Hey Babe,
Got up with the alarm today because I had arranged to meet with one of the folks from the OTL and start marking trails out in the Corbett Wildlife Management Area. I forgot to mention that I had spent some time on Friday pressure washing the little horse trailer, because I knew I would need it today, and got it all ready last night except for hooking it up to the truck, which I did in no time. I picked her up at her house in Jupiter Farms at 9:00 and we headed out there. The road wasn't any better than it was last year, so it took us nearly 45 minutes just to get half a dozen miles. I brought Apollo along because she has a stock horse with a slow walk (I think he's an Arab), and they turned out to be perfectly matched, and got along just fine. With all the rain we had here in December, there were places where the water was so high we practically had to swim! But mostly it was about knee high or less, though chest-high wasn't uncommon. I brought Lola along as well, and there were a couple of stretches where she had to swim quite a ways, but you know her, she loved it! We scouted out a couple of routes, and it became very clear to me why I got lost so badly in there last year, they really dropped the ball on marking some of the turns and forks. Now I have a better feel for it, and we put up most of the markers that we're going to need, but I'll need to go back and take a few markers down, since we decided to change the route in a couple of places due to the high water. It's possible that it will go down quite a bit if it stays sunny, and some places may be easier to pass, so I'll wait a couple of weeks to make the final decision. We were on the trail for four hours, and only did nine miles (compared to my endurance ride, 25 miles in 3:51) so you can imagine how slow the pace was! Still, it was a nice ride, it was great being back out in the wilderness on my horse! I finally dropped her off just after 3:00 and got back to the house shortly afterward. Jeff had left Frost out and kept Flash in the paddock, so I needed his help getting Apollo in the paddock because Frost was hanging out at the gate. He managed to get Frost away from the gate long enough to open it, and I slipped in real quick with Apollo (but not before the goats managed to get in, too), and then suddenly Frost leapt forward and bit Jeff on his back, and scraping his arm with his teeth along the way. Jeff went nuts, calling him all kinds of names and chased after him with a stick, well, you know that biting is the one thing you can't tolerate, so he did his best to let Frost know that was a mistake, but I didn't get the impression Frost gave one whit about that. Jeff was really disappointed, though, you know how much he thinks that horse is sweet, though I've been telling him that Frost can't be trusted, and now he's seen firsthand what I mean. He's going to have some big bruises, though he didn't cut through the skin much, mostly just a scrape. Anyway, after that episode everyone calmed down a bit. It was hot, so I got in my bathing suit and took a quick dip in the pool, then ordered a new controller for the lift chair that quit working, I found one for less that $14, so if it works, I can still sell it for the same amount of money and not be out very much. I also learned that the brothers had finally fixed the pullout step on the trailer, that little job I asked them to do last year that they never got around to. I think Karl persuaded Jeff to help him do it because he knows I'm ticked off with him not finishing the converter job yesterday. Glad to have the stair done, though, I'm sure there will be places where it will be better than using the mounting block like we've been doing, when it sits a little lower. Anyway, finally finished off the chores and relaxed during the evening with the TV, but now it's time to head off to bed. Goodnight, my love!

After a weekend of doing little else except try to stay out of the practically non-stop rain, mucking through inches of water every time I needed to get out of the water (only to discover my new "waterproof" muck boots leaked, so my socks kept getting wet) and generally just trying to keep dry (not possible!), the sun FINALLY came out today, and I was determined to get a ride in on Flash. I had to drag all his gear to high ground before I could saddle him up, but we finally got going around 11:00. We did a nice 15.66 mile loop, though originally I was going to go through the neighborhood first and back through Cypress Creek WMA, but he was being a bit flighty at a couple of nothings, so I decided we needed to do the mileage on the trails first, so that he would be tired by the time we got to the neighborhood where all things can appear to be horse-eating to a flighty horse. It was the first beautiful day in weeks, and lots of people were out hiking and biking, though I only met one other girl out riding once we got to the neighborhood. It was a wonderful ride, but Flash seemed to be limping a little by the time we got back, though I couldn't find any heat or swelling in his legs. No worries, he'll get a good rest before the next time. I was getting low on hay, and don't have enough to get me till Friday when I can pick some up at Ranch Feed (better price than the local Town & Country, plus they don't carry Nutrena, which I also need), but we ran out to get two bales at T&C just to get me through, only to discover they closed early today, so I missed them by two hours, darn it. Just have to borrow a little from Jeff till Friday. After that, Hubby and I had decided to get a nice dinner out, and decided on the new rendition of the restaurant right here in Jupiter Farms, which has gone through many owners and managers over the years. Now it's called Taylor's, and they had a nice menu and a decent happy hour, so we decided to go there. Hubby and I shared a fabulous Linguini Fruits de Mer, lots of mixed seafood and shellfish in a wonderful garlic sauce over pasta, just what I was in the mood for. That and a couple glasses of wine and pumpkin cheese cake, and we were set! Stopped at Publix for a couple of things, including a bottle of sparkling Brut to bring in the New Year, and we were back at dusk. Got the horses put away, settled down to a movie and some other TV until the NYC ball dropping festivities began, cracked open the bottle of Brut, made our toast, and were in bed not too much later. Hubby is still having to sleep in his chair, unfortunately, his shoulder just hurts too much when he's laying down, but I'm hoping for a good night sleep! Happy New Year, 2020!

Since I missed the bypass yesterday, I was determined to try to find it today, but of course, since I was going backward on the Orange Trail, and there were almost no markings in that direction, I soon got turned around. I never was sure if I found it, at least not until I got back to camp and downloaded our GPS track, only to learn we were practically on top of it, but just missed getting there. At least now I have a better idea where it is! I had asked a couple of local riders where it was, but there directions weren't too thorough (which is typical of locals everywhere, as they're so familiar with the trails they have a hard time describing it to someone from outside the area...), so I didn't find it anyway. Nevertheless, Flash and I had a fairly laid-back ride, lots of walking just to build up his stamina, until we headed back toward camp, when he largoed as fast as he could most of the way back to camp, so a good workout considering. Once I got him back to camp, I started on Hubby's dialysis session, which was a disaster. I couldn't get a flash on his arterial, so I tried changing needles, which seemed to work, but then the cartridge seemed to clog up, so I went through the process of putting in a new cartridge. That seemed to help for a little while, but then his arterial starting spiking really high, and when I couldn't fix it, I called the NxStage tech guy, and he said it was likely an access problem, and said we should stop the treatment and don't try to rinse back, so I did. When I took off his venous line, sure enough, there was a big clot in the line, so there were some problems. I tried to listen for a thrill, but there didn't seem to be one. SO disappointing, as until last Wednesday, his access was going like gangbusters! Grrrrr! Now I'm going to have to spend time tomorrow trying to get him into a local hospital to get his fistula declotted again. This will be the fourth time this year! We're convinced it's just because of the awkward position of this fistula, it's just so far under his arm that it's impossible for him to not put pressure on it, even when he doesn't sleep on it. Don't know what the long-term answer is, but the short-term is hospital for yet another procedure. I was in the middle of a couple loads of laundry, so we had to keep running the generator for a few more hours, a big waste of propane if we're not dialyzing! Anyway, we finally settled down after that, a bit frustrated at this turn of events.

After getting to better know which trails will be used for the endurance race next weekend, Jo asked me to do some preliminary marking if I had the chance, so I started out on Apollo, marking the first sections of the trail as requested. I also scouted out the last mile on the return, but wasn't sure what she wanted, so left it unmarked for the time being, until I get clarification. Then I went back, had some brunch, and saddled up Flash so I could ride the whole 14-mile ride section to make sure it was the right length and to check any areas that might need further clearing. I missed a loop cutoff on the orange trail, but I was able to fix that on Google Earth to make the right measurement, and it turned out just right. I made mental notes of areas that needed to be tidied up or, if possible, have the trail dragged to get rid of some serious ruts, and reported that all back to Jo. Flash was a bit less frantic on this ride, though he did keep up a good pace. I'm hoping he'll be fit enough for next weekend! It's been such a long time since I've spent so many hours in the saddle on one day, it felt GREAT! This is really a nice Forest, and my only criticism is that they only mark the trails going in one direction, so if you happen to start off going the other way, you won't see any markers except at intersections, so it gets a little scary and uncertain at times. I remembered this from our last time out here when we rode down at Tidewater and how annoying that was, not sure why they do it that way. Anyway, it was a fabulous day, and finally warm enough for Hubby to sit outside in the screen room all day reading, so he hardly missed me. Got back and settled down for the evening, another satisfying day on the road!

Had a great night sleep, my cold/flu is all but gone except the occasional cough, and woke up to temps 5 or 6 degrees warmer than what we've been dealing with lately, which felt like a much bigger change than it sounds. Got the horses fed and cleaned up, another load of laundry started, then Hubby got up feeling so well this morning he wanted to go riding! Yay! So after a while I saddled up the horses and we took an absolutely lovely 3.5 mile ride on the Lake Loop. Hubby managed to get on AND get off Apollo today, with no help from me! Looks like his back treatment is a success! The trails had some nice easy grades, and it weaved through some beautiful woods on the ridge, then down to the lake and back again. We both really enjoyed it. Flash was calmer because Apollo was with him, and he seemed to stop and wait for him on his own quite often. Apollo, not surprisingly, was a slug for the first half, but then when we turned on the bottom side of the loop (and we were heading back in the direction of the barn :-), his tempo picked up, as did Flash's. Hubby did just fine, no pain at all, even though it was a longer ride than he's done in a long time! Got back to camp, settled the horses back in their stalls, started Hubby's dialysis session and more laundry, and settled down for the rest of a quiet day.

I was hoping Hubby would be feeling well enough to ride with me today, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, and since Apollo hadn't been ridden in so long, I knew I had to get him on the trail today, so I saddle him up and headed out to try out another couple of trails I hadn't explored yet that wouldn't take too long. We ended up going down another trail that had one name on the trail and a different name on the map, and a trail that I had tried to find coming the other way and never did, but took it backwards so I could find the trail end, which I did. Apollo was a bit spunky, whinnying quite a bit along the way (I guess he was missing Flash!), but he settled down nicely, and it was a very nice nearly 5 mile ride. When I got back and put Apollo away, I saddled up Flash and headed out to see if I could finally find the elusive trail out on the west peninsula. At last, I managed to find the south side trailhead of it, though for a while I thought I was going the other way around. When I crossed the road, I came across a section of trail that was quite nice, with some sections that had a steep dropoff to the lake, but also had quite a bit of growth blocking sections of it at well. It looked like it had been quite a while since it had been used, and when I reached the end of it, I discovered why. The trail marker pointing to that section of the trail was so buried in weeds and undergrowth it was just about impossible to see! I imagine most people just followed the road instead, which would still make a decent loop, but they're really missing out on a nice trail just a few yards away. Glad we finally found it!! Well, that just about wrapped up the trails, with one exception, Ye Old Hill Climb, which we did on the way back. Flash was really full of spirit all day today, I had to really rein him in most of the ride, the complete opposite of Apollo, who was calm as could be. Quite the contrast all in one day! Got back to camp the second time after a nice nearly 9 mile ride, so quite a day of riding today! I doubt I'll have much of a chance to ride again for a couple of weeks, as it's going to be quite busy for us, so I'm glad I was able to get everyone out for a bit of exercise, including me! Put everyone away, did my chores, and settled down for the evening.

Well, after a rather confusing start on my last trail ride, which I managed to decipher a bit once I downloaded it and overlaid it on Google Earth, I realized I had covered much of the southern side of the park, so today I decided to do the eastern and northern parts of the park as much as possible. Saddled up Flash and headed out on the trailhead at the north end of the park, which took me toward the day parking area. From there I went down what the map called the Lazy Creek Crossing Trail, and showed as a loop, but once I got to what I guess what the Lazy Creek, the trail entered Snyder Hollow and disappeared. Some trees were down, but it still didn't look like there was any trail beyond that, so we turned around and circled around until I finally ran out of places to go, so I headed back to Possum Ridge where it runs along the south side of the park road and took that due west, hoping to find the part of Lake View trail that went out into the farthest west peninsula. Unfortunately, that eluded me again, but I did find where it crossed the road to the northern side of the park. On the map it shows several different trails of various names, but the only obvious trail I found had "Big Beech Trail" signs all along it. Near as I could figure once I got home and download our route was the Big Beech is known as Piney Woods on the map. Go figure. There have been so many times where the map and what's on the ground aren't very close, and this was a classic example. So not only is the map hand-drawn and inaccurate as to where the trails are, the names have been changed in many cases. Oh, well, it was a pretty nice trail, a bit in need of maintenance but overall not bad, single track through most of it. It eventually wound around back to the same trailhead where I started, completing another 8.5+ mile ride on Flash. Did some chores and other various and sundry things before settling down for the evening. Another great day on the road.

Feeling much more rested today, so I decided to take Flash out and explore the trails. The map shows quite a few loops, including a nice perimeter around the park, so I planned on doing that. Unfortunately, it seems the map is hand-drawn, because I can't get it to line up properly on Google Earth as an overlay, so I'm only guessing as to how long the trails are and where they go. It's not a huge park, though, and there's a main road running through the middle of it, so getting lost will be hard to do. Got him saddled up, then headed south out of the camp through the woods and across a couple of roads to the main Possum Ridge trail. This is what I call a "trail by bulldozer" type trail, but eventually I took a single track trail that led me to a much nicer trail called Lake View. There are some good markings at the intersections, which helps a lot. I turn another turn out to Lake Vista trail, which was a bit more challenging and not as well maintained, but did take us right down to the lake, even crossing the edge of it a time or two. Then I got a bit confused by the sign that said Loop 2, which wasn't indicated on the map, unless it was another name for Horseshoe Loop. That was the least maintained trail I had been on yet, still passable, but a bit more challenging. That brought me back to Lake View, but it didn't seem to go in the direction the map indicated, so I got turned around a bit. By then we had been gone longer than I anticipated, so rather than complete the perimeter, I tried to find a shorter way back to camp, and the map was of little assistance there. I had wanted to loop around and come back to camp on the north trailhead, but couldn't find the right trail to take, so I ended up on Possum Ridge again, and came in from the south where I had left. Still, a nice ride, and I let Flash make most of the decisions, so he was more engaged than ever. He's really starting to come along, learning the follow the trail and pick his own footing, something he never used to do. Much improved! Got back to camp, had a quick lunch, then headed up to Shelbyville (KY) to do some shopping at Tractor Supply (darn it, forgot to bring my propane tanks!) and Walmart. SO GLAD we're back in Blue Bell Ice Cream territory again!! It's that time of year for my favorite limited edition ice cream of all time, Blue Bell's Spiced Pumpkin Pecan! If you haven't tried it, you MUST!! It's the best!! Got back to camp by 4:00 or so, and it was getting crowded again with the usual Friday night crowd coming in, but then, there's also a rain storm and a cold front making it's way in overnight, too, so likely to be much cooler tomorrow!

Thanks to the generosity of Mike Gerard, who is a highly influential individual in the park, and who brought out his small livestock trailer for me to borrow, I was able to go down to the much-touted Mohican State Forest for a nice long ride on Flash. I had heard so much about Mohican, from folks at just about every horse camp we've stayed at in Ohio, that I was really looking forward to it. I decided to get as much of the park done as I could, since I wasn't positive I'd have another chance to ride before we leave next week, so I chose the blue perimeter trail, described as being 14 miles (just a walk in the park for my maniac Flash!) There were a number of other trailers in the parking area, and I managed to have a brief chat with a rider who had just come in, and she suggested which direction to go to avoid any confusion. I headed out, carrying boots with me because I had been told that the rocks weren't too bad, but I tend to carry them anyway, just in case. And am I glad I did!! After two miles of rocky gravel fire road, I kept waiting to turn off into the woods, but that didn't happen. Well, it did, for about 100 yards before turning into gravel again, so I stopped and put on Flash's boots, which I should have done much earlier. We kept going, though most of it wasn't what I like in trails. A lot of it was on gravel forest or pipeline service roads, utility easements, and more gas well-head pumps than I think I've ever seen in one place before! At least Flash won't ever be jumpy at one again, since we must have passed more than half a dozen! There was only a few wet spots, and of course, we lost a boot in one of those, but since I had been close attention, I didn't have to go back very far for it. Eventually we did finally get into single-track trails through the woods, but that was by far the minority on this trip, and I can't say I was overly-impressed with the so-called trails here. Perhaps there are nicer ones elsewhere, and I hope I get a chance to try them out, but for the moment, my feelings about the place are less than stellar. Perhaps a ride up to the lodge if we get a chance. Anyway, I loaded up Flash and headed back to camp, then managed to relax a bit during the evening. The good news is that I stopped off on my way out yesterday and left my computer at the camp office so that it could download my files on their much faster wi-fi, and even though it wasn't done when I got back, it was up in the 70+ percent bracket, so it should be done by tomorrow morning, I hope!!