Hey Darlin’!
A bit warmer this morning, though still a good nip in the air, but it turns out that the folks printing the OTL T-shirts need a very specific set of parameters, which I didn’t know before, so I had to spend the entire day on the computer reworking the entire design, changing the DPI, altering the size, putting it all in black, all stuff I thought they could do easily, but evidently not, or at least not affordably, so it was up to me to get it right. It was a long slog but I finally finished it up at about 5:00, just in time to feed the horses and settle down for the evening. Not that I did that right away either, I had a couple of phone calls I had to take, and a bit more work to do, but finally managed to get back to the routine. I just hope the work I did today works, and that I’m done with that. I have so much other stuff to do, this was kind of extra-curricular, but happy to help and glad it’s done now. Time of shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Though I fully intended to go riding to scout some trails, it was so cold and damp today, I ended up changing my mind. It was supposed to get in the mid-60’s, but it never even came close. It was supposed to clear up and get sunny in the afternoon, but it didn’t. So I spend the day mostly just lazing around waiting for the weather to improve until it got too late. I didn’t even take the blankets off the horses, and I was almost tempted to put their winter blankets on because tonight their calling for frost warnings! Brrr! I ran the generator a couple of times and put the fireplace on just to warm it up a bit. Of course, if it’s like that down here, you can imagine what it’s like up north! I actually got a call from Mike Gerard, from Pleasant Hill Lake State Park, you’ll remember he was the guy that you spoke to quite a bit while we were staying there, he called me out of the blue, but he said it was below zero and snowing in Ohio, so I guess I should be happy that mid-30’s overnight is as bad as it’s going to get. Anyway, I spend most of the day working on OTL stuff, then read and watched TV, a nice quiet day. It’s supposed to be sunny but still cold tomorrow, so I’m going to have to wait and see if I ride tomorrow. Meanwhile, going to be early just so I can get warm and cozy! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’!
Up early this morning, got my chores done and headed out to JW Corbett to meet Anita and Scott and his cousin Todd so that we could motor around and scout out trails. Scott had an ATV and Todd has a big 6-seater side by side, which, if I had known, I would have brought Lola along for the ride! I left her back at camp on her tie-out, I was worried that if I left her in the trailer, she’d tear it up, which seems to be her tendency lately. Needless to say she was happy to see me when I got back! Anyway, we did a whole lot of wandering around, trying to find an alternate route to the canal, and so far, no luck. Ran into a lot of water, too much for the vehicles, not surprising considering it rained a lot overnight, so hard that it woke me up at 4:30 this morning, and went on for quite a while. We were out all day, and it was a cloudy, occasionally drizzly day, not the best weather for this kind of exercise, plus it kept getting colder throughout the day as well. They dropped me off at Camp I around 4:00 and I got back just before 5:00, where I was greeted by a happy Lola with cold ears! I got the horses fed and blanketed, as it’s supposed to be wet and get down in the low 50’s, not a good combination, the finally settled down for the evening. I had leftover calzone from lunch yesterday, watched a little TV, now I’m ready for shower and bed. Tomorrow the plan is to trailer Flash down to the east side of Dupuis and try to find better trails coming in from that direction. Even though the vehicles got stopped by deep water, it’s not so bad that horses can’t get through, so I just need to find the best alternative on horseback. There’s only about 2.5 miles missing on the overall trail, but that’s quite a long stretch through cypress swamp, though I don’t think it’s all that bad, just a short section. I’ll know better tomorrow! Meanwhile, I’m off! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Had to run down to the SFWMD office in West Palm Beach to get my fingerprints done so they could do a background check on me. Apparently that’s required for park volunteers, or at least for someone who is staying as long as I am. Figured if I ever want to be camp host they’ll require it anyway, so I didn’t mind. Stopped at Anita’s to pick up some paint and a new sign for Indiantown, I had picked up the old one on the way out because of a piece of plastic that had come off. Went to Jeff’s to pick up the small horse trailer, then we went out to lunch at Angelo’s Too. Finally got back to camp around 3:00, then I washed the horse trailer since it hadn’t been touched since last year and was covered in algae and dirt. Looks a lot better now! I even found the long lost key for that little padlock on the hitch which we thought was missing! Had several conversations with folks about the OTL, including one phone call from a woman in South Dakota who’s trying to figure out if they can make it down in time! Got a couple more sign ups today, happy with the way the numbers are increasing, even with the higher price. Finally settled down for the evening, finishing off with another phone call with Anita about our work day tomorrow, which means I have to get up early in the morning, so I’m off to shower and bed very shortly, already later that I would have liked! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Got up early this morning, got my chores done, did some work on OTL stuff, then James, the new recreation manager for Dupuis arrived, and we left in his car for a ride around pretty much the entire property, adding combination locks to gates so we can easily open them when the ride starts. He hadn’t been in some of these areas, so it was a good opportunity for him to see it, and we had a good time chatting. He’s from Wisconsin originally so he’s got that same kind of sardonic humor, and we had some fun with it. Didn’t get back to camp until almost 3:00, but got a lot accomplished. The weather has been warming up and the flies have started to come out, so I put up the screen room today, haven’t had the chance to use that for awhile, but since I’m going to be here for a month, I wanted the comfort of being able to sit outside without being bothered by the bugs. I actually talked to James about possibly being a camp host here, and he might be willing, but he’s looking for someone for a full six months, I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to that much time yet. Still have a few places in Florida I’d like to visit, but I can probably knock most of those out this spring, so who knows? Not a bad place to be, though it will still be too hot for my taste in October, but maybe November. We’ll see. Updated the OTL Facebook group with new levels of participation, then finally settled down for the evening. Ready for shower and bed! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hi Sweetie,
After a lovely quiet night, I woke up full of energy and a long list of chores, almost all of which I managed to accomplished. Did two loads of laundry, finished the T-shirt design, though it turns out that I have to redo it to different printer specifications that no one told me about. Sent out a bunch of emails, posted in a bunch of Facebook groups, moved the hay off the truck under the gooseneck, cleaned the skirting so I could close it up, met James, the ranger here now, had a nice chat with him, did some kitchen work, generally went nonstop all day, though I finally settled down in the evening. A tiring but productive day! Ready for my shower and bed, though, have an early morning tomorrow. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Well, after fretting a bit last night about whether I’d get out this morning, I ended up staying in camp a bit longer to work on some OTL stuff, some last minute sponsors that needed to be added to the T-shirt designs, and well as some volunteers and donators, which was probably a good thing because it gave it a chance to dry out a little, it was very sunny this morning. Once I got that done, I was able to finish packing in a hurry since I’d put just about everything away on Saturday, and I pulled out about 11:30. Despite my concerns, I managed to get out with no problem, though the ground was rough from other peoples tires making tracks. My other concern had been about getting out the driveway without falling into the ditch, and I managed to swing just wide enough to make that happen, too, so it was all a bit of a nothing in the end, just the way I like it! Had an uneventful trip to Dupuis, managed to get in a really good flush of my black water tank, which has miraculously lasted almost a month with overflowing! The new camp host, Steve, showed me a spot he thought would be good for me, and even though I had been planning a different spot, I agreed with his plan and moved in. It’s rather out of the way of the traffic, back by the trail entrance, and right across from a multitude of nice paddocks. It didn’t take me long to get the horses settled and some of my stuff put out, but I really had to get to Okeechobee to shop, so I headed out there as soon as I could. First stop was the feed store, I had bought some decent coastal there earlier, and wanted to get as many as I could so I wouldn’t have to make the trip again, and managed to get 21 bales in, even with the water tank! And these bales were even nicer than the last ones, so I know the horses will be happy! Then a quick trip to Tractor Supply for propane and a couple of bags of feed, then the gas station to fill up (not Walmart, they were actually almost 20 cents more a gallon, surprisingly!), then down to Walmart where I did a BIG shopping, mostly because I’m hoping I won’t have to come back up here again, though I may have to for propane, although Jupiter Hardware fills propane tanks, they’re a bit more expensive but it would save me a trip. Anyway, all of that took a long time, and it was dusk by the time I was leaving town, and dark by the time I got back, though there’s a full moon and a clear sky, so it was lit up pretty good. Got the groceries put away, fed the horses, put their blankets on because it’s supposed to get down to 41 degrees tonight, then got busy on my OTL stuff again, even though it was already 8:00. Then Anita called and we ended up being on the phone past 10:00 trying to sort things through. Now I’m exhausted, and heading for shower and bed very shortly! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
So glad I put almost everything away last night! Though it wasn’t raining when I got up, it arrived just after I fed the horses and made breakfast. It was quite windy, and poured for a long time, and the field is now a soggy mess. I’m really worried about whether or not I’m going to be able to get out of here in the morning! A motor home on the other end (which I though was higher ground closer to the road) got stuck, and needed two pickup trucks to pull it out. If I hadn’t already been hooked up to the trailer I would have offered to help, but I figured they would call a tow truck, but they never did. I hope I’M not calling a tow truck tomorrow! It cleared up late in the afternoon, but then another shower just went by, and even more might come through, so tomorrow might be a busier day than I already had planned! So I spent most of the day reading, then watching a little TV, just the way I like to spend a rainy Sunday, and working on a little more OTL stuff with Anita this evening. We’ve just about wrapped up the T-shirt design with all the sponsors, though we’re still waiting for possibly one more. That’s it, though, that was my day. Not much to it today! Heading off for my shower and bed, keeping my fingers crossed the ground isn’t as soft as I’m afraid it might be. There are some puddles around, don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing! They actually keep this campground closed during the wet months because it gets so bad in here, I’m just hoping it drains well and dries up overnight! We’ll see! On that fine note, I’ll say good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had a good night sleep, and woke up late, but feeling a lot better this morning! Still a little twinge, so I’m taking it easy again today, just worried if I twist wrong again it will flare up. Didn’t take any aspirin and still felt pretty good. Chores were a bit easier, and I spent most of the day in one of my chairs instead of in bed, so I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll feel good enough to go riding. Flash gathered quite a flock of feather fans around him today, looked like a regular pied piper! I spent the day putting together the sponsor logos and designing the back of this year’s OTL T-shirt, evidently someone else was going to do it but dropped the ball, so Anita asked me if I was able to, and of course I said yes. Apparently it’s been a major problem for some other folks, but honestly, it was nothing for me, I had it put together in no time. The hardest part has been waiting for all the sponsors to get confirmed, and they still might add another one or two over the weekend, but it takes no time at all for me to add them. I think the problem is that most of these folks are old school, not particularly good on a computer, but even I’m using an old Paint program and it’s still taking me no time at all. Anyway, it was a pretty relaxing day, a quiet evening, and now I’m ready for shower and bed. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hey Darlin’,
Slept late this morning, felt a little better, at least until I started moving, still struggling with back pain. Barely managed to feed the horses and throw the frisbee for Lola, but I had to make her put it in my hand because it hurt too much to bend over. She’s so smart, she had that figured out very quickly! After that, I went straight back to bed, because as comfortable as my chairs might be, I think the bed was a better idea. Yesterday I took some time release acetaminophen, which helped just a little, but then I looked at the bottle and saw they had expired in Nov. 2013! Then I found a bottle of practically full aspirin, and even that had an expiration of April 2021, but at least that seemed to work a lot better. So I spent the day in bed taking aspirin, reading, and napping. Around 5:00, my camping neighbor actually came over and knocked on the door to see if I was all right, since they hadn’t seen me around all day! How thoughtful was that! I swear, the country song is right, most people are good. I felt a little better, managed to feed the horses and play with Lola for a few minutes, then had some dinner and settled down for the evening, watching a new British limited series called The Stranger. Skipped my shower last night, but taking one tonight, then off to bed shortly. Had a few more sign ups for the OTL today, things are looking promising for good numbers this year! Hope that makes everybody happy and not overwhelmed! Makes me happy, seems like I’m getting the job done! Good night, my sweet! Love you!