Hi Babe!
I had a little trouble sleeping, my knee was aching and Lola was very restless. I ended up having to put earplugs in so I couldn’t hear her moving around so much. She’s not getting enough exercise, but I planned to change that today! After breakfast and chores and a little more trail planning, mostly because I discovered a new map on Mingo’s Facebook page that indicated a couple of trails that were on the old map were now closed, but unfortunately the new map didn’t line up very well, so it took a bit of finagling to get something viable to download onto my GPS. We finally headed out, I got about 100 feet and realized I’d forgotten my hel-hat so I had to go back. Meanwhile, Lola was so excited she was running around in a big circle around the trailer like a mad dog, you know how she gets. Anyway, finally back on the trail, and Flash was ready to move! This is the first place that wasn’t rocky and required boots in a long time, and the footing here is essentially sand, so he really wanted to fly. Unfortunately, though my knee felt somewhat better on the ground this morning, it got a lot worse in the saddle, especially since I was trying to keep him slow, and he wasn’t liking it too much, and I was fighting him a lot of the way. I just didn’t feel secure enough with my sore knee to go faster, so it was a bit of a struggle. It was still an enjoyable ride, though, this place has a lot of interesting sections to it. Some trails are really sandy roads, while others are close and narrow enough to feel like you’re riding through a tunnel of green. There’s also some cultivated pine stands, perfectly straight lines of young evergreens, with all the accompanying sweet smells and soft footing. Though it’s sandy like Florida, there are a few hills here, so that makes for an occasionally interesting change. If I had been more fit, I would have loved to let Flash just go at whatever speed he wanted, but I just didn’t dare today. Near the beginning of the ride we came across a pond, and two mallard ducks went quacking from the shoreline out to the lake, that really got Lola’s attention. Then further along I saw a big wading bird and took a picture, but it never moved as Lola got closer, until I realized it was just a plastic replica! Too funny! We only passed a few other riders, which was amazing considering how many people are here. When I arrived here earlier this week there was only the camp host and a couple of permanent trailers, and as you can see from the pix I took today, the place is PACKED this weekend! So we ended up doing almost 10.5 miles, which pretty much cleared out all the trails here, but I wanted to get it done in case something stopped me from riding Apollo tomorrow, though that’s still the plan. I had to keep my GPS in my hand the whole time, though, because I was weaving in and out of trails like crazy, and I didn’t find that the color of the trails on the map corresponded very well with the markings on the trail. So what else is new? We finally got back to camp in only about 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is pretty good for that distance, and considering I was holding him back so much. I gave him a nice rinse off, than ran out to the Dollar store in Toomsboro because I was running low on dog food, then Jeff and Beth came by to get the grand tour of the trailer and to buy a book. They also helped me get my spare tire back in position, but I had to let most of the air out of it to make it fit. I’ll get out my compressor and fill it up as much as I can tomorrow. After they left, I headed over to the clubhouse to get some leftovers for dinner and to pick up my utensils and containers, which someone had kindly washed. I left the macaroni salad, unfortunately it was in with the deserts and the cover was on tight, so there’s still a lot of it left. I’m moved it to the other refrigeration, hoping that it will be seen more, and maybe someone will take some, otherwise Lola and I will be eating macaroni salad for a week! I heated up dinner and settled down for the evening. Ready for shower and bed now though! And Lola’s been quiet all evening, I hope she stays that way! Good night, darln’! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Lola was restless again last night, and by morning she’d completely ripped the seam of her bed, again. Sigh. I don’t know what gets into her, I thought having taken a ride yesterday she would sleep through the night, but not so! Anyway, I did some work on the computer in the morning, then saddled up Flash for our final ride here. I decided to take the trail to the lake, which turned out to be a lot closer than I thought, and there were a couple of guys there that were literally draining the lake. Not sure what that’s about, but we did manage to find a way around it, then followed the trail to the cabins, which is now the group camping area but originally were housing for the CCC workers that built the place. Once in there, though I tried to find a trail, ended up on a utility line and then a gravel road, but knew I was getting way off the reservation so I had to turn back and retrace my steps. Turned out the only way out was down the road, so I headed that way. I ran into three other women riding, and we ended up chatting for a while in the road. I finally headed back out, cutting back into the woods and taking a different route home. There’s not a huge number of trails here, so I knew my way around (well, almost, I headed the wrong way on one trail), and ended up catching up to a group from the stables so I had to hang back for a bit, then took a bypass trail around the barn and back to the driveway and back to camp. The ladies came back a bit later and we ended up chatting some more. It was a lovely ride, a nice day, once again perfect weather, and Flash behaved beautifully, with lots of energy on the trail but quiet when we were stopped. He’s really becoming a fine trail horse, I couldn’t ask for more. Settled down for the evening with a movie and a new series, now I’m headed to shower, bed and book! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Slept the whole night through again (yay!), got up around 8:00, did chores and breakfast, and eventually went out to do some repairs. The spigot on the side of the trailer had come loose while it was at the trailer shop when I was out west, and today I set out to fix it for good. Of course, it’s never as simple a job as you think it’s going to be. I knew that sometimes there was a water drip from behind the spigot, but even though it was intermittent, I decided to fix it right before I secured it. It had one of those permanent type clamps on it and I couldn’t get it off, so I cut the hose short and had a heck of a time trying to get the clamp off the spigot, but eventually, with the help of a grapefruit knife, I was able to cut the hose back enough to slip it off. Then I had to use a regular water hose clamp to fix it, and that didn’t fit through the hole, so I had to put it all in place behind the metal frame, where I couldn’t see it, had to do everything by feel, so that was a challenge. One of those jobs where you really needed three hands. Eventually I managed it, though, and got it all put back together and secured it really well, so hopefully this is the last time I’ll have a problem with it. Then I tried to fix the one panel that’s bulging and put the trim back on, but it was impossible. Not sure if that’s ever anything that can be fixed without putting a whole new panel on it, but I struggled for a while before seeing it was futile. I also fixed one of the bars that separates the horses’ mangers, that’s been flopping around for awhile. I also noticed that one of my tires has a wide slash in the sidewall. Sigh. These tires have so much tread on them, and I have no idea why they keep getting sidewall slashes. I’m going to have to keep an eye on it, but I really don’t want to put the spare on if I can help it, because it’s a different brand of tire, and it’s totally a different size, even though the numbers match. This could become a big problem on the road, particularly since it’s on the driver’s side and changing it by the side of the road will be hazardous, I’m just not sure what to do with it, I’ll have to look at it again and decide if I should change it before I leave here. Problem is, it’s not just a short drive next time, like I’ve been doing lately, it’s the longest drive I’ve taken in awhile, though it won’t be on the freeway, I’ve got a route for mostly U.S. Highways. I’ll think about it tomorrow. Anyway, after all that, I took a short break, then saddled up Apollo and went out to finish all the rest of the trails on the map, except the Bridal Trail (yes, it’s Bridal, not Bridle), because I keep hearing that no one has cleared it in years and it’s impossible to follow, so I don’t need to invite that kind of annoyance into my life. The trails we took today were actually quite nice, not too rocky, not too hard to follow (with the help of my GPS, otherwise I would have gotten lost), but it’s small enough here where you wouldn’t stay lost for long anyway. The trails are covered in leaves now, not much left on the trees, but with the temps in the 70’s today, it was perfect, exactly what I keep trying to find! Lola and Apollo both seemed to enjoy themselves. I kept coming across these charming little structures attached to trees, and at first I thought they were bird houses or bat houses until I came to a mailbox with the flag up. Curiousity ruled, and I opened the mailbox and discovered it was a geocache station! Turns out all the structures were! There was even one intersection that had one shaped like a little jail! So cute! I read the instructions there, but decided not to join in today, though I already thought about seeing if there’s any horseback orienteering events in Florida, thought I might try to participate in one. Anyway, when I got back to camp there was a truck and horse trailer there, a day rider, who didn’t get back until about 5:00. I met him when I came out to feed the horses and we chatted for a bit. He has a dozen Paso Finos at home, plus the one he was riding today, so it was all about horses. Eventually he left, I got the horses fed, then settled down for the evening, as usual. Watched a good movie, Molly’s Game, now I’m heading to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Finally, a good night sleep! Well, I woke up early, because Lola was fussing and worrying on something, so I finished my book, then slept until nearly 9:00, haven’t done that in a long time! Morning chores, a few odd jobs, then I saddled up Flash and headed out to do the “Cowboy Trail.” The trailhead leaves out of the stable area opposite where the trail rides leave from, and it took me a minute to find the beginning of it, but once I got on it, it was marked fairly well. It reminded me of McClennan, narrow trail with quite a bit of rocks, well and truly covered with leaves so it was a bit hard to see, but I managed most of the way, with quite a few creek crossings at one part, and a number of tenters way out in the middle of nowhere. Then we reached the same overlook as yesterday, and from there, the trail markings all but disappeared. There was an occasional marker at an intersection, but only saying it’s a horse trail, not the color of the trail, so following the map was impossible. There were no confidence markers whatsoever. I had downloaded my route onto my GPS, and I still missed a turn somewhere and could never find it. I followed some other trails that seemed a bit more used and ended up right back on the trail to the stable we used yesterday, which was not my intention, but I never could get back on the trail that I wanted. Once I downloaded the GPS file of where I went, though, I could see about where I went wrong, so it should be easy enough to track it by going out a different way, the way I had intended to come back on. Anyway, it was a nice ride. Flash was full of pep, and I don’t think he was too fond of the footing, so he kept trying to faster to get out of it, but maybe it was just because it’s been quite a while since we’ve been on our own, where he could do his own pace and not be slowed down by anyone else. He certainly took advantage of it! We went just about seven miles and it only took us two hours, so he was definitely on his quick pace today, which is always fun! Lola enjoyed herself, too, and hopefully the exercise will help her sleep tonight, she was so restless last night, or rather, this morning. Anyway, it’s another cold morning tomorrow, but then it’s warming up here, will be 20 degrees warmer by the end of the week. I’ve found some hay in nearby LaGrange, so I’m doing my shopping tomorrow, filling propane tanks as well, since I’ve been using a lot of it lately to keep warm. Just another fun day on the road! I had another nice, quiet evening, and now I’m headed off for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!