Hi Babe,
What a fantastic and rare ride I had today! The group that have been my neighbors had invited me to join them on a linear ride from Deam Lake back to camp, and since they had room for me and Flash in one of their trailers, I decided to go, since I felt this chance might never come again. The morning started out auspiciously, with rain moving in right around 7:00, which was about the time everyone was getting up and getting ready, but it was over within an hour. It did delay our departure somewhat, but by the time we loaded up and drove the short trip to the Deam Lake Day Use Parking, the rain was gone, and other than a few remnants of fog, which eventually cleared up, and soon it was a gorgeous, albeit cool day. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long to figure out that the best place for me and Flash was in front with a spidey stick, otherwise I’d be fighting him all day. Most of the horses were stock, with one Rocky Mountain and one sometimes Tennessee Walker (he rarely gaited), so Flash and I left them behind for the most part, stopping and waiting for them regularly. The trip was nearly 19 miles, but it took over 6 ½ hours because of all the stops and breaks. I’ve come to realize that when it comes to these special opportunities, I just have to suck it up, even though Flash and I would have been quite happy to keep going, in which case the trip would have been more like about four hours for just us. But when you’re with a group that is drinking a case of beer along the way, the need for pit stops is apparent, so we just had to go with the flow. Still, it was a great trip, through some beautiful forest trails, though there were quite a few stretches on tarmac and gravel roads as well. Got back to camp earlier than they had expected (I think the other horses were trying somewhat to keep up with Flash, or at least not to get too far behind), but at the last stop at a place the locals call Table Top, all the other horses were dead tired, and Flash was still hopping around because he knew how close we were to camp and wanted to get on with it. He kept turning in circles, and was very glad when the rest of the group finally mounted up and we got on the last stretch home. Most of the trail was pretty easy, but then we hit the steeps hills at the end, so I can see the advantage of doing it in reverse, getting the hills out of the way while the horses were still fresh. They were pretty tired on the home stretch, and to start doing these steep hills, particularly when they were so slick from the recent rain, was a bit dicey. But everyone made it back safe, with only one upset when someone’s saddle slid too far forward going down a hill, but nothing serious. After putting the horses away, we all sat around the campfire and had a nice meal fixed by those who stayed in camp. Eventually, I left the circle to call it a night, put the heavy blankets on the horses again since it’s supposed to be in the upper 40’s again tonight, and came in and settled in for a brief evening. Now I’m off to shower and bed. Lola didn’t come with me today, but she played hard with the group, so she’s off in bed already, too. So good night, my darling! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Another excellent night sleep, though I had to close all the windows and run the furnace for a few minutes to warm it up before going to bed, and even though I had the thermostat turned down really low, it came on this morning for a bit, so I knew it got cold out last night! Somewhere in the upper 40’s! Was glad I put the winter blankets on the horses last night! Did a little computer work this morning, then saddled up Flash for our first ride. Meanwhile, I acquired a neighbor, a man named Art, we chatted a few minutes before I set off. I had mapped out a ride on my GPS, and managed to follow it for the most part, though there were a couple of intersections with renegade trails that weren’t marked, and I guessed wrong on one, but quickly turned back when I realized I was clearly going off the reservation! The trails are surprisingly steep for Indiana, considering the rest of the state is so flat, but we had some real climbs which were complicated by all the rain. Lots of mud, not stones or gravel, thank goodness, but from the looks of the piles of gravel being brought in, it kind of looks like someone’s planning on laying a LOT of gravel on the trail. The blue trail closest to the campground has been completely bulldozed, and as you know, trail by bulldozer is NOT my favorite. It just made the muddy area wider and worse, in my opinion. Once I got on to the more distant trails, though, it improved because it hadn’t been bulldozed. The green loop was pretty nice, though steep in some places, and my favorite trail is actually one that is marked closed because they’re expecting to start logging soon, but haven’t yet, which is why I took it now. That was really a lovely trail, more gentle slopes and very pretty. At one point, I ran into Art, who evidently thought I might get myself lost so he came out to find me, but of course, I wasn’t lost. He came back part of the way with me, but Flash just kept outrunning his quarterhorse, and eventually, after a long climb, he said he needed to rest his horse, so I went on without him. I had no trouble finding my way back camp, and took a long route whereas he took a shortcut, but I still got back to camp just before him. Flash was wonderful, though I could tell he didn’t really like all the slipping and sliding, but he still stayed pretty calm most of the time. He didn’t like slowing down to wait for Art, though, which is why I eventually just had to keep going. It was a cool day, but I wore lots of layers so it was fine. It’s supposed to be warming up in the next few days. Art says that he has a group of friends coming in, and they’re planning an all day ride starting down at Deam Lake and riding all the way back up here. It’s less than ten miles as the crow flies, but I imagine it’s close to twice that on the trails. I might join them, not sure yet. Anyway, settled down for the evening, another trailer came in who are part of the group, but I stayed home tonight, figure I’ll socialize tomorrow when more of the group comes in. Meanwhile, it’s time for a shower, I need to wash my hair and to get it somewhat dry before I go to bed, considering it’s supposed to be even colder tonight. I’ve been wearing my wool hat to bed, though, so it’s fine! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Started out a bit chilly this morning, glad I put the blankets on the horses last night! Spent the morning doing my knee PT and my Egoscue exercises, which I haven’t done in awhile. Felt good when I was done, though I had to be dressed in a sweatshirt outside! Don’t think it ever reached 70, and almost decided not to ride today because I just couldn’t seem to warm up, but I finally decided to take Apollo on the camp loop, which the locals refer to as the “kids loop” because it’s only about 2.3 miles long. I wanted to stretch Apollo’s legs, but it was still cool in the forest, so I thought that would be just right, and it was. I took his boots but didn’t put them on because I didn’t remember seeing a lot of stones last time, so it all worked out. Lola got a little exercise along with the rest of us, too. The only downside was someone was mowing the lawn nearby, so we had to listen to that the whole way, not exactly the quiet getaway we were hoping for, but it was nice nevertheless. Did a lot of French lessons today, started a new series of books, and relaxed most of the day other than the usual chores. I actually gave up on a series of books I was reading, and wrote a rather negative review on it, truly I couldn’t go on with it, and you know me, that’s unusual that I don’t slog through a book, I just couldn’t take this guy’s writing anymore. Slower than watching grass grow, really! The new series I started moves along so fast, it’s so refreshing! Anyway, I’ve already had my shower, another few French lessons, about ready for bed. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hi Sweetie,
A wonderful night sleep without earplugs, it was so quiet in camp, it was delightful! Had kind of a lazy morning, then finally got around to saddling up Flash. Got delayed leaving camp, though, got into a conversation with a guy who happen to stop in camp, and he was a chatty fellow so it was awhile before we finally left camp. My intention today was to knock off the last few trails that I had previously missed, plus rehome the beautiful painted rock that Alison gave me, but it wasn’t as enjoyable a ride as I had hoped. For starters, to do the west trails, the shortest distance requires you to take a good half mile along gravel roads through farmland, and cross a relatively busy asphalt road. I had to put Lola on a leash just to be safe, and then when we got to the section I was trying to map, I ended up getting lost. In fact, I got lost half a dozen times because there are so many renegade trails out here that aren’t on the map, and the main trails sometimes don’t have good markings at the intersections with the renegade trails, so the result is inevitably getting lost! At one point, I was getting way off the reservation, thank goodness I have a GPS, or who knows where I would have ended up! Not a happy camper today, I’m afraid. It was practically 4:00 by the time we got back. It had been my plan to go shopping today, but it was so late now, I decided to go tomorrow instead. Flash was pretty sluggish at first, eventually I put his boots on because he was so hesitant whenever he saw rocks, and that helped a little bit. I think he’s just bored with doing the same old trails, just like me. He finally picked up his tempo when we were headed back east again, but even so, he was pretty sluggish. The western section has a lot of logs left on the trails, evidently the local hunt club likes them to jump over, and Flash also jumped a lot, which, considering I’ve never had any jumping training, was a bit intimidating, but I’m starting to get the hang of. Flash is actually a good jumper, but I’m not going to go over anything that’s very tall, not when I’m out riding on my own! Anyway, once we got back to camp, it wasn’t long before I heard thunder, so I got the horses fed early and everything put away before the rain finally hit. It was quite a bit of rain and thunder and lightning, but nothing very destructive, fortunately. That continued through the evening, finally tapering off around ten. They needed it here, though, it’s been quite awhile since they’ve had any rain. I settled down and binge-watched a bunch of episode of Manifest, they just released their third season so I followed that story all night. Anyway, now it’s time for shower and bed, and shopping in the morning. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Had a great night sleep (with earplugs tonight!), got chores and breakfast done, and since I had already decided to try the new Ridge Trail here, and the poker run was along the Ridge trail, I decided to put up my five dollars and play a hand. Then I discovered that, unlike most poker runs where the cards are out along the trail, this was all done in the pavilion before even going out on the ride! I guess they didn’t have enough volunteers or something, but I didn’t have much of a hand anyway, so then it just became about the ride. It was only about six miles round trip, so off Apollo and I went. It was a nice ride, the new trail is still a bit rough in spots, some trees were down, and several times I stopped to pull small but annoying stuff out of the way. I ran into a lot of other groups, and joined one group for awhile, had some nice chats along the way. Got back to camp and relaxed in the afternoon (so glad I did my cooking yesterday!), then headed toward the pavilion, stopping at Paul’s trailer right behind me. He introduced me to a couple of ladies there, and when we got talking, they promptly wanted to buy a couple of books from me, which I was happy to sell them. Finally got up to the pavilion, where we had a nice dinner, though I have a LOT of leftover macaroni salad left over, darn it! No deviled eggs, though, there are never any of those leftover. So I’ll be eating macaroni salad for the rest of the week, I’m afraid. I had decided to buy some of the 50/50 raffle tickets earlier, and was astonished when I actually won! A nice tidy little sum, too! I immediately donated a twenty right back, before I even knew how much was there, but it’s more than half my camping fee, plus with the sale of the books, it just about covers my two weeks here, for which I am grateful! Every little bit helps keep me going! I brought the same two ladies back to the trailer because they wanted to see it, then we headed across the road to a campfire full of folks, so I did my Snowy River for them, and at another campfire as well, before I came back and got Lola to take her for a walk. She’s been so cooped up I’m sure she’s going stir crazy, but it can’t be helped, too may people on the trail to take her. Finally got back home, how I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Despite going to be pretty early, I slept late this morning. I thought the noise of the busy camp would wake me up, but I think most folks had a late night and slept in, too. This would be a good crowd for brother Jeff, there is a lot of drinking and smoking and tokin’ going on. Michigan legalized recreational marijuana, and I’ve caught many a whiff of it since I’ve been here, despite the fact there are a lot of kids around, too. Anyway, got my chores and breakfast done, then saddled up Flash and headed out for a nice 12+ mile ride, picking off a few more trails we hadn’t done yet. Because I knew the trails would be busy, and would likely have youngsters, both horses and humans, on them, I decided to leave Lola home, just in case. Not that she would have bothered anyone, but some people get a bit freaked out when they see ANY dog, and I didn’t want to cause a ruckus. It was a wonderful ride, Flash did fabulous, we barely got lost (only one renegade trail, but that ended up where we needed to go anyway), so it was all good! I’ll give these Michiganders their due, they know how to make you smile on the trail. Every once in awhile you’ll see something along the way, like a carving on a tree, a painted rock that says ‘Be Happy’ or a little plastic hedgehog stuck in a hollow in a dead tree looking out at you, and it just can’t help but bring a smile to your face! Tomorrow is the poker run, though I don’t know if I’ll join or not, we’ll see. After we got back and I put Flash back on his line, I had dinner (including a fabulous ear of sweet corn that my neighbor gave me!), and then I got busy doing my cooking for the dinner tomorrow. I made a nice macaroni salad and some deviled eggs. Once I got that all done, I went and sat with another group of my neighbors and chatted for a bit, with Lola at my side since I had neglected her all day. Finally headed back to the trailer, now I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up to a beautiful morning! Cool and sunny, just gorgeous! Before even getting out of bed I called the RV guy that had promised to call by the end of the day yesterday (and didn’t), and he said he didn’t have anyone that could come out, so I made a couple more calls, and couldn’t find anyone. As the DNR guys drove through I asked them, they suggested I message the local horsemen’s club, which I did, and got a very quick answer from Chad, the president, who said he’d be by later today to help. Meanwhile, I got a call back from one RV guy, Smitty, who didn’t have time to come see me but answered some diagnostic questions I had so I could narrow down my search, and voila! That made all the difference! I should have known it would have been something simple, and once he explained the system, I found the problem, just a simple loose wire in my trunk of wires that lead from the trailer to the truck. I had rewired them before, and actually, that was the next place I was going to check, and as soon as I took off the outer tape from my repair, I found the loose wire that had come out of the shrink wrap crimp connector. It’s a job that really needs three hands, and I think that’s what went wrong before, but Butch came over and lent me a hand, so it was done properly this time. Everything started working as soon as I got it reconnected, yay! Well, I assume everything will work again, the noise from the brake is more like a chirp than a buzz now, but I’m hoping that has to do with not being attached to the truck, but we’ll see. At least I know the controller is working now, so I’m expecting the brakes to work as well. I messaged Chad to let him know I had fixed the problem, and now, with no worries, I saddled up Apollo and took a six plus mile ride. I chose a few trails I hadn’t taken yet, and they were mostly lovely. We left camp without his boots on, but after awhile it seemed like a lot of the trails were rockier, so I put his boots on (I had brought them with me), and he seemed much more comfortable after that. It was a great ride, though we started and finished later in the day than usual, but that was fine. Got back around 4:00, but by the time I got everyone settled in it was closer to 5:00, so I grilled a steak and had a nice dinner. Settled in for the evening, after a lovely ride and a productive day (SO glad my brakes are back on track!), so now I’m ready for my shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Had a great night sleep, without earplugs, yay! No trains or traffic nearby, just the sound of night insects, there was no one else in camp, and the temps dropped down to perfect sleeping weather, couldn’t have asked for a better first night. After chores this morning, I spent a little time trying to diagnose my brake problem, with no luck, so then I reached out to a mobile RV service that’s only 20 minutes away, and he said he would get back to me today about whether he had someone he could send. Unfortunately he didn’t, but I’ll call again in the morning to see if there’s a chance. Meanwhile, I saddled up Flash, put his boots in the saddle bags rather than on him, since a hiker that was here yesterday told me there aren’t too many stones here, but I took them anyway just in case. Just as we were setting off, a big deer came right into the campground grazing for a bit, but ran off as we started to move out. Flash was in an energetic mood today. Not sure if it was because of the cooler temps, lower humidity, not having to wear boots, or maybe the high percentage of alfalfa in this last batch of hay I bought, but he was definitely in the mood to move today! While they use the same great intersection numbering system I’ve grown to love here in Michigan, they didn’t execute it entirely, there are a number of poorly marked intersections and renegade trails around, so naturally, I got lost a couple of times. Took one trail twice when it circled around, and completely missed another trail that led us onto a gravel road that we had to follow in order to find our way back to the next trail. Other than that, though, it was a fabulous ride! A beautiful forest, a few steeper grades than we’ve been seeing lately, which was fun, and the far west trail was like a trail challenge course, with logs down every few yards! Flash was brilliant today! I gave him a loose rein practically the whole way, let him make his own decisions as to speed and alternate trails, and at one point, he had a choice between a bridge and a water crossing and on his own volition, he headed straight for the bridge! He did a great job today, it was such a pleasure to ride him today. We even saw a big snake on the trail, and we usually both miss those, but this one was slow to cross and even Flash noticed him (though I don’t think Lola did). It was a longer ride than I had planned, and he certainly was ready to get back to camp, as was Lola, who thoroughly enjoyed herself, too. The temps were perfect, the woods were thick and cool, couldn’t have asked for a better day. The rest of the week looks like it will be more of the same, so I can see us getting a lot of riding in this week! Got back to camp, put Flash up, then got out Lola’s pool and used the last of the truck tank water to fill it, then went up to the solar well pump and filled up the truck tank, so that should last for a bit. Later on, a big old truck with a guy named Butch showed up with a load of logs, evidently he’s stocking up for the weekend when a bunch of folks are coming in. Another RV had come in which I hadn’t noticed already, so it looks like I’ll be getting a lot of company in the coming days. I’ll be glad when the season is over and I’ll have places like this to myself, though having a bit of company might be good for book sales :-). Anyway, I settled down for the evening, now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe,
A pretty good night sleep, though I was woken up early by a phone call. I had changed by Do Not Disturb time to an hour earlier in case Mike, Jeff’s neighbor called, about picking up the mower deck I bought the other day. Unfortunately it wasn’t him, it was Dan, who told me last night he wanted to ride but couldn’t get here until 3:00. I told him I was riding in the morning and going to the beach in the afternoon, which is what I did. Flash and I did a pretty short ride, though, it was so hot and buggy, and Flash was reluctant, and I discovered it was because his foot bulbs were raw again, despite using the socks Cavallo sent me, sorry to say! He’ll need some time for those to heal, so I’m hoping the next place has less rocks so maybe I can get away without boots. Not a bad ride, just that I had to put on another layer of Off! Spray about every 15 minutes, the mosquitoes were SO BAD!! Got back to camp, and immediately after putting Flash up I changed into my bathing suit and Lola and I headed for the beach, where we ended up staying until about 6:30. Dan never showed up, a comedy of errors starting with the fact he showed up without letting me know when he was coming, then hung around the trailer for way too long before finally coming over to the beach without telling me that was what he was doing, then couldn’t find me (the beach is only about 150 yards long! And I was where all the dogs were, not that hard to figure out!), then my phone died, yada yada yada. He apparently gave up because he was gone by the time I got back to camp and got my phone on charge. Just as well, really, it seemed he had some grand plan he failed to let me in on, and I DON’T like surprises or playing head games, and that seems to be all I’m getting from him. Don’t need that kind of irritation and annoyance in my life! Enjoying myself by myself, thank you very much! Settled down for the evening, then after 8:00 Mike arrived, and we unloaded his truck, got the mower deck in, and reloaded everything. So now Jeff will have his mower deck in a few days, hope he’s happy about that! And remembers to pay me for it when I get down there later this year! Enjoyed the rest of a good movie, had a glass of wine, now it’s late and I’m heading to shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!