Hey Sweetie ,
Well, despite dreams that Pete would come back to Sue, there was no sign of him this morning, sorry to say. I was awakened early with a knock on my door informing me that my horses had escaped, so I got up and dressed quickly and went looking. Someone had spotted them down at the end of the road beyond the camp by the barn that had a bit Trump banner across it, and I walked down there and saw them. They decided to go on walkabout, and headed away from me, so I had to come back and get their feed bags, and once I did, I was able to catch them and bring them back. I put them both in stalls and proceed to take down the corral, which had been practically dismantled by their escape. I know the fence electric was on last night, but I'm guessing Apollo pulled up the posts, then someone's foot got caught in a wire and dragged it for a bit, because there were several posts down and one of the power connectors on the solar charger was completely pulled apart. Then I walked down to say good-bye to Kathy, but they left early, so I didn't get a chance. Had breakfast and then proceeded to start packing and doing laundry, my usual "day before I leave" routine, minus the housework, since I did that a couple of days ago. Spent most of the day reading or playing computer games, not much else to do when I'm not riding. Did work out the best route to get where I'm going tomorrow, had a long talk with owner Jill, paid my bill, finished the packing I could do and settled down for the evening. Ready to move on to the next adventure! Love you, babe! Good night!
Sunday, September 1, 2024 – Another Ride With Kathy and Sue
Hiya Babe,
Had a good night sleep, no alarm this morning, it was cloudy and misty, but not exactly raining, with a forecast for skies to clear as the day went on, so after chores and breakfast, it was decided that we'd ride at 11:00. Kathy and I were both ready, but Sue took a bit longer, and it was 11:30 before we finally hit the trail. Our aim was to reach a place known as the watering hole, and fortunately, it took us on a few more trails I hadn't been on, so I feel like I've had a good, thorough workout on most of the trails here. Hard to say, since I haven't really seen a good map of the trails, so I don't know how many more are out there, but it seems that the way back to camp is always the same, so I'm thinking we've likely hit all the ones within reach. It was a lovely trail, and the rain had really tamped down the dust, which had been a problem yesterday before the storm. Not very much gravel, thankfully, at least until we got near camp, and we went down a creekbed, but it was all rounded river stone, so no problem. We stopped for a while down there for lunch and rock hunting, Kathy and Sue were on the hunt for some rock with a hole in it that apparently lets you see into the fairy world. We headed back after awhile, and the final mile, I moved out front and left them so that Flash could stretch his legs. Oddly, I thought riding with a Tennessee Walker and a off-track Thoroughbred would be compatible with speed demon Flash, but the gals only wanted to walk, and eventually, Flash got impatient, so I had to let him get it out of his system. When I got into camp, Kathy's husband told me that one of Sue's dogs and bit Kathy's neighbor Nicki, then ran off up the road. They had to take her to the hospital because the bite hit an artery. After putting Flash away, I waited for them to come down off the trail, which took another forty minutes, much longer than I had expected (well, Flash did gait all the way back). Sue went looking for her missing dog Pete while I put her horse away, but by the end of the day, he was still missing. He's a rescue and very leery of people, so we don't know how he'll behave in a strange neighborhood. Anyway, not much we can do at this point, except the usual getting the word out. I fixed some dinner, fed the horses, and settled down for the evening. Crazy, every time I sit in my chair I start to nod off. Must be the heat or something. Anyway, other than the unfortunate ending, it was a lovely day with a great ride, fingers crossed that Pete finds his way back. Heading to shower and bed shortly. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Saturday, August 31, 2024 – Ride With Kathy and Friends, Got Caught In Storm
Hey Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, was up with the alarm so that I could be ready for our 9:00 start time this morning. I timed it perfectly, and was hopping into the saddle right on time. At the last minute, Sue decided that here horse wouldn't behave well with mine and Eddy Ray's, so we went ahead for a while, then met up with them about 20 minutes later. We let her go first, which seemed to be her concern, and I stayed in back, so it all worked out. We made our way backward on the Kimble trail that I took the other day, took the Hill Loop Trail, and made our way down to the Paddle Creek Campground. I was hoping to get down there to see it, and frankly, it was much more to my liking than Elkins Creek. Of course, it's primitive, but there were highlines and a vault toilet, but no water except for the creek, which was all but bone dry right now. There is also apparently a very sharp turn coming in that I would have to negotiate, but I met a guy there named James who said that the long rigs just go to the end of the road and turn around, which makes it possible to make the sharp turn. Plus the campground is apparently free! Good to know! Even though it was barely 11:00, the gals decided to have lunch there, and while we were eating, we heard thunder and saw dark clouds coming in. Of course, last night when I checked the forecast, it said the rain wasn't coming in until 3:00, but no one checked this morning, and boy, did it change! We decided to skip our trip to the water hole and head back to camp, and Eddie Ray was very concerned about his awning in the wind (apparently this is his third awning!), so the two of us ended up speeding ahead to try to get back in time. We didn't quite make it. We were still about a mile out of camp when the skies opened up, thunder and lightning and wind, the whole deal. We stopped long enough to put slickers on, which at least kept our torsos dry, but my legs and boots were drenched. We managed to get back at about 12:30, and fortunately, all awnings were okay, but it just kept pouring for another half hour or so. I put Flash under the awning just long enough to get his tack off, then put him in the little paddock I put up for them. I made myself a little salad for lunch, then sat in my chair to relax for a few minutes, and fell asleep for two hours! Not sure what that was all about, but there you go! Went over to visit with Kathy and friends again for a bit, then saw more gray clouds coming, so I put all my tack away in the back, it had mostly dried in the sun that appeared after the earlier rain. Sure enough, another stormy round came through, so I watched an old Clint Walker movie until the rain was gone, fed the horses, visited with Kathy again for a bit, ready for my shower and bed! Love you, sweetheart! Good night!
Friday, August 30, 2024 – Quiet Day and RRR Friend Kathy Arrives
Hiya Sweetie,
It was another scorching hot day today, so I spent a lot of it inside in the AC, mostly doing much needed housekeeping. Kathy and her friend arrived before noon, though I didn't see them until they came over after noon when they saw me walk by with trash for the dumpster. Despite numerous assurances by management that they were going to park around me in the middle of this open area, they ended up in a nice little corner with shade and a highline they're not even using! So here I am, in a spot that I would never have normally accepted because it's wide open, hotter than blazes, and my horses are also almost entirely in the wide open, except one tiny stall that I didn't even want to have to use (and if I had been in the shade, with them on a highline as I originally requested), and now I wasn't even next to my friends. At least they're not very far, but still, this is not the place I would ever choose for myself. I figured my only saving grace was that I had ordered that booster, and hopefully I would be able to use my computer from inside my trailer instead of having to sit outside, or in the office, to get wifi. Well, the mail was delivered and the owner, the guy I had the discussion with about gravel, delivered my package to me without a word (it seems he's remarkably sensitive about his gravel and I'm in the doghouse because I said I wasn't a fan of it), and when I opened it, was disheartened to find that Amazon had sent me the wrong thing! I think that's the first time that's happened to me. They send some kind of switch for hooking up multiple ethernet hard-lines, not even close to what I ordered! So I had to walk over to where I could get wifi and notify them of the error, but the soonest they could get me a replacement would be Sunday, and frankly, I didn't think it was worth it. So now I have to find a UPS store to send it back sometime in the next month, and I won't be at an address long enough to get another one. Probably won't have that much of a need for it anyway. Sigh... Anyway, I spent a good part of the afternoon, and again after dinner, visiting with Kathy and her friends and family, and we arranged to go riding in the morning before the afternoon rain comes in. Looks like it will be somewhat cooler tomorrow, thank goodness! Well, I've had my shower, now I'm off to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!
Thursday, August 29, 2024 – First Ride at Elkins Creek, OH
Hey Babe,
Had a decent night sleep, though it was too hot to open windows so the air was a bit stale by morning. Got my usual chores done, had breakfast, then started to get ready for my ride. I wanted to get out reasonably early, before it really got scorching hot. Before saddling Flash, though, I added another strip of wire to my portable fence, and put the solar charger on it. Someone had pushed on one of the fence posts, and it was a little crooked. The ground is so hard here in places, I had a dickens of a time trying to get the posts in deep enough, so I'm not surprised I had a post leaning this morning. I figure the second string and the electrification will prevent any further breaches. When I got Flash out, Apollo accidentally touched the wire and leapt back, so I knew it was working! Since he's the Houdini, it was a good lesson, he won't go near the fence again. Flash already respects the fence, so I'm not worried. Anyway, got Flash saddled and booted, and we were out about 10:30, going counterclockwise on the kml trail. Unfortunately, it started as a long, steep climb up a gravel two track, which is certainly not my favorite kind of trail. We did nearly two miles of that before some of the gravel finally disappeared and a nicer dirt trail became the norm, though there were still long patches of gravel. The terrain was typical for the area, lots of grades both steep and not so steep, winding around the various hills, with some indentations in the stone walls that folks call caves, but they're really just overhangs. The ride turned out to be about 7.2 miles, which was fine for a first venture, I wanted to get a feel for the landscape, and I did. Flash was his usual brilliant self. When I got back, there were three older guys parked under the tree having a discussion, and I mentioned it was a good ride except for the gravel, one guy wholeheartedly agreed, and the other guy (the owner, I think), made it very clear that he was the one that put down the gravel, and that it was the only alternative to muddy trails. I tried to point out that there were a lot of ways to stop mud on a trail that didn't involve gravel, but he wasn't the least bit interested, so I just let it go. I've reached the age where I can let people be wrong and not get too excited about it anymore. I gave Flash a nice bath, filled up their water tubs (which is kind of a pain, because the hose that's on the spigot at the other end of the row isn't long enough to even reach halfway up the row, so I have to carry my hose down every time, disconnect, reconnect, turn on the water, disconnect, reconnect, turn off the water, blah, blah, blah), and left them to their afternoon. I went into the office for a bit so I could use the wifi to do a few things online, then just wasted the rest of the afternoon playing computer games and reading. Too hot to sit outside! Guess it will be an early night, nothing else to do but take a shower, go to bed and read! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 – Travel Day to Elkins Creek Horse Camp Hi Darlin’!
Well, I made it safe and sound to Elkins Creek Horse Camp. I left Rocky Top around 9:00, anxious about coming off the mountain. It would be the longest, steepest part of the trip from what I could tell, and I had visions of the ride down Black Mountain that I had taken earlier this year, which I did when my brakes were a lot newer, and I thought I had a little bit of brakes on my trailer, but I've since realized I don't have any brakes on the trailer to speak of, and I've been traveling around mountains all summer, so I've probably used some of my brake pads by now. As it turned out, I had no problem! Once I hit the top of the hill on I-68, which was just three miles from Rocky Top, I started nice and slow, then as I approached 45 mph, I hit the brakes once and Einstein (my truck) immediately downshifted jake brake style and held for a long time. When we finally started increasing speed again, one more tap on the brakes and another downshift. I only used my brakes three times in all, and the grade, according to the sign, was only 5% and about four miles, so it turned out to be much ado about nothing. I-79 turned out to be a good road, rough terrain around us but they did a nice job of keeping fairly level as it curved around mountains. I stopped once for fuel, first going into a Pilot, but they had zero room in there car area for me, and their truck area didn't have a small diesel nozzle, so I ended up going to a Go-Mart, where it was forty cents a gallon cheaper anyway. Didn't realize they had a separate truck entrance, so I went into the car area and had to back out onto the road to get out, but there wasn't too much traffic, so no problem. The rest of the trip was fairly easy, but the last 20-30 miles was on pretty narrow, windy, country roads, and the last few miles were the worst. I had not idea this place was so far out into the boonies. We worked out where I would park and set up my portable paddock for the horses, and Jill threw in a stall so the horses would have some shade. It's hotter than blazes, and there's no shade whatsoever available, so I upgraded from a primitive to an electric site, no way I'm suffering through 97 degrees for the next few days! It's only 30 amp, but I'll just have to manage it. I'm right next to the wash rack so I was able to fill up with water easily enough, plugged into electric and got the AC going first thing, then eventually got the horses squared away after putting up the fence. There is absolutely NO cell phone service here, and to use their wi-fi, I have to be in the building or right next to it. Even though I'm only about 20 yards away, it still won't reach me in the trailer, and just barely in my chair outside, not enough to really work. I decided to order a wi-fi booster from Amazon that will arrive on Friday, hopefully that will help some. I can always send it back if it doesn't work. Not sure how often I'll need to use it, but I supposed if it helps, I've find a use for it. It will be worth it if it makes getting on the internet easier just over this weekend! Took me a long time trying to work on getting a signal, and I almost had it, by putting my laptop outside, where it could connect to their wifi, then using my computer's hotspot to project that to the TV, but it kept stopping, and I finally gave up. Guess I'll be doing a lot of reading this weekend, or at least until I can get the booster working! Had a light dinner, got my Spanish lesson done early, now I'm ready for shower and bed, though I'm going to have to leave my AC on. It's nearly 10:00 and it's still registering as 89 degrees in the back of the trailer! Funny thing, that. The sensor wasn't working, so I ordered another one (supposed to arrive on Friday, too,) but after I parked and looked at the old one, it started working again! Oh, well! Anyway, Day is Done! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Tuesday, August 27, 2024 – Travel Day to Rocky Top Stables
Hey Sweetie!
Didn't sleep as well as I had hoped, got up before the alarm, and was out the driveway by 8:45. Thankfully, the trip was uneventful, though I-68 was pretty hilly, and I'm hoping the final downhill slope I have to take tomorrow won't be as bad as I've been fearing. The truck has been doing really well so far holding it's speed, just one more big downhill slope and the rest will be comparatively easy! Arrived at Rocky Top at 2:45, though there were a couple of moments of concern. The first was when I turned up the one and only road to the stable and was met with a sign that said "Road Not Suitable for Large Trucks." That gave me pause. I managed to climb up okay, until I reached the only sharp turn on the narrow road, only to be met by a parked school bus right on the corner, preventing me from turning. I stopped and got out because I wanted to make sure I was in the right place, though the bus driver didn't have a clue, but there was a car behind with two gals in it that were on their way there, so they confirmed my directions. The bus driver pulled up as far as he could, but I still took a small dip into a culvert at the narrowest part of the turn (I was on the inside of the turn, which didn't help), but only scraped a little, no apparent damage. Made it the rest of the way with no problem. They got me set up next to a big round pen, got the horses out, Debbie brought over several loads of water which they drank happily, it being a hot day, but not until after they rolled in the sand, of course! As I was opening the slide, I realized that one thing I forgot to do this morning was to take my horse pictures down. One was still hanging, the other one had dropped, and after some searching, I finally found it jammed on the outside of the slide. Just one small scratch on the frame which I can probably fix with white-out or something. It was over 90 degrees on the drive here, hoping it will cool down a bit more tonight, but not counting on it. Cool shower tonight for sure! Lola took a swim in a little pond next to us, she really enjoyed that! And she was even up to playing a little fetch tonight as well. finally settled down for dinner and a movie, the sequel to the movie I watched last night. Interesting, but nowhere near as good as the first one, with a very unsatisfactory ending. Set it up for another sequel which I'm guessing never happened, since that one was made in 2017. Anyway, time for my cool shower and an early night, hoping to get a better night sleep tonight! Good night, baby! Love you!
Monday, August 26, 2024 – Laundry, Housework, Packing
Hiya Babe!
Had a better night sleep, then got busy doing lots of loads of laundry, packing up some stuff, filling up the tires with air, which was a little bit of a struggle. For some reason, the nozzle wasn't working very well, I had to push it just so, then angle it, to get it to work, but I finally managed it. I was beginning to worry that this big compressor I bought had bit the dust already! Did a few minor repairs as well, as usual. A fairly relaxed day overall. I had a big breakfast and still wasn't too hungry at dinner, so I just had a salad. Watched a couple of Farscapes, then a fascinating movie written by Jerome Bixby (a great sci-fi writer who wrote some of the best Star Trek and Twilight Zone stories) called The Man From Earth, about a guy who claims to be 14,000 years old amongst a group of collegiate scholars. It would make a fantastic play! Really had some great, thought-provoking dialog. Ready for an early night, have a pretty long drive tomorrow! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Sunday, August 25, 2024 – Floor Finally Finished!
Hi Darlin'!
Didn't sleep well, so woke up feeling tired, but that didn't stop me from my one final chore on the floor today. I measured the floor where I needed to put the strip linking the two linoleum pieces, marked my metal strip, and carefully cut it with my generic Dremel, and for some reason, it was too long! Not by much, not enough to be able to make another cut, but just enough not to lie flat, so I had to spend another half an hour carefully sanding down the cut end until it finally fit correctly. A few nails later, and it was perfect! Job done! I felt pretty lazy today, figured I needed to take the rest of the day off, so I mostly just spent it working on the computer. I've got myself all lathered up about the route I'm taking, apparently there is a very long, steep drop coming out of that stable I finally found that would take me in, I'm sure it will be another white knuckle drive, not looking forward to it, but there doesn't seem to be any other way than to take the turnpike, and that's quite a ways out of the way, not to mention expensive. I read on one trucker site that to cross PA with an 18-wheeler is $180! That's just crazy! Anyway, I hope I don't regret my decision to take this route, it really is the shortest. According to flattestroute.com, it's still all less than 10% grade, apparently it's about 6%, but it's very long. Finally just had to let that anxiety got, read a bit, watched some TV, including a 2024 movie with Shirley Maclaine! I can't believe she's still making movies! She was born a month after you, so she's 90, good for her! Had leftover Indian for dinner, plus the lovely ice cream stick they gave us on the way out last night, ready for my shower and bed, hoping to get a better night sleep tonight. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Saturday, August 24, 2024 – Happy Birthday To Me!
Hiya Sweetie!
Hard to believe, but another birthday has come and gone! It was a lovely day, I got to do all the things I love to do! Took a nice drive to pick up some lovely hay for $4 a bale, best price I've had all year! Then went over the river to PA, went to a big hardware store and picked up the replacement piece I needed to finally finish the floor, went to Tractor Supply and refilled my three propane tanks so I'd be ready for the next few weeks when I won't have electricity, as well as a couple of bags of feed, went shopping for a few grocery items at the Giant store, filled up with fuel for the good price of $3.49/gallon, then took a slight detour to check out an Indian restaurant I was hoping to go to for dinner. The little voice in my head said to check it out, and I'm glad I did! Turned out to be an Indian take-out place inside a gas station! Not exactly the atmosphere I was going for! On the way back to the farm, I stopped and got a soft ice cream cone (hey, it's my birthday! If I can't splurge on my birthday, when can I splurge?!) Got back to the farm, got everything put away, including my hay, and just as I was finishing, Amanda arrived. She's the gal that's renting the apartment off the barn here, and is looking after the property when Meg's not here. She had asked if we could go riding today, and of course I said yes. I love it when Flash and Apollo can go out together, so it was a lovely birthday gift to be able to do that. We did a nice four mile loop around the church property, which is what they call it here, but we did it backwards from what was done during the ride, just for a little variety, at least for me and the horses. It was a lovely ride, such a pretty section of woods. Got back to camp after about 90 minutes, put the horses away, and made arrangements with Meg to leave at 6:00. First we stopped at Lowes for a few minutes so I could return the final item that I was erroneously told I needed for my floor (and didn't.) Then we went to the Curry Zone, another Indian restaurant in Flemington, which was only about 20 minutes away, but Meg had never been there, though she did say she liked Indian cuisine, and that turned out to be the perfect place! A very classy decor, and the food was absolutely fantastic! We had a fabulous meal, with wonderful, comfortable conversation, got to know each other a little bit, and were there nearly two hours. Just delightful. When the proprietor learned it was my birthday, she send us off with a couple of ice cream treats, but we were both so full, we packed them with our leftovers to put in the freezer as soon as we got home. It was dark by the time we left, but it was such an enjoyable evening. Got back, changed clothes, fed the horses, and finally fixed a bourbon and settled down for the evening. Took my shower earlier, so no need for that again! Had scores of well-wishers on Facebook send me birthday greetings, so overall, it's been a great day! And the weather was perfect! Couldn't ask for more out of life than days like this. Happy to be alive! Wish you were here with me! Miss you lots! Well, until we meet again, I'll keep telling you I love you, and always will. Good night, babe!