Hi Babe,
Had a great night sleep, even though it rained all night, and continued on throughout the day. Whereas yesterday I put the AC on for a few minutes, today I had to put the fireplace on whenever I was running the generator to warm it up. I put a rain blanket on Flash in the morning because he seemed to be shivering, and by afternoon, as the temps dropped, I put Apollo’s rain blanket on as well. As the temperature kept dropping, but dinnertime, I switched those over for their heavy winter blankets because it didn’t seem like the rain blankets were doing enough. Crazy! Supposed to warm up a bit tomorrow, though. It was a great day for me to get caught up, though, I spent a good part of the day editing and uploading videos from the workshop and generally getting caught up on computer work. Just waiting for all the accurate name information to do the certificates, though. Watched some TV after I got all that done, now I’ve settled down for the night, putting the furnace on to warm it up in here while I shower and before I go to bed. Definitely wearing a wool cap in bed tonight! Well, that just about covers today’s activities, hoping it will be nice enough to ride tomorrow. I took a walk around this morning and found a sign indicating one of the trails is closed due to logging, so I have to work out a ride that doesn’t include that one. Anyway, time to go. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Went to be pretty early and slept well, thank goodness! Got up before my alarm, did my chores, then after breakfast started packing what little I had to do before leaving. That didn’t take long. Then I went out to the pasture where the horses were, and Apollo walked away, but came back for a peppermint, so I was able to grab him. Flash must have sensed that he was going to be restricted on a highline again shortly, so he spent about five minutes just running around the pasture like a mad horse! He looked gorgeous doing it though! Once Apollo was moved out of the paddock, he came over and I quickly got him haltered up and loaded, with Apollo right behind. No trouble getting in and out of this place, and my journey was almost entirely on freeways, so it was an easy drive. Got off at the exit for Henryville and there was a gas station there that had easy access, so I decided to top offer now rather than later. Since I have enough supplies, I’m hoping I don’t have to go out at all this week, so the next leg to Tennessee can be straightforward, since it will be a long drive. Had to stop at the forest office first before going to the horse camp, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was paved all the way to the horse camp! I thought it would be gravel, but it was tarmac all the way! They also have a dump here, so this has turned out to be a great spot. This would be perfect as an overnight spot for travelers as well, as it’s only a few minutes off the freeway, a lot closer than Deam Lake, which has been my usual overnight spot in this area. Other than a very old guy coming over to make sure I paid (before I had even determined my site!), it was an uneventful load it. All of the sites have the usual Midwest hitching posts, but I ran the highline between a couple of trees nearby. I’m not quite level and I lifted the truck off the trailer but otherwise haven’t disconnected, hoping I won’t have to do anything by drive out of here when I’m ready. Meanwhile, rain moved in during the evening and we had quite a lot of it, and the temps cooled down. I was ready for that! Relaxed a bit during the afternoon, then I went out to feed the horses and play Frisbee with Lola. Suddenly, at one point, she dropped the Frisbee and made a beeline for the door. I thought maybe it was thunder, but then I went to pick up the Frisbee and instantly was stung by half a dozen ground bees! It happened so fast, and they kept coming. Got stung a few more times before I was able to retreat inside, but a few followed us and I got stung a couple more times. Good thing I’m not allergic to bees! I quickly dowsed every spot with bleach (and unfortunately got some on one of the nice polo shirts you used to wear, that I was wearing, so that one’s garbage now), then took a couple of antihistamine capsules. It didn’t take long for that to work, and before I knew it, I was out like a light! Had to force myself up to take my shower, now I’m off to bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Well, evidently, one day isn’t enough of a recovery, or maybe it’s just because Joyce is so generous, but I’ve decided to stay an extra day. I slept until 10:00 again this morning, ridiculous! But I do feel a lot better. It’s funny, with my earplugs in I can’t hear a thing, not the nearby railroad train, not the traffic, nothing, EXCEPT when one of the donkeys start braying, and that just cuts through those decibels like nobody’s business! Not loudly, but just enough of that sound to pierce my consciousness and wake me up. It was time, though! Got up and did my few chores, then got busy on the computer trying to set my schedule. It took me a lot longer than I thought, though everyone I called did get back to me. It seems most of the places that require reservations are, in fact, too booked for me to get into, so I had to resort to places that are first come, first served, knowing that I can get there early in the week and find a good spot. After I got most of my schedule set through December, I finally called the vet in Morrison about my health certificate appointment, only to learn they won’t have a vet available at all that week, so I’m going to have to cut Clark Forest short and get to TN in time for that. I had to shift everything up a week, and decided another stop at Mingo Trails was warranted, also because it’s FCFS and not reserved, and I don’t really want to travel nearly 400 miles in a day, so I’m breaking it in half.. I think I’ve got it worked out now, though, fingers crossed! If anybody’s interested, I’ll be updating my schedule page shortly with what I’ve worked out, subject to change, of course! I had some book orders come in while I was in Vegas, so I got those out in the mail, then had one of my propane tanks become empty, so I decided to fill up my two empty ones at Tractor Supply and get in a quick Walmart stop tonight, since they are both literally only three minutes down the road. Might be possible to not unhook at the next stop, but we’ll see. Getting to bed as early as I can tonight, there’s rain coming in during the early afternoon, so I’m hoping to be done setting up by then. So, on that note, good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
It took me until well past 11:00 to wind down last night, then I slept through until 10:00 this morning, though I stayed in be another hour and read just because my body felt like it was aching. It wasn’t long before I decided to stay an extra day, just because I still felt so tired. I emptied the bags, did laundry all day, read some, watched a little TV, went out to dinner with Trish, then crashed again in the evening. I’m hoping I have enough energy to do some housework and packing tomorrow (not that there’s much to pack here), and there’s a weather front coming in overnight so it’s going to rain and then cool down, which will be nice since it was over 90 degrees today again. Rain is one of the reasons I want to stay another day, although it’s supposed to rain on Tuesday, too, so I may be driving in the rain. My travel plans have completely changed again, the Skymont endurance ride has been canceled, and as I started to look for what camps I want to go to and to make up a schedule, it seems a lot of camps I want to go to are too booked for me, so I have some scrambling to do! So the morning will be phone calls as well, while I try to figure out what to do. Too tired to worry about it tonight, though! Still feeling tired, so I’m heading for my shower and bed early. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
What a terrible night! I don’t know if it was because the iced tea I drank with dinner was caffeinated or because I late later than usual, but I just couldn’t seem to get to sleep. I know I got some, but it was very intermittent, never for long, and never very deep. I ended up getting up an hour before my alarm was set to go off, just out of frustration. I left the packing until this morning, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time. Took my shower and got everything packed up, took everything down to the truck by 6:30, grab a bagel for later, then headed out to the car rental dropoff. Things went so smoothly there I was at the airport by 7:15, though my plane wasn’t boarding until nearly 9:00. Everything went smoothly, flight left on time, and this time I was able to actually get a protein meal (meat on a croissant, some fruit, and something that tasted like rice pudding, but it looked more like couscous than rice). Satisfying, though, and that’s all that mattered. Arrived in Chicago almost on time. I was thinking, I’ve flown in or out of practically every major airport in the country, but have never been in Chicago O’Hare. Mostly because I’ve always intentionally avoided it because of unpredictable weather, but now that I’ve been here, I have a whole bunch more reasons. For starters, it’s HUGE! There’s no people movers between one wing to the American terminal and the next, so it was a VERY long walk from gate to gate, even though my departure date was at the beginning of a hall, which was a tiny reprieve. The gate had changed from the time I landed to the time I got to the L wing, but I managed to get there and get somewhat comfortable. Within 15 minutes, I got another text saying the flight was delayed by over 90 minutes. Not a cloud in the sky, so not weather related, turns out they had an absent pilot, and had to wait for them to fly in another one from Indianapolis to take over the flight! How nuts is that? They don’t have pilots in Chicago, really? Of course, with Chicago traffic, who knows, it might be faster that way anyway. So now my ride in Indy, which has already been changed from Joyce to Trish, is going to have to pick my up after 8:00 instead of the more convenient 6:50 as I had originally planned. Grrr! I’m too tired for this today! I can’t wait to get home, I need some sleep! So the plane finally landed after 8:10, I made to long walk to the baggage claim area. As soon as the belt started moving, I texted Trish that the bags were coming out and I’d only be a few minutes, because usually priority bags come out first. Of course, nothing has been usual about this flight, so even though one bag came out right away, the other one turned out to be almost the last bag to come out. Too exhausted for words! Finally loaded up in Trish’s truck, got back to the stables, and crashed in the trailer. Ate the bagel I took this morning from the hotel and went to bed. That’s it! I’m done today! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Another long workshop day. It’s a big class, sixteen folks, so it’s taking a bit longer. Only had enough time for one full coaching session per person, then had a little technical problem with the camera, not sure how that’s going to affet the final product. Pretty happy with how it all came out. Then had dinner at nearby Winchells with Ronn, who has recently purchased property on Hutchison Island! Guess we’ll be neighbors when he eventually retires to Florida, though I suspect we’ll see each other this winter at some point. Looking forward to meeting his wife one of these days. Meanwhile, I’m so disgusted with this hotel I’m in, I hope I never have to come back here. Every day I’ve been making the same complaints, every day I get back to the room and there’s no progress There’s a crusty stain on the only armchair in the room, I won’t even sit on it with a towel on it, it’s so grungy looking! I’ve asked for decaf coffee for the Keurig machine, nothing. The drain plug won’t stay up on the bathtub, I have to shove a washcloth under it to keep it from collecting standing water. Then tonight, dead beat, I walked all the way to room, down two long hallways, only to have the key not work! Had to go all the way back to the lobby, stand in line with three people in front of me (at 9:00 at night!), just to get the key fixed, then when I opened the room, it was clear housekeeping hadn’t done anything except change towels. The bed wasn’t made, none of the requests I’ve made were accomplished, it’s ridiculous! Hoping I don’t ever have to come here again! It’s the LaQuinta airport South on Surrey, never again! Anyway, finally got in the room, poured myself some wine and headed to bed early! Long travel day tomorrow!

Hi Babe,
Not much to say except I had a long first day of the workshop. Lunch was pizza and wings, so I didn’t need anything for dinner, though I did grab a few bags of munchies from the meeting room to tide me over. Too tired to even go down to the hot tub, just relaxed in my room, going to bed early. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Well, it wasn’t a bad night sleep, just a little weird going to bed so early local time, even though my body clock was three hours ahead. Woke up early, which is probably a good thing, since I’ll have to do that for the next three mornings anyway. Went down for the free breakfast, seriously it was the most pitiful free breakfast I’ve almost ever seen. Essentially it was cereal, toast or bagels, with a banana if you wanted. Juice and coffee, of course, but no waffles, not hot food whatsoever. Guess I’m not going to up on any weight on THIS trip! Had a toasted bagel with cream cheese, then came back to the room and called your sister to wish her a happy early birthday, which is tomorrow. She’s been in hospital for over a month with knee surgery and various complications, but finally got home last week, wanted to see how she was doing. Naturally, she’s glad to be home! After that, I headed out to a massage appointment I had made a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful! The guy, Larry, did a really great job, and had such a life story, it was fascinating! A former NY Wall street banking guy, he eventually quit and became a massage therapist. And he was really good, too! Enjoyed getting to know him, and he did a great job on me. After leaving there I stopped at the store for a few things, and decided I simply HAD to have steak for my big meal of the day. I’ve been feeling meat deprived lately! I went to one place but walked in and walked out again, it was like a little whole in the wall fast food place with the ambiance of a Chinese take out counter. NOT IN THE MOOD! So then I found an Outback, and had a nice filet mignon, potato and salad, just what I needed! Unfortunately, my phone died (I had forgotten to take my phone charger out of the bag and put it into the car here), so I had no GPS to get back to the hotel, and had to wing it. Managed to do it in a pretty straight line, too, much to my surprise! Especially since I’ve never been to this hotel before. Guess I’ve been here enough now to know my way around a little bit. Anyway, got back to the hotel, plugged my phone it, changed into my bathing suit and hit the pool and hot tub. Figured that would be a good way to get the most out of my massage. You’d think that with 100+ degree days and not a cloud in the sky that the pool would be warm, but I guess the cool desert nights help, because the water was actually pretty cool and refreshing, and the hot tub was nice, too. Stayed out there for awhile before coming back up to my room, which the maid had finally finished. I had bought some trail mix because I didn’t want another big meal today, so I settled down with a glass of wine, my snack, and did some studying for tomorrow. A big class tomorrow, should be good! Getting to bed early so I can get up early and shower then. Good night, darlin’! Love you!