Several storms came in during the evening yesterday, and one of the rangers came by and told us there was bad hail coming in, so just before midnight we put the horses in the trailer just to be on the safe side. Had a bit of rain, thunder and lightning, but not much else, but it fortunately dropped the temps down to a comfortable level. Slept well, then after breakfast got the horses saddle up and headed out to finish off as many of the trails as we could. I planned a trip out River Trail, a 4 mile linear trail to the northwest boundary of the park, with a return on the Yellow Jacket, then Pink trail, about 7.5 miles total. Wound through some marvelous woods, then along a stretch of sandy trail until we reached a long wooden bridge over some swampland. Our horses have no trouble with a long bridge like that, but if you're not that confident, the park folks have put in a nice mounting block at each end of the bridge if you want to walk your horse over it. There's really no way to get around it, just too mucky. At the far side of the bridge, there a loop you can take that meets up again on the other side, so we went straight on the way out, and came back on the other half of the loop. Where they merge on the other side, there trail continues all the way to the park boundary. We had one tricky bit, where there was a culvert pipe across the trail, but most of the trail had washed out, so there was a creek and a big corrugated pipe which gave the horses some pause. I got down and managed to get both horses across with only a little hesitation, fortunately. At the end of the official trail, I was expecting a fence, but there wasn't one. We were clued in by a couple of large logs that criss-crossed the trail, and the trail rather dramatically deteriorating (though that had been happening during the last half mile or so anyway), then when I turned around I saw the Park Boundary sign, so we headed back, talking the alternate River Trail loop, and found our way home. A very nice ride, though Hubby slipped on the culvert and hurt his shoulder a bit again, but only slightly, so hopefully it won't put him out of commission again. The dogs had a great time, with Lola doing her whirling dervish routine a couple of times, where she suddenly goes into some crazed mode and starts running circles around like a mad dog, usually in and out of puddles or water. The weather was perfect, temps in the low 70's in the shade, so Billy had no trouble keeping up either. Got back to camp, did a quick final load of laundry to get our muddy jeans clean, started packing up for our departure tomorrow, and settled down for the evening. A great day! Again, SO GLAD TO BE BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!! YEAH!!!

After a weekend of doing laundry and resting Hubby's hurt shoulder, plus a short trip down to the trading post to extend out stay until Thursday, we decided Hubby was fit enough to try a short ride today, so we saddled up the horses and headed out on the trails with both dogs, with temps in the mid-80's and a bit humid. They really do have nice trails here!. Pretty thick woods but a nice, well-used trail that's mostly wide enough for two, but still mostly in the shade, which was greatly appreciated today! Sand and leaves for footing, and there are a number of good places to trot and canter, though we did neither because it jarred Hubby's shoulder too much. He's thinking now that maybe he actually bruised the bone, rather than just muscles, so we're going to put him back in a brace when we get back to camp. Two hours and five miles later, we arrived back at camp, where crazy Lola tried to get into the horses' water bucket to cool off. Little Billy had found a nice dirty puddle someplace, so I had to rinse him off at the faucet before letting him in the RV. Had some lunch, and then some rain came in a few minutes later, so great timing! Put the horses out on their anchors so they could graze in the field next to us. One thing I have to say about this place, no one has fussed at us about anything, not the dogs, not the horses, nothing, making it a very pleasant stay so far! This place really is a well-kept secret, there's very little evidence that it's being used very often, so it quite peaceful, though we are just off a highway so we can hear traffic occasionally, and the sites have a slight slope to them, but otherwise, it's all great!

As is my wont, I planned to ride as many of the trails here as possible, so today's ride was designed to map out nearly all of the remaining trails, which estimated to be just under 13 miles. We set the alarm in order to get out early, as the temps were forecast for the low 90's. Managed to get on the trail by 9:30, but this time we left little Billy home, which he didn't like, but he had trouble keeping up with us on the last ride, mostly because of the heat, and we knew that this would be too much for him today. We headed south to the first intersection, then made our way north and eventually to the east side of the park, which opened up into a lot of fallow fields, many with some gorgeous wildflowers, not to mention the occasional cactus in bloom. When we got close to the road, I stopped to put a leash on Lola, didn't want to be too far out of compliance here, anyway. 🙂 The trails that went around the edges of fields gave us a good opportunity to trot and canter, but got a little boring after a while, and then hot as there was no shade and the temps rose. At one point, near the farthest point from the camp, of course, Hubby's mare Clio shied at some approaching hikers, which she seldom does but we hadn't seen anyone else on the trails here at all, so I guess it startled her, and she went sideways unexpectedly. Hubby couldn't hang on (his hands just aren't as strong as they used to be), he lost his balance and took a slow motion fall, landing a bit on his shoulder. Clio didn't go anywhere, she just stood there wondering what happened. The hikers were very apologetic, though it wasn't anything they did, but we appreciated their concern. After a few minutes of rest and recovery, Hubby got back up in the saddle with the help of a nearby fallen log, and we were on our way. We took a couple of rests on the way back, especially at the bridge where Lola and I tossed a stick in the water, which had quite a good current going, and she got some swimming in. Hubby was too sore to do anything but walk all the way back, so it was nearly 3:30 by the time we got to camp. Fortunately, the west side of the park is mostly wooded, so the shade helped, but it was still hot. Can't wait to get back north in 70 degrees!! Anyway, Hubby helped a little, but his shoulder hurt him too much, so I sent him in and finished up with the chores. We put ice packs on his shoulder during the evening, and that helped some, so hopefully he'll recover without too much fuss. In any event, it was a very nice ride, 13 miles in all, and I managed to get a great GPS map out of it, which I've passed along to Trailmeister (along with the one from earlier in the week), and have both available if anyone wants them!

What a very nice ride at Lake Louisa today! We got up a little early to try to beat the heat, but still didn't manage to get out until 11:00 (we got so lazy hanging around in one place all winter! 🙂 Over the weekend I had taken the trail map and marked off two routes that would allow us to cover as many of the park trails as possible, and downloaded Day One into the GPS to make sure, which ran just under 9 miles, saving the longer 12+ mile one for later in the week. We headed south through the youth camp, down to Dude's Loop, then north for a bit to the link to the east side of the park, which let us cross over a creek where the dogs had a great time splashing around, even little Billy took a voluntary swim across the creek to cool off, even though there's a bridge! Went north over the Sandhill Loop, then came back over the bridge where we rested a few minutes at the picnic table and hitching rail there, then did a sort of figure 8 along a bunch more trails that ended up taking us to the loop around the north side of Bear Lake and south back into the campground, all told, just over 3 hours. The weather was pretty hot (in the mid-upper 80's) but not too humid, cloudy enough to keep it from getting too bad, there was a tiny breeze occasionally that helped, and at one point, a few drops came out of a cloud, just enough to subdue the increasing heat. Hubby had a lot of great canters, as his mare Clio was walking slower than usual, and he had to keep up. She's starting to get a bit of arthritis in one of her knees, so we'll have to keep an eye on that, though he's been spraying it with Absorbine everyday. But a gorgeous day all around! The trails were marked brilliantly, and the map corresponded perfectly (a rare combination!), and we never felt lost, making the day even more enjoyable! Looking forward to our next ride here, probably Wednesday. A great start to our re-kindled journey!

For some time now, we've known about the nearby Loxahatchee Slough, but have only ever reached it's trailhead after a long ride from brother Jeff's house, so we had never actually been on those trails. At Dupuis a few months ago, I met a woman named Valerie who was kind enough to invite me to ride with her today, so we packed up the horses early and headed over to another one of her friend's house named Nancy. From there we quickly saddled up and headed west along the canal at a nice easy walk so the horses could get used to each other and the surroundings, and of course they had issues with a pig in someone's back yard, but it wasn't long before we all settled down. Just as we reached the trailhead we were joined by another rider, Bob, who decided to tag along with us. We took a very nice loop of about 4 miles, part of which went along one of the big canals, and there was one stretch that had standing water we had to wade through for a bit. Otherwise it was a lovely day, a very nice trail and a very nice ride, and we all took turns chatting amongst ourselves. We mostly walked and jogged, though Hubby got in a couple of canters catching up several times, as our pace was a bit quicker than normal for us (their horses are younger :-). We passed one property that had a rather emaciated looking horse in the yard, I took note and looked it up later, passing the address and owner along to Val in case she wanted to report it. With us leaving in a few days, it doesn't make sense for us to get involved, hopefully the ladies here will follow up on it. In any event, it was a lovely ride, about 7.3 miles all told, just over two hours, just right for the busy day we all still had left in front of us. Hubby and I expressed our thanks and goodbyes, made short stop at Publix for a few things before heading back to the "ranch," did some chores before settling down for the evening.

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!