Hi Darlin’!
Lola had a quiet night, thus I had a quiet night, too! Slept a little late, and after chores and a load of laundry that I hung out to dry, I decided to go to a Tractor Supply and refill two propane tanks. I believe I have plenty to get me through the weekend, but I didn’t want to take any chances, and I don’t know how far away the nearest TSC is to the next campground, so I figured I better get it done. Unfortunately, because there is such lousy cell phone service (but the robocalls don’t seem to have any trouble getting through!), and I wasn’t able to research it properly, I probably went to one that wasn’t exactly closest, but it didn’t matter, I got it done, plus a little shopping at Walmart (I was out of ice cream!) so I wouldn’t have to stop on the way to the next place. Then I got stuck in traffic on the way back, so it was almost 3:00 by the time I got back. I decided to go ahead with my plan even though it was later starting than I figured, so I saddled up Apollo and took a ride down to this little town called Story, which has a small lodge with a patio grill and a basement bar that seems to be a favorite with the bikers. The girls I met last weekend said they got a really good Bloody Mary there, and since I hadn’t had one of those is ages, I ordered on. Well, other than the two olives, the pickle, the lemon wedge and the celery stalk, there wasn’t a lot else in it, at least not by my finicky standards, all served in a plastic cup. Well, they didn’t serve food in the bar, only on the patio, so I took my drink out there and ordered a burger (a very limited menu, a burger, a hot dog, pulled pork, that was just about it). There was a solo act setting up for music, and I heard a little of him before we left, but I spent most of my time sharing Lola, everyone wanted to pet her and asked what breed she was, etc. You know, the usual. But at least I wasn’t by myself the whole time, not that it mattered, I was reading a book off my phone anyway. There were a couple of other horses tied to the plethora of hitching posts at the back, and evidently they left, because I could hear Apollo whinnying, he obviously wanted to go with the herd, but by the time I got to him, they were long gone. We had another nice ride back to camp, using the same route, and Apollo made all the turns without any help from me. It’s amazing with all the trails out here he knew exactly where to go after just one go. Got back to camp just after 8:00, got everyone settled in, turned the AC and fans on just to cool down the place. I’ll have crisp, sun-dried sheets for the bed tonight, so a nice long, cool shower is just ahead of me, then off to bed. Love you, sweetheart! Good night!

Hi Sweetie!
I'm happy to report that Lola was quiet all night! Yay! I woke up once early, then fell back to sleep, not getting up till later than usual. After breakfast and chores I saddled up Flash, and planned a route that would essentially knock off the nearer trails I haven't done yet. There are still a couple of long trails yet to be done, which I may do on Saturday, but for now, we had a nice ride, almost 8 miles, and Flash was a lot more energetic today, so I guess he must be getting his mountain legs, and getting fit! We even got a few canters in. Other than the few with gravel, they really have some nice trails here, a nice variety, lots of loops of all shapes and sizes, nothing too steep, a lot that just run along the edge of the creek, just really nice riding. We got back around 3:00, so I put the horses on anchors, and I did a quick load of wash, but decided to save on propane and do drying "old school" by hanging them out on a line, something I haven't done in a long time! Nice for a change. Although the humidity was a bit lower today, it was still really hot, so I decided to do something a little weird. Right behind my site there is a creek, but it didn't have much water in it, so it was more a series of puddles along a gravel bed. Then we had a lot of rain, and there was a lot more water, but still not enough to flow, just bigger puddles. When Flash and I crossed it I noticed that some of those areas are pretty deep and interestingly, Flash headed for the deeper water! I think since he went swimming at Loretta Lynn's ranch he's gotten over any fear of water, and he was intentionally trying to get in deep enough to swim! Fancy that! Anyway, it wasn't deep enough to swim, but it was deep enough that when it splashed on me I felt how cool the water was, so I got an idea. After hanging out the laundry, I got out the inflatable tube I bought a few weeks ago and blew it up with my high velocity foot pump in short order, then I took it down to the creek right behind me where there's a pretty big puddle, and launched it. It has a mesh bottom and an inflatable head rest and two drink holders, so I took a drink down and climbed into it. It was so nice and cool! I sat there for a good half an hour just relaxing and cooling down, a much needed respite on this hot day. It's amazing how a little water will make all the difference! A nice break. Settled down for the rest of the day with a book and some TV, grilled a nice steak outside, and generally relaxed for the rest of the day. Other than slightly cooler weather, one couldn't ask for a nicer day! Time for shower and bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Sweetheart!
Well, Lola was a bit restless last night, but I just put my earplugs in and ignored her and she eventually went off to bed. It was a bit cooler, thank goodness, and a bit cooler this morning when I got up, too, even though there was lots of sunshine. When I went to bed my battery voltage was reading 11.7 but it was up to 12.2 by the time I got up, so I had no trouble starting the generator this morning. After breakfast I saddled up Flash and we headed out. The sky looked pretty good, so I was hoping for another day without rain until evening, but we didn't quite make it. I decided I wanted to take the widest perimeter of the park, which included Trail D, which would make it close to 18-20 miles of riding. We started off about 11:00, and the first part of the trail was familiar, we've done it a few times already, but we soon got to parts unknown. It was a beautiful ride for the most part, not quite as hilly as some of the trails closer to camp, and there was a lovely section that followed a creek that was just spectacular. Then we hit a section of gravel road, unfortunately, but I had packed Flash's boots just in case (and glad I did, too!), and stopped to put them on. It only lasted about half a mile or so, and once we hit the trail again, I took them off. Further on there was another section of gravel, so they went back on again, and that was quite a bit longer. Finally we were back on dirt, though, and heading back in the direction of camp. Around 3:00 (two hours from home) we had a bit of a rain shower, but it was warm so it didn't bother us much. I threw my slicker over my saddle to keep it dry, and we waited it out a bit, as we needed a rest anyway. There are a lot of picnic areas all along the trail, so we just stopped at one. Once the rain slowed down (and it was never really too heavy) we set off again. Arrived in camp just before 5:00, dog-tired (speaking of, I'm pretty sure Lola will sleep through the night tonight!), but that didn't stop her from picking up a frisbee and throwing it at me, silly girl. I rinsed Flash down and put both horses on their anchors and let them graze until 8:30, then got everyone fed and put away, including me! Heading for the shower now, got the AC running just to blow out the warm air inside the trailer, then I'm off the bed! A wonderful day! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Other than Lola waking me up at 3:00 in the morning to go out, I got a pretty good night sleep. After breakfast I took a run out to the nearest town, Nashville, IN, and went to the post office, dropping off the title and Bill of Sale for the MG to the new owner who picked it up yesterday. Also checked my email and messages, and discovered my new screen room is supposed to be delivered today! I guess I should have figured it was coming from, where else? Elkhart, IN, RV capital of the world! I checked at the gate and was told that if UPS delivers, they leave it at the gate, so I stopped worrying about being at the trailer to receive it. So when I got back, I saddled up Flash and we had a wonderful ride, almost 10 miles of gorgeous trails, just a few sections with light gravel, but the rest was dirt. I took a lot of the narrow trails again today, they are so much better than the wide ones, from my point of view. Lots of grades, but they've done a nice job of switch-backing the trails and curving them along the middle of the hill so they isn't a lot with super steep climbs. Flash seemed to enjoy himself, too, I'm guessing he's getting more fit for this type of terrain, after being spoiled on the flatness of Florida. Got back around 4:00, checked that my package hadn't been received at the gate, so I drove up the hill to check, and sure enough, there was a delivery problem. Half the address I have the shipper (the important half) was never put on the label, so I spent half an hour on the phone with them, and finally they said they'd have the local branch call me to straighten it out. Then I get a message from the Tullahoma, TN office that THEY got the request!! How stupid is that! So I had to get back on the phone, thankfully for some reason the cell phone signal at the campground is good enough for texts and calls, for the moment anyway. Eventually the local office called me, and they knew exactly how to correct the address, but it will be Monday before it's delivered, which is fine, I wasn't expecting it this early anyway. Later, some ladies, two of whom I had met earlier in the day as they rode by, plus a friend of theirs, came by to chat for a while. Nice women, they don't live too far from here, and one has a boarding stable and invited me to visit anytime, which was great. I recited The Man From Snowy River to them, and they were a very appreciative audience, best yet. We socialized for quite a while, then after they left I fed the horses and Lola, barbecued a steak for myself, and settled down for the evening. Time now my shower and bed! Good night, my love!

Hi Babe,
Had a decent night sleep here, the only thing I heard were the morning songbirds. It's nice and quiet here, at least it was until the gravel trucks starting coming in by the dozens. I sure hope it's not gravel for putting on the trails! Speaking of, that was my big problem today. After breakfast I saddled up Apollo and took him on Trail A, which I figured would be the most used trail of all here. It's about a 6-mile loop, nice and wide for the most part, and sure enough, after we got into a little ways, there was quite a bit of gravel on the ground. Not huge chunks, and not real thick, but just enough to get Apollo mincing and trying to get off the road, which meant I had trees limbs in my face again, or I was fighting him all the time. Fortunately the back couple of miles were nicer, but that gravel really spoiled what would have been an otherwise nice ride. I could only take a short ride today because someone is picking up the MG today. I didn't get as much for it as I hoped, but at least I got more than what I was offered if it were junked. We had to make all the arrangements electronically, and since I can't get internet here in the camp, I had to drive up to a signal in order to get it all completed, which naturally took longer than I had hoped. At least the new owner of the house will have his garage, at last! He's been very generous, and I've been doing my best to winnow all that's left down, not much now. Anyway, it was a bit warmer today, and supposed to get warmer tomorrow, but then rain is coming in over the weekend, supposedly, so I'll get at least one more ride on Flash tomorrow. I hate to say it, but riding Apollo was not much fun today. He's walking so slow these days, and getting him into a trot is a trial, and a canter is impossible. I'm hoping maybe it was just the gravel, or that maybe his feet still hurt a little from that long ride on gravel a few weeks ago, though they don't look like they're stone bruised to me. He's such a slug these days, and I feel like I'm fighting him all the time just to get a little energy into him. Oh, well, maybe he's just getting old, like me. I'll give him another week of rest to see if his feet improve, maybe that's the whole problem. Anyway, another beautiful, mostly carefree day here in central Indiana! Read for a while, watched a little TV, now I'm off for my shower and bed. Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
It's days like this I miss you the most! What a fantastic day! Had a great night sleep, with temps in the mid-50's, perfect! Woke up to a beautiful morning with hardly a cloud in the sky, perfect! Saddled and booted up my go-to guy, Flash, and headed out on the trails, soon discovering that there is very little gravel on the trails so I was able to take his boots off, perfect! I soon learned the trails were quite well-marked, perfect! And the trails and the map matched pretty well, except for a couple of spurs out to parking areas, so almost perfect! Even when I made a wrong turn, I was able to figure out exactly where I was and get back on track with other trail options, perfect! Took Lola along, and she thoroughly enjoyed herself, behaved beautifully the whole way, even back in camp, perfect! I couldn't have asked for a better day! Trail #10 had some gorgeous areas where the pine needles have carpeted the ground making it as quiet as a church on Monday, Trail #12 got to be more challenging, more narrow and with more steep grades, Trail #14 had great footing, but there were a few areas so overgrown I wish I had worn a long-sleeved shirt, but not very much. The B trail back to camp was the only one with some gravel on it, and it was small and not very thickly disbursed, so it wasn't much of a bother either, and because it was wide, I managed to get Flash up into a canter and a largo (fast gait in Paso Fino language) for a bit. We went for over three hours, about 11.5 miles, more than I had planned but still well within our capabilities. When we got back to camp, I rinsed him down and put him in the paddock with Apollo, grabbed a sandwich, then headed up the hill to check my email and do a little computer stuff. As soon as I got back I put the horses back out on their anchors to let them graze for a bit. I was delighted to see the batteries were at 12.4 volts after all the sunshine today, and I had left both paddle fans running! I've barely run the generator since I've been here, and I'm endeavoring to run it even less as I learn how the solar system works. I turned it on for about 5 minutes this morning, just to cook bacon in the microwave and toast in the toaster. I'll probably put it on again later so I can run the AC long enough to cool off the inside of the trailer, if necessary. I did that yesterday and only had to run it for about 15 minutes. Once the sun gets behind the trees to my west, it starts to get a lot cooler quite fast. It's forecast to get warmer in the next few days, then rain is supposed to be here all weekend, but we'll see. I've seen that forecast go bust before! Meanwhile, I'm enjoying every minute of the day today, one of those really great days! Glad you were with me, in great health and spirit, on the trail today. The kind of days we always loved together! Anyway, after a little rest, I put some oil on Flash's saddle, it's been getting kind of creaky with all the rain and now all the sun. Put the horses away, going to watch a little PVR on TV, take my shower and head off to bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin'!
Once again the campground is crowded, though thankfully my nearest neighbors are all horse people, no big families of screaming children or loud music, yay! I took Flash for a ride today, thought I'd take the Lake Loop backwards to see where I thought I might have gone wrong before. Turns out, I didn't go wrong, the map is wrong, at least it is when it's overlaid on Google with the actual trails. A nice ride, though, he seemed to have more energy today, though we lost a boot for a few minutes after taking a nice canter. I hope I can find some places where I won't have to put boots on the horses because of gravel, I guess I'm just spoiled after Florida where it's all sand, though there have been some placed that don't feel compelled to put gravel on the trails. At one point we had to cross the road just before the park entrance, and there was a line of cars waiting to come. Seems like a popular place in the summer! Anyway, it was a nice ride, I gave Flash a bath when we got back, then after a brief rest, I did some housework, doing some things I'd been meaning to do for a long time, like stick down the power strip in the bedroom and vacuuming around the bed. I also put up a hook I hope will work for closing the slide. It's the one job I haven't been able to do easily on my own, but I managed to do it with a temporary measure before, hopefully the hook will make it a permanent one, at least until I can get the slide adjusted so it closes properly. After doing all the housework I was in the mood for, I drove down to the boat landing with the kayak and spent some time in the "kayak lounge." Only problem was, I thought the beach was noisy and crowded yesterday with what looked like about a hundred people, but today there must have been three times that! One girl at the boat launch said they had to wait 20 minutes just to get through the park gate, which I can believe from the line I saw earlier. Spent about an hour out on the water, though it wasn't too relaxing with all the noise. Got back to camp, then I deflated the kayak and bagged it. I'm thinking of keeping it in the first stall rather than trying to haul it up and down to the attic. After all, in a couple of weeks I'm going to be on another lake, where hopefully I'll get to take it out again. Maybe I'll even try my hand at fishing, who knows? After resting a bit from that, I walked Lola down to the lake and we played for 45 minutes there while I had chicken in the oven, then got back, filled up the tank with water since I have some laundry to do tomorrow, took my shower, had my dinner, watched a little TV, and now I'm just about ready for bed! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Babe!
A good night sleep, a late breakfast, a lovely ride on Apollo! I found a really nice and easy trail today, the orange trail. Though I usually don't like linear trails, I didn't want anything too strenuous today, and this trail fit the bill perfectly! After the initial climb, which is long but not too steep and is mandatory for every trail except the Lake Loop, we turned south along a ridge line that had some really nice views. We saw several gorgeous butterflies, the kind that look like it's flying backward to throw off it's predators, beautiful! The footing was mostly dirt, and it was mostly level as well, so Apollo had a fairly easy day of it, though he's getting to be as slow as Clio used to be in her later years! I don't know if it's an age thing, or that his feet still hurt a little, but his average pace now is barely over two miles an hour. I have to keep pushing him into a jog just to get anywhere! Maybe it's the heat, it warmed up a lot today. I gave him a nice bath when we got back, then a little while later I walked Lola down to the lake and we played fetch for a while until she was pretty worn out. Then back to camp, a hot shower, a nice filet mignon dinner, and evening of quiet TV. That's it! Another day in the life, living the dream! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hey Sweetie!
I swear, life is starting to feel like my golden years of summer vacations spent at the cottage, with the added advantage of horses and air-conditioning. As promised, after breakfast I saddled up Flash and we went on a nice eight mile ride. His ankle seemed fine, though there was more gravel on the trails we took today than I liked, but we didn't have a lot of strenuous grades, either. It was a little strange, though, the "trail" turned into a paved road that ran by a couple of farmhouses! I thought maybe I missed a turn, but sure enough, there was a blue marker. Can't remember seeing THAT before! It was a good ride, though, even though most of it was a pretty slow walk (relatively speaking), but we did find a nice spot to do a great run, first at a gallop, then he eventually slowed down to a nice canter when he realized I was going to let him run. Got back to camp in mid-afternoon, quite a few more campers had come in. After resting a bit, I put on my bathing suit, loaded up the kayak and headed down to the boat launch, spending another hour or so floating and paddling. A couple of other inflatable kayaks just like mine went by me, and one of the women commented that it was a "lounging kayak," which is a great description! My kayak lounge! Great for happy hour, which is about what time it was anyway. Once I got back to camp, I rested a bit, then walked Lola down to the lake and we fetched for awhile. There was a family down there with another dog, and they were eventually persuaded to let him go so he could play with Lola, though you know her, she ignored him and kept her eye on the ball. He kept trying to mount her, and she kept telling him off and running away. Kept here busy, though, and hopefully wore her out so she'll have a good night sleep. Once we got back to camp, I had a stream of teenager girls come by wanting to pet the horses, which, of course, I let them do, plus gave them some peppermints so they could treat the horses. After they all cleared out, the girl from at the lake came by, and she helped me feed the horses, clean up, and refill all my water tanks. After she left, I puttered around doing a couple of odd jobs, then took my shower early and settled in for the evening. But just like summer vacations at the cottage, I spent most of my day in my bathing suit, doing one fun thing, then resting, then going off to do another fun thing. Lazy, hazy, days! I feel like I should feel guilty, but I don't! I'm just enjoying it as much as I can, knowing you're with me, every step of the way, like it used to be years ago. I miss you, darling! Good night, my love!

Hey Darlin'!
Well, when I got up this morning, there was some rain going on, just a little sprinkle, it didn't wake me (I LOVE my earplugs!), but when I took those out I heard the sounds of people starting to pack up, YAY! (Sorry...NOT!) I did my usual chores and was having a pretty quiet day. First I took some pictures of the aluminum panel that's starting to bulge and sent it to Harmar for advice (I had emailed him late yesterday and surprisingly, he responded immediately). After that, I trimmed Apollo's front hooves, I figured maybe the boots wouldn't come off so much if they fit a little better. Then I decided to use your saddle for Apollo, since I was having trouble taking off that stirrup accessory, you know the one that turns it 180 degrees so it's facing forward? The bolt on that thing keeps rubbing my ankle and annoying me, so I decided to change to your saddle, which, even though it has the same thing, doesn't seem to rub me, go figure. Anyway, once I did that, then I spent a few minutes trying harder to get the stirrup thing of MY saddle, and finally managed. It doesn't matter, it will make a good guest saddle. I hadn't really thought about going to ride today, but the clouds went away and it turned into a beautiful day, and Apollo seemed bored standing around, so I saddled him up and headed out. I had to make a few adjustments to the stirrups to get the right length, but finally managed it. What a gorgeous day! Mid-70's, a few puffy clouds, just perfect! I decided to take about a 5-mile loop and we headed out. Fortunately, this trail had hardly any gravel once we got away from camp, so he was a lot more comfortable. We took the Blue trail toward a place called Tree Lane, which was all road-width, then hung a right onto the Three Hills trail, which was a perfect single track, very little mud except one spot right at the bottom of a creek where he lost a shoe, but it fell into the creek and washed itself off. It was a wonderful ridge line trail, and indeed, there were three hills you had to go up and down, but in between there were beautiful vistas, and most of it wasn't too steep, or had great switch-backs to help. A few trees were down, but nothing impassable. Of course, Apollo's getting to be so slow the five miles took us a lot longer than usual. Down to just over 2 mph these days, old slowpoke! I concede part of it might be his feet still hurt a little, but we only had about a quarter of a mile of gravel near the end, so I really think he's just out of shape, though he's starting to get back into shape now! Flash is still favoring his left hind leg, and it's only been a week tomorrow since he started limping, so I'm just going to keep resting it until it's completely healed, I don't want to re-injure it by riding him too soon. Anyway, got back to camp, which was considerably quieter than when I left, gave Apollo a bath, then put them both on anchors so they could graze awhile. They're right outside the screen room so I can keep a close watch, the nicest setup since I've been on the road this season. Finally settled down for the evening, won't be long till I'm off to shower and bed! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!