Hey Darlin'!
Had a busy day today, got a lot done! So nice to have a good night sleep without earplugs! Lovely and quiet out here. Started the day off doing a couple of loads of laundry before saddling up Flash for a beautiful ride. Gorgeous weather today! Low 70's, hardly a cloud in the sky, so nice after all the rain on Sunday. No horse boots required, and I didn't even take my saddlebags, so Flash was very happy! Though the trails were damp, there was very little mud, as most of it is firm sand. Once he got warmed up, Flash decided he was in a 7 mph mood, so we were booking through the forest. We did the northern loop, and ended up doing about 8.7 miles. There are a lot of trails here, just not a lot of long ones, but plenty if you want to meander around. We did a lot of gaiting and cantering, and he was in excellent spirits today! So much fun to ride him! Once we got back, I first stopped at HQ to pick up a package and report two downed trees, then I headed up to Tractor Supply, which is only about 15 minutes away, and got some feed, supplements and propane. When I took out the tanks, I discovered that it seems like my regulator isn't working properly, so I did some research on getting a new one, or trying to repair the old one. Considering it's 16 years old, I'm leaning toward a new one. I decided that I would stay here an additional week, since this is a good spot and I'm tired of moving every week (and in the case of last week, three times in the same place!), and this is a very convenient place. Water is right across the road, manure bin is 50 feet away, I get more than half a day of sun on my solar panel, and the horses are fine on their anchors during the day, so I'm good to stay here. To reach water yesterday, I had to piece together about four different hoses to reach everything, so I ordered a 100' Zero G hose, which arrived today, so when I got back, I put all the together, threw away one old leaky hose, and have another one I'll give away at the earliest opportunity. Much easier! Love my Zero G! After Tractor Supply I stopped at the grocery store next door and picked up a few things, then back to camp. Finally settled down to dinner and TV, took Lola for her second walk of the day, and am luxuriating as the cool air as it filters in. Going to be a perfect night for sleeping! And tomorrow, another perfect weather day! Loving life, as usual! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had a good night sleep, though it rained most of the night, and it was a lake around me in the morning! Called for Wellies for sure! Very glad I moved onto the gravel, which made it much easier getting out this morning. I had breakfast, took Lola for a walk (she seems to be doing well!), finished packing up before loading up the horses, and was heading out of camp by 10:30. I surprised myself and was able to get out of the gate in one pass! I thought I would have to back up a time or two, but I swung wide enough to make it the first time. I had an uneventful drive, although it was interesting. Even though it was pretty much a straight shot east with only a few turns, the road itself kept changing. It was everything from a well-lined, well-shouldered, cats eye road to something so narrow with no markers, it would barely qualify as a farm road, though they were always paved. Fascinating! Arrived safely, and when I checked in at the gate and asked about packages, the woman there was already aware and told me there was one at the office, so I stopped by and picked that up. Got into my campsite very easily (naturally, the campground was empty and there was nobody watching!), and got settled in pretty quickly. My first order of business, even before getting the horses out, was to get out their anchors and replace the old twisted rope with the new braided rope that was in my package. A much better rope! Softer and better built, and it didn't take me long to get the anchors fixed up and the horses out grazing on the grass. Last time I was here, I put up a fence around the whole site, but this time I'm just going to put them on anchors while I'm here. Of course, there's the requisite metal hitch rail, which I'm ignoring, and I put up a highline between a couple of trees for nighttime use. I got out a bunch of hoses so I could reach the spigot across the road, and it took a lot of joints to do it, so I got online and ordered a 100' Zero G hose so I can get rid of all that. Supposed to be here tomorrow, which would be great! Got everything else set up, then settled down to braid some baling twine. The last bunch of hay I bought had a lovely teal colored twine, so I've been cutting it near the knots so I can braid a few more of them. It's amazing how I always seem to have some use for them! Once evening hit, I took Lola for a walk around the campground loop, which turns out to be half a mile, and she did magnificently. Settled down for the evening, binged on a few more Being Ericas, and am ready for shower and bed! I didn't get any laundry done today, I figured it was too late to start them by the time the clouds cleared, but tomorrow is supposed to be a lovely, clear day, so that's my first chore in the morning. Then I'm planning on getting a ride in, then we'll see what else! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Got up nice and early and still didn't quite get to the beginning of the riders coming in, just a little miscalculation on my part. There were only about a dozen riders today, and because of the rain in the forecast, it was decided that all rides would start at 6:00 a.m. Once again I was pulse timer, but I also did a little packing up, because we were all worried about me not being able to get out once the rain started falling. Once all the riders were in, I finished packing and attempted to move out of my spot, with the plan of circling around and ending up on the gravel driveway, but couldn't quite make it. I tried it from several angles, with and without boards under my tires, etc., but it was a no go. Robin had already called the DNR guy for help, so rather than try again, I let him pull me up out of the worst of it. Was a bit worried for a minute when HE started slipping, but it all worked out. I managed to swing around and get situated on the gravel before the rain got too bad. It was just a light drizzle for a couple of hours while the camp was breaking down, but by late afternoon, it was pouring for hours! Though I wasn't thrilled at the idea of moving AGAIN, it was the right choice. The field was a lake before long. Put blankets on the horses when I fed them in the evening, and walked Lola while there was sort of a break in the rain. Well, not much of a break, but I put on my full rain suit and managed to keep dry. Started a new binge-series, a Canadian one called Being Erica, which has been nice and entertaining. Headed for shower and bed soon! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Woke up early with the premise of starting my work day at 8:00, but some of the 50 milers were going so fast, they came in at 7:36, and Robin came looking for me just as I was finishing brushing my teeth. When I quickly made my way over to the pulse box, I soon realized that of the two clocks they were using, one was on Eastern and one was on Central, and they had been using Eastern, which would have made it look like I was late, when in fact, I was early. Whatever, it didn't matter, and I went to work. The day passed quickly at a nice steady pace, adding a couple of walks in between. One of the other pulse timers offered to put a special kind of K-tape on Lola's leg to secure her torn ACL, so she came over at the end of the day to do that for me. Then it was potluck dinner and awards, followed by another walk with Lola, and a camper tour for our neighbors Mary and Margaret. It was a busy day, so soon off to bed, because everyone is fretting over the forecast of rain tomorrow. They're suggesting I pack up and move over on to gravel before days end tomorrow, though I don't relish the idea of have to make yet ANOTHER move this week! I'm waiting until the forecast and actual data for tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm exhausted, heading to shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had an excellent night sleep, thanks to a very quiet and cooperative Lola-girl! I think moving her bed to the bottom of the stairs did the trick, I hope! We'll see how it goes tonight. She was a bit strange today, I put her on the cable and she crawled under the camper and stayed there for literally hours. She didn't move the whole time I was out working. Had a busy day, lots going on with dozens of trailers coming in during the day. I was all set to go out and work on trails, but then Robin decided to take me along to put out water troughs, which was fine, because Deb had her two sisters come in to help on the trail, and the UTV would have been too crowded. We put up tents and canopies, set out the awards, particularly some five gallon water jugs, which everyone seems to love, and generally kept busy all day. One driver went a bit too close to the treeline and ended getting stuck, so we spent some time dragging her out of there. We had her truck, then Robin tried to pull her out, but that didn't work, then I hooked up in front of her and that didn't work, until we disconnected the trailer. The truck came out easily, then we had to drag the trailer out far enough to hook up on dry land, and my truck seemed best suited, so we did that. Probably took about an hour all told to get that job done, but it was a nice break in the day! Reminded me of my old wrecker days! I finally got Lola out from under the trailer and took her for a walk. Helped a bit getting the volunteer dinner ready, pigged out on that, sat through the rider meeting, took Lola for a walk, did her PT and red light treatment, now I'm ready for shower and bed! I'm a bit afraid since Lola rested all day that she's going to be restless again tonight, but we'll see! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Lola was restless like crazy last night, so my sleep was constantly being interrupted, sorry to say. Still haven't figured out what makes her sleep through the night sometimes, and not at other times. It's almost like when I give her the pills, sometimes they actually make her worse! Last thing I need are sedatives that make her anxious! Decided to cut back her dose this morning just to see what happens. She seemed fine all day, although she was still barking for no apparent reason. Sigh. Anyway, finally met the ride managers today, first Deb, who had to tell me that I was parked in the crew area and would have to move, darn it, and later Robin. I helped put up Deb's popup camper, and unloaded some stuff from her truck and trailer, then went about moving my trailer, which was a bit tricky. The ground is still a bit soft and slippery, and though I managed to pull up on the gravel, I then backed a good ways into the field before doing a circle around to the position I wanted. Then I wanted to back up a bit closer to the treeline, and didn't get far before my tires started slipping, but at least I was far enough off the road in. It took about an hour or more to get everything moved. I put the horses on their anchors, though I tied them off to a tree, and moved their highline to another set of trees that will work just fine. I'm hoping it won't get too breezy, since I'm now broadside to the prevailing winds, but the stairs do fit better now. Getting out will be interesting, since it's supposed to rain on Sunday afternoon, and the turn is too sharp and the bumps a bit too big, which means I may be scraping bottom, etc. Not the ideal situation, unfortunately. The biggest problem is that I had to leave my rain barrel in place, no way I was going to empty that with no way of filling it back up again. Fortunately, it's not too far away from the horses' new highline position, so it's just a matter of me having to transfer some water by hand as needed. Helped Robin put up a fence along the road for security, using her posts and my fence charger, which was great because it meant I didn't have to move all my hoses to get to my fence posts. Finally settled down to a steak dinner, watch the series finale of my Drop Dead Diva binge, then joined Robin and my neighbors for a little group socializing before coming home, doing dishes, and now I'm ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had a decent night sleep, only got woken up once by Lola barking, but she settled down and I was able to get back to sleep. The rain came in around 10:00 in the morning, and I was glad I put my portable rain barrel together yesterday. I positioned the awning so all of the rain would drain to one corner, put the rain barrel and another storage box at that corner, and it didn't take long for the rain barrel to be filled! In fact, I didn't realize I had left one of the spigots open, about halfway up, but when I saw it draining and closed it off, it continued to fill all the way to the top. That's about 50 gallons! Then I used a small bucket to transfer enough to fill the horses buckets, and then it rained again and filled it almost to the brim again! So I don't have to worry about water anymore, very happy about that! Did not relish the idea of either using the hand pump or having to take another trip to fill up my truck tank, which still has over 60 gallons in it, so I'm good to go. Spent the day reading, on the computer, or watching TV, a nice, relaxing day. By the late afternoon, the sun came out, mist was forming in the field, and it turned into a beautiful evening. Bodes well for the rest of the week! Ready for bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Rough night. Lola just wouldn't settle down. I was up thrice during the night to let her out. Barking all the time. No idea what was going on with her, but she was inconsolable, even without storms. Finally managed to doze off in between, but not a very restful night. The morning was gray, cloudy, and we had a little rain, so I decided to get out the portable rain barrel that I had bought awhile back and had yet to use. It was for those rare times when water was an issue and there was rain in the forecast, and this week fits that to a T. It didn't take long to put that together, but then the rained stopped, the wind picked up, and the clouds moved out. I had to pull in the awning because of the strong gusts, but I'm grateful I parked with my tail end to the west, so at least the wind isn't hitting me broadside. Once the sun came out and it warmed up, I decided to take a ride. The ladies I spoke to yesterday said the trails were in pretty sad shape, quite overgrown, so I took my trimming equipment with me and headed out on the south loop. I confirmed with the ride manager that there are basically only three loops here, two six mile and on five mile loops, and I managed to do one of the six mile loops. It did need a lot of TLC, there was a lot of growth, so it took some doing, but I was glad to get it done. Flash was his usual brilliant self, patiently letting limbs drop on his head while I did clearing. Such a good horse! It's supposed to rain most of the day tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to get the northern loop done until Thursday, but at least I'll be here to collect rainwater! Took Lola for several long walks, including one all the way down the field and back, which I figure was nearly half a mile each way, and the more she moved, the faster she got, so evidently we're working on strengthening her bad leg. Finally settled down for the evening, and was delighted when I had no problem getting my Prime Video tonight! I think there must have been some updating going on or something, but I was able to enjoy several episodes of the last season of Drop Dead Diva, which I've really been enjoying. Totally a suspension of disbelief, but a very enjoyable one! Ready for a better night sleep, and I hope Lola is ready, too! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Well, today was full of surprises, both good and bad! The first surprise was climbing out of the bedroom and discovering that Lola had managed to get herself into my recliner! That's her favorit spot to sleep, and I was thrilled that she was able to accomplish it. It didn't take too long to get breakfast and finish packing up (and I slept late, thanks to a quiet Lola!), but there was no hurry, we only had to move 80 miles or so. Left the site shortly after 10:00, stopping at their marvelous RV dump just at the entrance, and was leaving there before 10:30. It took about 20 minutes to get to the freeway, but after that it was clear sailing. The next pleasant surprise was that I was looking for fuel, and a few placed had really come down on price. I remembered reading that some kind of truce or treaty was supposed to be signed with Iraq and the Hormuz Strait was to be reopened to all, so I imagine that has something to do with it. That made me look up my investment portfolio, and sure enough, we were at more record highs! I tried to stop at a Casey's before getting on the freeway, but it wasn't easy to get into, so I skipped it. As I was driving along, I still had enough fuel, but I didn't want to cut it too close (nothing worse than running out of diesel, so much trouble to fix that!), but then I noticed I was coming up on something that looked an awful lot like a Buc-cee's! Countless aisles of pumps and plenty of room to get around, so I quick pulled off to check it out. Price was $4.69, just about the cheapest I've seen, and I had no problem pulling straight into an aisle. It was called Wally's, and it barely showed up as a blip on GasBuddy, which rather annoyed me, but at least I saw it in time! The rest of the trip went fine, I came in the back way just because the freeway had suddenly gotten really bumpy and I figured the back roads would be better. They were fine, and I arrived at the camp where I got a few more surprises. The parking area was tiny, the gate into the camping area was tiny, there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to get into any of the gravel sites, or even make it around the loop! There were a couple of women there I chatted with, and they were just leaving, so I was able to use part of the space they occupied to turn around in a way that would let me back into an open space on the lawn, that looks like I won't have any trouble getting out again, as long as it doesn't rain too much! There were a couple of trees where I put up a nice long highline, though they have to stupid metal hitchrails here, which I'm no way, no how using. Then I had my next surprise, and not a very nice one. The water supply here comes from a hand pump, and according to the ladies, not a very good one! I was sure I had been told there was a spigot here, but then again, that was from someone in the office, which, as we know from long experience, is typical. They have no idea what's out here. So, since I was under the delusion there was a spigot here, I didn't fill up my water before I left, which I could have easily done had I known. Anyway, I had enough in my tank to half fill a couple of buckets for the horses, so I got them situated on the highline and mostly set up before I headed out to the nearest Walmart about 20 minutes away. I stopped at a couple of places hoping I could find some rope to replace the fraying ones on the anchors, but Ace didn't have any 1/2" cotton, and Tractor Supply wanted $2.29 a foot! That's crazy, over $200 for 100 feet of rope! I asked at the counter if it was by foot or by yard, and he said foot, but I could hardly believe that. I looked it up on Amazon and found 50 feet of the same stuff for less than $20! So I'll wait until I have an address, probably next week, and have it sent. BTW, my package that was sent to Joyce is still stuck at the Indy distribution center, even after it was sidelined to Fort Wayne. I have no idea what the problem is! After Tractor Supply, I finally got to the Walmart, found their outdoor spigot (next to the fire hydrant), and filled up my water tank. I forgot to bring a hose, so I had to unhook the one from the tank, and getting it back on was not easy, but I finally managed it. Picked up a few things at Walmart and got back to camp before 3:30, transferred water to the camper and to the horses' buckets, and still have about 60 gallons left, which should be enough. I seem to recall the ride manager here telling me that the forest guys will be bringing out a tanker, so if I can get them to water the horses (or fill up my tank again), I shouldn't need to make a second trip into town. Anyway, finally settled down to a light dinner (I better lose some weight tomorrow!!), but even though I have two bars of signal here, I couldn't get any streaming services on any of my devices. Not happy about that! Seriously looking into Starlink again, I'm getting tired of having slow or nonexistent service, even if I have to pay more for it. Grrr! I was really looking forward to some new TV after a week of nothing! Nevermind, I'm still living the dream! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had another excellent night sleep, again with only a little bit of a disruption from Lola early, but she settled down again. She is doing so much better! Today she not only walked when I had a leash on her, but when I was packing up and doing yard cleanup, she wandered around on her own, sometimes following me, other times just exploring on her own. Definitely getting stronger! Spent the day doing laundry and packing, with a little research and planning thrown in, finally ending with first a rather depressing Australian movie called Animal Kingdom, about a criminal family with no real plot, but I followed that with an old Hopalong Cassidy film just to end on a lighter note. Heading to bed shortly, hoping my next location will have a better cell signal so I can actually upload my pix! Good night, sweetie! Love you!