making those Sidekicks and I couldn’t get parts, or they were so ridiculously expensive it didn’t make any sense to fix it. Fortunately, I found another one exactly the same, with a different name, Flame King, and Amazon had one in their warehouse that had apparently been returned so it was considered “used, like new” with supposedly only damaged packaging, for a nice discounted price, so I ordered that earlier this week and it came in today. Once I got back to camp and got my groceries put away, I put it all together and put it up, a perfect fit and it looks great! Well worth the price. I’ve been using the grill a lot, so it’s nice to start fresh with a new one, since the old one had so much wear on it. Settled down for the evening with some more binge TV, another hot night so I’ve been getting to bed pretty late just to let it cool down. I got the big fan out of the back of the trailer and put it in my bedroom, so hopefully that will help to cool it down in there before bedtime. Not liking this heat too much, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon. Time to start thinking about heading north! Except I have so much to do here, I’m not sure when that will be. Anyway, time for a cool shower and bed! Good night, my love, Happy Birthday!

Hey Sweetie!
Lost an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time going into effect last night, so didn’t get up till a bit later, not surprisingly. After chores and breakfast, I saddled up Flash and before long, we were headed out with Mike to pick up markers. Rosie joined us for a bit, then peeled off to meet up with her boyfriend. My neighbor Sonia took Apollo out for a ride as well, which she did yesterday during the Poker ride, I’m happy to see him getting his exercise! It took a little while, but Flash and Mike’s big Tennessee Walker managed to find an equal pace, so it was a pretty enjoyable ride, though I’m getting a bit tired of doing the same trail over and over. I hope to do something a bit different tomorrow! Jamie’s group went around in the opposite direction, so by the time we got to the water stop, we didn’t have many markers to pick up, though there were several strays. Got back to camp around 3:30, then Mike and I drove into Jupiter for ribs at Uncle Mick’s, which I’ve been dying to have for a long time, was glad we finally did it. Lots of leftovers for another meal as well. Then we took a little scenic drive over to the beach and up to the lighthouse, plus a quick stop at Public and the IGA before getting back to camp around 8:00, which was just getting dark now. Got the horses fed, then settled down for the evening. Tired from losing that sleep and a busy day, but I’m heading off to shower and bed now! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe.
Had a little trouble getting to sleep last night, but woke up early before my alarm was set to go off, then it didn’t for some reason, so I was glad I woke up! There’s something strange going on with the cell phone network around here, everybody’s phone seems to not be working properly, including mine. This morning my weather program was telling me the date was July 28 for some weird reason! Nevertheless, I got up early and started the day by going around checking in some of the equestrian campers. I’ve made a list of everyone that’s supposed to be coming in and I’m making sure to match up horses and owners and stalls and paddocks, and making sure everyone makes an extra effort to clean up all the manure, even in all the paddocks that started out dirty, and it seems everyone is cooperating. People seem grateful that things are getting more organized here, thank goodness. After that, then breakfast, Laura and Mike and I rode the Poker Run trail again, and I got more markers from Petra so I got it fixed up more the way I like it now. Flash behaved himself pretty well, though he was determined not to let Laura’s horse get too far in front, which required the occasional flat out gallop, which was fun! Got back by 11:30, and Laura started to pack up to leave today, while Mike decided to extend his permit until Tuesday. Mostly relaxed in the afternoon, other than walking around a few times to update my camper records. Got caught in a downpour, ended up slipping on the mud when I jumped a puddle and fell onto my right knee, which thankfully recovered pretty will after awhile. Guess last year’s surgery really did the trick! Finally settled down for the evening to some soup and a Reese Witherspoon movie, now it’s time for shower and bed. Early morning tomorrow again, though not too early, and a forecast of rain in the afternoon with much needed cooler temps as well. So I’m off! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Had a good night sleep, did my chores, then got on the trail just after 9:00 to mark the Poker Run trail for Saturday’s ride. It was supposed to be really hot and I wanted to get it done early enough to miss the worst of the heat. I went by Mike’s to see if he wanted to come with me, but he was busy shoeing his horse so he couldn’t come. Jiggs and Ted were packing up and getting ready to leave, they weren’t able to get their refrigerator fixed so they’re just using ice and coolers, no fun! It didn’t take me too long, maybe 2:15 hours get the 9.5 miles marked. I only had one back of markers so they were few and far between, but at least the intersections are marked. Several of the organizers are coming in tomorrow to mark the trails again anyway, so I’m sure they’ll add some to make it easier. Flash was raring to go, so we kept up a good pace. Once we got back, I did one more little repair on the trailer. I noticed that the panel on the front part of the trailer had slipped down below the roofline, which it’s done before, though I’ve sealed it a number of times to keep the water out. I managed to get it back into place using a putty knife, though I don’t know how long that will last. Driving through all those cow pastures during the Cracker Ride really jiggled a lot of stuff loose, I’ll probably be tightening stuff for weeks to come! Then I relaxed during the afternoon, Mike and Laura both came by and we mostly chatted until dinnertime. We started getting a lot of horse people in, and Steve gave me a list of the equestrian campers, so I went around and got everyone’s stall numbers so I can hopefully keep track of who’s not cleaning their stalls and take appropriate action. Finally I took an early shower, and Mike and Laura and I all went down to the country club grille for dinner, I had a very nice salmon fillet and we had a very enjoyable evening, though the mosquitoes got a bit thick for a little while there. Got back to camp around 8:30, watched a little TV, now I’m ready for bed, later than I hoped because I have to get up fairly early tomorrow morning to get the rest of the stall numbers from people, and the three of us will probably take a ride in the morning, though probably not on the Poker Run trail, I’ve seen enough of that trail already! Anyway, the day is done! Good night, darlin’! Love you!