Hi Darlin',
Woke up early with the alarm, got packed up pretty quick, managed to get out of camp by a little after 9:00, arriving at the Black Prong Trailhead at the Goethe State Forest by just after 10:00. Because I knew I had a busy week coming up, and it will likely rain tomorrow, I decided to get as much done today as I could, so it turned out to be a very busy and productive day. I managed to get parked and set up in the camp host spot (thanks to Logan agreeing to giving me a special permit!), got the horses in their electric fence (thankfully, my insulators were still in the trees from before, so that was the quickest setup ever!), though I didn't put the fence charger on yet. I had picked up a whole bale of hay that someone left behind at River Rise (and camp host Ray encouraged me to take), so I put that into the paddock area so the horses would be set for all of today and part of tomorrow, so I didn't even set up their hay nets yet. Once everything was set up, I hustled over to Helen's to pick up her recycling (she collects from all the neighbors and donates them to the forest), then headed into town to do a little shopping and to get to my hair appointment with Jan at SmartStyle. She does a great job, and my hair had gotten so long it was bugging me, couldn't wait for it to be cut! She did another great job, of course. Finished shopping, headed back to camp with a brief stop at Jo's to FINALLY pick up the heartworm meds I ordered back in October for Lola. These weren't the same Heartgard, these were a bit cheaper, but they didn't charge me for the second delivery, even though they were not the least bit at fault for the loss of the first shipment. I wrote to them to say I was more than willing to pay for the second shipment, but they only responded with a confirmation that the delivery was received, and that was that! Very generous customer service! Lola wasn't quite as excited about these tabs as she is the Heartgard, but she did eat it without me having to bury it in peanut butter, which is a good thing! Got back to camp around 3:00, did a couple of loads of laundry (a real pleasure now that I have water, electric and sewer!), and settled down for the rest of the day. Need to rest up for the rest of my busy week! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Sunday, November 30, 2025 – Packing Day
Hiya Sweetie,
Had a fitful night, and as a result, slept late this morning. Not much to do today except a little packing. The camp, as usual, was mostly cleared out by early afternoon, nice and quiet for a change. Just did my basic packing and read most of the day before doing my evening routine. Short trip tomorrow, but a busy week ahead. I'm ready! Good night, baby! Love you!
Saturday, November 29, 2025 – Another Lazy Day
Hey Babe,
Was surprised at how late I slept in this morning! Earplugs really do put me in a deep sleep. Didn't really do anything today except read and binge Bones. Worked a little on figuring out the trails for the Goethe benefit ride in two weeks, but not much else! Pure luxury to be so lazy for a few days, I know that will change next week, as I have a bunch to do once I get down there. Taking advantage of the quiet time. This place was pretty packed this weekend, though some folks started leaving today. I imagine by tomorrow it will be pretty empty. Not much else to report, so I'm signing off! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Friday, November 28, 2025 – Lazy Day
Hi Darlin',
Had a good night sleep with earplugs, and woke up to a very chilly morning. The forecast had said 35 overnight, but when I woke up, the phone said it was 32, which made me worry about my plants, which I had left outside. I'm hoping it wasn't that cold for long enough to hurt them, but it's too late to do anything about it now! Spent most of the day reading, took a quick trip to the drugstore, refilled my water tank, then binged out on Bones. Too cold to ride, at least from my perspective! Proven by the fact that the furnace kept coming on all day. So happy that it's working so well! Only has to run for about two minutes to warm up to temperature! I had to put some more oil in the generator, it was cutting off once it got warmed up, so I figured it was because of low oil, and that did seem to solve the problem. I have a small oil leak, but can't seem to find it, so I'm just going to stay on top of keeping it filled. Other than that, a pretty mundane day! To bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Thursday, November 27, 2025 – Happy Thanksgiving!
Hiya Sweetie!
Had another great night sleep, then a pretty lazy, though indulgent day. I had bought some smoked turkey drumsticks the other day, so along with that, I made some stovetop stuffing, and had myself a nice big Thanksgiving meal, including pumpkin flavored applesauce and a mini pumpkin pie, including an entire bottle of Taylor Port, so I achieved the usual feeling of being stuffed, though I'm likely to regret it all by morning. What the heck, it's only once a year, though I have to be careful not to gain my usual holiday five this year, hopefully. Took Lola for a couple of walks today, but otherwise had a very quiet day of reading and watching TV, along with my cooking. Won't be long out of bed tonight! Good night, baby! Love you!
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 – Lovely 14+ Mile Ride on Flash
Hey Babe!
What a great day! It started out with a much better night sleep, confirming my supposition that it was the overdose of aspertame that was preventing me from sleeping well. I had none of the previous afflictions after resuming a mostly water beverage diet today. After breakfast I had to fill up the water in my truck tank and refill the camper, then I finally saddled up Flash and headed out on the trail. We took the long perimeter trail, crossing 441 and riding all the way up to O'Leno State Park. I'd forgotten how beautiful it was on this side of the forest! Flash was brilliant once again, averaging nearly six mph for the day. We did over 14 miles in just under three hours, and got a tremendous amount of galloping, cantering and gaiting in. It was wonderful! About halfway around we went by a cattle or dairy farm, and we were sorry to see a dead cow in a copse of trees, and another cow, still alive, but laying down and not looking very well. So sad! Not far out from camp, there was a long rattlesnake crossing the trail in front of us, and when I stopped to take a picture, it started to rattle and curl up, so we moved along quickly to get past it. What a truly gorgeous ride! The weather is due to turn colder, so I wanted to get a good ride in before that happened, and I couldn't have asked for a better day, or a better horse. Flash truly is a wonder! Gave him a good rinse off with a brush before putting him away, and was happy that he didn't immediately roll in the dust, as he is wont to do. Settled down for the rest of the day to reading and bingeing on TV, and am looking forward to a quiet day for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 – Ride on Apollo and Shopping Day
Hiya Darlin',
Woke up pretty early this morning, not sleeping as well lately and I attribute that to my drinking more diet drinks with aspartame, which I've experienced before, so today I'm back to mostly water to see if that helps tonight. Apollo really needed some exercise, so I saddled him up and was on the trail by just after 9:00, wanting to get out before it got too hot, with temps in the low 80's today. It was a lovely ride, a little more than two and a half miles, essentially the nicest part of the red trail, though he was quite sluggish, as usual these days. Was spoiled a bit by a woman in the parking lot threatening to have her mule kill Lola because she wasn't on a leash (Lola was a long way away from her and heading straight back to the trailer, not even looking at her or the mule). Interesting that my dog is better trained than her mule, if it kicks at every dog it sees. Oh, well. Got back to camp and quickly headed down to the nearest Walmart north of Gainesville to do my Thanksgiving shopping. Got back around 2:00 and spent the rest of the day reading and relaxing, then bingeing on Bones. I noted that no one has moved into my old spot, even though I was told they would be arriving today. Anyway, it was a beautiful day, always a great day when I can get a ride in, no matter how slow! Off to bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Monday, November 24, 2025 – Moved Sites and Hay Day
Hey Sweetie,
So happy to wake up to a quiet camp! There were still a few campers here, several came in yesterday but parked on the other side, but they were quiet, no loud generators, thank goodness. Once I finished chores and breakfast, it didn't take long to hook up the trailer and get it moved to site 13. One of the neighbors, Wendy, helped guide me into the spot. It has a bit more sunshine so I should get some solar energy out of it, but it slopes up a little in the back, so it's sitting high in the front, making the first step out of the trailer a bit steep. I managed to lower it a bit, but I have a slight slope to the front now. Next time I'll need to put some bigger blocks under my jacks to level it off better. Got the horses moved over and was completely set up by noon, with no issues. I had been messaging with someone about hay, but they suddenly stopped communicating, so I had to find another haymaker nearby, which fortunately, I was able to do. Not the best hay I've ever seen, but the bales are very tightly packed and not too big, so they fit snugly in the front stall, plus enough to last me this week and then some, so I'm good for awhile. I just hope the horses don't mind it, it's not very green, but then, they've been suffering a bad drought in the area for some time, so I'm guessing it will be like this all winter. Stopped at Winn-Dixie for some nuts and chocolate, and Tractor Supply to fill up one tank of propane, as it's due to get colder on Thanksgiving Day for a few days, with lows back into the upper 30's, so I'm hoping my furnace will work now, and wanted to stock up on fuel so I won't freeze. Fortunately, both stores are only a couple of minutes away, so propane refills and groceries are close. Settled down for the rest of the day once I got everything put away. Hoping to get in a quick ride tomorrow before I go to Gainesville for my big shopping. Binged on Bones, heading to bed! Good night, baby! Love you!
Sunday, November 23, 2025 – Laundry Day
Hiya Babe,
Woke up to the generator next door being turned on just after 7:00 (sigh), eventually got up and started my day, looking forward to when it finally quieted down here. I did a couple of loads of laundry and hung them out to dry, though I was a bit concerned about how much dust was getting stirred up every time someone drove in or out. I was happy to see my neighbors packing up, but then they saddled up and the whole family saddled up and rode off, leaving their generator on! I don't understand why anyone would leave a generator on when they're not even in camp. It was a few hours before they finally came back and eventually finished packing up and leaving, and I had an afternoon of quiet bliss. Didn't do much else today, just wasn't in the mood, so I mostly just read, and tracked down some hay. I didn't even do much packing up, other than filling up all my water tanks including the truck tank, so that I could put all the hoses away, since I'm only moving from one side of the campground to another. Shouldn't take me too long in the morning. Not much else to report! good night, darlin'! Love you!
Saturday, November 23, 2025 – Poker Run Day
Hey Darlin',
Up at the crack of dawn, got everyone fed, then met up with Ray, albeit 15 minutes after the appointed time, to head off onto the trails and put up the "markers," which were just paper plates with arrows and Dealer #'s on them. It took just about an hour, so gratefully, we were done well in advance of when the riders were released at 10:00, which I ended up doing because there was some confusion about who was supposed to do that. I hung around the pavilion with the other volunteers until the riders started coming back, though there was again some confusion about who was supposed to man the dealer post in camp at the end, which got sorted out just in time. Once a good portion of the riders were back in camp, I decided to saddle up Flash and take the signs down, which we managed to do in a short 45 minutes, working up a nice sweat along the way, as he gaited and cantered almost the entire way, which was slightly less than five miles. The raffle was still going on by the time we got back! I rinsed him down and put him away, helped clean up the pavilion, chatted with the ladies for a bit, then settled down for the night. I binged on some Bones, and my usual routine. It was a beautiful day, glad to feel productive and appreciated! Sorry I had to listen to the generator next door all day, but am grateful they turned it off before 9:00 this evening. Whew! Good night, sweetie! Love you!



















