Pix to come.

Hiya Babe,
Another beautiful day, when most of the riders will be coming in. I wanted to do one last check of the entire red trail, as Patsy and I aren't in agreement with how long it really is. I've been doing it piecemeal and putting it together in post-production, but with such a discrepancy, I decided I needed to run the whole thing again in one go. First, though, I had to run into town for my package, which had FINALLY arrived, via Morriston to Jacksonville to Charleston to Columbia to Jacksonville to Charleston to Columbia, and FINALLY to Patrick, where the postmaster called and texted me to let me know it had arrived. Weirdly, they claimed it was held up by weather delays! Considering we've had cloudless days for two weeks now, I have no idea what kind of weather delay it was. I think that must be their catch-all phrase when priority mail is mishandled. Anyway, after I picked it up, I stopped at the Forest HQ to fill up my water tank, then back to camp. Got Flash saddled up and off we went around 11:30. This time we did the entire Red trail, no stopping. I was a bit concerned about the lack of water on the trail. There was a tiny brook about six miles out that is considered a water stop (I wouldn't have thought of it that way, it was so small), another water stop at a lake about ten miles out, where I tried twice to get close enough to the edge to drink, but the first was too slimy and muddy, and the second had a very steep drop off about a foot off the beach, and I was afraid Flash would end up swimming there, which meant the next water was at 13.5 miles out, which I thought was way too long. He drank his fill there, and at another creek about another mile later, and skipped the final water by the railroad tracks which were only about 2.5 miles from camp. Suffice to say, I had both GPS systems, cell and satellite with me, and they both indicated the length I had figured was correct, 18.5 miles, more than a mile less than what Patsy had figured. Too late to do anything about it this time, but good to know for the future. Got back and put Flash away, sat in my chair for a minute and was dozing for a couple of minutes. Headed back over for dinner and the ride meeting, which went on a bit longer than usual. Got back to the horses at 8:00, fed them, made myself some tea and settled down for a short evening. Ready for a break from all this riding!! I'm sure Flash feels the same! Off to shower and bed soon, so good night, darlin'! Love you!

Pix to come.

Hey Darlin',
Had another beautiful cloudless day, but the package with my mail, which was sent out priority on Saturday, still hasn't arrived. I had planned on going to the Post office this morning and getting it, but by 11:00 I called, and confirmed it wasn't coming. Saddled up Flash and headed out to finish off the section of the Red Trail that I missed the other day, which was indeed quite squiggly, then Flash found his own way home when he took a hard right off a road we were on, and he was determined to take a trail instead, so I let him. He wasn't quite as anxious to move out as much, and I didn't push him to, so it wasn't as fast, but still a lovely ride sixteen mile ride. Ran into Patsy just as we got back to camp, and invited her over to dinner. She came over after 5:00 and brought the ride managed Julia with her, both brought there own food, so we just chatted. Settled down after they left after 6:00, fed the horses, watched a couple of episodes of Terra Nova, ready for bed shortly. Just another day in the life, living the dream! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Another beautiful day here at Sandhills, it's amazing how many days of cloudless sky we've had since I've been here! Got a late start getting on the trail today because I spent over an hour on the phone with Cigna trying to secure a new health insurance policy. At least I found one that actual reduces the amount Medicare is taking out of my monthly Social Security check! I didn't know about it until one of the agents told me about it, not sure why anyone wouldn't want to do that! Once I finished that lengthy call, I saddled up Flash and we headed off on the red trail, picking it up where Apollo and I left off yesterday. Flash was full of beans again today, not only gaiting for most of it, but cantering and galloping as well! There were several miles when we were doing better than eight mph! Unfortunately, I was following the markers and not my GPS (since that was kind of the point, making sure the markers were sufficient), but I didn't realize that the red trail Patsy uses here isn't exactly the red trail as marked. It turned off at one point, but the markers were still on the trail, so I ended up missing the whole east section. As a result, my anticipated 16 mile ride turned into a mere 10.8 mile ride, which, at the increased speed we were going, we finished in just 1:45!! Of course, I realized something was wrong when we got back to camp that quickly, but it wasn't until I downloaded my GPS data that I could figure out went wrong. Guess that just means I'll have to go out riding on another day to pick up the rest of that trail. I am so impressed with Flash, he just seems indefatigable these days. If I weren't so ticked off at the AERC, I'd be tempted to actually enter him in some of the upcoming rides! But no, their behavior regarding Jo and the Goethe Benefit is inexcusable, so they won't be getting anything from me. Anyway, got back to camp and settled down for the afternoon and evening, watched an interesting film called The Good Traitor, about the Danish ambassador during WWII. I've been reading a lot of WWII historical fiction lately, it was a remarkable time. I have lots to do tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Pix to come.

Hi Darlin',
Another good night sleep, late rising, did some planning on the computer, then took Apollo and Lola out for a ride. He was particularly sluggish today, topping out at barely 2.8 mph. Not sure if he's feeling bad, or was just not in the mood. We did around 5.5 miles, so it was about two hours. What a completely different ride than the breakneck ride we took of Flash the other day! Well, at least he got some exercise, and so did Lola, who was again, way out front. She wants to go faster, but I can't take her on a long ride on Flash, that's just too much for her. Oh, well, we'll do the best with what we have! Didn't do much else today, just a quiet afternoon after we got back, a quiet evening with a good movie, and undoubtedly, a quiet shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Another chilly morning, then saddled up Flash and headed over to day parking to meet with Patsy and some of her friends. You would think by now that I would know better than to try to ride with that many other people, though I didn't know they were all coming. Since I didn't know which trails we were taking, we couldn't be out front, so it wasn't long before Flash was all anxious about being behind other horses, and I was having to struggle to keep him reined in. We hadn't gone more than five miles before I just had to let him loose. I was told we were going to follow the red trail the rest of the way in, so I did that for awhile, until it seemed to be going in the wrong direction, so I pulled out my phone GPS and rerouted us on another route that was more direct, though not on any marked trails, at least not until we got near the end. I got back to camp about 1:40, completing about 15.4 miles, and had just made myself of cup of tea when Patsy texted to say they were almost back to the trailers. I drove over to pick up a package I had had sent to her house, a new hose for the back of the truck, which I put in as soon as I got back, and used it to fill up the trailer tank. Settled down for the rest of the day, then remembered about a comet that was coming around for the first time in 80,000 years, so I bundled up and walked down to the lake to get a look. It brought back memories of our first real date, standing in line at the planetarium in WPB, waiting to view Halley's comet through their telescope, then giving up on it when it started to cloud over. Today, the sky was perfectly clear, but a full moon was rising, so it kind of washed out the sky a bit, but I did manage to see the tail fairly clearly. Started a new series on Prime, since apparently Season Four of Farscape is by additional subscription only. I may catch up on it someday when I have a good signal and a couple of rainy days to binge-watch, but the signal is too spotty and there's nothing but clear skies on the forecast, and tonight is supposed to be the coldest night of all, so naturally, I blanketed the horses again. Lola was in the dog house for climbing into my bedroom, twice, knocking over both the trash can and the fan to get in. I really need to find a way to stop her from doing that, it's driving me nuts. Fortunately, I was planning on changing the sheets tonight anyway, putting on my flannel ones for a change, which will put off having to do laundry for awhile. I ran the fireplace to warm it up in here for awhile, but I have a feeling the furnace will be coming on tonight, even though it's only set in the low 50's! Brrr! And Lola, in an obvious effort to suck up and get me over me being mad at her, climbed into my lap and is sleeping soundly, though I'm going to have to move here soon to get my tea going. Anyway, it's been a day! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
What a day! It started with a great night sleep, then after chores and breakfast, I did a little more research looking for hay. I thought I had some lined up, (his ad said he was baling last Friday), but he said he didn't have any ready until after this weekend, which is too late, I'm down to my last bale. Messaged someone close by, fingers crossed. I saddled up Flash and decided to take Lola. She's been doing so well, but it turned out to be a bad decision. Flash was in an exuberant mood today, back to his usual 4 mph walk and willingness to gait, and for the first couple of miles, Lola was in front. She tired after about five or six miles, and by mile seven, she was dragging so much we had to stop several times for her to rest. Finally, at about mile eight, we were about to make the 2nd road crossing, so I tied her to a tree, left her with water (there was no water on the trail, which may have contributed to the problem), and let Flash take off, which he had been wanting to do for some time. He raced off, and we averaged over nine mph the remaining 5.5 miles, getting back to camp in less than half an hour! I quickly put him away, then drove the truck out and rescued Lola, who seemed to have made a full recovery in the 40 minutes we were gone, thank goodness. I took my phone out of airplane mode and discovered I had a voicemail and message from the hay guy I reach out to this morning, so I called him and arranged to meet his family this afternoon, after I got fuel. After stopping for diesel (I managed to fill up an almost empty tank and was still under $100, yay!), I met his wife and son, who let me on a road that was little more than a utility easement to a barn where they had just put up some hay that was cut yesterday! It's back to coastal now, but this was really fresh and nice, and the bales were heavy for $8, so I stocked up with 15, which should be enough to last my stay here and still leave with a stall full of my usual eight bales. Once I got back to camp, I considered just covering it up and dealing with it in the morning, but I decided not to procrastinate (an object in motion tends to stay in motion, so I just kept moving!), and loaded to hay into the stud stall and under the gooseneck, putting up my skirting to keep it safe from wandering mouths. I finished my chores by filling the horses' water bucket with the last of the tank in the truck, and finally settled down for dinner and a couple of Farscapes. Whew! What a full day! Ready to get to bed early, for sure! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Finally had a good, solid, eight hours of sleep, waking only once for a very short time. Wonderful! Did my usual chores, then put the screen room up. There were a lot of flies and gnats yesterday, so it seemed essential to have another line of defense. Did a few other minor things, then got Apollo saddled up for a short ride. I had planned out about 4.5 miles, but ended up missing a turn and getting lost. When I discovered my error, I was already halfway across my loop, and decided to keep going and just make a figure eight instead. Of course, that put me going "backward" from the markers (I hate that they don't mark both directions!), and I ended up missing some more turns, even though I was following my GPS, and where it said to turn there was no turn, so I obviously have more work to do! Apollo did well, pretty slow, naturally, and Lola was actually impatiently way out in front of us, but I managed to get him jogging for quite awhile. Once we got back to camp, though it was a bit more than 5.5 miles, I let them go a-munching again, and I worked on the trail map a bit, trying to make sense of it. Still have more work to do! A gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky, moderate temps, just perfect! Couldn't ask for more! Had a fattening chicken alfredo dinner and settled down for my usual evening. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Another beautiful day on the trail! Today I decided to take Lola with me, since there's no one else camping except the camp hosts, and no one on the trails. I was taking the orange trail, which was supposed to be about five miles, which I figured would be a good distance for her, but turned out to be about six and a half. Still, we were moving very slowly since we were clipping and lopping and pruning, and she was way ahead of us most of the time, moving very well! There were a couple of creeks and a lake, so she was able to get water, and it was a lovely ride. We left just after 10:00 and were back at 1:30, so not a terribly long ride, just perfect! They do have nice trails here, though the map is ridiculously bad, but Kathy said they're in the process of updating it, so it should be better soon. Of course, Flash was very good, though he's been getting in the habit of going really slowly in the beginning, making me think he's not feeling well, but that all disappears once we start heading back toward camp. Too many rough rides lately, I think, but he was better today than yesterday, since it's pretty easy riding here. Got back to camp and started doing a bunch of repairs. My stirrup had started to come apart again, so I put a washer in with the Chicago screw, hopefully that will keep it from pulling through. Did a bunch of mending on my saddlebags, my horn bag, and my sheepskin saddle cover. Started packing up what little I had taken out, I did a load of laundry, just because I have water and electric, a luxury I'll be without for awhile after I leave here. Put some water in the truck tank just in case. So it was a busy afternoon after the ride. Since I didn't unhook from the truck, it should be easy to get out in the morning, though I do have to stop at the dump, which is in the regular campground. Don't know how hard or easy the access is, so that should be interesting. Looking forward to Sandhills! Patsy says the trails are all in good shape, so I don't think there will be any trail work to do while I'm there, so having to fetch water and propane while I'm there will be my only challenges. Might get some rest! It's supposed to be a quiet campground, so Lola and I are looking forward to that. Just having my usual evening! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up before the alarm this morning, did all my morning chores, getting back to my old routine now that the horses are on a highline. After breakfast, I saddled up Flash and we were on the trail by 10:00. I tried to follow my planned route and didn't quite get there in the beginning because there was a gate, but eventually I got on track. I managed to do a lot of trimming on the white trail, and could see where they had stopped, and there was a lot more to do, but there wasn't any really storm damage, it looked like just regular maintenance to me. When I finished with the white trail, I turned on to the red trail, and did a bit more trimming on that, though it didn't need too much. So many spider webs, though! I had to find a massive spidey stick to keep them from completely cover me up! Not long before camp, I finally did come across the top of a large tree fall that was mostly blocking the trail, which was really a road at that point, so I finally felt like I was doing something constructive, and cleared it all away using my pruner, since it was all small limbs. Got back to camp around 2:00 and seven miles later, so not a long day, but I figured it was enough. I wasn't back at camp long before Kathy stopped by. She's the gal who's the head of the friend's group that I've been talking to. I suggested that tomorrow I work on the blue trail, but she said she managed to get three DNR folks lined up for that one, and that the orange trail needed immediate attention, so I guess that's my plan. It's only five miles long, so if it's not too bad and I have time, I may try to get over to the blue anyway. There's another small section of red I need to check as well. I also spent some time on the computer sorting out where I'll be going on Thursday. I wanted to go to Sandhills early, but didn't know if they would let me extend my stay, since I'm already at the 14 day limit, but apparently they don't enforce that during October for some reason, so I've made those arrangements to go there. It's primitive, with no power or water, but I was told I could fill up my tank at the ranger station, which is only about five miles away. I've been spoiled with water and electric lately, but it's no problem getting back to my roots, as it were! And it looks like the weather going to be perfect for quite awhile, which is good news, as there's another hurricane about to hit Florida, but it slated to go straight across the state, uncharacteristically from west to east, then out into the Atlantic. Levy County will be getting hit yet again! I'm certainly going to have my trail work cut out for me once I get there! Anyway, teatime, then shower and bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Up with the alarm, breakfast, saddling Flash and on the road by 9:00 with Linda and Holly. She drove us to a little road near Willis Springs, and we headed out on a trail that was a magnificent loop that swung us down into Georgia. We started out with quite a few trees down, but managed to clear them with no problem, then later the trail got wider, more like a forest road, and we had a lot less obstruction. Flash and Lola both had an interesting day. At one point, we went up a section of mountain that gained 200 feet in elevation in just a quarter mile, and as we neared the top, Flash just gave out. He's never done that before, but then again, usually the mountain trails we ride have switchbacks, and don't go straight up like this one did. I got off and let him rest a bit, until his shoulder stopped quivering, and finally was able to lead him to the top, which was only about 20 yards to go. We carried on okay after that, though there was one tree that we cut down that dropped right near an edge to a dropoff, and Flash just refused to go over the log. Again, he's never refused to go over a log, but I think it was because it was so close to the edge that bothered him, though he's always been okay with that before. After trying everything we could think of, I finally got out my little saw and finished cutting the log so that there was about a foot gap to get through. He even refused that! Finally, we got him through that, which was so weird. And strangely, about a quarter mile further on there was an even bigger tree just as close to the edge, and he stepped right over it without a second thought! And that time, we were in the lead, so he didn't even see the other horses stepping over it. Very weird! Well, the rest of the trip for him was more normal, but by then, Lola was getting tired and going pretty slow. I had decided to bring her because she has been so lively the last couple of days, and she so needs more exercise, and I was glad I did, even though she was slowing us down near the end. Linda and Holly really like to move out, and usually so do I, but they were nice enough to slow down a bit for Lola, who was doing her best to keep up. When we were getting ready to cross back over the Conasauga River, I was afraid she would be too tired and considered putting a rope on her to make sure she didn't get swept downstream, but she went right in the water before I had a chance and managed to get to the other side with no problem, though she was dragging the rest of the way back to the truck, about a quarter mile. But she made it! I gave her an extra pill when we got home, they've been working a miracle on her, and she did overdo it a bit today, but she'll certainly sleep tonight, and it's a good step in the direction of getting her fit again. I also had the misfortune to break my right stirrup (probably from the extra pressure of trying to get Flash over that log!), so I was loose-footed for the majority of the ride. On the way back, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant and had a nice meal and a peach margarita, which saved me from making dinner, yay! Whew, what a day! It was a nice break from all my deep-cleaning, though! Guess I'll be back to that tomorrow. Fixed my stirrup when we got back, and did a couple of other small things while I was still moving, then finally crashed into my usual evening routine. Ready for shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!