Hi Babe,
Up with the alarm, got packed up and was on the road by 8:30. Made it safely down the road to the highway, which was tricky because there was a very serious dropoff to the stop sign, but I held it in low gear so we had no problem. Had great weather and a relatively uneventful ride to Lost Corral. The only surprise was when I stopped for fuel at the last truck stop in KY, expecting that the KY fuel prices would be less than TN, which has always been the case previously. I got a bit annoyed because the car pump area was too small for me, so I had to go to the truck stop area, which is usually a pain because the nozzles are too big for my truck so I have to go really slow, and it was the worst ever here. First, they wouldn’t take my credit card at the pump, so after half a dozen attempts, I had to go into the cashier and have the pump turned on. I set it up with the cap on the nozzle, which usually lets it go real slow, as it necessary with these big nozzles, then it inexplicably shut off at $41.62 and I had to go back inside AGAIN and get the pump going. Then I had the manager “explain” to me how it was set up to avoid splashback, in a condescending voice that I found extremely irritating, even after I explained that I was perfectly aware that big nozzles need to go slower in a regular pickup, but that’s no reason for them to shut off the pump and not let me start it again without coming inside, surely every person that had a pump shut off to avoid splashback wasn’t required to come back inside to have the pump reset! Anyway, it was annoying, and I finally just stopped way before I was full, because it kept turning off. Then, when I crossed into TN, I was shocked to see that the price in TN was more than fifty cents less per gallon!! When did that happen? KY used to always be cheaper, but not anymore! I finally arrived at Lost Corral around 4:00, much delayed from the debacle at the Pilot, and it took me awhile to get set up, longer than I had hoped, because when I arrived, the whole highline area was dirty again. I remember it was like that last time I arrived, though I left it clean, but apparently some campers through the summer didn’t feel the need to leave it the way they found it, so I had to spend time cleaning up manure and moldy old hay. I left the horses in the trailer until I got everything ready, and water was so slow coming out of my truck tank after I filled it that I ended up just filling my trailer and using the spigot on the trailer to provide enough pressure to fill the horses’ water buckets. I all took almost two hours to accomplish. Finally settled down for the evening around 6:00, though I fed the horses grain at 7:00, had dinner, watched a movie, heading for shower and bed. Long day, though Friday will be longer! Rest tomorrow. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Monday, September 25, 2023 – Deep Clean and Prep Day Plus
Hey Darlin’,
Woke up with that rare feeling that I needed to clean today, and since I’m heading to Florida at the end of the week, it only seemed appropriate to do my seasonal deep clean. Spent the day spacing out all the chores so as not to get overwhelmed. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been on electric that I decided to take advantage, and did a bunch of loads of laundry, including the horses’ blankets and a bunch of rags, and just about everything else I could get my hands on. Did windows, floors, carpets, kitchen racks, mirrors, tea kettle, bathroom, you name it, I cleaned it! At least, on the inside, the outside is another matter! Once all that was done, I slowly started packing up for my long drive to Tennessee tomorrow. Well, not that long, I figure about 6-6.5 hours. Since I’m already familiar with Lost Corral, and hoping the best spot will be open when I get there to make things easier, it should be a quick set up. It’s supposed to rain on Wednesday, which will be a nice day to relax, since I suspect once I get to Florida I’m going to be nonstop busy for the foreseeable future. Thursday my friend Linda is supposed to be taking me on a long ride, we had such a lovely one together when I came north earlier this year. Spent a little time updating the website, after it crashed they fixed it with a backup which was over two weeks old, so I had to upload all my diary entries again. Didn’t have the signal to load the pix again, though, sp I’ll wait until I get to Florida where I’ll be able to use their wifi. Anyway, got as much packed up as I could, then settled down for the evening to some more Dirty Rice (mm mm good!), watched a little rom-com, now I’m ready for my long hot shower and a good night sleep! Love you, Sweetheart! Good night!
Sunday, September 24, 2023 – A Short Ride on Apollo Alone, Quick Trip into Town
Hiya Sweetie,
Another good night sleep, it’s amazing what earplugs can do! Jumped out of bed when I heard Trish leaving, said good-bye to her then went about my usual morning chores. Doug and his group fed me breakfast again (I’m afraid I’ve set back my cholesterol goals by a large margin this weekend!), then watched everyone pack up to leave. Got a little help moving my hay from the truck into my trailer, which was nice, then watched as everyone finally left. Started a load of laundry, then saddled up Apollo, boots and all, for a short five mile loop just to give him some exercise. He was a bit slow at first, but managed to warm up enough to move along a little. Trails here are a bit rough, lots of rocks and downed trees, so it was challenging, which for him is a good thing, it keeps him engaged. Took about two hours for that five miles, though, still a slug! Arrived back at camp and gave him a nice rinse and some extra hay, then jumped in the truck and drove into nearby Corydon. I had arranged to meet someone from marketplace that was selling an Etrex GPS (my old one has about given up the ghost!), but unfortunately, it was some weird model that didn’t have a cable to connect to my computer, it needed some special cable that was “optional” and hooked to a serial port on a pc. I wasn’t even sure if I HAD a serial port on my laptop anymore, and the fact that I would also have to buy a cable? That was a bridge too far for me, so I turned it down. Turns out I do have a serial port on my pc, but it was just too much trouble to convert over. I managed to get online and find another one in GA where the buyer was willing to mail it to me, for a reasonable price, so I bought it sight unseen and he’s mailing it tomorrow, so it should be waiting for me when I arrive in Florida, which I’m now scheduled to do on Friday. Staying here one extra night, leaving Tuesday for Tennessee, hopefully riding on Thursday with my buddy Linda, then heading to Florida on Friday so help do some hurricane cleanup. Settled down to some homemade dirty rice, ate way too much it was so good, now I’m not long for shower and bed. Considered riding tomorrow, but decided I’m not that enamored with the trails out of here, so I’ll wait until next time I come to O’Bannon State Park and stay at the primitive horse camp, which is right in the thick of things, although with no real facilities other than water. Or I might check out the modern camp at the top of the hill to see if they’re not too expensive. Anyway, a good day, Apollo did a good job, didn’t lose a boot, and didn’t stumble as much as he had been, so I guess he enjoyed himself. Another beautiful day with perfect weather! Good night, babe! Love you!
Saturday, September 23, 2023 – Another Fifteen Plus Mile Ride with Group
Hey Babe,
Had an excellent night sleep, thanks to my earplugs, and slept a little later because we had already decided to take a shorter route today. Was fed breakfast by Doug, our main camp cook (nice to not have to cook or clean up a meal!), then got on the trail about 11:30 or so. Today was a shorter ride, but we had a couple of folks that didn’t usually ride much, and should have probably been on a much shorter ride than the one Doug had planned, but at least today I had put his proposed ride into my GPS so I felt a little more relaxed about the trip. We started out with boots on Flash, but he kept losing the one where his hoof is flat in front, so I finally just took them off. He didn’t seem bothered after all the gravel and stone from yesterday, so I guess it was okay. He didn’t seem too bothered today either, but I was just trying to make him more comfortable. We took the trail down to a different river crossing, the eventually out to what’s called the Twin Chimneys, which are the remnants of a homestead house that’s been gone for, I’m guessing, at least 150 years, though, as the name suggests, two chimneys and a basement of stone remain. The newbies were suffering by that point, being a much longer ride than they should have attempted, so the going was pretty slow. As usual, Flash was impatient, and a couple of times I had to run him out to keep him from bunching up on me. It was a nice ride, of course, and I arrived back in camp around 5:30, just ahead of the rest of the group, since I had to let Flash finish the ride at his own pace. Got everyone put away, and once again got fed by Doug and Jason and some other contributions by folks, a lovely potluck. Lola was brilliant, laying down on a mat by their trailer door while a couple of the other dogs sat and begged. She’s such a good dog, and I’m very proud of her! Finally headed back to the trailer around 9:00, dealing with my website still being down, and considering staying here an extra day just to finish off a few trails I haven’t done yet, possibly on Apollo for a short ride. Found someone selling a Garmin GPS locally, my old one keeps fading out and turning off without warning, planning on meeting him tomorrow, I need to solve the problem since I rely on my GPS so much. Anyway, time for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Friday, September 22, 2023 – Nice Long Ride with Group
Hiya Darlin’,
Ended up having a lousy night sleep, woke up around 3:00 and couldn’t get back to sleep until almost 6:00, after three aspirins and putting in my earplugs. Amazing, it was such a long drive out in the boondocks, I never imagined I would end up a stone’s throw from an interstate, with traffic all night, but that’s what happened! Finally fell asleep for an hour before the alarm went off. We were scheduled to start the ride between 8:30 and 9:00, but it was more like 9:30 before we finally hit the trail. I had been under the impression that our guide for the day knew these trails really well, but that didn’t turn out to be exactly the case, so we ended up taking a few wrong turns and misjudging several distances, so we ended up going over 26.5 miles. I didn’t really mind, since Flash hasn’t been asked to do any long distances since the Shore to Shore, so it did us some good. Of course, I was fighting him every time other horses were in front of us, but before long, we were in front, and he relaxed and all was good. We crossed the Blue River a couple of times, and we were supposed to get down to the Ohio River, but never made it that far. Didn’t meet any other riders on the trail, but there were a lot of folks camping down at the O’Bannon primitive site, where I stayed last time I was here. The trails were a lot rockier than I would have liked, but Flash seemed to handle it all okay. At one stop, I checked his feet, and there was no sign of heat or bruising, so I guess his feet are hard enough to take the rocky ground. I’ll know better tomorrow when I check him again, but for the entire 26.6 mile ride today, he was barefoot. The last couple of miles I finally let him set his own pace, to get it out of his system, which has become our habit whenever we ride with other people, so we arrived back at camp a good ten or fifteen minutes before everyone else. Got him put away and fed, then we all gathered around a central trailer and had a fabulous meal of deep fried pretzels, pork tenderloin steak, breaded fish and a bunch of sides. I ate too much, but it was wonderful, especially since I didn’t have to do any cleanup afterward! Finally got back to the trailer at 8:30, headed to shower and early bed tonight, have to make up for the hours I didn’t get last night. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Thursday, September 21, 2023 – Travel Day to Come Again Horse Camp, IN
Hey Sweetie,
Up a little bit earlier, though not much, finish my packing and was on the road by just after 10:00. Arrived at the commercial horse camp, Come Again Horse Camp, between Leavenworth and Corydon, IN near the O’Bannon State Park around 11:30. No one in the office but they had a whiteboard up with everyone’s name on their respective sites, so I headed on down and got myself settled in. Wasn’t there long before the owners showed up to greet me and take care of business, seemed very nice. They have hitching posts here, but I asked if I could put up a highline between two big trees on my site and they said that was fine. Got everyone settled, then headed out to do some necessary shopping. Was disappointed when the local Tractor Supply had NO Nutrena senior feed, I ended up having to get a bag of Purina, though I hate to change them that suddenly, since I’m almost completely out of other feed. Did some grocery shopping at Walmart, then headed down to a farm to pick up some hay that I found through Facebook Marketplace, which is my go-to way of finding hay on the road these days. Annette had some nice bales of mixed grass and clover, $6 for small bales, but it smells good and I know the horses will like it. Got back to camp by 5:00 to find Trish and her friends Doug and Chris had arrived and set up in my absence. Once I got the groceries put away I mixed myself a wine cooler and joined them. Doug is a great camp cook, and he fed me fabulously, glad I didn’t have to make my own dinner or clean up, either! It’s Chris’ birthday, so we had spice cupcakes for dessert, so decadent! Two more trailers full of Trish’s friends showed up around sunset, so we’ll have a full house on the trail tomorrow. Should be interesting! Left the group around 8:30, heading to my shower and bed early, we have an early start tomorrow, a planned 20 mile ride, so the alarm is going on tonight! Good night, Babe! Love you!
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 – Mostly Movie-Making Day, Took Apollo For A Ride
Hiya Babe,
Glad to say I got my eight hours of uninterrupted sleep in last night, yay! Started my morning off after chores and breakfast with finishing off the rest of the movies I’ve been making of the two Shore to Shore rides in June. I’d forgotten how much I love doing production work, I had a blast doing it, and I think they came out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I’m hoping that the horse camp I’m going to tomorrow has a good wifi signal, or at least good cell service, so I can get them loaded up on YouTube. I finished around 2:00, so I saddled up Apollo, he hasn’t been ridden in a couple of weeks and he needs the exercise! There are no short loops here, at least none that don’t take you on a road, and since Lola came along, I didn’t want to do that, so we just took the trail to the first road and turned around, which made it linear, but it was almost five miles, so it was just the right length for him. I let them graze the rest of the afternoon, and put almost everything away. I don’t need to leave too early tomorrow, the next camp is only an hour away, but I have an appointment to pick up some hay at 4:00, and I want to get my shopping done before then, so I don’t want to leave too late either. Anyway, settled down for the evening, a nice meal, a new British series on TV, now I’m ready for shower and bed, nice and early. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Tuesday, September 19, 2023 – Mostly Movie-Making Day
Hey Darlin’,
A better night sleep, having had Sleepytime tea and a couple of ibuprofen to soften the throbbing in my thumb, though I was woken up after 2:00 by some whinnying. At first I thought it was Flash, and he only whinnies when Apollo escapes, but it sounded like it wasn’t near the highline, and I could just see Flash standing there. Then I caught sight of another white horse, and remembered the neighbors here telling me they had a white horse that escapes once in a while, so I figured it had to be her. She went right up to Flash and squealed a few times. Evidently she spent most of the night here, because when I spoke to the neighbors later in the day, they said he came and got her around 6:00 this morning. They were quiet after their initial meeting, so I gratefully went back to sleep for the duration. Later in the morning, I got a phone call from an old friend I hadn’t seen in nearly 40 years, John, a guy that I worked with at the radio station in West Palm Beach way back when you and I first met. I don’t know if you ever met him, he was half of a morning comedy team, and they were hired away to a station in Birmingham while I was there. The other half was a friend of Richie’s (my former boyfriend before you!), and that’s how I got hired there in the first place. Anyway, we had a long talk, getting caught up. So strange to talk to someone you met at the beginning of your career, then hook up again after that career is all but over! Life is too darned short! Why he decided to look me up I have no idea, but it was an interesting conversation. He lives in Michigan and winters in Florida, so maybe we’ll get together in person when I get down there. Anyway, spent most of the rest of the day sitting in my chair outside and working on turning my Shore to Shore pix into little movies. I have the hang of the program now, so it’s been pretty easy, it just takes time to find the right music and put the pieces together. My current plan is to get my Equicamping YouTube channel up and running again, and try to get enough subscribers to get a few sponsors. It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything creative, and I’ve been enjoying the process. I let the horses graze most of the day, after a day rider came and went, then I took Apollo for a walk around the campground so he could stretch his legs a little. Didn’t get around to riding him today, hoping to do that tomorrow for a bit. Of course, Flash followed us around like a puppy off-leash, and we found some nice long grass so I let them munch for awhile. Settled down for the evening to dinner and a little TV, now it’s time for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Monday, September 18, 2023 – Laundry and Movie-Making Day
Hiya Sweetie,
Well, forget what I said yesterday about sleeping well, I couldn’t get to sleep last for the longest time! Woke up tired this morning. Managed to get two loads of laundry done, and a tiny bit of housework, but unfortunately, I hurt myself when I was putting up the clothesline. Somehow, I managed to jam two long splinters right under the nail of my right thumb, so deep they were within a quarter of an inch of the bottom of the nail. Needless to say, it was extremely painful! I had to cut my nail down at the top so that I could reach the splinters with tweezers, which was hard to do with my left hand, and it still took me awhile to be able to grab it and pull them out, one at a time, and it hurt like crazy. I was happy to get them out, even though it took some time and patience. Well, almost all of it came out, there’s still a tiny piece at the bottom that didn’t, but there’s no way to get it out without taking my whole nail off, so I’m just going to keep an eye on it and hope it doesn’t get infected, I figure it will work itself out eventually, though it may take a couple of months. I soaked it in alcohol, and I’ll take some painkillers before bed, but every time I use my right thumb (which is for almost everything!), it hurts. Anyway, while the laundry was drying, I worked on taking all my Shore to Shore pictures and turning them into a video with a nice music background, day by day. I managed to get five done today, it took me awhile to learn the editing program, but it’s pretty straightforward now. Well, that was my day, ready for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!
Sunday, September 17, 2023 – Nice Ride and Some Computer Work
Hey Babe!
Sleeping so well lately, feeling really refreshed! Had a nice ten mile ride of Flash, today we did essentially the entire outside perimeter loop, and it was another beautiful ride. It’s quite a nice unit of the forest, with enough variety to make it interesting, and the trails were dry and pretty nice. They’ve fixed quite a few sections with small gravel, but with boots on, Flash didn’t seem to mind. There’s still a lot of down branches and roots that make it slower going, but not bad, just not wide open for a lot of fast riding. Of course, that didn’t stop him from speeding up once we hit the halfway point and started heading back to camp! Still, it took about 2 1/2 hours to do, very nice ride. When I got back, I started to do an exercise I had been thinking about for awhile, taking all the pictures from the Shore to Shore ride and putting them together into a slide show. I’m actually thinking about doing that with every ride somehow. I haven’t worked with this movie making program before, so there was a learning curve, but very easy to learn, and I had the first day finished in no time. The time consuming thing will be uploading them to my Equicamping Youtube page, with I discovered I haven’t done anything with since our trip to Costa Rica back in 2012! I almost forgotten I had it! But I figure now that I’m essentially retired, it’s time to figure out how to either monetize my site or get sponsors to help keep us going. There are a lot of ways to do it, I just have to take the time to get it started. Had a nice stir fry dinner, watched the last Jack Ryan episode, then decided to watch all the Jack Ryan movies in chronological order, if that was possible. Not when they were released, but technically Ryan’s life, although there is quite of bit of theatrical license taken in intermingling the stories. The first one is actually the latest movie, Shadow Recruit, with Chris Pine as Jack. I hadn’t seen it yet, and it was a thrill a minute, so it was a nice way to spend the evening. Anyway, done with that, so now I’m getting ready for bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!