Hi Sweetie!
Well, Google Maps did it to me again, taking me on backroads where I shouldn’t have been even when the map I downloaded was all major highways. I did do a stretch on an interstate I don’t think we’ve ever been on before, I-22, which goes from Birmingham to Memphis. Going through Birmingham, like any city, was a nightmare, but we managed to make it okay, except for one tiny road that made a sharp right onto the last road before we got here, that was also steeply uphill, and I ended up scraping bottom. I discovered the stairs are all out of whack again, another job on my list! Left late because I got into some conversations with some folks this morning, managed to sell a few more books (at least my fuel is getting paid for 🙂 ), so it was almost 10:30 by the time I left. Arrived here a bit after 3:00, but both offices were closed and there wasn’t anyone around. I call both “emergency” numbers and left voicemail on both (good thing it wasn’t an actual emergency!), no one ever got back to me, no one ever showed up. I had no choice but to pick a spot and park in it. Hardly any of the sites are level here, and there are very few highline posts. Since I know my new friends want to stay near the barns, I didn’t want to get too far away, and about the only posts I could find were at the top of the hill at a full hookup, that’s where I ended up. Unfortunately, the hookups are right by the road whereas the highline is tucked way back, so there’s a long yard between me and the horses. Had enough hose for water, though, thank goodness. Maybe they’ll let me put my fence up and create a nice paddock for them, there’s quite a bit of nice clover in there. I didn’t unpack much else, though, since I may have to move tomorrow when I finally check in. They seem very lackadaisical here, which I trust will work in my favor but we’ll see tomorrow! Got the horses settled, and got me settled. There’s a horrible cell phone signal here, but I can just reach the guest wifi here, just enough to watch Prime on my computer and screen share with the TV, which couldn’t stay connected directly for some reason. It started raining during the evening, and this place is already known for muddy trails, so I’m expecting to spend a lot of time wet here! Anyway, it’s been a long and tiring drive day, so I’m heading off to shower and bed early. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Spent the morning doing my usual chores and breakfast, then got busy with laundry and housework, don’t want to take one camp’s dirt to another camp. Worked off and on with that, as well as putting stuff away in preparation for my departure tomorrow. Just after lunch, some of the folks I met down at McCulley Farms arrived, and we spent some time chatting in the afternoon, culminating in a nice hamburger dinner, and another chance to do my Snowy River, especially now that I’ve got it cleared through the union, yay! I had planned on going to Owl Creek tomorrow, but they’ve got me persuaded to come to Seven Springs, where they are all heading off to on Tuesday, and since I’ve never been, and they seem reasonably affordable, and because it’s supposed to get really hot later in the week and I’m not sure I want to be without electricity like I would be at Owl Creek, I’ve decided to change my plans. It’s a little further to drive from here, but about the same distance to Loretta Lynn’s from there, though I’ll have to take back roads rather than the freeway, but it would be nice to get on some new trails and new terrain. Getting tired of the same old places, after all! I’ve heard it can get muddy there, but it’s been pretty dry all week so hopefully it will have improved somewhat. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gone on muddy trails! I remember last May everywhere we went was muddy for weeks! Anyway, this place started getting busy (unusual for a Sunday night), and there were several first-time campers that drove right to the end of the road, and couldn’t believe there wasn’t a turnaround at the end! They had quite the time turning around, and ended up camping at the end of the road, putting up paddocks in that whole area! I can’t believe the park folks haven’t figured out they have to put a turnaround at the end of this road! Anyway, got back to the trailer, put a few more things away, and settled down for the evening. Be ready for a shower and bed soon! Good night, my darling! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
YAY! Got my taxes done AT LAST! Whew! It was so complicated this year, what with selling the house and becoming widowed and everything else that happened last year, but I managed to get it done by noon. Meanwhile, because of the rain and the soft ground, Apollo pulled his old trick of pulling a couple of fence posts out with his teeth and escaping out into the campground with Flash in tow. I had to stop everything and go get them back, and I had to put them on a highline, which I really didn’t want to do because it is so muddy and if they stand in one place for long it will only get worse! It was so gloomy here this afternoon that the street light came on around 2:00 and stayed on all day. I’ve even been running my electric fireplace for heat because it’s been so wet and clammy and cold. It’s going down in the 40′ tonight! I put the light blankets on the horses this morning, Flash was shivering a bit when I fed them. Now they’re settled in as best as I can get them on a highline, though it’s going to be a muddy mess before long. Nothing else I can do if Apollo is going to do his Houdini impression! I decided I deserved the rest of the day off, and relaxed with a movie and popcorn. Got everybody settled in for the night, now it’s time for me to get to bed, too! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had to take a run down to a town about 30 miles away, it’s the only place I could find the horse feed for Apollo, then another quick stop at Walmart for just a couple of things, was back before noon. Worked a bit on my taxes, some rain came in, gave up on my taxes and settled down for the evening. Just a regular mundane day! Now it’s time for shower and bed! Love you, Darlin’! Good night!

Hi Darlin’!
Got up right on time and quickly finished packing up, with Apollo once again jumping into the trailer before I was ready for him, I had to back him out to close the partition, silly horse! Said goodbye to my new friends and headed off to Alabama by 8:30. Despite the dire forecast of severe weather, I only hit light rain for about 30 minutes, the rest of the time it was mostly cloudy, then the sun came out right about the time to arrived. Got checked in, then proceeded to the campground and decided to go to the top of the hill again, about where we were last time. It was a little muddy, so I had to be careful turning around (there’s not much room here to do that), and I cut around a couple of sites in order to accomplish that. Just as I was about to clear a water spigot (I was a good foot to a foot and a half away from it, so I was sure I was clear) but when my tire hit the edge of the concrete base, the whole thing sank into the mud and the spigot got jammed into my wheel well. I couldn’t get it loose no matter how hard I tried, so I ended up just dragging the whole darn thing out! Of course, that broke the pipe, so some water was coming out. I called the office and reported it, and within two minutes a whole crew came up to work on it. They had all the right equipment, driving up a big Deere shovel, and they had the whole thing repaired with a new spigot in less than an hour. Incredible! Glad they understood the nature of the accident (you could see my tire marks, it was unmistakable that I had cleared the spigot, just not the concrete, and who knew it would move like that?), so no worries. It didn’t take me too long to get everyone settled in. I put up the electric fence for the horses in the woods so they would have more room instead of a highline like the last time we were here, got out Lola’s GoDogGo machine and filled her swimming pool with water, so she went fetch crazy for a long time. Got the grill out as well so I could have a nice little steak tonight, and was sitting out under the awning in no time, looking like I’d been here a week! A nice couple drove up, Pam and Mal, who live locally but had only day-ridden here, never camped, but wanted to check out the campground for the future. They work at a local stable that has access to 100 miles of trails, but with no campground, would you believe! They loved my trailer (what’s not to love?), and we chatted for quite a while, very nice. After they left I fired up the grill, had my dinner, fed everyone else, and settled down for the evening. Of course, I gained an hour after coming into Central time (which I like much better at this time of the year), but I’m tired from the long day, so I’m heading to bed and shower, seemingly early, but right on time with my body clock. So, I’m off! Goodnight, my sweet! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
What a busy, busy day! It seemed like there was no end to the little jobs that had to be done. I did my best to space them out, but even so, it seemed like I would never get them all done. Of course, I did a load of laundry, had to get the sheets and whites done. The first day I got here, I decided to change the water filter, and was absolutely appalled at the state of it, it seemed like it was full of leaves, but it had to be algae, but very firm. It turns out, the overflow of the fresh water tank was filled with the same stuff! I have no idea how that could have happened, since it’s two totally different systems, but it does explain why I had so much trouble filling up the fresh water tank at St. Sebastian, no air flow in the overflow means the water kicks back from the main water line. Anyway, that must have taken me nearly an hour to completely clear out, I almost had reached the point where I thought I would have to take off the permanent clamp to get it clean, but I managed to squeeze the line enough and put enough water pressure on it to force it all out. Whew! Then I put in a bunch of bleach to sanitize it and all the water lines, then I flushed the black water tank about five or six times to get it completely clean, something I haven’t had the opportunity to do since before I hit the road last year. I packed up all the extraneous stuff and cleaned out the stalls, figuring I’d leave the horses in the paddock tonight so I won’t have stall cleaning in the morning. Did some housework as well, just so I wouldn’t carry old dirt to a new place, though it wasn’t exactly a thorough job today. Did my PT exercises and finally got to the point where I could ice my knee for a bit. I went down to the office to arrange for payment, and several trailers were just coming in, and I ended up spending the evening with these newcomers (everyone else had left this morning), even had a chance to do my Snowy River performance, which was very well-received, they were very appreciative. I may have a slight change in plans based on a recommendation they made, which will take me to a new place rather than an old one, but still keep me in line for Loretta Lynn’s on time. Even sold a few copies of my book to them as well! Everything is as packed as it can be at this point, the truck is lined up for tomorrow, though I’m not level enough to actually hook up at the moment, but I should be able to get out of here on time in the morning. There’s some rain in the forecast, but it seems really scattered, so I’m not going to worry about it. The weather forecast hasn’t exactly been too accurate lately, and a little rain won’t hurt anything. Just have to drive carefully, which I do anyway. Anyway, I’ve had my shower, I’m off the make the bed and then get in it! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Babe,
What a nightmare! I spent a good portion of the day trying to work out the problems with my taxes, did a bunch of housekeeping on my bookkeeping program, and am still not much further ahead than I was yesterday. I’m giving it a rest, though, since the two days of “rain” in the forecast lasted about two minutes this morning and the rest of the weekend looks beautiful. More rain forecast next week at my next destination, so I’m going to try it again then. I do need to go shopping tomorrow in the morning, but I’m going to try to ride Apollo in the afternoon, then ride again over the weekend. Did my PT again, like yesterday, trying to get back on a daily schedule if I can, it really makes a difference if I can do it. Been icing down my knee regularly in the evenings, too, hoping to get the last of the inflammation and pain out of there. Getting very tired of having pain in my leg! The owner here let me put the horses in a nice big grassy paddock for the day, they appreciated being out of the stall (they were stuck in there all day yesterday). I tried to dig up some chaney roots, but they’re so thick and deep I can’t seem to even reach them! I may try again later, but I’m beginning to think the easy diggings at Jeff’s was a fluke, I can seem to find any that easy to dig up anywhere else. Oh, well, it was worth a try. Might just need a bigger shovel :-). Anyway, I’ve had it for the day, I’m off for my shower and bed. Good night, hon! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Well, because there was a forecast calling for an abundance of rain today, I made plans to work on my taxes, with the hope that I could finish it today. Unfortunately, neither thing happened. It didn’t rain, and in fact the morning was one of the loveliest you could imagine, not a cloud in the sky and the perfect morning temperature. It did cloud up somewhat later, but not a drop of rain came down. Glad I don’t make my riding decisions based on the weather forecast! I got to work on the taxes, but it is so complicated for last year I was nowhere near finished by day’s end. Between me becoming a widow, selling the house, and the stupid covid stuff, everything just seems impossible. There’s actually a rule that all of the depreciation on the house that we’ve taken since May 6, 1997 has to be recalculated and have taxes paid on it as if it were income, down to the exact number of days from then until now. Can you believe that? Who keeps track of stuff that happened 20+ years ago! What a nightmare! I just hope that I can get it finished tomorrow, I sure don’t want to drag this all out. Grrrrr! Anyway, the horses stayed in all day because I didn’t want to be distracted by making sure they didn’t wander off, so they’re probably as grumpy as I am by now. Put me in the mood for wine, which I haven’t had for weeks, but you know how that goes… Enough of this day, time for shower and bed. Good night, my darling! Love you!

Had a decent night sleep, got up at the usual time, fed everyone, had breakfast, then after awhile I saddled up Flash and off we went along the Withlacoochee River. I’ve ridden here on the property every other time we’ve been here, but this time I wanted to extend out into the Twin Rivers State Forest which borders it on the south and east. I decided to do the south section today, which follows the river for quite a ways, and it truly was lovely! Lola came along, and I was a little worried because on the map it seemed like there was a busy road we had to cross, but it turned out the trail went under the bridge, which was spanning the river, of course! Don’t know why I didn’t realize that before! So we were safe, though there was one section that paralleled the road for a bit, but far enough off of it not to be a concern. We stopped at one spot known as Pot Springs, I guess because there’s a spring that comes up in the river. Hard to see the difference, really, but they had it all decked out with a parking area and a ramp and hitching posts and a deck with benches, so we stopped for a few minutes, and Lola went down and took a swim. There was one point on the trail where the water was really high, high enough for me to pull my feet way up and to touch Flash’s belly! But he did really well, I was very proud of him for carrying on with very little fuss or hesitation! Saw a lot of wildlife today, too. A deer jumped out right in front of us, that startled Flash for a second, but I hung on. Saw a cat running along the trail, lots of big birds from buzzards to an owl, and on top of all that, the trail is COVERED with chaney plants! I’m going to have to come out and try to dig some up after the rain we’re expected over the next two days. On the way back, I took him into that nice little obstacle course, put him through that tunnel, you remember that? Tried him on some of the other ones, too, and he managed most of them. Got back to the farm, gave him a bath (he had rolled in his stall and had manure stains on him!), then let them graze in the yard for the rest of the afternoon. Maggie was generous the other day and gave me a gel pad for my saddle seat, and it really felt good! Last week my bum was kind of aching, but I figured that was because I was out of practice, but I was a little tougher this week. But the gel pad felt very good, too, and I only started to feel uncomfortable during the last half mile or so. Anyway, it was a lovely ride, then I did laundry, rested and read for most of the rest of the day. A bit of TV tonight, now I’m off for my shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Got up at around 7:00, was packed up and moving out before 8:30, then had a straight shot up I-95 to I-10 in Jacksonville, everything seems to be working fine, though on sharp corners the power steering makes a bit of a noise. May be low again, or may be going bad, I’ll check it tomorrow. Stopped for fuel at a Pilot, and after filling up, I started to pull off the pump and the truck stalled out, much like it did before I changed the fuel filter. Popped the hood real quick, pumped the fuel canister, and thank goodness, it started right up, and didn’t have another problem with it again. Arrived at McCulley’s just before 2:00, just about when I figured. This was one of the longer legs of this journey north, but it was mostly freeway so it was fairly easy. They’ve added some sewer sites since we were here last, and I found a nice spot near a tree and close to the barn so I won’t have so far to walk. Sorry to say that they haven’t done any repairs on the barn since we were here last, the wooden planks are mostly chewed or cracked, and many of the gates are rusty and hard to move. Still, there’s good riding here, and having a full hookup will let me get caught up on laundry and cleaning. I let the horses graze in the yard for awhile, there’s only one other camper here, and they look permanent. Got the grill out and grilled a sausage, then settled down for the evening after all the chores were done. Whew! I’ll be glad when I can start staying at places for two weeks instead of one, this is a lot of work to do weekly! Anyway, looking forward to a good night sleep and hopefully a ride tomorrow. Good night, sweetie! Love you!