Hi Darlin’,
Another good night sleep, woke up a few minutes before my alarm, did chores, had breakfast, and then got Flash saddled just in time to a ride with Lynda and two of her friends. We did the green trail and part of the yellow trail, and even with all the time I’ve spent out there, I still got turned around a time or two. Dang, do we need signage! All three women were convinced they would have gotten lost without a guide, and I believe it! Even with the fresh markings, unless you know where the trail started, you’d never find it. Anyway, it was a lovely ride, not too hot and with a nice breeze, and we got back to camp by about 11:30, so just the right length for them. Did pretty much nothing else for the rest of the day, binge-watching TV. We a good and much appreciated storm, dropped quite a bit of rain, which we need really badly. When I checked the forecast this morning there was a couple of days of rain in the next ten days, then when I checked it during the storm, it’s been changed to rain every day for the next week! Who knows what will actually transpire! So a lazy day after our ride, I ate too much and sat around too much. We had one little bit of excitement, the sheriff’s office came out to settle a domestic squabble in one of the campsites, a woman whose boyfriend wouldn’t take her back home to Pennsylvania, not sure what it was all about, but they ended up leaving together. Anyway, it’s a quiet day, which is fine, and a quiet evening, too, but now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Had a good night sleep, not surprising after spending five hours in the saddle yesterday! Tried to get out earlier today, but kept getting bogged down because my Garmin kept truncating my routes again, don’t know what’s up with that! Tried to erase a bunch of stuff, but it just keeps popping back in on me, don’t know why, but I had enough to get the job done eventually. So it was 10:30 by the time Flash and I hit the trail. Turns out he was very patient with me, at least until the very end when we were heading back to camp, and we managed to get nearly 14 miles done in the same time it took Apollo and I to do a little over 10 1/2 yesterday. Not surprising, but was glad we managed to get it done. So the white trail is finished and the yellow trail still has about a half mile because I ran out of paint, but it’s not too far out of camp so I can get it finished as soon as I get some more paint. I also need to do the red trail, I noticed that has a lot of fading paint as well. Part of the problem is that most of the trees being painted are pines, and the bark tends to peel off, and the paint goes with it. This spray paint doesn’t stand out very well, but it’s the best I can do until I can get a UTV so I can take canned paint with brushes and rollers. I’m definitely finding all the places that have to have posts, though, so that’s a plus. So another long day, then had dinner and settled down for the evening, already did my gate check, now it’s just time for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Had a pretty good night sleep, though I ended up waking early, then went back to sleep and slept too late. One the campers stopped by before he left and was outside my window so we chatted for a few minutes before he left and I got up. Did my chores and a walkaround, found one pair of tenters that came in late and were only here for the night, no biggie. Finally started getting Apollo ready for our trail marking ride today, but his hooves had grown so much since they were trimmed in February that I had to take the time to trim him. He had on section that had bent back to bad I had to clip it off sideways, but he was a trooper about it. I think he was happy to be going for a ride at first, but I’m not sure he was as happy by the time we got to mile ten! It was longer than I thought, and with all the stop starting, and pushing him into bushes and brambles to get close enough to a tree to paint it, but he was incredibly patient! What a great horse! We only averaged about 1.7 miles an hour, so we were out over five hours, and considering we didn’t get on the trail until 11:30, it was about 5:00 by the time he was put back into his paddock. A beautiful day, though, cooler temps and a pretty stiff breeze kept it comfortable. I managed to get almost the entire yellow trail done, except for some reason by GPS truncated the map I put on it, and the most confusing part of the trail wasn’t on there, so I’m going to have to go back and finish the last half a mile, if I have enough paint! Just about ran out of yellow, may have to get some more to finish it. Tomorrow my plan is to do the white trail, but I’ll have to take Flash since it’s a longer ride, and he’s not likely to be as patient, but we’ll see! Several campers left today, so it’s a bit quieter here, though I think James put law enforcement on alert with the problems I’ve been having with this one camper who has no consideration for his neighbors. Hope it doesn’t come to that, but who knows? Anyway, time for my last check on the gate, then my shower, make the bed since I did a little laundry tonight, and off to sleepland! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hiya Babe!
A great night sleep, a beautiful morning, so after chores and breakfast I saddled Flash to go for a quick ride before the heat and forecasted rain came in. I’ve been doing some more double-checking on those three areas of the trails that have been mis-mowed, and made a very detailed map so that I could once and for all make sure my temp markers were in the right place, so I downloaded that onto my GPS and we headed out. It was fairly short, less than 7 miles, but I did need to change a few markers bases on my findings, and even found ANOTHER spot that had been mis-mowed since 2020, but in a place where it really didn’t make any difference, and has since been permanently marked, so it’s not really worth changing it back. Glad I did it though, I have more confidence that I can lead the mowers to the ride place when we finally do that. I’ve offered to mow it myself with my own tractor and bush hog, but we’re still waiting for the answer to that, though the powers-that-be seem to more inclined to just have me go out with the contracted mower guys and show them the way. Whatever, as long as it gets done, I don’t care how we do it. I spent a little time putting some things away, but otherwise had a lazy afternoon, other than my usual rounds. The sisters camping across from me sound some rosary pea plants right between a couple of trees next to the paddocks, so I cordoned them off with some survey tape so I can show them to the volunteers on work day so they know what we’re trying to clear out. Apparently, the seeds are extremely poisonous to horses, so obviously we want to clear them out of here, along with some poison ivy that was found during the last work day. At 9:00, I got a call from Anita, the OTL folks had a meeting tonight about several things, not the least of which was getting me a reimbursement for my fuel, and although it was apparently a huge battle, our side finally won and they are going to be paying me after all, yay. They also got a new treasurer, can’t wait to hear what she finds out about how the books have been run during the previous guy’s tenure. He was apparently adamant again paying me, but he lost in the end. A bit of good news, at least. Took my final walk to check that the gate was locked, now it’s time for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Well, what an exciting and nail-biting adventure it’s been since yesterday morning! It all started out quite ordinary, with chores and breakfast, and several conversations with incoming campers before I was finally able to saddle up Flash and get him loaded in the trailer for our trip down to the Cypress Boardwalk. Today’s ride was going to be just about the final thread in the tapestry of our map, where I would GPS the eastern part of the orange OTL Hiking trail. Not surprisingly, it was considerably off from where the map said it was supposed to be, but it was close enough and well-marked enough where we didn’t have a problem following it. I’ve only seen it from the other end where it comes out at the border between Dupuis and Corbett, so it was nice to see it coming from the other way. Many parts of it were quite lovely and thick, with some open fields as well, and it was very enjoyable. Flash was brilliant, and after not being ridden for a few days, he was ready for a nice ride. The temps had cooled down the night before, so even though the humidity was high, there was a nice breeze and it was quite nice. We came back along mostly on firebreak type connectors just to verify their existence, and we covered a lot of ground, sixteen miles in all. We drove back to camp, arriving just after 3:30, got him rinsed off and put away, then puttered around for a bit. I had asked Steve over to share dinner, so I started to get that ready. Then one of the group campers came over and reported that one of their group had gone out for a short ride at about 1:00 and was overdue to come back to join them for a second rider at 4:00. We discussed it for a bit, but decided we needed to wait a bit longer before calling in the authorities. Their group saddled up and went out looking for her, but came back empty-handed. Finally, after we had dinner, at about 6:15 or so, Steve called Dillan, our local law enforcement guy, and he started us on the path to getting help. Within minutes we had half a dozen Martin County Sheriff’s cars in front of us. Just before they arrived, one of the women of the group discovered the lost rider had called her and left a message at 3:40 p.m., that she was lost, her phone was dying, so at least we knew she was okay up to that point. Before long, they had called in air support, i.e. a helicopter, to see if they could locate the woman, Brigette. It got dark. Not long after that FWC arrived with UTV’s and ATV’s, and they began scouring the area as well. This went on for hours. The Palm Beach Sheriff’s office sent THEIR helicopter too, both using thermal imaging, but with no luck at all. This went on into the night until after 3:00 in the morning, with the helo’s each refueling several times. Finally, after 3:30, everyone left to get ready for an all-out search in the morning. I had arranged with the other equestrian campers to have an organized posse go out to look for her starting at 7:30. I finally crawled into bed on top of my bedding, fully clothed, set my alarm for 6:00, and thankfully, managed to fall asleep. Those two hours were a great power nap, though, and when the alarm went off, I got up, fed the horses, had breakfast, got Flash saddled up and was ready by 7:15. Most of the group was close to being ready, so we gathered together and I assigned everyone a different trail to check. Just as we were breaking up, for them to finish saddling and for me to leave, we got word that they had likely found her, yet to be confirmed (but how many lost horses and riders were out there?), so we waited. As it turned out, it was her, she had traveled from the west side of the property to the east side, and evidently ran circles in between, ending up along the Powerline Grade where we finally arranged for me to put Flash away and go out with my little horse trailer and pick her up. She seemed to be no worse for the wear, had even managed to get a few hours sleep out there with her horse standing motionless beside her. Even though she reckoned the helos were looking for her, and she tried a couple of times to flag them down, they never spotted her! One of the ladies had packed her a sandwich and drinks, and one of the men came with me because he had an Apple phone, as did the detective that had her coordinates, and leave it to Apple, he couldn’t pass it onto my Android! But it was good, in case I needed have help getting the horse in the trailer, though a couple of ladies in the group said this horse (who we finally learned his name was Moonshine) didn’t have a problem loading in. We drove over and finally found the wayward woman, who seemed perfectly fine, though thoroughly embarrassed for causing such a ruckus. The cops took her to Gate 1 where the paramedics were waiting to check her out (though she insisted she didn’t need or want it), and we carried on to get her horse back to the barn, which a couple of folks from the group had readied the night before. The horse loaded fine, and unloaded fine, and dug into his hay bag the minute he went through the stall to the paddock. So a very happy ending to this saga, thank goodness! All the authorities cleared out, and things quickly quieted down in camp. Brigitte no doubt rested, the rest of the group (who had gotten more sleep) went out for a ride, and I stripped down and crawled into bed for another two hour power nap. After getting up, I tackled the job of trying to find the slow leak in my trailer tire, and after filling up the tire using one of the group’s compressors (both of mine are dead now), I finally discovered it was the valve stem, at the bottom where the rubber goes into the rim. Being Saturday, the tire shops in Indiantown were closed, so it will have to wait. The group had invited me to dinner, so after another walk around to see if anyone else came in (they hadn’t), and a conversation with Steve about the upcoming hand-over (which I asked to be delayed until tomorrow after a good night sleep would return some semblance of wits to me), I fed the horses and joined the group for dinner. We all learned some valuable lessons with this adventure. Though I carry saddlebags with me on just about every ride, with a first aid kit, thermal blanket, rain gear, etc., I realized that I don’t have a flashlight, or anything that could act as a strobe, which would be extremely valuable for catching the attention of a helicopter pilot. I might consider a small solar charger for my phone as well, since Brigitte’s phone died right after she made the call to her friend, so we couldn’t use it to triangulate her position. Otherwise, I think I’m pretty well set, though I’m sure the rest of the group is going to be adding to their saddle bags! They were all very complimentary about how we all handled the situation, but it was the least we could do. Part of the job, I guess, though Steve said he’s never had a rider get that lost before. I have to say, though, it will play out well with my ongoing proposal for better trail markings! James just had a meeting with them earlier this week and they were reluctant to put up intersection signs because of the maintenance issues, but this episode might just trump their concerns. We’ll at least try to use it for a bit of leverage, fingers crossed! After dinner, just for fun, I did my Snowy River to earn my meal, chatted for a bit, then finally came back to the trailer. I diverted long enough to blanket the horses, because the weather has changed dramatically, with temps going down to near 45 tonight, would you believe! By now, the horses have lost their winter coat, and Apollo’s summer coat is not even completely grown, so they’re going to need those blankets tonight! Finally took a long overdue hot shower, now I’m just about ready to head to bed, exhausted, but satisfied with the Happy Ending we all love so much! Time for bed! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hi Babe,
Again, it took me a long time to get to sleep last night, despite feeling tired a big part of the day! Oh, well, maybe it will straighten out one of these days. I think part of the problem is that the heat builds up inside the trailer during the day, and seems to take a long time cooling off, so I’m getting to be later because it’s too hot to sleep. Yesterday, Steve suggested that I run a long electrical cord and plug into power over by him, he didn’t think anyone would mind considering all the work I’ve done here. First, though, Flash and I had a long recon ride, nearly 18 miles today, confirming the entire White and Yellow trail, whose markings have been fading a lot over the years, so much so that there were several places where the mowers actually missed it and mowed new trails. In one case, what was on the map and what was on the ground was off quite a bit, and yet the paint on the trees was so faded, it was obviously a mistake made LONG, LONG AGO! Hopefully, by the time I get all this done, it will be a much better map, and also much better marked trails, at least that’s the goal! It was quite hot today, but thankfully there was a good breeze which helped a lot, and it started clouding up a bit, which was also good. There’s a front coming in that’s supposed to be bringing rain in the next few days, I can’t wait! We need it so bad! Maybe a little cooler temps, too. Got back from the ride, and after rinsing off both Flash and Apollo (he stands by the gate looking so forlorn I can’t help but give him a rinse to cool him off!), I went and pulled out every electrical cord I had to see if I could reach. I could, but a couple of the links didn’t have a ground pin, so it wasn’t working properly. Steve lent me one of his cords, and I happen to have an extra male plug in my junk drawer for my 100′ cord, so we managed to get it working with only three links extra links, which finally made it work okay. It’s only 20 amp, so not enough to run AC, but at least now I’ll be able to run floor fans and my paddle fans all night without running down the batteries, and that should save me considerably on propane costs. Finally settled down for the evening, almost finished with The Man In The High Castle, just ended an episode with a real twist at the end, can’t wait to see how it finished up tomorrow! Anyway, shower and bedtime! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

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!