Hi Babe!
Had a very good night sleep, slept even later than I expected, but since my journey today is only taking me about 30 miles, I wasn’t worried about it. I even had breakfast instead of my usual travel day protein bar! It took less than an hour to get here, two straight roads and I was here, very easy. I stopped at the ranger office to get the scoop, and discovered I had to go to the modern campground a half mile away to register, but I figured I better find my spot first, so I drove back to the campground to check it out. Sorry to say that despite what their website says, there are virtually NO level sites here! They are all on a hill of some kind, except or may a couple of really short sites which I had no chance of fitting into, but I finally selected site #7, which only had what seemed like a side to side slope. It also gets a lot of sun so I should be able to pick up some solar energy as well. Once I picked it out, I headed back to the modern campground to register, and to use the dump as well, then headed back and started to set up. I had a real problem getting some semblance of level, I sure wish I had that extra board I lost at Ionia a few weeks back! At least here the horse camp is separate from the regular campers, and it doesn’t look like it get a lot of use, but we’ll see. I let the horses out of the trailer and just let them graze around the yard for awhile, and since we had the place to ourselves, I let Lola wander a bit, too. There’s a central spigot where I filled up the truck tank once I disconnected, finally put the horses on a highline. Was also glad to see that the manure bin is right next door, too, though it looks like most folks just scatter in the woods around here. The site is surrounded by trees so there should be some shade, and the horses are so close they can practically stand in the shadow of the trailer! Took my usual two hours to get everything set up, then settled down to read and eventually watch a little TV with my grilled hamburger. I was hoping to not have to wear earplugs here, but the bugs are really noisy (unlike Highland, where traffic and sirens were the predominant sounds), and then I heard several trains go by, and remembered I crossed tracks between here and the modern campground, so it’s definitely earplugs again tonight! Should be a nice quiet time here, though. A couple of pairs of riders rode through camp during the afternoon, but I didn’t speak to anyone yet. Apparently their day riding area gets a lot of use, and I think there’s an actual stable that rents horses as well, so I’m hoping the trails are in good shape, even though apparently there is only about 15 miles of them. I thought it would be more, but that will keep me busy for a few days. Nearest town with all the things I need is only about five miles away, so it’s convenient. Anyway, I’ve settled in, now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’!
Had an absolutely fabulous night sleep last night, temps were perfect for that! After chores I started my first load of laundry, then went and filled up the tank again because I had three more loads to do. It was a perfect day, no clouds, lots of sun, nice breeze, and since I had full propane tanks I decided to get all of my laundry done, four loads total. It was very busy in the campground but there were sites across from me that were empty to I put my laundry line up across the posts in both of them, enough space for everything! I had one last mending job I wanted to do, on the hay bags. The grommets where the string goes through came out ages ago, shortly after I got them, and they were getting progressively worse, so I decided to sew all the grommets back in to make them last a bit longer. Not an easy job, a lot of the grommets where horribly squished into weird shapes, and it took awhile to get the job done, which I did in between putting up and taking down laundry. Just as I was taking down my last bit of laundry, Dan showed up unannounced, but I finished that job and went back to grommet mending while he chatted away. He brought a couple of pasties, he heard I liked them from the UP last time we were here, and I was going to heat them up for dinner when he got a call that he had to pick up his ex-wife from a hospital (mental, I think) and take her home. He has a lot of family problems I won’t get into, way too much negative baggage, not a lot of fun, sorry to say. Anyway, he asked me to wait until seven-ish for dinner, so I had to have a snack of carrots since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Then at seven he texts me to say it’s now more like eight and I said don’t bother, I had too much to do. I just can’t eat that late anymore, especially not something heavy like a pastie. Meanwhile, I finished a lot more of my packing up, got most everything put away, and got the truck lined up and partially hitched (stopped when it was level) so I had no intention of having company after eight. We might meet up after I move to Brighton, but it doesn’t really matter one way or another. Finally settle down with some shrimp ramen instead, watched a bit of TV, now I’m exhausted and ready for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hello, my love!
I ended up going to bed after 12:30 last night, fell asleep reading and woke up around 8:00. Did all my chores and had breakfast, then spent almost two hours doing my egoscue and other exercises. I felt a lot better after doing them the other day, so I’m trying to do them more often. I still feel lopsided, and these exercises are helping me get back in balance. After finishing that up, it was almost noon, and I decided to give Flash’s saddle a really good cleaning and conditioning. I’m embarrassed to say I cant remember the last time I did it, and I know I’ve only done it once (if that!) Since you did them right after I got Flash three years ago. Figured it was about time! There were also a number of seams that were starting to come apart on the stirrups, and one of the rings on the saddle bags had torn off, so I had my work cut out for me! It took the better part of the afternoon to get it all done, including sewing some new elastic on my lamb’s wool saddle cover so it will be a bit more secure. I had to get my sewing box down from the attic, so when I put that away, I also put away the ice machine that I got for my knee and haven’t used in months because it’s too much of a pain to try to store ice to use it, and I’ve found using a baggie full of ice is just as effective anyway, plus, the swelling is practically gone so it seems like surplus to requirement right now. I’ll do it occasionally when I remember, but most of the time I only do it if it hurts, which isn’t very often any more, thank goodness! I finished up just in time to grill a piece of chicken and have dinner, feed the horses, then head over to a place called Fisk Farm about 5 miles away. I had seen a sign that they were having a “clean comedy night” tonight as a fundraiser for the local heritage society, so I thought I’d do something different for a change and headed over there. It was an outdoor venue so I took Lola, and I ended up throwing the frisbee for a while just to keep her busy. I thought the show started at seven so showed up at a quarter til, only to find that seven was when they opened the box office, the show didn’t start until eight. I was glad I listened to the little voice in my head to put my empty propane tanks in the back of the truck, because I decided to run over to Tractor Supply and get them filled to kill some time. He was so fast filling them, though, I was only gone ten minutes! Thus the frisbee play to wear down Lola. Eventually the show started, it wasn’t too bad, though not exactly highbrow. It still ended up with large portions of bathroom humor, a lot about kids and parenting, so not very relevant to me! It was different, though, and for a good cause, but that’s about it. Got back around ten, watched a brief hour of TV, now I’m off to the shower and to bed! A busy and different kind of day! Cheers, my love! Good night!

Hi Babe!
Was delighted to see that Flash seems to be back to his normal self this morning, so I didn’t have to worry about him when I went shopping today. I took Lola with me, she made a lot of people smile, as she always does, and we got into several conversations throughout the store. The longest was in the checkout line, there were only two registers open and the lines were really long despite it being a quiet day in the store. Michigan is still paying Covid unemployment, I think until September, so there’s a real shortage of help right now. Glad TN and FL dropped it earlier! Otherwise, it was pretty quiet day. Those plastic drawers in the back of the trailer finally gave out, so I picked up another set with an extra drawer to replace it. That helped organize things a little better, but these new ones aren’t clear, so I may have to look a little harder for things next time :-). Remember awhile back we bought some hay that had pink baling twine, and it was so original I decided to hang on to a bunch so that I could braid them into ropes for miscellaneous uses? Well, I finally did that yesterday! They were just taking up space in the drawers, so I finally braided them up and hung them on a bar in the tack area. It’s nice to get a job that’s been sitting there for years finally done! The rest of the day was pretty slow, not much going on, which is fine, I’ve been staying pretty busy this week. So I’ve settled for my usual evening routine! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hi Babe!
Tried to sleep without earplugs last night, but the rain woke my up in the middle of the night, naturally the bedroom window leaked again, but had a towel handy to dry it up. First thing after chores I started calling around for the ribbon seal that I needed, and none of the auto parts chains had it, but I finally found it at a local parts store just a few miles away, and they happen to be right next to a True Value where I was able to get the denatured alcohol I needed as well. My order from JC Penney also came in, and I picked that up as well. That was strange because the parking lot was FULL of Canadian geese! I guess that might be normal around here, but it was fun to see anyway. Then I went and picked up Dan, he offered to help with the main window, and I needed an extra hand, though it was a bit out of the way. Got back and got to work, took us about two hours to get the whole job done, fortunately we didn’t have any real problems. Took a bit more to get off all the sealant I’ve been spreading onto it, but it eventually came off. Fingers crossed it work this time! Then I took Dan to lunch as a thank you and got him home, then when I got back, I remembered another window problem I was having. You remember on the dinette window, the handle on the edge with the lock on it came off? Well, I haven’t really done anything about it, and then the window behind the recliners did the same thing to me yesterday, so I got online to see what suggestions there were, and the one I tried was using a board and a rubber mallet to tap it back on. That seemed to work, at least for now. It was suggested that I could use some glue, and if these come off again, I’ll do that. Meanwhile, that makes three window repairs today, so I guess you could call it a productive day! Did a few more French lessons and settled down for the evening. It was quite hot and humid today, and it’s supposed to be like that for a couple more days before it cools down. It’s supposed to rain off and on tonight and tomorrow, so I guess we’ll see if our window fix really did the trick! Sitting outside cooling off again, I ran the AC for a bit, didn’t do a thing against the heat out in this wide open park. Looking forward to getting in some shade next week. Anyway, time for my shower and bed! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
There was another bout of rain overnight, so it was wet and a bit foggy this morning. Considered riding, but you know me, I’m a fair weather rider, so I decided to do some other things instead. Once it looked like it was going to clear up I did a load of laundry, and got that hung out to dry. Spent most of the day reading, working on the computer, doing some French lessons and so on. So a quiet day overall. Pretty warm today, I had to turn the AC for a few minutes to blow the hot air out of the trailer in the evening, it’s not cooling down quite so much tonight, but still not too bad, not like further south. Still glad I’m above the 42nd parallel! Sitting outside in the screen room trying to cool off before going to bed, already had my shower, but will be heading inside shortly. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
A pretty good night sleep, and we had some rain overnight, so it was really overcast this morning. I decided to use the day to get caught up on a bunch of little things. Did a proposal for my potential client, topped off the batteries, made Lola some Satin Balls, did a bunch of housework, went through a bunch of French lessons, and kept busy in general, just a regular, mundane day. Settled down in the evening, watched a fun movie with Susan Sarandon, now it’s off to shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Had a great night sleep last night, went to be early, got up at 8:00, got my chores and breakfast done, as well as a load of laundry first things. Surprisingly, the generator started with no problem, even though I didn’t run it at all yesterday, so I guess my solar panel is helping to get the charge up on the battery, just as I had hoped.. I’ve been chasing down some hay and was hoping to get some today, but the earliest will be tomorrow. We’re so close to civilization here that I wore my earplugs to keep out the noise of sirens and a little traffic, but it makes it pretty convenient to everything. The nearest Tractor Supply is less than 10 minutes away, so I went there and filled up a couple of propane tanks, plus ordered a couple more bags of Balancer because they could have it delivered by next Friday. Then I headed to Walmart for a few things (which, as always, turned out to be MORE than a few things!), then went to Kroger for fuel, though I had trouble finding the station, as it was behind the store rather than in front of it. Thought about riding when I got back, but decided against it. I’ll go tomorrow in the morning, and be back in plenty of time to get hay in the late afternoon. Spent the day doing some research, was a bit flummoxed when I went to the Waterloo website and it said that the entire camp was sold out for the whole week of Labor Day, when I was planning on being there. When I called, though, they said they just don’t accept reservations during that time, it’s first come, first served, and said I should have no problem even with a rig my size. I was relieved to hear that! Did some reading as well, and generally relaxed most of the rest of the day. Settled in for the evening, watched an interesting movie with Judi Dench called Red Joan, based on a true story of a WWII spy. Now I’m ready for shower and bed, so off I go! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hi Babe!
I had a terrible night sleep, though I don’t really know why. The temperature was great, though I had to put the heavy quilt on, which was cozy, but I ended up reading until about 2:00, then still couldn’t get to sleep. Eventually I did, but then it was 9:00 by the time I woke up in the morning. No worries, though, my trip today was short, but I did something I don’t think I’ve ever done before, I left behind my leveling ramp, darn it! I called down there as soon as I realized it (I had reach Highlands by then), and they claim they couldn’t find it, but the camp was nearly empty so I don’t know who grabbed it. Well, I do have that piece of 2X10 leftover from when I build the new rack for the water tank, thank goodness, so all I need is the metal ramp end, which I can pick up at Lowe’s or Home Depot when I go out. I was disappointed, but, hey, that’s the way things go, and it seems to me that that board had broken when I backed up on it this time anyway, so no big loss, I guess. Anyway, we arrived safe and sound at Highlands, a primitive camp with a single water spigot, which, I can’t believe this, has a spring-loaded handle! How dumb is that. Well, thankfully, that’s easily defeated with the right size bungee, so I managed to fill up everything before I parked anyway. The Michigan DNR website is weird though, it claims that only RV’s up to 30′ can fit into a 70′ site! I’ve been finding that in a lot of places. Fortunately, we got it straightened out in the office, and they did have a couple of sites available for the two weeks I plan to spend here, and one, #9, turned out to be just fine. All the sites have highline posts, but it’s not exclusively a horse camp, regular campers can come here, too. By the look of the highlines, none of them have been used in a long time! I decided to put up the fence so they would have more room to move around, and they’ve been stuck on a highline for several weeks now, and they really liked grazing and rolling, so I’m glad I made the extra effort. I arrived about 12:30, got to the campground around 1:00 when I started filling up with water, then got everything setup in a couple of hours. I didn’t put the screen room up at first, hoping the bugs weren’t too bad, but by 4:30 the mosquitoes started to make an appearance, so I put the screen room up after all. This place is pretty wide open, though they’ve planted some saplings around, (in places that will probably be a problem for a big rig backing up in twenty years or so!), but I’m certainly going to get my share of solar power! The forecast is for sunny skies all week, 70’s during the day, 50’s at night, so perfect weather. I’m going to experiment and see just how long I can go without running my generator (except for laundry, which I need to do), just to see if I can make it through an evening of watching TV and recharging my electronics from the solar energy I store during the day. With 15 hour days, and wide open spaces where I should get almost all of that converted to battery power, it will be interesting to see how that goes! Anyway, it’s already getting cooler, I’m hoping for a better night sleep tonight, so I’m planning on getting to bed early. I’ll be heading in for my shower soon, then bed, so I’ll say good night now! Love you!