Saturday, April 15, 2023 – Three Days, Three Rides! Back on Track!

Hey Sweetie!
Loving getting back to my routine! All the usual morning chores, then I saddled up Flash and we took a great 10+ mile conditioning ride. With the Shore to Shore Ride just six weeks away, it was past time to get serious about getting us both in condition for 20+ mile a day, so we walked a mile, ran a mile, walked a mile, ran a mile the whole way. He did great! He wasn’t at all bothered by the smell of pigs, but he did need a little encouragement to go over a long wooden bridge, it’s been so long since we’ve done bridges. He stalled a couple of times going over, but didn’t hesitate at all coming back. No gimpiness at all today, thank goodness, though I did have to put some more glue on the hoof that has a little crack on it. Nothing serious, I just don’t want it to crack any further. I’ve been filing it down to take the pressure off, treating it with alcohol or Vetericyn and hoof shine, and that all seems to be helping. It was a great ride, but once again, it was very hot today. Can’t wait to get further north to cooler weather!! Can’t be this far south this late in the Spring again. Said the same thing last year, and did, in fact, move a couple of weeks sooner, but still not early enough. Got back around noon, let the horses graze again, read, did a little computer work, then settled down for the evening once again. So good to be back to my usual routine, feels like I’m on vacation with this schedule! Life is good! On Day Three without running the generator, had a good day of sun on the solar panel, very happy with these new batteries! Could never have done this with the old Crowns. Trojans are the best, for sure! Worth the price! Been doing a good job of conserving water as well, still have 3/4 of a tank. Really getting back into the swing of things, it feels WONDERFUL!! Just tired of sweating, looking forward to traveling north on Monday. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Friday, April 14, 2023 – A Nice Ride on Apollo

Hiya Darlin’!
Another good night sleep, another beautiful morning! Today I decided to ride Apollo, it’s been so long since we’ve been on a ride alone together, and it really showed! First, he was walking faster than he’s walked in a long time, at least somewhat faster than the slug pace he’s been doing for so long. He seems to be just as glad to be on new trails (well, not new, but only been here once before), and back on the road as I am! But then he got all skittish when he smelled pigs (lots of pig sign around) and it took me awhile to get him past that area, he was convinced they were all horse-eating pigs! Eventually moved on though, and the rest of the 5.5 miles was great. Not much to look at here, pretty boring riding, but happy to be anywhere else these days! Saw some parachuters dropping from the sky and remembered that the same thing happened last time I was here, there’s a small airport nearby where they come out from. Fun to watch them search for thermals, some of those folks really stayed up a long time! Once we got back I let the horses graze all around the campground, they were happy to be on fresh grass, and the rain we’ve had the last couple of days has helped green it up nicely. Spent the rest of the day doing some computer work, submitting my taxes, reading and watching TV, a movie about a detainee at Guatanamo Bay, the usual evening. Been pretty hot, but a few more rain showers has thankfully cooled it down a bit. Just in time for shower and bed! And by the way, I’m on the second full day of running strictly on solar power, getting enough sun before the afternoon showers to plump up the batteries somewhat. Trying to figure out just how many days these new batteries will go be I have to top them off with the generator. Good test! Good night, babe! Love you!

Thursday, April 13, 2023 – FREEDOM!!

Hi Babe!
That’s the word that was screaming in my head this morning when I woke up! Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!! I feel like I’m finally getting back to my life! I had a great night sleep, woke up naturally and fully refreshed at 7:00, got back to doing my “normal” chores, i.e. feeding the horses, cleaning out their stalls, tying them up outside of the stalls so they’d be ready when the vet arrived, grooming them to get some more of their winter coat off, especially Apollo who’s finally starting to lose his shaggy look, feeding Lola and having breakfast, all part of an ordinary day, with no tension or expectations from anyone, no one to worry about whether I’m doing something wrong, just back to doing MY thing, MY way! It feels wonderful! The vet arrived right on time, and was done in less than half an hour, and charged me about HALF of what the vet in Jupiter charged me for the same services last year, plus she added a tube of Banamine and some bute tablets, just in case. I’ve never had those handy before, but I know a lot of people always carry some around with them, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt. So both horses and Lola are done for another year, and I’ll have the paperwork to be able to leave the state. After she left, I took Flash for a short ride, less than three miles, because I didn’t want to stress him after all those shots, plus he seems a tiny bit gimpy, couldn’t find anything specific, so I brought him back early to rest. Spent the rest of the afternoon reading, occasionally dozing, hoping the rain would come in to relieve the heat (nearly 90 today!), finally did around 4:00, and a couple more short spurts through the evening. Had a nice dinner, watched a couple of Remington Steeles (I just started Season 4), and a good movie about a blind opera singer,now I’m about ready to retire for the evening. Loving life again! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 – BACK ON THE ROAD!! WHOO-HOO!

Hi Sweetie!
At long last, I’m FINALLY back on the road again! Yay! It didn’t take me long to pack up, since I’d done so much already. Brother Karl and his friend Randy left this morning, too, just before the rain started. Unfortunately, I didn’t get out before the rain, but I did manage to outrun it. Jeff’s girlfriend Karen, who got in last last night, had just enough time to say hello and good-bye before I headed out. Only had to go about 75 miles to my first stop, St. Sebastian River Preserve, where I have a vet appointment tomorrow to get me the paperwork I need to get out of the state. Arrived about 11:30, got the horses squared away in their stalls, which fortunately are half-covered so they have someplace to stay dry. There was actually some sunshine this afternoon for a short bit, then the rains finally caught up with us, though it didn’t last for too long. Did some reorganizing, got Flash’s bridle fixed with the new headstall that I ordered the other day, it’s a much lighter leather, but it might actually suit him better, being the little horse that he is. Settled down for the evening, getting back into the swing of things. I’ve been spoiled with having electricity and water, so I’m having to get back to my more primitive ways, conserving water and power. Ran the generator for less than an hour, though, and it fully charged the batteries. Will be interesting to see how long these new batteries last on a charge now. At least with the rain it stayed cooled, but the forecast is saying mid to upper 80’s starting on Friday, hopefully it won’t get too bad. Vet will be here in the morning, so I’m going to have an early night. It’s so quiet here, and thankfully, cool, so I’m looking forward to a good night sleep. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 – Packing Day

Hey Darlin’,
Another good night sleep, fed the horses (but forgot Lola because I skipped breakfast), headed out for labs now that I have insurance again. My appointment was for 10:10, arrived at 10:00, wasn’t taken in until 11:19! Why do they make appointments and then make you wait for an hour? Must be a better way, but they haven’t figured it out yet, apparently. Stopped at Walmart again because I forgot to get a case of drinking water yesterday, then got busy as soon as I got back to the trailer. Packed up everything I could, got the truck lined up so all I have to do is drop it on the hitch, just have water and drain hoses and the electric cord to unhook and I’ll be ready to go! SO looking forward to getting back on the road! The gypsy in me has been crying out for MONTHS!! Anyway, finally settled down for the evening, time for my shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Sunday, April 9, 2023 – Easter Rest Day

Hey Sweetie,
Had a good night sleep, then spent the day getting back to normal. Did the laundry, mended the strap on my tripod that broke yesterday, replaced the buttons on my green jacket (I lost one somewhere, so I bought a set to replace them when I went to the fabric store the other day), read and watched a little TV just to get back to normal. Heading to bed early, planning on getting a lot of things packed up tomorrow and some maintenance done on the vehicles so I’ll be ready on Wednesday to pull out of here. Lori and Mark stopped by for a few minutes, she got an air plant that she’s been wanting, good to see them. Other than that, a pretty quiet day, much appreciated after the busy travel day yesterday. Looking forward to getting back on the road again! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Saturday, April 8, 2023 – Travel Day Back To Florida

Hiya Darlin’!
After so much sleep in the last 24 hours, I still slept pretty well again last night, though I got up before the alarm, and glad I did so I could pack and do everything in a leisurely pace rather than rushing around. My first text this morning, though, was informing me that my 2.5 hour layover was turning into a four hour layover, as my connection was delayed, darn it! That means I won’t be getting in until nearly 8:00, so I’ll be getting back after dark, which I was hoping to avoid. Oh, well, the vagaries of modern travel! I had an interesting conversation with a guy in the Midland Airport, though, amazing what a small world this is. He’s traveling to Port Orange near Daytona, and is selling his property there and moving to upstate NY near Rochester, would you believe! He also used to be a farrier, trained in Oklahoma, and he’s travelled all over the world during his life as well. Made the wait go quicker, anyway. Spent the wait at DFW editing my videos from the Workshop and uploading them on a vendor’s local wifi, and that went faster for awhile until I guess they throttled it down. Changed to my hotspot and managed to get a few more uploaded, but not all of them. That will be tomorrow’s chore, along with unpacking and laundry. Finally got home about 8:30, finished watching the movie I had started on the plane but didn’t finish, heading to be now! Love you, babe! Good night!

Friday, April 7, 2023 – Great Day of Sightseeing

Hey Babe!
Yesterday’s second day of my workshop went very well, it was an excellent group and they’re already talking about brining me back in the fall, which would be fabulous! Once I got back to the hotel and finished off my lunch salad, I started reading, next thing I knew I was asleep! I ended up sleeping off and on (mostly on) for the next twelve hours! Guess I needed it. Felt wonderfully relaxed this morning. Had breakfast downstairs, then bundled up to go do some sightseeing. Naturally today was the coolest day of the week, but thankfully, it did warm up enough later in the day to put the top down on the BMW. I’d forgotten how much fun it was to just jump in a sportscar and just drive around like I used to do in my MGB so many decades ago! I started out going over to the Presidential Leadership library, which turned out to be closed on Fridays (all Fridays, not just Good Friday), but I wandered the grounds around the original little house where George H.W. Bush lived when he first started in the oil industry, and where George W. was born. After that, I drove over the Stonehenge replica on the college campus, then drove west to the Odessa Meteor Crater about 20 miles away. Spent some time in the museum, then walked around the crater. At some point the powers that be decided to let nature take its course and fill in most of the crater, rather than excavate it so it can be fully appreciated, so it didn’t really look much different than the surrounding desert anymore. Then I saw a poster for Monahan’s Sandhill State Park, which sounded familiar, and when I researched it I discovered it had a small horse camp, so I decided to take a drive out to see what it looked like. Just looking for reasons to drive around with the top down, really! Was only another 20 miles or so, and it was a nice trip. I wouldn’t exactly call it a horse camp, more like a parking area with a couple of corrals and water spigots, but it would make a great overnight stopover since it’s directly off I-20. Drove around to see the sand dunes, sand boarding seems to be the main activity here. No trails to speak of, but apparently horses are allowed wherever they want to go. Finally headed back, stopping at Joann’s Fabrics to pick up a couple of sewing necessities, then to a restaurant called the Cork and Pig, which came highly recommended, though I only had a small salad and fish dip, which was very nice but quite pricey. Finally got back to the hotel, and settled down for the evening, decided to watch TCM, because frankly the choices on HBO were crappy compared to the old movies being shown. Started packing, but not worried, my flight isn’t until after 10:00, so I don’t have to get up too early. Already had my shower, just going to watch another movie before I turn the lights off and sleep. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Wednesday, April 5, 2023 – Great First Day of Workshop

Hiya Sweetie!
Had a really good day at the Workshop today, an excellent group of city leaders, very happy with the response so far. Lunch was a bit of a problem, everyone was on their own, so I walked across the parking lot to a Buffalo wings place, took nearly 40 minutes for them to take my order and get my salad, just enough time to box it up and take it back to class. Managed to get a couple of bites in while she was doing my tab, so it wasn’t until our first break that I was able to really have anything. Still saved half for dinner. Had that plus a few more bites of the bread putting I got at dinner last night, it was a huge piece, and so heavy I couldn’t eat too much. More left for tomorrow! Had a great night sleep last night, expecting the same tonight! Good day! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Tuesday, April 4, 2023 – Good First Day in Odessa

Hey Darlin’!
Had an excellent night sleep, the best I’ve had in awhile, thank goodness! Had a decent free breakfast, did some work on the workshop, then headed over to City Hall for my meeting with the City Manager. Had a lovely time reminiscing from our time six years ago, then took a trip over to the venue for the workshop with his executive assistant, got a whole tour of their brand new firehouse, which does, indeed, have a great room for the workshop. Got that mostly set up with the promise the rest will be done by morning. Absolutely LOVE driving around this little Beemer, which, of course, I put the top down on. One button and the whole thing takes care of itself! It’s far cry from the old MGB I had, and it was great fun driving! Interestingly, it has a Tennessee license plate on it, so somebody had a great long ride in it! Took an extra couple of laps around downtown just for the fun of it. Went to a local steakhouse for a nice dinner, then, because I was so close, went to the Old Globe Theatre (a replica of Shakespeare’s original, plus a replica of Anne Hathaway’s cottage as well,) but it was all locked up so I wasn’t able to get inside. I did wander the grounds for a few minutes, but that was all. Maybe if I come during the day on Friday someone will be here. Anyway, I drove back to the hotel to do a bit more workshop work, then I’ll be in bed shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!