Hi Darlin’!
What a fabulous ride today! After another tough night dealing with Lola’s restlessness, I set my alarm to make sure I wouldn’t sleep too late, did all my usual chores and breakfast before saddling up Flash and heading out. Our goal today was to ride the entire 12-14 mile loop that will make up part of the endurance ride next weekend to see what kind of shape it is in, because we’re having a work day tomorrow to clear out any problems. It’s two miles from Camp Connie to the nearest point on the orange trail, so I just started and ended my loop from there. Flash was BRILLIANT! Even when an armadillo jumped straight up right next to him, he hardly flinched, and only stopped because I wanted a better look. We were talking about these critters the other night, someone mentioned that a rider in an endurance ride had one jump straight up and hit his horse in the belly, which I found hard to believe. Such a clumsy creature and it can jump straight up? Well, it’s TRUE! I saw it with my own eyes! Who would’ve thunk it? We kept a great pace along the whole ride, not pushing it, but covering a lot of ground, finishing 16.23 miles in less than 3½ hours. Most of the trails are in pretty good shape, not too much work to be done, but there’s one section that’s been tilled up and is nothing but a bunch of sod chunks, which is going to be very hard to get through. I kept Flash at a walk the whole way through, but he got frustrated and move a bit faster toward the end, but I still didn’t think it was safe. I called the organizer, Jo, afterward, and we’re going to talk to the forest folks in the morning and see if there’s any equipment they can use to smooth it out, and I’m also going to look for an alternate route, just in case. That was about the only dubious place, the rest only has a few things that need clearing, though there are some sections that have been clearcut since last year, so the forest isn’t as pretty as it used to be in some places. Sigh… After I got back and rinsed off Flash and put him away, I sat around with my new neighbors, Vicky and John, and chatted for a bit. Connie and Mike joined us a bit later, then it was feeding time before we knew it, and I started my evening as usual. Took my shower early, and doing the same for bedtime, too, since I have to get up around 6:30 to get to our 8:00 work day start in the morning. I’m hoping to enlist a little help to look for my truck key, you remember the last time I saw it was the day we were leaving the trailhead last year? I kept thinking I would find it somewhere, in a pocket or under something, but I never did, and I’m taking a longshot and looking where we parked last year. Not likely, but what the heck, what do I have to lose? Anyway, one last cup of sleepytime tea and then I’ll be off the bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
The best laid plans! After an excellent night sleep, thanks to Lola being quiet through the night, yay! But it was freezing this morning, only 34 degrees when I started out to feed the horses at 9:00, and it didn’t get into the 40’s for awhile after that. No way I was going to go riding with it that cold! It eventually got up into the 50’s, but there was such a cool breeze, it was just too much. I did all my planning, figured what I needed to do was about a 15 mile ride, which will be no problem if I get an early enough start, but considering it was still so cold by noon, and there’s a wonderful forecast, in the low 70’s for tomorrow, I decided to push it off for another day. Not like me to procrastinate, but I truly am a fair weather rider, and I didn’t come down to Florida to freeze my butt off! So instead, I had yet another lazy day of reading, playing games on my computer, watching a little TV, now I’m off to shower and bed again. It will get busy from tomorrow on, so it’s probably good that I’ve well and truly recharged my batteries! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Well, this is getting quite embarrassing. I did absolutely nothing today. Seriously. I changed the hose out that I was using to fill the horses’ water buckets because my new neighbor stacked a pile of hay between the faucet and the buckets and my hose wasn’t long enough to get around it or over it, so I had to switch it out for a longer hose. Other than that, I did nothing but read and my usual chores. I blame it on the weather. It got down to near freezing last night (and is supposed to do again tonight), and it never got above the low 50’s during the day. My fingers froze just moving the hose around! So I’ll call it a cuddle by the fireplace with Lola day, and that’s all we did. I napped occasionally, too, but that was because Lola was super restless last night and kept me awake most of the night, she just wouldn’t settle down, and I could hear and feel her moving even with my earplugs in, so I guess I needed another rest day. I’m planning on taking a long ride tomorrow, so I’m hoping she’ll settle down and let me sleep tonight! Fingers crossed! So I’m heading off to shower and bed, with dreams of sleeping in my head! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
What a wonderful night sleep, though I had to put in earplugs because it rained most of the night. It took the alarm to wake me up, which I had set because my hosts were having someone come in early to spread lime on their yard and pastures, and I thought I would have to move the horses early, but they decided not to do the paddock they’re in at the last minute, so they stayed where they were. After I fed them, I decided to go into town to do some shopping, and to get breakfast beforehand, so Lola and I stopped at a little local place for a nice breakfast, then off to Winn-Dixie for some groceries, then back to camp. It was a little cooler, with a strong wind in the afternoon, so I stayed inside most of the day. The organizer for the endurance ride I’m helping out with stopped by to confirm the route that needed marking, so I have my work cut out for me for the next two weeks. I’ll check out the trails later in the week, then there’s a workday on Friday to do any cleanup that needs doing, then I’ll mark my section next week. It’s only supposed to get into the low 50’s tomorrow, so I’m not riding tomorrow, but it’s warming up, so by Wednesday it should be good. A nice relaxing evening, watched a horse movie, then an old Dean Martin movie for a change, no violence or bad language, though there was certainly a lot of sexual innuendo in the latter film! Tastefully done, though, since it’s from the early 60’s. Anyway, done for the day, off for shower and bed. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hi Darlin’,
I guess my sleep clock is out of sync now, I couldn’t get to sleep until nearly 2:00 this morning, and was up by 8:00, so hopefully I can get back into rhythm tonight. I thought about riding today, but I’m still not sure about my knee, so I decided to give it another day. It was pretty chilly this morning, and even though it warmed up a lot, there was still a cool breeze, which galvanized my decision. Mostly I read again, then at dinner, Connie and Mike had invited me over to join them and some friends for hamburgers, and we had a nice chat for a few hours. Watched on segment of a limited series on Netflix, a rather depressing story about Orthodox Jews, now I’m ready to try to get to bed early enough to get a good night sleep. Fingers crossed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetheart,
I can’t believe I slept until after 10:00 this morning! Crazy! It seems that I’ve been so wound up to get to Florida, that now that I’m here, my body is in crash mode or something. I considered riding again today, since it was a beautiful day, but decided my knee could use another day of rest, though it was much better today considering the workout it got yesterday. I literally spent almost the entire day just reading, did a little stretching, then a couple of hours of TV, finishing off my binge-watching of the Hallmark program I was watching. I thought the program was off the air so I could watch the whole series like I like to do, but after watching the last, very unsatisfactory ending, I looked it up and found it was still going on, there have been two more seasons that I can’t get unless I pay for it, with another season apparently on the way, so now I’ll have to wait who know how long to see any more of it, darn it! Oh well, that’s the way it goes! I’ll have to be more thorough when I research a show from now on. Anyway, it was a very quiet and lazy day, as it seems my body is craving rest. Hopefully I’ll take a ride tomorrow, but we’ll see. That’s it, babe! Love you! Good night!

Hi Darlin’,
A good night sleep, a lazy morning, then I headed off the Williston to a big feed store up there where I picked up 10 bales of pretty nice coastal hay for $7.99/bale. More than I’ve been paying, but not bad for Florida prices. They also carried Nutrena so I was able to get Senior and Perform as well. I didn’t need the Balancer, I’d already stocked up on that, so I’m good for awhile. I went shopping for essentials at the Winn-Dixie, then got back to the ranch before 2:00. I’m staying at a place about 1.5 miles south of the trailhead where we stayed last year, with a couple that I met last year who are good friends with the organizer of the endurance ride that I’m here to help with. It’s a good example of making a lot of good use out of a small amount of space, and would be exactly the kind of thing brother Jeff could do on his place if he ever gets it cleared out enough. I’m tucked away in a nice quiet corner with the horses in a paddock right next to me, and their dump, which isn’t set up to drive to, only to haul with a portable sewer cart, is close enough to me where I think I might even have enough hose to reach it, which would be a great convenience. I put the hay under the gooseneck with the skirting around it, stashed all the feed in the back of the trailer, and then relaxed for the rest of the day. I’m starting to feel better, recharging my batteries a bit, and I’m hoping to get a ride in tomorrow, as it’s going to be in the low 70’s. I think I’ll take Apollo, just because I need a nice relaxing ride to see how my knee is doing, hopefully it won’t be a setback. Binge-watched some more of my Hallmark series, now I’m ready to call it a night. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hey Sweetie,
Though I ended up getting to sleep rather late last night because I was reading, I slept straight through till after 9:00 this morning, which is pretty late even for me! Then, after feeding everyone and myself breakfast, I sat down in my recliner to finish off the book I was reading, and ended up falling asleep again for almost two hours! I don’t know what’s up with that, but I did have a sore throat the last couple of days, which was mostly gone this morning, so maybe my body is just exerting itself fighting germs and I needed the sleep. I had planned to do a lot of housework, but I ended up only doing a little, just enough to say I did some, and one load of laundry, then went back to resting, since it seems that’s what my body wants. So mostly a lazy day. My knee was a little better, but it’s still pretty bad, not sure what to do about it at this point. That’s another reason more rest today was a good idea. Anyway, I expect another good night sleep, and tomorrow I have to do some shopping, once it warms up. It’s supposed to be below freezing here tonight, but warming up nicely the rest of the week. I’m hoping to ride Thursday when it’s going up to the 70’s. So I’m off to shower and bed here shortly, after I find some new books to download. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Up early with the alarm after having it rain all evening and most of the night. I was fortunate that there was a break yesterday to feed the horses, there was so much rain in the last twelve hours! It quit a couple of hours before I had to get up, though, and I got busy packing right away. I decided just to have some bread and butter to take with me to eat later, made some coffee and started loading up. It all went pretty smoothly, Flash doesn’t hesitate at all any more getting into the trailer, which is a big help. We managed to be on the road by 8:30! It was a pleasant trip, though we were fighting a little crosswind, but I’m so heavy I hardly noticed, and the weather improved as we went along, getting less cloudy and much warmer, into the upper 60’s by the time I arrived. I stopped for fuel at a Shell in Hahira to top off at cheap Georgia fuel prices before hitting Florida, knowing that I didn’t have enough to get me all the way anyway. Next stop was the ag station, and this time a guy came out rather than me going in, he barely looked at the paperwork and didn’t even ask me for my drivers’ license, which is really unusual. Suffice to say, it didn’t take long to get through the inspection station! I arrived just before 2:30, earlier than I originally planned, but was happy for the extra time to relax later. I had no trouble at all getting backed into the spot they chose for me, a nice little corner, and water and electric were close by, and setup was really easy. The paddock is really big, almost a small pasture, so the horses immediately rolled as soon as they got in there. This is going to be perfect for three weeks! I got my rug and lawn chairs out, but not the screen room yet, because it’s going to be too cold for the next day or two, but I should put that out, and my barbecue as well, later in the week. It’s going down into the mid-30’s here tonight, so I put the blankets on the horses at dinnertime, but it was forecast to be 26 degrees at Mingo Trails, so I’m happy to be here! And the highs will be in the 70’s by Thursday, so I’m a happy camper. It was worth the long drive, and since so much of it was on the freeway, it was very straightforward. Lola has plenty of room to wander, and she got along fine with my host’s two dogs, so I think it’s going to be pleasant for all of us. The only fly in the ointment today is my knee, which really feels like I’ve blown it out completely, I could barely walk for the first few steps every time I tried, though it would feel better the more I walked. I hope it straightens itself out, or I will surely be looking for an orthopedist when I get down to Jupiter. I settled down for the rest of the day and the evening, luxuriating in the free time, though I’ll be off to bed soon after my tea and shower. Good night, darlin’! Love you

Hi Darln’,
Since they had music playing again last night, I put in my earplugs and slept well again, yay! I got up early and immediately started putting things away while I was feeding the horses, because the forecast is calling for rain to start around 2:00 and I need to get out early tomorrow so I didn’t want to leave anything to be done that wasn’t necessary. I also adjusted the brakes again, I realized that I misunderstood something I read and didn’t do it right, so I had to go back and do it again, with much better results. Of course, that meant hooking the trailer up, so when I was finished I just raised the trailer up to make it level, and in the morning all I’ll have to do is drop it and put the safety chains and electric on, easy peasy. I’ve left the jiffy jack in front of the left hand wheel so that I can run up on it and get the slide in a lot easier that way. Then all I have to do is get the horses in and do my last minute cleanup and put horse stuff away and I’ll be on my way! I’m hoping to be out by 9:00 so I can get to my destination between 3:00-4:00, and of course, I have to get through the ag station, which takes a little time. Plus since it’s nearly 300 miles, I’m going to have to stop for fuel at least once as well, so I’m working that into the schedule, too. It’s going to be a long day! But then I’ll be at the same place for nearly three weeks, so I can rest, put my screen room up, and do all the longer-term things I haven’t been able to do lately since I’ve taken so many short hops lately. Then I spent the afternoon doing laundry while binge-watching the Hallmark series I’ve been enjoying, so at least the afternoon was restful. I also retrieved my macaroni salad, which I’m sorry to say didn’t get eaten too much, so I had to bag that up and freeze some, and put the rest in the refrigerator, so Lola and I will be eating a lot of macaroni salad in the coming days! I’m just about done for the day, enjoying my cup of tea now, and will be heading to the shower and bed soon! Love you sweetie! Good night!