Archives for 2010

Got up when the alarm went off at 7:00, got everything packed up and ready to go, and even finished dumping by just after 9:00. Had a nice chat with the campground host Dave and his wife, then pulled out in plenty of time. Stopped at the Flying J in W. Memphis, even took the time to have a sit-down lunch there. Arrived at Village Creek around 2:00, and once registered, found our way back to the horse camp. This is a truly nice park, with lots of facilities like tennis courts and ball fields, and it’s right on a lake with plenty of access to the water. The horse camp is well-manicured, with lovely stables in the middle of the loop, and all of the campsites around the outside of the loop. Got the horses settled in, then the RV, did a few chores on the computer, then relaxed to a movie. About the only downside was that the campsite we were in was in the wrong place for a satellite signal, though most of the other campsites would have worked. There’s a big bluegrass festival here this weekend, so we were lucky they had any space for us all, if only for two nights. They were completely booked for the weekend, so we couldn’t stay longer even if we wanted. Looking forward to a nice ride tomorrow!

Slept well, except for the traffic noise in the distance. The good thing about Natchez Trace is the same as the bad thing about Natchez Trace. It’s very convenient to the freeway. Just 2.2 miles off I-40, it’s very close when you’re passing through, but there is that constant thrum of traffic all night and day. In any event, I spent some time in the morning solving more potential problems, then finished off well enough to get a ride in. Left about 11:45, on a trail that was just across came from where we camped, and were grateful the trails were fairly well marked. We only came close to getting lost twice. 🙂 The trails were well worn, many were washed out with bypasses around them, but for the most part the footing was very good, mostly sand and clay. Only had one road that had some gravel on it, but nothing significant. We took our boots along in the saddlebags, but never felt it was necessary to bring them out. Rode about 7 miles, was back in camp before 2:15, which was just right. We just wanted a ride long enough to work out their energy, not enough to wear them out, and that’s exactly what happened. The horses had more energy than we expected after their long trip on Sunday, but they are getting so fit now that they really need to be ridden every few days. But then again, it was cool and there was intermittent rain, so that may have affected them as well. Spent some time finding more horse camps on our route, then had a relaxing evening, getting ready for another travel day tomorrow.

Though we had alarm set for 7:00 we got up at 6:00, because we both woke up worried about all the problems we had to solve today. Was loaded up and ready to go by the time Lena arrived at a bit before 8, then we headed out as soon as we could. The horses were a bit reluctant to get in the trailer, understandable after they spent so many hours in the trailer yesterday. Once in, we headed straight to the Kinslow Animal Clinic just up the road, where I had arranged to get Coggins Tests done on the horses, as their 6 month passports are due to expire in May. That was done relatively quickly, then we moved on to the tire store that I had found, that actually did have the tires we needed in stock. We bought two, one to replace the blowout, and one to replace our sturdy spare, because it was still a D load eight ply tire. We had the oldest and only remaining tire that we bought just a year ago put under the RV as a spare, so now we have all new tires, albeit not all the same brand. We then went to Wal-mart to shop, and the liquor store, then the gas station, so all we had left to do was to get to Natchez Trace State Park in Wilderness, TN, about 30 miles east of Jackson. We planned a short trip, because we knew we would be delayed with all the running around we had to do. We left Lebanon feeling much more confident that we had done all that could be done to prepare for our cross country trip. We arrived at Natchez good and early, by three-ish, and walked around to find a good spot, finding a place where we could get a satellite signal and have enough length to fit in both vehicles. Got the horses on a nice long high line, then settled in for the evening.

Once again, thinking we had a short trip, we let ourselves sleep until 8:00, as we estimated the trip to be just 5 ½ hours or so. Our first stop was just 40 minutes from our departure at 10:00, at the Flying J in Wytheville, VA, in order to dump the tanks and get fuel. As I maneuvered into the dump aisle, Hubby pulled in behind me and turned the pickup off. We then noticed that the dump on that aisle had a very high curb, making it impossible for us to use it (gravity works, water won’t flow uphill), so I moved over to the pumps for gas. Hubby then tried to start the pickup, and it wouldn’t turn over, it just clicked. He popped the hood and started playing with wires, then decided the starter motor must have frozen, so he got a wrench, and later a hammer, to try to knock it loose. He also noticed that there was another RV dump on another aisle that had a low curb, so I after I gassed up, I moved over there and started on that job. Meanwhile, I went back and forth to help him try to get the pickup started. Hammering wasn’t getting the job done, but I noticed that after I would try to turn over the motor, the interior lights would cut out, then after a few seconds, would click back on again. I told Hubby I thought it was behaving more like a near dead battery than a starter, even though the lights were coming on with no problem. Well, after another ten minutes of banging and cooling down the starter motor, he decided to check the battery cables more thoroughly and discovered they were, in fact, badly corroded inside. So he cleaned those up and lo and behold, it started right up. This little episode wasted almost an hour, putting us under a little more pressure, as we had to be at Cedars of Lebanon just east of Nashville by 6:00 to check into the stables. So we hit the road again, going a bit faster than usual to try to make up some time. Just before we came to the I-40/I-81 fork…BOOM! Another flat tire! We pulled off to the side and did our thing, changing the tire in ten minutes, but now we had a problem. Do we try to find a replacement tire on a Sunday, or do we risk trying to make the remaining 150 miles without a spare? I started calling every tire place Gracie (my Verizon GPS), but couldn’t find any open, at least not before Knoxville. The ones I did find didn’t carry the tires we need. It wasn’t until we stopped at the Flying J on the far side of Knoxville when I spoke to a guy at Pep Boys who said they had the tires. I grilled him three times about the size and load range (E-ten plies), but he assured me they had 5 in stock, so we turned around and went back ten miles to their store. After ten minutes of searching, it was discovered that the tires they had were only 8-ply D Range tires. We were PISSED! We lost nearly another 45 minutes coming and going, and didn’t even get what we needed. That’s the last time we’ll be patronizing Pep Boys, now that we know that they use the “bait and switch” method of sales. Well, we had no choice now, we had to make it straight through, and risk running without a spare. We hit the road again, keeping our fingers crossed, and hoping that lightning would strike twice. I mean, how many times can you have two flats in one day? It’s already happened once on this trip, is it possible it could happen twice? Astronomical odds. Well, we managed to arrive right at 6:00 (after having gained an hour moving from Eastern to Central time), and were welcomed by Lena at the stables. We filled the water tank, got the horses settled in stalls, had a drink, took a show, and soon hit the sack, as we have a busy day tomorrow!

After a hearty breakfast, we headed out, determined to FINALLY discover exactly where this mysterious trail was. We started out in the usual direction up Hoof and Hill trail out of the campground, then stayed with it all the way to Pearis Thompson trail, one we hadn’t done before but was just a slightly larger loop that ended back at Berry Road, which would take us to Little Horse Gap Loop. We almost made a wrong turn there (these maps really are terrible!), because the map showed that the trail ended in a T and to turn right. In reality, it was not a T at all, there were two rights at a three-way intersection, one that went up and one that went down. Since we already knew we had to go up, we took that branch. Fortunately, we were right, and it brought us back to Berry Road, which led us up to the Little Horse Gap Trail. I must admit, my horse didn’t seem too enthusiastic, he obviously thought we were going on another endless journey, but he brightened up a bit when we turned the corner we had missed on Thursday. Almost missed another little sign that pointed uphill, rather than the obvious road right in front of us, which would have undoubtedly taken us off the reservation again. After the halfway point, we ran into a bunch of crews that were doing forestry maintenance, though they were breaking for lunch when we passed. They were all very accommodating, moving off the trail to give us room, with all the pleasantries afforded. After we passed them all, we stopped for lunch beside a creek, where the horses were delighted to get a feedbag of grain. After the break, we finished up the trip, recognizing the last intersection from our previous adventure, so now we know how to take the trail backwards in the future. There was no sign or blaze at all on that corner, so it’s not surprising it is easily missed. One note I should make is that boots or shoes are a real necessity for these trails. There a few spots with dirt and sand, but most are rocky and many roads are gravel or gravel and grass. Anyway, it was a wonderful day that we thoroughly enjoyed, expeciallyt without the added stress of being lost! Got back in good time, and started to get ready for tomorrow’s departure.

Spent the day resting the horses and doing some work on the computer in preparation for our new agenda, heading out to Colorado. Arranged to spend Sunday night at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park stables (privately owned) just east of Nashville, and confirmed that our next stop, Natchez Trace State Park near Jackson, TN, doesn’t take reservations, they’re first come, first serve. So we’re all set for the next leg of our new adventure!

Finally we had a nice warm day, only a very slight cool breeze which we only noticed right at the top of the mountain. Last time we were here at White Cedar, last fall, we got lost. Though the map shows a number of easy loops, we missed a turn on Little Horse Trail going counterclockwise (the trails are very poorly marked once you get in the back country), and took a trail that went WAY off the reservation. We finally had to turn around, just to get back before dark. This time, we decided to take the same loop in the opposite direction, to see where it came out. Lo and behold, we got lost AGAIN! We rode for three and a half hours, never finding the other end of the loop. Instead, we finally reached a dead end at private property, which was just as well, because we were just about at the point of no return. So once again, we backtracked, making some judgments of where we must have gone wrong. One was a turn that looked more like a stream bed climbing up a ravine rather than a trail, but that had to be the turn we missed. Not realizing that was a turn, we thought the next turn to the right must be it, but that if we kept going we’d be taking the outer loop which curved back into the same trail. Whatever, we made it home around six, after having left at 11:30. About a mile before we got back to the campground, we saw a lost EZ boot on the trail, which we left because we figured someone might be coming back to look for it. When we got back to the campground, we discovered another trailer had come in while we were gone, so I rode over to see if they had lost an EZ boot, and yes, they had. I showed them on the map where it was. Oddly enough they had also found a tupperware container that I had been unable to find at lunch time, and thought I had forgotten to pack, but apparently it had slipped out of my saddle bags at some point. So lost and found was in full swing this evening! Despite the hour of anxiety about being lost, it was a very enjoyable ride. Something must’ve told me something would happen, because for the first time ever, I packed up some grain to give the horses if they got too hungry, and they sure did! They had a great time until about the last mile or two, when fatigue started to set in. Nevertheless, they did great, lots of trotting and cantering, not overly excitable despite the two week layoff, but just the right amount of controllable energy. They’ll have tomorrow to rest. Weather allowing, we’ll go out again on Saturday. We’re determined to find the entire Little Horse Loop! It was a beautiful ride, though, lots of hardwoods, babbling brooks and even a long stetch of magnolia tree tunnels! Kind of spooky, but not enough to upset OUR horses. They’ve seen it all by this point!

Well, naturally, no sooner did we load up on hay than we got a request from a client for help. This entails hop-scotching to Colorado over the next two weeks. Had we found out two days ago, I would have just headed home, filled up with our own hay, and headed out next week. But then again, every time we go home we find jobs to do, so it’s probably just as well! Spent the bulk of the day online trying to figure out what horse camps we can stop at every 300 miles or so between here and there. I had all this information at one time, but lost it all when my computer crashed last October, and again last month (I thought my Carbonite backup would keep it, but apparently Google Earth can’t make heads or tails out of the My Places information…sigh), so I’m back to square one. Good thing I have a pretty good memory, by the end of the day we had pretty much figured out a route that will serve the purpose, and give us time to drive a day, then rest or ride a day. Not quite the hell-bent speed we had to go last time, so it should be more pleasant on this trip. Once we get out there, we can stay for several weeks, which will give us a good chance to get caught up on everything again, from rest to mail. Once again, we didn’t ride today, although that cold north wind just keeps persisting!

Spent the entire day (not intended, but that’s how it turned out) running around. Loaded up on hay, having found some very nice orchard grass with some timothy mixed in for $3.25/bale. A lovely little farm with a barn that had that wonderful fresh hay smell when you walk in, even though it’s from last year’s second cut. We also found a feed store on the corner that had crimped oats and Purina. We decided to try their regular horse pellets, rather than the Omolene, which was sticky and gave the horses too much sugar rush. From there we went to Wal-mart in Pearisburg to do our shopping, having decided we were going to stay here until we were needed, and finally stopped in Wendy’s for Hubby’s favorite, fish sandwich, before heading back to camp.

Well, we didn’t get around to having a ride today. The good news was I discovered that if I leaned my cell phone on my window ledge just so… I could actually get a signal just barely good enough to get a broadband internet link for my computer. It runs incredibly slow, but at least I can check my email and get on the internet over time, though anything with heavy graphics takes FOREVER! Got caught up on a lot of work, and there was a really cold breeze from the north that would have made riding rather uncomfortable, so it was just as well. Because we were starting to get low on hay, I got on craigslist and found some for sale in Newport, so I’ve made arrangements to pick some up tomorrow. Horses are now well rested, and I do believe they’re wondering when they get to go for a ride! We ran out of propane in one of the tanks, so Hubby took a ride to the bottom of the hill, where the grocery story/gas station/campground sold it. Other than that, just a “work in the office” kind of a day.