Hi Babe!
Had a tiny bit of water on my window sill this morning, but it looks like it might have just been from the seal between the fixed window and the slider, but I’ll have to wait for another rain before I can be sure. Meanwhile, it was a beautiful day, so after doing a bunch of stuff in the morning, I finally saddled up Flash midday and headed out to the western side of the park. Flash had lots of energy today, and when we got to a long, long stretch down a utility line, he decided to canter most of it, and fast-gaited the rest, nearly 1.75 miles! Then we turned on to #23, which is a beautiful trail, and that took us to #18, and I took the loop side down to the lake so Lola and Flash could both get a drink. I saw a beautiful deer by the side of the lake just after leaving the watering spot, and the rest of the trip back to camp was equally beautiful. Saw another deer very near camp as well. Stopped to talk to the ladies at the bottom, and learned that their night sleep was disrupted last night by what apparently was a bear banging around the bathroom and the dumpster. I never heard a thing, though Lola did bark a bit at one point, which she does often, so I’m never sure if it just a mouse or a raccoon or something more. Doesn’t matter, I’m pretty safe inside my trailer, though one of the ladies down there is just sleeping in a tent on the back of her pickup truck, so I can’t blame her for being a bit nervous about it. Anyway, got back to camp, got the horses settled, as well as myself, had a nice quiet evening, now it’s time for shower and bed! Another fabulous ride, a great day, beautiful weather, just what I seek! Supposed to rain tomorrow, but that’s fine, I need a day to catch up on my paperwork, I’ve gotten really behind on my bookkeeping and such. Might have to drive in to the post office as well, I ordered something on Amazon, thought it was coming with Prime, but they sent it USPS, and I doubt they’ll deliver to an “unofficial” address like the one I have right now! We’ll see! I tried to call them, but no one answered, though I let it ring until it hung itself up, did that for nearly an hour but nothing. I also had a conversation with brother Jeff, we went through the mail and there are some he’s going to forward me to that post office as well, but that won’t get here for a few days (assuming he gets it out in a reasonable time!). Anyway, enough about my day. Time to go! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Baby,
Had another good night sleep, spent the morning doing chores, then finally decided to work on the leaky bedroom window. I was happy to discover that once I removed the hole covers (only one was a real problem, thank goodness), it was an easy job to remove the entire window sash and every that was attached to it in one go. Then I tightened up the top screws, which I’m hoping will be the solution to the problem. If it still leaks after this, the only other thing I can think of is to replace the entire window. If I do that, I think I’ll change it out to an emergency-type window like I have on the other side, purely because I’ll be able to leave it open when it rains and get more fresh are through here. It’s been so cold and rainy this week it’s feeling a bit stuffy in here because I haven’t been able to open the windows. Even on the nice days, it’s only warm for a few hours before a chill sets in again. I’d rather have it warm than fresh at the moment! The point is, at least I’ve got that done, as much as I can, fingers crossed it solves the problem! I also did a few more odd jobs while I was waiting for Sandy and Bill, who showed up right at 11:00. Got the horses saddled, though I had to re-rig my spare Western saddle again, still not sure I’m doing it right, but it served the purpose for today. We went just over 10 miles, and three hours. We headed west of the Michigan Hiking and Riding trail until we got a few roads down, then headed south on the road until we hit the ORV trail, then east again until we got to the entrance to the camp. It went a lot slower than yesterday, we really didn’t do any cantering or fast gaiting, though Bill got a lot of canters in on Apollo, who wouldn’t let our two gaited horses out of his sight, naturally! Got back about 3:00, Sandy loaded up her mare, she got all of her stuff as well as some things I gave her, and they headed off about 4:00, leaving me on my own again. I did some packing up, then just enjoyed the peace and quiet. Settled down for the evening, and once again, am ready for my shower and bed, looking forward to getting back to Hungerford tomorrow, where I’ll FINALLY be able to get back on the internet and get some work done! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetheart,
Had a good night sleep, but had set my alarm early to make sure I was ready to go when Sandy got here. We had agreed between 9 and 10:00, though I had emphasized that earlier was better, so I was all set and ready to go by just after 9:00. By 10:00 I had Flash all saddled and ready to go. By 10:25, still no sign of Sandy, and since I don’t have any cell service, I didn’t know if that meant she was late or not coming at all, I set out on my own. You know how much patience I developed with you over the years, how much waiting I had to do with you just with everyday living and I know you won’t begrudge me saying that since you’ve been gone, I’ve let that slip a bit. I’m sorry (not really), but life is too short, and I’m really not interested in wasting any more of it waiting for other people who don’t respect MY time. So Flash and I set off to find what I believed (and later found out I was wrong) the Shore-to-Shore trail. We went out the same way as yesterday, but turned on the first trail (well, really a sandy road) and headed west. It was wide and sandy, and it wasn’t long before we started running into ATV’s, dirt bikes and side-by-sides (who didn’t know about yielding to horses, so I had to educate a few people today). Eventually I saw that this was primarily designated for those machines, but I still thought it was a multi-use trail. Eventually, I got bored with it, though, and finally found a side trail that I realized was actually considered a forest road. Double track, but mostly grass and not very much used, actually quite nice. By now, because of the late start, my plan for a 15-mile ride was out the window, and frankly, this forest is rather boring, I headed back to camp, and because Flash was pretty randy today, we did a couple miles of galloping, cantering and fast-gaiting, arriving at about 12:30 and at 9.66 miles. Sandy was there riding her horse around the campground, she said she arrived around 10:30, so she obviously just missed me. Probably good that she had a chance to ride on her own, though, her mare is still pretty inconsistent with her gait and we haven’t really found a happy medium that’s comfortable for us both yet. I still wanted to make the 1:00 demonstration at the Lumbermen’s Memorial (my agenda today was to ride in the morning and spend the afternoon there), so I grabbed a sandwich and headed out. I didn’t want to rush Sandy, but she managed to be ready by the time I left, and we arrived just as the demonstration was starting. It lasted about 40 minutes, with ax-throwing, log carving, and log rolling, among other things, after which Sandy left and Lola and I proceeded to walk the grounds. There’s a Discovery Trail through the forest that was nice, and another trail along the cliff overlooking the AuSable River that was lovely. Several outbuildings were very educational, and there’s a beautiful bronze statue of a typical logging crew. That took us up to the 3:00 demonstration, so Lola and I went to see it again just for fun. There was a smaller crowd so they cut it down to just 30 minutes. Then I spent a few minutes on my computer since I had a signal there and then headed back to camp, changed my pants, then headed down to Sandy and Bill’s for a nice rib dinner with them and another couple of friends. It was a great meal and we had lively conversation, then I left a bit after 8:00, knowing I had horses to feed before it got dark. Accomplished that, but it took till almost 9:30, very little time to “settle down” for the evening, just enough time to write in my diary, take a shower and go to bed! Whew! What a day! And another busy one scheduled for tomorrow! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Had my best night sleep in a long time! No earplugs, no rain, no restless Lola, and I was asleep by around ten and slept straight through to seven! Yoohoo! I even stayed in bed to read awhile, because it was so cold out, and the furnace even clicked on for a short while this morning, even though I had it set way low. I had to pull out the winter quilt, though, my other two blankets weren’t enough the night before. Anyway, that got me off to a good start this morning. I cranked up the generator (using the BeatIt, of course!), and started my first load of laundry. It was a nice sunny day for a change and I haven’t done laundry for awhile, so I got right on it. Three loads later, I had everything up on the line when Sandy showed up. We chatted for a while, then got busy saddling the horses for our first ride out here. Though I had made us a GPS route, somehow I got off on the wrong trail, and before I figured it out, we were way off in the opposite direction, but it didn’t matter, I was going to explore this side anyway. We traversed through a lot of pine trees with a lot of markings on them, so it didn’t really have the feel of a wild forest, more like a tree farm, but it was not a bad ride. Lots of trees had fallen so we had a lot of diversions, but nothing serious. We rode almost four miles to we got to a busy road, and since Lola was with us, I didn’t want to attempt crossing it so we headed back. Footing was fine, there was one wide utility easement where Sandy wanted to canter, so we did that (and some galloping, too!), for a lot further than Flash usually goes. I think he might just be showing off for the mare! When we got back to camp we let them all graze for awhile while I took my laundry off the line. After Sandy left I drove down to the Monument parking lot to check my emails and take care of a little business, a slow signal but at least I got one bar of 4G for a change. Got back to camp and settled down for the evening. I told Sandy I was leaving on Monday and to bring her trailer so she can take her horse home. It just doesn’t make sense for me to stay here when I can’t get cell service, and there aren’t that many trails, although, oddly, after I downloaded my GPS information, it seems we weren’t actually on the Shore-to-Shore trail after all, or else their maps are REALLY off. I think maybe we were on more of a hiking trail. I’ll figure it out tomorrow, now that I have a reference point. But considering how far away from everything I am, especially Sandy, and we can’t do all the things we were going to do, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of point to staying here. I’ll head back to Hungerford, where I know there are lots of trails, I now know where to park to get a good cell signal, plus I’ve arranged for my truck to be fixed (the body work after the limb fell on the hood at Jeff’s, plus a few other odd scratches and dents I’m hoping to get done as well), and I’m only 15 minutes to everything in town, instead of forty like I am now. Sandy can always come over and join me whenever she wants, it’s only about 2 ½ hours away. Anyway, I’ve watched a movie, and now I’m going to shower and get to bed early again, it did me so much good last night, I’m hoping to repeat the experience! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Well, after sleeping so late yesterday and not doing much during the day, I couldn’t get to sleep even though I still felt tired when I went to bed. It was a fitful night at best. And I didn’t even have any wine last night, you know how sometimes that wakes me up in the middle of the night, but that wasn’t it either. Oddly, a large group of riders headed out of camp at about 11:20 p.m., and didn’t come back until almost 1:30 in the morning! I guess it was a true midnight ride! It certainly wasn’t a full moon ride, I don’t think there was a moon at all last night, it seemed pitch dark to me! Not something I’d want to do, but hey, it takes all kinds to make a world! Fortunately, I woke up at 7:30 and made myself get up even though I felt tired, I just have to have a normal day to see if I can get back on track! After chores and breakfast, I saddled up Apollo for a short ride, just to finish off a couple of trails that I had missed during the week, very straightforward ones that amounted to just over five miles. In a way, I made it sort of an homage to you, my love, since it was Apollo I rode here when we were here last together, it seemed fitting to have my last ride here on Apollo again. Once we got back I let him graze awhile, and Flash for a bit, too, while I started to pack up for our departure tomorrow. I spaced it out throughout the day, not that there was that much to do, but tried to relax and read in between, just to space the chores out. Got everything done that I can get done, the truck is lined up but not hooked up because there’s a little slope and I don’t want to be leaning on my head overnight. I’m going to watch a movie tonight, something I haven’t done for awhile, hoping it will help get me back into my normal cycle. I ate early, though, sausage on the grill, salad, and some macaroni and cheese. Trying to get rid of all the junk food in the house, though I’m happy to say that I’m down about six pounds from where I was before Loretta Lynn’s, surprising considering how much food I ate while I was there! At least I’m headed in the right direction! Anyway, I’m settling down for the evening, it was another hot day but it’s starting to cool down now, a short shower came through before, nothing serious. So good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
I can’t believe Trish and I put on another 16 miles today! Again, a lot were on new trails, which was my plan, and each and every trail had it’s own unique characteristics that made it memorable in it’s own way. What an incredible place this is! This is one of the few places I’ve been where I can honestly say it would take me a long time to get tired of it. Though I’ve managed to do most of the trails, it would take another week to do them all again backward, and then the variety of options available to switch routes is simply awe-inspiring. I gotta say, this place goes to the top of my list! All fabulous footing, only ran in to very rare spots of gravel that never lasted long, deep forests, rows of pines, fabulous 300+ year old trees with widespread branches that seem to go on forever, I just can’t say enough good things about this place! Around every corner seemed to be a whole new feeling. I’ve also arranged to get a few freshly-baled hay from the weekend camphost’s family, which is a load off my mind. I’ve also decided to stay an extra day because the store that has my Balancer is closed on Monday because of the holiday, and rather than drive to Sandy’s, then have to turn around and make a 90 minute round trip the next day to pick them up just doesn’t make sense to me, so I’m going to take a couple of days off to recover from all this riding! Though I still might take Apollo for a short ride to a couple of segments of trails, which is about all I have left to do, and I have one or two small repair jobs on the trailer I can get done tomorrow and Monday as well, but it will be much quieter here after the weekend, no doubt! Since I hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer, we decided to run into town and have a meal for a change, opted for a nice little Mexican restaurant next to the Walmart, where I filled up with fuel even though they weren’t affiliated with the Walmart and I couldn’t use my shopping card for a discount. A nice meal, though, we were both starving! Trish is leaving in the morning, but finally decided to take a shower, so I refilled my water tanks, both in the trailer and the truck (which I ‘ve been using to fill up the horses’ water bins), so I should be able to put hoses away, as well as most of my tack. It was a bit warmer today, but not at all uncomfortable, that’s certainly contributed to the spiritual experience we’ve been having, which is what it’s been feeling like. Sensory overload on the color green!! It’s been a fabulous, busy week here, and have enjoyed every minute with my company, but will enjoy it being quiet for a couple of days as well. Well, signing off, ready to take my shower and go to bed, for sure! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hello my love!
What a day! I’m getting so many trail miles in here, it’s ridiculous! Started off the day with a 14.22 ride with Trish and Sandy, covering a nice mix of the western and central part of the forest, absolutely gorgeous again! Had a lovely lunch, thanks to Trish, when we got back, then Sandy headed home, she’s got a busy weekend planned, then after about an hour and a half’s rest, we saddled up again, though this time I took Apollo, since the poor guy has been left behind when all the gaited horses have gone out, and Trish was happy to keep Breezy nice and slow, and we went for another six plus mile ride, this time covering the whole southeastern section of the forest. I was trying to find the boardwalks that Sandy and I found the other day, we were in a bit of a disagreement as to where they were, and Trish and I found them, right where I thought they would be (sorry, Sandy!). Of course, it was a slower ride, but that section had a lot more hills than we’ve seen before. It’s amazing, every trail has it’s own individual characteristics, so much variety, it never gets boring! I hope the locals appreciate what they have here, I’ve got to put this place near the very top of my list for outstanding trail riding! Once we got back, we walked up to the camp host, who came in for the weekend and is on the board of the local club that keeps this place in order, and we had a nice chat. She gave me a new map which included a couple of new trails, and is helping arrange for me to get a couple of bales of hay to get me through to Sandy’s, I’m running a bit low and don’t want to run out before I get there! Anyway, it was a busy day full of lovely riding, beautiful weather once again, another day of perfect living! Trish has already gone off to bed, it’s supposed to be a bit warmer tomorrow so she wants to get an early start, so I’m heading off to the shower and bed shortly, too. Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Darlin’!
What a day! It started out slow, but once things started happening, it was non-stop today! Didn’t sleep all that well, Lola was restless, but eventually got around to it. After chores and breakfast, I discovered that I could get a good cell signal two sites up from me, so I did a bit of work on my phone at that table. Eventually, Sandy arrived with her daughter and granddaughters. Sandy had decided that she wasn’t up for riding today after all the miles she did yesterday (she still has to strengthen her horse muscles!), so we saddled up my two horses, and first I took the daughter on about a 30 minute ride, then took the younger granddaughter on a shorter ride, with them riding Apollo, of course. The granddaughter was a bit reluctant, so I ended up having to pony her most of the way, but eventually she gained enough confidence to come into camp on her own. We chatted for awhile, waiting for Trish, who had gotten stuck in horrific construction traffic so was running really late, and Sandy and her brood left, only to return a short while later just behind Trish, who finally found her way here. Sandy left right after to spend the day with her family, and Trish and I got her and her horse Breezy set up on a makeshift highline, which apparently she’s never done before, but I managed to piece together something that would work just fine. Once everyone was settled in, we saddled up and took the twelve plus mile ride I had planned for Sandy, which turned out to stunningly gorgeous. I just can’t say enough about how pleasurable it is to ride here. There is a great variety in the forest, but there isn’t one single trail that I’ve been on that I can complain about. The least attractive trail here would be considered a very acceptable trail anywhere else. As you know, my standards are pretty high when it comes to trails, and I just can’t say enough good things about these! Trish felt the same way, she said it’s been years since she’s been on trails this nice. We got back to camp around 8:00, got everyone fed and put away, I did a little bit of work on my computer while I briefly had a signal, we shared a glass of wine, Trish headed off to bed and I’m just doing my usual evening ritual, though no TV tonight for sure, much too late! Heading off now for my shower and bed, later than I would have liked, but there’s just so little time between daylight and bedtime, it’s so hard to get use to! Anyway, I’m off! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Well, everything we loved about this place when we came here so many years ago has held up! The trails are spectacular, beautiful footing, fabulous greenery, no extremes, lots of single track trails, even the forest roads don’t have much gravel on them, so it was an absolutely outstanding ride today! Sandy fed the horses while I did my PT this morning, then after breakfast we hit the trails. I had planned a nice, almost 10 mile ride around the eastern half of the park, figured we’d do the western half tomorrow and whatever’s left over the next day. It was wonderful. Flash and her mare got along great, we’d switch leaders intermittently, and her mare was getting more and more calm. In addition to puddles, we crossed a number of small boardwalks with no hesitation on either horses’ part, and just had a fantastic time. Lola came along on this trip today, and she had a great time, too! Got back to camp a bit after noon, rinsed the horses down and settled down for a bit. It’s a bit tough here because there’s no real cell phone signal, but at one point I went up to the other side of camp, which sits a little higher, and managed to get a good enough signal there to check my email and make a few phone calls. Extremely disappointed to learn that the three bags of feed I THOUGHT I ordered last week were not, in fact, ever ordered, and then I heard a bunch of conflicting stuff about whether they carried it or didn’t carry it, but just didn’t have any, yada yada yada. They finally did some checking and said they could get it here by Monday, too late to do me any good. I finally managed to locate some, I can either have Sandy pick some up at Tractor Supply on her way home on Friday in Midland, or I can wait and get it at another place in Standish, wherever that is, though it’s supposed to be fairly close to Sandy’s house. Anyway, I’m not going to have any before I run out, probably. I might scrape through, but it’s going to be mighty close. Then I got a text from Trish who’s desperate for someplace to ride, but apparently the forecast in Indiana is not good, but here it’s fantastic (even chilly at night!), so in the end, she succumbed to temptation and is packing up to drive up tomorrow. Should be quite the reunion! Later Sandy said she didn’t think she’d be up to riding tomorrow (I guess ten miles was too much for her, needs to get her horse muscles back in shape!), but is bringing her family out in the morning to meet the mare. That’s fine, I’m sure Trish will want to ride in the afternoon, especially after such a disappointing trip to Wranglers a few weeks ago. Anyway, it was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, perfect trails, one of those miraculously fantastic days that makes me happy to be alive and doing what we always loved to do! Heading now for shower and bed, it only just got dark at nearly 10:00, so hard to think about bed when it’s still light outside! Makes me feel like a kid! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Woke up early, once again (like yesterday) opted for no breakfast except a protein bar for later on (I’ve been losing a little weight, thank goodness!), and it took less than an hour to get everything put away and the horses all loaded up and cleaned up after. I was just getting ready to pull out when a park guy showed up about the breaker, well, to ask if anyone had helped me with it, which, of course, they had not. We chatted briefly, then he went off and I pulled out. Another beautiful morning, though about a half hour into the drive, just when I was coming off the first U.S. Hwy onto the interstate, which happened to be under construction so less lanes, when the first downpour hit. Not my favorite driving, but I was super careful and got through it okay. It tapered off, but stayed with me more gently for a long time, until we finally shook it off shortly before reaching camp, which was around 12:30. Made good time because of all the freeway driving. I parked in the same spot we parked last time we were here, near the water source. I considered a couple of areas that were more wide open for my solar panel, but proximity to water won out. It took me a couple of hours to get everything set up, horses on the highline (though I let Apollo and Flash graze a bit, until Apollo got bored with grass and decided to try to break into the feed bins that were in the back of the truck!), chairs out, even got the solar panel out, though it was cloudy and occasionally rainy throughout the afternoon. Sandy had a late start and finally got here late in the afternoon, and after she fixed up her bridle with her new Argentine snaffle, decided she wanted to get a ride in, do we saddled up and took about a four mile ride. Her mare behaved reasonably well, certainly a lot better than our ride on Sunday, so it’s good that I worked out some of her energy then, and Flash was excellent, as usual, back to his old self. Footing and trails are great here, markings easy to follow, so it was easy to plot a route short enough to get us back well before dark. Everyone behaved, everything went well, Sandy and her mare started communicating, and that’s the most important thing. Got back around 8:30 (it bugs me that it’s still so light outside at that hour!), got everyone fed, then I heated up some soup (at 9:15 for heaven’s sake!), then we sat out until the mosquitoes started after us. Apollo and the mare (Sandy’s started calling her Mocha now), got into a kicking match for a bit, those two just can’t be close to each other without starting a fight!. Nothing serious, but Mocha has shoes with cleats of some kind on them, and Apollo is barefoot, so NO FAIR! Well, they’ll work it out, or not, it’s a horse things. Anyway, time for shower and bed, I’m sure Sandy’s ready to bed down in one of my recliners (she didn’t bring her cot-tent this time, worried about the rain, not in the mood for a tent), so considering the late hour, I’m ready! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!