Hi Darlin’,
Slept well, only woke up when some rain came in early, but went back to sleep and didn’t get up until almost 9:00! Did my chores, had breakfast, then began my day with building the new framework for the water tank, since I was supposed to get my truck back. Naturally, every simple job turns into something more complicated! The screws that we used originally to screw the rubber chocks (which I’m so glad we splurged for, they’re still in perfect shape!), were mixed between Phillips and star shaped. The screws I bought were also star shaped, though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was just looking for the right length. I had no trouble getting the Phillips ones out, but naturally, I didn’t have the right size star bit for the old screws, even though I did have one for the new screws. Weird! So it took a bit of hammering and unscrewing with vice grips to get them out. I had to use the jigsaw to cut the 2X10, which took a lot longer than a rotary saw would have, but I did manage to get it done. The whole thing took about two hours, but it should last another 5+ years like the last one, maybe more if I don’t have to remove it for any reason. I was surprised I hadn’t heard from the body shop by then, so I called them only to learn it will be late before it’s ready, but that the new paint job was satisfactory to them. It was cloudy and occasionally drizzling so I didn’t want to ride, so I just killed the afternoon reading and watching TV. I got a book order, so I put that together, though the books were in the truck, so I ended up leaving early, running down and getting a book, going to the post office to mail it, then picking up gas in the rental, finally getting back to the body shop right at 4:20. Got my bill paid, and they brought the truck up, it looks great! I wish I could have afforded to have the whole thing repainted, but I just didn’t have time to get it all done. They did replace the hood, though, because it would have been more work taking it down to the bare metal, and the insurance company wouldn’t cover that anyway, go figure. Anyway, I drove away, then realized my radio wasn’t working so I went back. We played with the wires and fuses, still not sure what we did but we got it working again. Finally headed back to camp, arriving about 5:30, and spent the next two plus hours getting the frame into the truck, the tank into the frame, filling up the tank, then redistributing the water into the trailer and the horses buckets. We actually made it through this morning without refilling the three large buckets I put out on Monday, though I did add a couple of gallons from a bucket that caught some rainwater overnight. So I should be good with water, at least with the horses, but may need more in the trailer depending on how much laundry I do on Sunday. Finally settled down around 8:00, watched one hour of TV, now I’m heading to shower and bed, early! I have to get on a schedule that doesn’t have me going to bed and midnight and getting up so late! It’s these long days, they’re driving me crazy! Anyway, good night, babe! Love you!
Archives for 2021
Thursday, July 22, 2021 – Ride With Alayna to Woodville Store
Hi Babe,
Slept well, did my chores, then saddled up Flash, just mounting up when Alayna arrived at exactly 10:00 as planned (love it when people are prompt!), and we headed out. We had a lovely two hour ride to get to the Woodville store, which is just a nice little convenience store with gas, one of those old-fashioned, family operated kind of places. It had a couple of hitching posts in back (built by Alayna’s relatives a long time ago), and a bench seat. We decided against lunch, and instead splurged on ice cream (even their smallest cone was two scoops!), before heading back to camp. Got back right around 3:00 (took the trail by the lake so it was a little longer), got Flash put away, then Alayna came by to sell me a nice pink bandana with the trail map on it, which I had asked for. Then I headed into town, thinking I would be picking up my truck, but it turns out they weren’t happy with the paint job and wanted to spray it again, so it won’t be ready till tomorrow. I went into town anyway to get some propane, stopped at the post office for my package from Jeff with my mail, and pick up a couple of my books from the truck (Alayna wanted a copy for a friend). I went to Lowes to get the supplies I needed to build a new frame for the water tank in the truck, and couldn’t believe the poor quality of their 2X4s. I mean, seriously, it looked like they were rough cut straight off a tree! None of them were square, all of them had terrible knots, and that was the pressure-treated stuff! I managed to find some “project” wood, whatever that means, but they were the right size so I won’t have to cut them. Not so with the 2X10, all I could get was a 10 foot length and it was extremely expensive, but there’s been a shortage, apparently someone’s been hoarding it, plus their lumber saw wasn’t working (how often has THAT happened to us. Like, EVERY TIME!), so now I’m going to have to figure out how to cut it down. All I’ve got is a hacksaw and a jigsaw, but I only need two cuts, so hopefully I can manage that. I’m pretty sure my assortment of jigsaw blade includes a wood one, we’ll see! Finished off my running around by picking up a few things at Walmart, got back to camp, just got settled in, then had a video call with Pam Daly, you remember her from Actor’s Rep in WPB? We knew her before we got married! She’s still married to her husband (30 years), and she’s been very busy working, she’s teaching and coaching actors and has apparently quite successful at it! And she’s been doing most of it via video, so she’s stayed busy throughout the pandemic. Anyway, we had a nice chat, and we’re hoping to get together at some point in the future. Afterward, I signed off, then settled down for the evening. Time for shower and bed! Good night, my sweet! Love you!
Wednesday, July 21, 2021 – Nice Short Ride on Apollo
Hi Sweetie!
Had a hard time getting to sleep last night, read till pretty late, but eventually managed it. A beautiful cool night, too! Did my chores, then proceeded to turn a 5-minute job into a 30-minute one. Every since I fixed the washer, I’ve been meaning to reapply some of that crack foam around the hoses where they come up from the floor, and I finally decided to do that this morning. I pulled all of the drawers out of the linen closet and take the panel off the side wall, only to figure out that I couldn’t reach it from there and all I needed to do was pull the two little drawers out underneath. Oh, well, at least the job got done! Then I had to put it all back again, of course. Finally finished, I saddled up Apollo to take him on a ride today. I decided to do the same ride that we did here back in 2013 (the one and only ride we completed, since the first one we took, I crashed before we got 100 yards up the trail, and was in too much pain the next few days to ride again, plus it rained, according to my diary entry of the occasion), except I did it backward. It was truly a lovely ride once again. So many beautiful trails out here, and as you know, they always look completely new when you ride them in the opposite direction! Once we got back, I eventually took him down to the water spigot and gave him a good wash with medicated shampoo and sprayed him with antibiotic spray to try to diminish his rain rot. Had a chat with some new folks that moved in down the road. Oh, I forgot to tell you, the other night, there were a couple of tenters that were running their chainsaw at midnight, as well as either shooting a small caliber gun or very loud fireworks, not sure which. Kind of glad they moved on today, that was a little unnerving. Did a little research on some more Michigan horse camps, watched some TV, grilled an Angus burger and settled down for the evening. My truck is supposed to be ready tomorrow, I’m riding to the Woodville store with Alayna from the local trail association for lunch, and I have some shopping to do in addition to dropping off the rental car, so it’s going to be a busy day! So I’m heading off to shower and bed early, hoping to get a good night sleep. Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Tuesday, July 20, 2021 – Nice Ride on Flash
Hi Darlin’!
Not a bad night sleep, did my chores and breakfast, then eventually saddled up Flash to go on a nice 11.5 mile ride. I just can’t say enough about this beautiful forest! Every section has a different character. Some areas are pine tree farms, others still have some original old growth trees that just spread their limbs so wide it seems impossible for their trunks to hold all that weight. We did hills and curves and long straight-aways where we were hopping over downed trees like we were on some kind of cross-country event. It was just marvelous! I also took my picker-upper and a garbage bag and did some cleanup along the way. I’ve seen the occasional beer and soda cans, wrappers and deflated balloons, and it just disheartens me so to see such a pristine forest ruined by a few thoughtless or careless people, so I thought I’d chip in and do my part today. I also found a hidden gem, literally! There’s a large green crystal hidden along the trail, and I noticed it the other day because the sun was shining right on it and it glowed like fire. I thought it might have been part of a scavenger hunt for Independence Day, but I found out on Saturday that it was just a “feature,” not to be removed but to be photographed and admired and hidden for the fun of it. I managed to find it again, but without the sun on it, it was definitely much harder to find! I’m going to post a picture on the Hungerford Facebook page, without any clues where it is, of course. Eventually got back to camp around 3:00, let Flash munch for awhile, and I just relaxed and read and did a little more research on other Michigan horse camps for the rest of the day before settling down for the evening. I had a few little jobs I could have done, but really wasn’t in the mood today, I’m sure I will be one of these days! What a lovely day! Couldn’t have been more perfect! And the perfect ending, me off to the shower and to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!
Monday, July 19, 2021 – Truck Goes Into Shop
Hi Babe!
Woke up early with the alarm, got the horses fed, then headed into town to drop off the truck at the body shop to get the good repairs done. Enterprise rentals met me there with a little Nissan pickup truck, and for a minute I thought it would be too small for my water tank, but it turned out that it just barely fit lengthwise. Was afraid I was going to have to strap it in with the tailgate down, but we were just able to close it. Went to Tractor Supply and picked up a bag of feed and to return a pot that I had bought the other day, then Meijers to pick up a couple of grocery items before heading back to camp. I had noticed that a lot of slimy stuff had been growing in the tank when I emptied it out yesterday, so today I stopped and filled it about halfway, then got the pressure washer down and did my best to clean the inside. I actually hooked the washer up to the tank so that the water recycled, and was a bit surprised but happy there was enough pressure just from the gravity to make it work. Then I put in some bleach, filled it the rest of the way up, and got out a couple of scrub brushes and really scrubbed it down before draining it. I left it empty just in case I get my truck back before I need more water (I filled every container I had in hopes that I would have enough to keep the horses watered long enough), but at least now it’s really clean, and I can put water in it if I need to. When I took the tank out, all the boards that we had built as a frame had rotted out, so I’m going to have to repair that when I get it back. All that took a couple of hours and a lot of energy, so I decided not to ride or do anything else today, so I just read most of the day, then settled down for the evening. I paid for another week as well. Apollo was so cute today, he was on an anchor but he managed to get right over to me when I sat outside and snuggled with me for quite a while. We’ve seen some times together in the last 20½ years, all 48 contiguous states and so many other remarkable things. He’s such a good old boy, hard to believe he’s 25 now, and we’ve had him since he was four. Still in pretty good shape, though, but he’s come down with a case of rain rot that I’m treating with Listerine, per Maggie’s suggestion. Can’t tell if it’s getting better, but it doesn’t seem to be spreading any more, which is a good start. Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Sunday, July 18, 2021 – A Busy and Productive Day
Hi Sweetie!
Another good night sleep, off and running starting with several loads of laundry, washed and hung out to dry. Then I got busy housekeeping, overdue so I was pretty thorough, that took hours. Hard to believe so little square footage still takes so long to clean! Finally took the wash down around 3:30, and at 4:00 I headed out to pick up ten bales of hay at a farm nearby. Small bales, but only $4 so I can’t complain. Hope the horses like it. Settled down for the evening with Ramen and TV, fed the horses, now ready for shower and bed with fresh sheets! A busy day, but have to get up early to drop off the truck and pickup my rental, so I’m off toe bed early, too. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Saturday, July 17, 2021 – Christmas in July Ride
Hi Darlin’!
Had a great night sleep, woke up raring to go, did my chores, then saddle up Flash to join the Hungerford Trail Riders Association Christmas in July ride. The information I had was that they would meeting at the pavilion at 10:30, but by 10:20 there was nobody there, so I figured they must have meant over on the Day Parking side. I didn’t want to be late so I drove over there and let them know I was on the way, and they were, in fact, gathering over there. So I came back to camp and got Flash and we got there pretty quick. They did a gift exchange (I donated an autographed copy of my book), then headed out on the trails. Alayna and another gal took the lead with me right behind. Flash, of course, wanted to go faster and kept his nose in the tail of the horse in front for most of the ride, though I tried to keep him back, but it’s gets tiring to fight him. He wasn’t too bad, but by the time we got back to camp nearly three hours later, he was ready to run! Since everyone was gathered I did my Snowy River, then they redid the gift exchange because there were a few folks that showed up late, though the gal who got my gift didn’t want to give it up, which I thought was flattering! I ended up with a nice bottle of red wine, perfect! I got back to camp, then several other folks stopped by to buy a copy of my book as well, always nice to defray some of the camping costs! Did some reading and stuff, settled down with a nice piece of grilled chicken and rice for dinner, then joined my neighbors Sheila and Tara (who got my book gift) around the campfire and chatted for quite awhile. Turns out Sheila winters in Florida near the Suwannee Music Park at a place she rents out, so I may have to stop there on my way back down south. I’ve always wanted to ride those trails, but the horse camp there is so expensive I could barely afford a weekend. Sheila is a lot more reasonable price-wise, so it might make a better stop than McCulley Farms, particularly since I’ve already been there so many times now. Need new trails! When the mosquitoes started coming out I headed back to camp, the sun just setting and still light out at 9:30 (I still can’t get used to it being light so late!), so I’ll barely have time to do the dishes before taking my shower and heading to bed. Better get that started! Good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, July 16, 2021 – A Nice Ride on Apollo
Hi Babe!
Woke up to a beautiful, albeit cloudy morning, but the rain was gone and it cleared up throughout the day. After chores and breakfast and a search for hay (I want to get enough so I don’t have to use the rental truck to haul it next week,) I saddled up Apollo to take him on a little ride since he’s been standing around for so long. We had a nice 5.65 mile loop through Trail 5, which is probably the wettest trail here, and the one that has the little mud bridge boardwalks, and it was a little mucky in places, but not really bad. Before we left, I set off a couple of bug bombs, I’ve been seeing the occasional roach so I wanted to get ahead of it before it got any worse. Got back to camp mid-afternoon, let Apollo wander on his anchor for awhile, and later switched out Flash, who promptly wandered off to the campsite next door, so I had to go fetch him back and anchor him down. He was better after that. I topped off the water in the trailer and the horse troughs, I didn’t want to waste any, and don’t want to have any left by Monday when I take the truck in. I confirmed that was all arranged to exchange vehicles, so that’s taken care of. I mostly read the rest of the afternoon, watched a little TV, had a nice steak dinner and settled down for the evening. I took a quick run down to the dumpster to drop off a bag of garbage and was surprised I didn’t see more trailers here for a Friday afternoon. I have one couple a few sites away, one woman with a mule that parked almost directly across from me, and another woman parked next to her on the other side. Only one person at the bottom in the same site I was in last time I was here (and the time we came here in 2013), but the rest is empty, so I guess this little corner I’m in is a popular spot! Not sure why, it doesn’t seem to have anything special going on with it, other than a good cell phone signal, but that’s most other places here. Anyway, doesn’t matter, I’m here for another ten days, I’m sure I’ll see lots of people come and go. Everyone’s is settled in, and I’m heading off to shower and bed shortly. Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Thursday, July 15, 2021 – Busy Computer Day
Hi Honey!
Rain came in a little while after I went to bed, so earplugs went in, and I slept well for the rest of the night. Since it was due to be a gray day, and I had planned to do some bookkeeping and other computer and paperwork the first rainy day where I had a good cell phone signal, today became that day! I literally spent almost the entire day getting caught up. I didn’t think I had let it go for as long as I did, was surprised to see unfiled receipts as far back as March! I also had to do some reports for Equity, and sent a check in, followed up on my insurance claim for the truck (I forgot I had a $500 deductible I’m going to have to pay, darn it! But at least I’ll have a nice paint job on the hood that was overdue!), and ended the afternoon by running down to the post office for a package that I thought was going to be delivered by Amazon Prime (who can usually track me down anywhere that shows up on Google Maps) but instead was sent by USPS, so they wouldn’t deliver to an uncontracted address so I had to pick it up. I ordered three shut-off valves for hoses of the firehose type with the flip over switch, such a superior design to all those ones with the little handles you have to push to one side, they always seem to fall apart or get stuck or leak or in the case of the last one, the plastic cover came off and it was so stiff to move it killed my fingers. I love these new ones. I originally bought a hose splitter with that type of valve and I loved it, so I got a couple more like that, and then I saw these single hose shut-off valves, which is perfect for the water tank in the back, so much easier! Anyway, got back to camp, several more trailers had come in so I’m guessing it’s going to be a busy weekend here. Saturday they’re having a Christmas in July gift swap and ride, I might participate in that just for fun. Anyway, settled in for the evening, binge-watching the 3rd season of Virgin River (and finished it off just now), glad to have all that other work done. Oh, and after all that rain, I only found two small spots of water on my bedroom window sill, so still not perfect, but a whole lot better! Still not sure where it’s coming from, but I’ll have to check in one day when it’s light out to find that out, but for now, it seems like all the rain has been coming in at night, so no luck on that at the moment. Anyway, ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 – A Beautiful Eleven-plus Mile Ride on Flash
Hi Babe!
Had a tiny bit of water on my window sill this morning, but it looks like it might have just been from the seal between the fixed window and the slider, but I’ll have to wait for another rain before I can be sure. Meanwhile, it was a beautiful day, so after doing a bunch of stuff in the morning, I finally saddled up Flash midday and headed out to the western side of the park. Flash had lots of energy today, and when we got to a long, long stretch down a utility line, he decided to canter most of it, and fast-gaited the rest, nearly 1.75 miles! Then we turned on to #23, which is a beautiful trail, and that took us to #18, and I took the loop side down to the lake so Lola and Flash could both get a drink. I saw a beautiful deer by the side of the lake just after leaving the watering spot, and the rest of the trip back to camp was equally beautiful. Saw another deer very near camp as well. Stopped to talk to the ladies at the bottom, and learned that their night sleep was disrupted last night by what apparently was a bear banging around the bathroom and the dumpster. I never heard a thing, though Lola did bark a bit at one point, which she does often, so I’m never sure if it just a mouse or a raccoon or something more. Doesn’t matter, I’m pretty safe inside my trailer, though one of the ladies down there is just sleeping in a tent on the back of her pickup truck, so I can’t blame her for being a bit nervous about it. Anyway, got back to camp, got the horses settled, as well as myself, had a nice quiet evening, now it’s time for shower and bed! Another fabulous ride, a great day, beautiful weather, just what I seek! Supposed to rain tomorrow, but that’s fine, I need a day to catch up on my paperwork, I’ve gotten really behind on my bookkeeping and such. Might have to drive in to the post office as well, I ordered something on Amazon, thought it was coming with Prime, but they sent it USPS, and I doubt they’ll deliver to an “unofficial” address like the one I have right now! We’ll see! I tried to call them, but no one answered, though I let it ring until it hung itself up, did that for nearly an hour but nothing. I also had a conversation with brother Jeff, we went through the mail and there are some he’s going to forward me to that post office as well, but that won’t get here for a few days (assuming he gets it out in a reasonable time!). Anyway, enough about my day. Time to go! Good night, sweetie! Love you!