After a week of regular life, then a few days down in Key West with our client/friends who were renting a condo for the month (where we did some work and some play, including a snorkeling trip out to the reef), we arrived home Thursday, rested Friday, and finally had a beautiful day to go riding! It's been either too hot or too wet for weeks, or work has gotten in the way, so we were relieved to finally have a perfect weather day, so we packed up the horses and drove out to Dupuis WMA, where a group was having a poker run. We didn't participate in the run, but the campground was busy, busy, busy!! We did take a quiet trail away from the madding crowd for a fairly short 2-hour ride. Apollo was his usually antsy self for the first half hour, responding to every waving palm frond and unseen noise on the trail, but he finally settled down for a very nice ride. He always gets like that when he's been laid off for a few weeks. Hubby's horse Clio was perfect, of course, but she is starting to get arthritis in her knees, so we've added some additional joint supplements to her diet, and we'll be doing liniment more often to help her out. A gorgeous day, just a little wind and not hot at all for a change. Saw a beautiful cactus in full bloom with perfect yellow flowers, a wild turkey, and a bit of pig sign, but no pigs. Chatted with some friends, new and old, and learned of a few more places to ride locally, but chances are we won't have more than maybe one more chance to ride this season, as we'll be busy all next week getting ready to depart in 10-11 days. Can't wait to get back on the road again! Though we're glad we didn't leave earlier, as they're having snow across the midwest this week! Brrrr!

Still not sure whether our gray water tank repair is completely finished because Hubby thought he had closed the valve to hold water in, but it was still dripping a little so the tank hasn't been filling up. He closed it off this morning, yesterday morning, so hopefully we'll know for sure in a couple more days, after more showers and laundry! Other than more mundane activities this week, Brother Jeff and I decided to take a ride down at Riverbend, so we headed out around 1:00. There was rain in the forecast starting after 2:00, but was likely to be hit or miss, so we weren't too worried. Besides, we had slickers and ponchos if we needed them. There were half a dozen other trailers in the equestrian area when we arrived, and by the time we were saddled up, most of them had come off the trail. We headed out behind the pavilion and worked our way all the way out to the golf course loop and back. Since Jeff isn't as used to riding, and because he likes to drink his beer along the way, we stopped to take breaks three times, which made it for a long afternoon. We did see a lot of wading birds, a cute squirrel sunning himself in a bush, and even an alligator swimming slowly along the river by the golf course. The sun was hot, but it was cloudy for a good part of the afternoon, and there was a decent breeze that kept it from getting too hot. Just as we got back to the trailer, we felt a few drops of rain and a dark cloud coming in, but we were on our way before it started raining. We stopped at Publix to pick up a few things, and the parking lot was soaked, with lots of puddles, so obviously it had rained heavily there for a few minutes, at least. Hubby called and said it was pouring at the house, but by the time we came out of the store, it had all pretty much passed, so we missed in entirely. The yard was wet again, but just a bit, we had not trouble getting the horses out and the trailer parked, and relaxed for the rest of the evening, which was, of course, an hour longer because of going into Daylight Savings Time last night.

After a day of mostly getting caught up on book orders, as well as doing a few odd jobs, my brother and I decided to take a quick ride out to the gazebo in Hungryland, which is just under 5 miles. We took along both my dogs, and his little fluffy dog Armani. Last time we rode with Armani was August last year in upstate New York, and then he put him up on the saddle where he rode like a little prince. This time, I suggested he just let Armani be a trail dog, despite his diminutive size, and keep up with us along with Billy and Lola. He was a little concerned that Armani was following Clio a little close, and that she might kick, but after my assurances, he decided to let Armani tag along on the ground, which turned out just fine. He and my little Billy hung out for a while, but then Billy jumped up front with Lola for a while too. We headed out the usual route along the first canal, then down to the new land bridge over to Hungryland. We met a group of locals with tourists, which we later learned were Italian (they got a kick out of the name Armani), and passed a vehicle along the way as well, while we made our way to the gazebo and then a bit further west, just for a little extra mileage. Today I decided to put Apollo in his bitless bridle, just to see how he would behave, and other than shying a bit once on a windy scrub palm, and rodeo-ing on his transition from a trot to a canter (which he hasn't done in a while, so I was surprised), he was fine. Not sure if I'll try again or not, though today's test didn't prove whether he'd behave better or not. Anyway, it was a nice ride, the dogs were great, the horses were fine, and we got back just as the sun was setting, when got everyone settled in for the evening.

With all the rain they've had this year in Florida, many areas that are normally dry have been underwater, and Dupuis has been no exception. But with three days of sunshine and breeze, and a forecast for low 70's today, this was the PERFECT opportunity to ride in Dupuis, and as it happens, there was a charity ride scheduled today, for breast cancer, so we decided to go and participate. That required getting up earlier than usual (by Hubby's standards, who loves to sleep late 🙂 ) and arriving between 8:30 and 9:00, which we did. After signing up, and donating a book to their raffle, we headed out following the big pink hoof signs that were well placed. They had two trails marked, one for horses and one for dogs and their walkers. This was so wonderful to see, as Dupuis, for years, didn't allow dogs, even in the campground, but they recently loosened the restriction to dogs on a leash (yeah!), something that many of us have been fighting for a long time. The camp host had dogs, but the rest of us weren't allowed... Go figure. Anyway, the trail took us all along the western side of the park, which has some beautiful areas. They had marked three loops for horses, 4 miles, 6+ miles, and 8+ miles. Well, 8 miles sounded just about right to us, so we stayed on that track. There was still much more water on some parts of the trail than we've ever seen, which kept it interesting. Lots of areas were just damp or a little muddy, but some had some long stretches of water completely covering the trail. Nowhere near as bad as the cattle drive, though, and the horses trooped through with no problems. In fact, the horses were brilliant today, no drama, great jogs and a lot of nice canters as well. Despite the mostly good trail markers, we still managed to get lost (well, not lost, just not on the designated trail), and we ended up coming back on the road for the final few miles. Turns out that was fine, as the designated trail was back the way we came, and Hubby and I HATE to go back on the same trail if there are loop options! Anyway, we got back into camp around noon, then sat around and chatted with some ladies, one who lives very nearby, and another lives in Chicago and (smartly) winters here, who said she was looking for a place in Jupiter for next year. Both ended up buying a book! Flying off the shelf, they are! Hubby put the horses away while I was chatting, and finally we left about 1:30, heading first to Ranch Feed to pick up enough feed for the horses to last for several weeks, and then to a fabulous little Thai Restaurant in Palm City, where we enjoyed a delightful meal in this quaint place. Got back to the "ranch" by 5:00, discovered a bunch more books online book sales had come in, then settled down for the evening to a very good movie and a very poor Republican debate... But don't get me started on politics!

What a busy week! So many book orders have come it (thank you!!) and the weather's been quite cool, so riding has not been in the cards until today. While the neighborhood here is all very nice, we were ready for a change (especially after seeing so MUCH change during the Cattle Drive), we decided to trailer the horses the very short trip up to Riverbend Park. This is a lovely little park that has something for everyone, canoe and kayak rentals, hiking, biking, picnic areas, and, of course, equestrian trails! We parked in the dedicated equestrian field and had the horses saddled up in no time, then hit the trails. There's only really a few choices here, a long loop and shorter loop, with just a couple of options for cutting between them, but they are lovely trails. We did the longest trail we could, and even so it was only 6.5 miles, but it was lovely! We saw a lot of young deer along the backside of the golf course, and had a chance for some nice canters. A gorgeous day, with just a bit of a cool wind which we only noticed when we were heading into it, but it warmed up during the ride beautifully. A great change of venue, for us and the horses!

Had a wonderful night sleep in our nice and dry tent, only had a little transpiration on the wall of the tent when we got up. Didn't take long to get packed up and ready to leave, finally found a way to get up at 5:00 and be ready by 8:00 (kick Hubby out of the tent as early as possible), and after standing around for a while, we finally set out to the arena. Although less than two miles away, we did a lot of stopping along the way, taking until almost noon to get there. Further, we stood around a long time while the cows were herded around the arena, then finally each group had a half turn around the arena to the waiting crowd of about 700, we heard later. After we left the arena, we went directly to our van, where Hubby took care of the horses and I grabbed a box of books and headed to the registration RV where I set up shop. Thanks to a gentleman who helped me carry a box of books! Several hours and 25 book sales later, we finally packed it in. Hubby had nearly succeeded in getting out of the mud, but in the end he had to have a bulldozer help him out. We headed to Okeechobee where we picked up horse feed and grab a to go dinner from a Vietnamese restaurant along the way, arriving back at Brother Jeff's just about 7:00 as it was getting dark. Horses jumped out of the trailer and started grazing, and Hubby and I crashed into our recliners, where we intend to stay until we are fully recovered!

After another night of warm rain, it finally started to clear out this morning, though not until after we had packed up everything wet. The good news is, we have another short day of riding today, and the camp where we'll be arriving early will be our camp for the next two days. The forecast is for clear and sunny weather, so we're all excited about getting things dried out. More cold hard scrambled eggs for breakfast, more traipsing through wet and soggy swamp before reaching our new camp, which is the ranch of one of the wranglers. It's a beautiful place, and for once, each area is designated for each group, which makes it much more comfortable. Each group has it's own set of corrals, so we didn't have to fight over them. I kept getting different reports as to when the rain would stop, so we sat around under the awning of our circle boss' trailer again, hoping for a long enough break to get our tent up dry. Unfortunately, that never really happened, and though we had some very entertaining discussions with some of the other members of our group (at last, social activity within the group!), it was late when I set up the tent, so it was still pretty wet. I can't remember ever going to be with wet hair, on a wet pillow, in a wet tent, just wet all around. We had another dinner, though this one was actually pretty hot for a change, before heading to bed. The routine has become that, routine. Hard, but routine.

Well, rain came in overnight, but fortunately we slept through most of it. We set the alarm for 4:30 this morning, determined to be on time for the 8:00 muster. I ran down in the rain to the dining hall, only to discover they didn't have any cereal out, and they were out of coffee, so Hubby and I went out without breakfast. I managed to grab a couple of OJ's, but that was it! We broke down the tent and equipment in the rain, but just as we were heading out of camp, it quit raining for awhile, thank goodness. Of course, we have our slickers and hats, so we stayed relatively dry, and the warmer temps made it almost pleasant. Hubby is still suffering from shortness of breath, though, a remnant of both the cold air and the incredibly salty food, which always has an effect on him. It was another relatively easy day, despite the rain and the sloppy trails. Clio is still taking swipes at horses that run up on her fast, but otherwise is behaving well. Apollo has gotten used to the crowds, and only pins his ears back on occasion when someone gets too close. This has been really good for them, particularly if we decide to go on more organized trail rides in order to promote the book. Because of the weather, it was decided that we wouldn't stop for lunch, which was scheduled to be just a mile away, but rather head straight for camp and have lunch there instead, so off we went, arriving by about 1:00. Unfortunately, there was a shortage of corrals, and people were racing around, just like in musical chairs, to try to secure their spot. Apparently a bunch of the "workers" had reserved theirs by leaving hats and halters around, which I didn't think they could do, but somehow we managed to get one right on the end, which was a great relief. Some folks had to wait more than an hour for more panels to be set up! This was a small camping area, and the corrals were actually set up inside the cow pasture, so the cows were doing a good job of stealing hay from the horses. Obviously, we couldn't camp near the corrals tonight, so I quickly located a spot between two larger tents, halfway under a tree, and held that spot until we could find our luggage, which, miraculously, was in the trailer right next to us! It began to rain again just as we were setting up, but I still managed to keep most everything reasonably dry, for the moment. Lunch was a small sloppy Joe and a bag of chips (again). I was right in my suspicions about diminishing portions, every meal has been getting smaller. After not getting breakfast (because they didn't bother to put out cereal), we were starving, but sloppy Joe's was not a good choice considering the lack of water (which has been a problem, but has finally been resolved by a truck with full tanks that now shows up at every meal), and the need to wash up afterward. Another silly thing about this caterer, the only napkins they provide is in a cutlery packet, so if you need a second one, you have to open an entire cutlery packet to get it! What a waste! Anyway, after inhaling lunch, I managed to get the tent set up in a light rain. Hubby was feeling so poorly by now, so short of breath, that he is all but helpless. I made him sit in the dining tent while I did all the work. Eventually, everything was set up, but it was starting to get harder to stay dry. We hung around at our circle boss's trailer for awhile, staying dry under the awning, and it was our first chance to actually talk to anyone in our group for more than a passing comment, then dinner and to bed, all still in the rain. Also, my video camera somehow didn't turn off when it was supposed to, so now my battery is dead, and I'll only have my very poor quality phone for photos from here on out. Fortunately, I'll be able to recharge my phone, several people have adapters that fit my phone, and access to car batteries or generators to keep the juice up!

Seven blessed hours of sleep!!! Yeah!!! What a difference a good night sleep makes! Though Hubby's still a bit short of breath, we're both feeling much better, even with the alarm set at 4:50 this morning. We had cold cereal for breakfast in order to shorten our morning prep time, and try as we did, we still didn't make muster until 8:20. When we got there, however, our circle boss informed us that the muster time had changed to 9:00, so all our rushing around was for naught. Gotta love the communication! We haven't been properly informed of anything since we've been here, there seems to be very little interest in creating any bond within our group whatsoever. A bit disappointing, we thought we'd have a tight-knit group in a short time, but so far, no effort has been made. I don't even know anyone's name yet! Anyway, we sat around until 9:00, then until 9:40, before we finally started out on the trail. Having run with the cows yesterday, today we were at the back of the pack, at a leisurely pace, for the approximately 9 miles we covered today, through a lot of water and scrub and mud. It began with a large circle apparently designed to be a photo op down to Lake Kissimmee, then along some more wet trails until we stopped for lunch about 1:00, this time a ham sandwich and chips, which was frankly the best meal we've had so far, albeit slim. At least it was MEANT to be cold : -). A short afternoon of riding brought us into camp around 4:00, where we once again pitched our tent next to the corrals where we found a spot for the horses, along a ditch near the back of a field, next to a couple in a percheron-driven wagon. Actually, they had been parked next to us last night, too, and we got to chatting. We eventually discovered he had the means to recharge my phone, right there in his wagon! Wonderful! We finally went off to dinner, and Roy was asked to perform (an arrangement I have made earlier with Larry, but didn't expect this early in the week. So Hubby performed his Shakespeare monolog "All the World's a Stage" followed by "The Man From Snowy River" which he had just learned last week. While his Shakespeare was brilliant, as always, Snowy River was a bit rough, but he managed to make it through, and the audience that could hear him (which was only a few table at the front because the caterer's generator was so loud at the back) seemed appreciative. Headed to bed shortly afterward, with temps a bit warmer tonight, and cloudier so the moon won't be so bright, we're hoping for another good night's sleep. With a prediction of rain overnight and for the next two days, it should make it interesting!

Well, I set the alarm for 5:20, thinking we would have plenty of time to pack up, get to breakfast after 6:00 and be ready for the ride by 7:30-8:00, but things didn't turn out as planned. We both had a fitful night, very cold again, very bright with a full moon that made it seem like daylight, only getting a few hours off and on at best. The inside of the tent got wet from the condensation of our breathing, and dripped down the sides, making the whole side I was on wet. The air mattress didn't have enough air in it to stay full when the temps dropped. Outside the tent, frost had settled onto all our gear, which we had put into large garbage bags for protection. Brrr! Suffice to say, it was another bad night, and the cold got into Hubby's lungs even more, so now he is really short of breath, struggling to do the most basic things, like get dressed. It took us a very long time to get up and out of the tent, get breakfast (which didn't start until 6:20, further compounding our tardiness, and consisted of cold, hard-scrambled eggs, burnt bacon, and super-salty sausage-the last thing Hubby needs right now), feed the horses, and get broken down. We finally loaded our packed bags onto the horses and led them down to the circle boss's area, managed to find an overflow trailer where we could put our bags, and headed out amongst a group that was way behind our own at 8:20, twenty minutes past our muster time, so of course, they were gone already. Despite watching all the activity for the last two days, riding in such a large group was still brand new to our horses, and my comedian Apollo decided to have some fun almost immediately, so he bucked and snorted until I came off into the soft and muddy ground. I pulled off to one side and ran him around on my McCarty line for a while. At one point he slipped on the mud, and that seemed to wake him up a bit, but I continued circling him in both directions until he finally gave up, resigned to be a good horse despite himself. I climbed back up, and now, since we were so far behind, we started to jog them, and jog them, and jog them. We tried to stay off to the side of the groups as best we could, and we managed to do that everywhere except certain bottlenecks, like the tunnels under the turnpike, but they behaved themselves for the most part. Nearly two hours of jogging later, we finally caught up to our group, and the cows. By now, Apollo's head was down and he wasn't interested in being silly, and he only took one quick look at the cows when we reached them before putting his head back down. We continued to stay off to one side, but by now the horses were started to get used to the other horses, though Clio started to kick at anyone coming close to us, particularly if they came up fast, so we knew a red ribbon would have to be put on her tail at lunch. One time, though we had warned her, a girl crossed right behind us, and Clio landed one on her thigh. She kind of panicked a bit, but eventually settled down, and later had it looked at by the paramedics, it just broke the skin a bit and I'm sure there will be a big bruise. Such is life around horses, black and blue are the operative colors! We stopped for lunch in a field where the caterers had set up, and Hubby stood in line for lunch while I put a great big red bow on Clio's tail. After getting lunch, (another cold hamburger with chips) we sat around on the tarp that we had brought with us, with Hubby almost taking a nap in the nice warm sun! Eventually, lunch was over, and we headed out again, sometimes getting quite close to the cows as we got more and more comfortable in the crowd. We arrived near the next camp just after 4:00, but had to take a long loop around to put the cows away, so it was 5:00 by the time we arrived in camp, having completed what we learned would be the longest day of them all. Rumors were we had traversed 16 miles, a longer day than we had expected, and one guy even said 20 miles (GPS later confirms 16 is about right). That was definitely a longer day than we expected, and after two nights of non-sleep, we were exhausted. We managed to get our tent up next to the corrals where we put the horses, just made it in time to stand in another long line for dinner, which was again cold by the time we reached a table. Dinner was beef brisket, beans, cabbage and corn, but the portions seemed a lot smaller than yesterday, afraid this might be a trend... Decided their claims of decaf coffee were false, so we skipped the coffee altogether. I asked for hot water so I could make some Sleepytime tea, but there was none to be had! By now we were more exhausted than we can describe, running on pure adrenaline, so we headed straight for bed. Unfortunately, when we headed back to camp, there a girl was just bringing in a large black Percheron and putting him in the stall next to ours. Apparently a wagon had gotten stuck, and the Percheron was brought in while the wagon's owner tried to make arrangements to get the wagon moved. Well for some reason, this horse was not a happy camper, and he kicked and bucked and threw himself at the corral until he literally bent it!! The panel actually buckled into my horses' space, and my guys were not happy about it. I finally had no choice but to report the incident to my circle boss, and the woman in charge of the corrals. The immediate solution, unfortunately, was for me to move my horses to another row of corrals on the opposite side of the camp, so off I went with horses in hand, so tired I could barely walk. After another 30 minutes or so, they moved the Percheron to the cow pens so he could be on his own, but by then, we were in bed, so I left ours where they were, I was flat out too tired to move. Some of the other campers applauded when they took that horse away, apparently he had been restless on previous nights while in the wagon group, and had kept many campers awake. Finally back to bed, where Hubby stayed fully clothed in an effort to stay warm, the chill has really had an effect on him, making him short of breath, but so far, still functioning. Some clouds came over, so at least it wasn't quite as bright as before, we're both hoping for a better night sleep tonight, though the forecast has changed again. It was supposed to only get down to 40 degrees tonight, but it's back to low 30's again, darn it. We've rearranged the bags inside the tent so there's a bit more of a space between me and the wet walls of the tent, I'm hoping that will help as well. Good night!