Archives for June 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 – Runaround Day
Monday, June 18, 2012 – Travel Day to Six Nations, Watkins Glen, NY
Sunday, June 17, 2012 – Some Rest, Some Chores
Slept kind of late again, but did manage to get up in time to say a brief goodbye to Christie and Janine as they headed out, apparently over to Cook Forest for some kind of week long trail ride, clinic and festival week. We lazed around awhile, then did some chores. Apollo had busted through the screen on the horse trailer, so I had to sew the ring back in so he’d keep his head in (he so loves to look out the window!). I oiled my boots, Hubby cleaned the horse boots, and we got everything put away that we could. They’re calling for rain tomorrow, so we made a special effort to cover and strap down the remaining hay so that we could travel with it and keep it dry. Ordinarily, we try to only drive in dry weather, but I’ve been without an internet connection for so long I can’t afford another day here, we have to travel, even if it rains. Hopefully we’ve done a good enough job not to damage the paint on my truck, which still looks almost as good as when we bought it in Phoenix almost two years ago. The rain came in during the evening, and is continuing sporadically even as I write. Time for bed!
Saturday, June 16, 2012 – Final Ride Day at Kelly Pines
Friday, June 15, 2012 – Second Ride Day at Kelly Pines
Thursday, June 14, 2012 – Runaround Day
Spent the day running around, had to go get the horse trailer tire replaced at the Goodyear dealer in Clarendon, also went to 5M feed for a bag of oats and some bedding for the stalls, dropped off taxes at the post office, parked in the Tops parking lot for a while getting caught up on emails and other internet chores, did a little grocery shopping before heading back to camp. Meanwhile, Hubby had done a bunch of chores, checked the brakes on the horse trailer and decided they didn’t need rebuilding, fixed the seals on the slide, as we had discovered a leak on one side (but only when we’re listing a certain way : -), and otherwise got things done in my absence (and vice versa). Spent a little time on Google Earth overlaying the trail map in an effort to create something we can follow tomorrow. We’d like to take the mid-size loop, supposedly about 16 miles, but we’ve heard parts of the trails are done and others not so much, so we don’t know what to expect. Managed to trace a path on Google Earth and download it onto my Garmin, so hopefully that will help (fingers crossed!) To bed early with the alarm set so that we get out by ten. Our neighbor Beth has asked to join us, and we’re happy to have her along, though I suspect she may get a little frustrated with us, as she has a frisky young walking horse, and we just have our old (okay, middle aged) plodding quarter horse and appaloosa. Looking forward to the exploration, as always!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 – First Ride at Kelly Pines
Tuesday, June 12, 2012 – Rainy Day at Kelly Pines
Rain came in before we went to bed, and continued intermittently throughout the night, sometimes quite heavy, with a few bolts of lightning and rumbles of thunder. We were VERY happy the horses were under cover, and I’m sure they were too! Didn’t clear up until late in the day, and we needed the rest anyway, so it worked well all around. Spent the day getting caught up on my computer and my blog, seems like there’s never any end to stuff that needs doing, even when there’s no internet connection! Took a ride down to the Ranger station to find a signal and to get any maps they might have. A lot of very strange and conflicting information there. One young man indicated there were NO trail suitable for horses at Kelly Pines, that we’d have to ride cross country if we wanted to ride. Sorry, but THAT wasn’t going to happen! He also said that he couldn’t give me a trail map, he could only let me look at it (it was just a photocopy!) After pointing out to him that I had been speaking with the rec guy Joe, and that he said there were trails, the young man finally brought out a rec woman and we had a nice chat, though not as helpful as I would have liked. On the kiosk at the campground there is a map of trails, some of which had a notation NOT to ride. She explained that this was because they were disputing the work of some contractor they had who was supposed to be “reconstructing” the trails, and they weren’t happy with the work, so they didn’t want to trample on it. Then she said they had recently re-thought that strategy, and figured it would better demonstrate that the trails wouldn’t hold up if they actually let riders ride on them, so THEN they could argue the point that they wouldn’t hold up! So all trails were open, but the trail map was, theoretically, not accurate. Then I finally pulled it out of her that the trails had been there since the 50’s, so they were THERE, they just weren’t as safe as they wanted them to be… I’m beginning to hate a government that thinks it’s their responsibility to keep ME safe. I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Anyway, she DID give me a copy of the map, so at least I had a starting point. Between that and my GPS, at least I’m hoping we won’t be getting COMPLETELY lost this week! After spending some time in their parking lot, where I could get a good signal, I did a little internet work before heading back to the campground. Not sure how this will all play out, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough! Ride planned for tomorrow!
Monday, June 11, 2012 – Travel Day to Kelly Pines, Allegheny National Forest, PA
Sunday, June 10, 2012 – Anniversary and Rest Day
Today we celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary, so we slept late, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, finished off the last of the laundry, and packed up everything we could in advance of our departure tomorrow. Had a nice steak for dinner for a change, the extent of our celebration, and had a quiet evening of TV watching and getting to bed fairly early, with the alarm set for an early wakeup call.