Hiya Sweetie,
Had some trouble getting to sleep last night, so ended up sleeping past 8:00 this morning, but I woke up in the rare mood to do housework, so I spent pretty much the entire day doing a deep clean and lots of laundry. Did all the layers of bedding and blankets and pillows, which took most of the time, pulled all the carpeting out and mopped all the floors, took down and cleaned all the lighting fixtures, pretty much did the whole living quarters part of the trailer from top to bottom. A good job done! Of course, now I’m exhausted, which is fine, hopefully I’ll have less trouble getting to sleep tonight. Taking my shower early so my hair will dry, but I’ve still got laundry going, so not quite yet. Glad to get it done, though, it was overdue. Won’t be long out of bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
Despite promises to be here no later than 10:00, the mechanic was not here on time. When I contacted him, he said it would closer to 12:30, so another morning shot to hell. It was close to 1:30 when he finally texted that he was on the way, but 2:30 by the time he got here. Sigh. Well, they got to work, frustrated by the soft surface they had to work on, took them a bit to get it jacked up and the first wheel off. Found a wiring problem that may be contributing to the problem, discounted a couple of things it might have been, the pads aren’t in bad shape, but the adjusters were busted somehow, still don’t have the full understanding of that yet. Of course, all the parts are obsolete now, but he managed to find a guy that had some, and I offered to go pick them up in Lake City, which I did. Of course, by now it was too late in the day to do anything, so they left, with plans to finish up in the morning. I picked up the parts and discovered a feed store right next door, so I picked up some coastal, which I needed to do anyway, and stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things, though it turned out to be nearly another $200. I can remember when we used to live on about $300-350 a month on groceries! Sure can’t do that now! Got back after 6:00, put everything away, had dinner, watched a RS and a nice little rom/com with Tony Spano in the Napa Valley, settled down for the evening (no Farkle tonight!), ready for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
Well, sorry to say the mechanic never made it today. I waited until nearly noon before I contacted him to find out when he would be there, and he finally answered 3:30, but by then I thought it was too late to take a ride. Can use a break from that anyway, though I would have taken a short ride on Apollo if Sheila wanted to go, but she was in packing mode and kept busy all day. Linda left in the afternoon, so the place is clearing out. So I ended up mostly reading, enjoying the perfect weather. Though the temps apparently got high, it was hardly noticeable because of all the shade around, a nice change from practically everywhere I’ve been camping in the last year and half. I’ve definitely decided to go to Lost Corral after getting extensive reports from a woman on one of the Facebook groups, and she even told me about a train ride that leaves a stone’s throw from the campground and does a day trip out and back to north Georgia, going through a lot of forests, and is considered one of the few remaining passenger trains that goes through areas that are relatively unchanged since the railroad was built in the 1800’s. It also is the only train east of the Mississippi that loops around it’s own tracks, which sounds like an interesting trip. I reserved a seat in the Dome car, so I’ll have a great view of everything. It’s about a nine hour trip, though about two hours is at a little town at the end, with restaurants and souvenir shops and the usual stuff. Sounds a bit like that train we took out in the Black Hills! I don’t remember ever hearing about this before, but I figured it was worth doing while I was right there. Anyway, the rest of the day was uneventful, until we started a game of Farkle, without Linda this time, so it was just the four of us, and once again, luck was on my side, I got a lot of good rolls early and ended up winning both games, although in the first game, Deb got ahead of me when she went out, but I managed to pass her on my last roll again. They all think I need to buy a lottery ticket! Anyway, the mechanic didn’t show, so the day was otherwise shot, but he’s promised to be here before 10:00 in the morning, so hopefully it will get done tomorrow, and I might still have time to ride in the afternoon. I hope he can get the parts we need! Otherwise, I may have to stay a few extra days to get it done. Hope not! Otherwise I’ll be playing with the domino effect on my plans for awhile. Anyway, watched a fun movie called Game Night, ready for shower and bed! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Darlin’!
Didn’t take long to pack up, it seemed it didn’t rain again last night, but it was cloudy and threatening when we got all loaded up and heading out, just after 8:30. Ran into rain very quickly, though, darn it! I hate driving in the rain, and for a minute on the radar it looked like I might sneak through a break, but instead, I was full on in tropical depression downpours for over two hours. Stopped at a small truck stop for fuel, turns out my Flying J card was good there, but it wasn’t actually a Flying J, and the diesel price was about 40 cents cheaper than at the Flying J, so it was a good choice! Finally broke out of rain north of Daytona, and it was nearly clear skies for the last hour of the otherwise uneventful drive. Arrived at Sheila’s at exactly 2:00, and then the excitement began. Last time I was here I got stuck, but they apparently put down a bunch of limestone gravel after I left and they thought that solved the problem. At least, no one else got stuck. Of course, I didn’t realize that the new surface actually made the site a tiny bit higher, and I didn’t get enough steam up to run up the slope (it was tiny!) and I ended up getting stuck again! We tried using the track mats again, but that didn’t do it, then we hooked up Deb’s van and that didn’t do it, then we added Sheilas 4×4 to the line-up, and we FINALLy managed to pull it forward enough to get out of the hole. Once I got the truck disconnected, but put the tracks down right where they’ll need to be when I hook up again, so hopefully we won’t have the same problem. Took us 90 minutes to get that all done. Got my hookups done and started a load of laundry, then ran into the Walmart for a few odds and ends and to get fuel, which was another 60 cents cheaper than my previous stop (so about a dollar difference between truck stops and Walmart. Go figure.) I managed to make a quick dinner, got in another load of laundry, then joined the gang for some Farkle, a dice game they all love to play here. It’s a lot of fun, and we had a good time. The first game I ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack, but on the second game, I was over 4000 points behind (the goal is 10K), and I was the very last person to have a chance to beat Linda, the leader with 10,250, and incredibly, my last series of rolls actually put me in front! I made over 4000 points and won the game! Rare, but it happens, obviously! It was just getting dark, I played with Lola for a few minutes to hopefully tire her out enough to sleep tonight, and put the light blankets on the horses, since it’s going down to the mid-40’s tonight, and they’re winter coats are all but gone now. Made some Sleepytime tea, going to have some ice cream, watch a Remington Steele, take a quick shower and head to bed on fresh sheets! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
At long last, I’m FINALLY back on the road again! Yay! It didn’t take me long to pack up, since I’d done so much already. Brother Karl and his friend Randy left this morning, too, just before the rain started. Unfortunately, I didn’t get out before the rain, but I did manage to outrun it. Jeff’s girlfriend Karen, who got in last last night, had just enough time to say hello and good-bye before I headed out. Only had to go about 75 miles to my first stop, St. Sebastian River Preserve, where I have a vet appointment tomorrow to get me the paperwork I need to get out of the state. Arrived about 11:30, got the horses squared away in their stalls, which fortunately are half-covered so they have someplace to stay dry. There was actually some sunshine this afternoon for a short bit, then the rains finally caught up with us, though it didn’t last for too long. Did some reorganizing, got Flash’s bridle fixed with the new headstall that I ordered the other day, it’s a much lighter leather, but it might actually suit him better, being the little horse that he is. Settled down for the evening, getting back into the swing of things. I’ve been spoiled with having electricity and water, so I’m having to get back to my more primitive ways, conserving water and power. Ran the generator for less than an hour, though, and it fully charged the batteries. Will be interesting to see how long these new batteries last on a charge now. At least with the rain it stayed cooled, but the forecast is saying mid to upper 80’s starting on Friday, hopefully it won’t get too bad. Vet will be here in the morning, so I’m going to have an early night. It’s so quiet here, and thankfully, cool, so I’m looking forward to a good night sleep. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hey Darlin’,
Another good night sleep, fed the horses (but forgot Lola because I skipped breakfast), headed out for labs now that I have insurance again. My appointment was for 10:10, arrived at 10:00, wasn’t taken in until 11:19! Why do they make appointments and then make you wait for an hour? Must be a better way, but they haven’t figured it out yet, apparently. Stopped at Walmart again because I forgot to get a case of drinking water yesterday, then got busy as soon as I got back to the trailer. Packed up everything I could, got the truck lined up so all I have to do is drop it on the hitch, just have water and drain hoses and the electric cord to unhook and I’ll be ready to go! SO looking forward to getting back on the road! The gypsy in me has been crying out for MONTHS!! Anyway, finally settled down for the evening, time for my shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had a good night sleep, then spent the day getting back to normal. Did the laundry, mended the strap on my tripod that broke yesterday, replaced the buttons on my green jacket (I lost one somewhere, so I bought a set to replace them when I went to the fabric store the other day), read and watched a little TV just to get back to normal. Heading to bed early, planning on getting a lot of things packed up tomorrow and some maintenance done on the vehicles so I’ll be ready on Wednesday to pull out of here. Lori and Mark stopped by for a few minutes, she got an air plant that she’s been wanting, good to see them. Other than that, a pretty quiet day, much appreciated after the busy travel day yesterday. Looking forward to getting back on the road again! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
After so much sleep in the last 24 hours, I still slept pretty well again last night, though I got up before the alarm, and glad I did so I could pack and do everything in a leisurely pace rather than rushing around. My first text this morning, though, was informing me that my 2.5 hour layover was turning into a four hour layover, as my connection was delayed, darn it! That means I won’t be getting in until nearly 8:00, so I’ll be getting back after dark, which I was hoping to avoid. Oh, well, the vagaries of modern travel! I had an interesting conversation with a guy in the Midland Airport, though, amazing what a small world this is. He’s traveling to Port Orange near Daytona, and is selling his property there and moving to upstate NY near Rochester, would you believe! He also used to be a farrier, trained in Oklahoma, and he’s travelled all over the world during his life as well. Made the wait go quicker, anyway. Spent the wait at DFW editing my videos from the Workshop and uploading them on a vendor’s local wifi, and that went faster for awhile until I guess they throttled it down. Changed to my hotspot and managed to get a few more uploaded, but not all of them. That will be tomorrow’s chore, along with unpacking and laundry. Finally got home about 8:30, finished watching the movie I had started on the plane but didn’t finish, heading to be now! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hey Babe!
Yesterday’s second day of my workshop went very well, it was an excellent group and they’re already talking about brining me back in the fall, which would be fabulous! Once I got back to the hotel and finished off my lunch salad, I started reading, next thing I knew I was asleep! I ended up sleeping off and on (mostly on) for the next twelve hours! Guess I needed it. Felt wonderfully relaxed this morning. Had breakfast downstairs, then bundled up to go do some sightseeing. Naturally today was the coolest day of the week, but thankfully, it did warm up enough later in the day to put the top down on the BMW. I’d forgotten how much fun it was to just jump in a sportscar and just drive around like I used to do in my MGB so many decades ago! I started out going over to the Presidential Leadership library, which turned out to be closed on Fridays (all Fridays, not just Good Friday), but I wandered the grounds around the original little house where George H.W. Bush lived when he first started in the oil industry, and where George W. was born. After that, I drove over the Stonehenge replica on the college campus, then drove west to the Odessa Meteor Crater about 20 miles away. Spent some time in the museum, then walked around the crater. At some point the powers that be decided to let nature take its course and fill in most of the crater, rather than excavate it so it can be fully appreciated, so it didn’t really look much different than the surrounding desert anymore. Then I saw a poster for Monahan’s Sandhill State Park, which sounded familiar, and when I researched it I discovered it had a small horse camp, so I decided to take a drive out to see what it looked like. Just looking for reasons to drive around with the top down, really! Was only another 20 miles or so, and it was a nice trip. I wouldn’t exactly call it a horse camp, more like a parking area with a couple of corrals and water spigots, but it would make a great overnight stopover since it’s directly off I-20. Drove around to see the sand dunes, sand boarding seems to be the main activity here. No trails to speak of, but apparently horses are allowed wherever they want to go. Finally headed back, stopping at Joann’s Fabrics to pick up a couple of sewing necessities, then to a restaurant called the Cork and Pig, which came highly recommended, though I only had a small salad and fish dip, which was very nice but quite pricey. Finally got back to the hotel, and settled down for the evening, decided to watch TCM, because frankly the choices on HBO were crappy compared to the old movies being shown. Started packing, but not worried, my flight isn’t until after 10:00, so I don’t have to get up too early. Already had my shower, just going to watch another movie before I turn the lights off and sleep. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Had a really good day at the Workshop today, an excellent group of city leaders, very happy with the response so far. Lunch was a bit of a problem, everyone was on their own, so I walked across the parking lot to a Buffalo wings place, took nearly 40 minutes for them to take my order and get my salad, just enough time to box it up and take it back to class. Managed to get a couple of bites in while she was doing my tab, so it wasn’t until our first break that I was able to really have anything. Still saved half for dinner. Had that plus a few more bites of the bread putting I got at dinner last night, it was a huge piece, and so heavy I couldn’t eat too much. More left for tomorrow! Had a great night sleep last night, expecting the same tonight! Good day! Love you, darlin’! Good night!