Archives for 2021

Hi Sweetie!
Whew, what a busy day this turned out to be! I thought I’d be doing little more than waiting for Sandy’s horse to be delivered today and letting my horses get acquainted with her, but then they called and said they were bringing her fairly early this morning, I got into a whirlwind of decision-making. Rather than lose the precious day of travel to a horse camp less than two hours away, I decided that as long as this new horse isn’t too stressed out by the trip that I would go ahead and pack up and move to my next planned horse camp a day early, which then means we can get to Middle Fork a day early. Frankly, I’ve been worried about arriving on a Friday, it’s always harder to find a good spot at a popular horse camp on a Friday, so this way we can get there on Thursday. Since Forbes has electric, I’ll still have time to do my laundry, pick up my package from the local post office, and take Flash on the 15 mile loop around the lake tomorrow, and still be able to leave on Thursday. Then I decided to skip the stop I was going to make in Indiana (I’ve been to both of my choices anyway) which means I can stay a couple of extra nights at Middle Fork and still be able to get to Hungerford in Michigan by Thursday, maybe even Wednesday, though it will be a very long day of travel. I’m concerned about it being 4th of July weekend and it falling on a Sunday, not sure if people will take off the week before or the week after, hopefully both so the crowds will be smaller. In any event, arriving on Wednesday will probably be better than Thursday, and I’ve made Sandy promise to get over there and save me a good spot, big enough for me to fit and near the water supply. So I got busy and started packing. Tim the ranger stopped by and helped me move the feed cans into the back of the truck, so that job’s done. Then the girl arrived with the horse (they’ve been calling her Scarlett, but she screamed “Coco” or “Cocoa” to me, so I’m going to call her that until Sandy changes it), and I put her on the highline for awhile just to let the horses see each other for awhile. Once we got our business done and she left, I finished packing up, got the truck hooked up, and finally started loading the horses in. About half way through, two ladies who are camping up in the primitive campground arrived, saying they’ve been reading my blog and wanted to come down to say “hi!” How nice is that? I write nearly every day, but never really know if anyone besides me is reading it, so it was heartening to hear that someone does. They weren’t horse gals, they were just looking to see what was happening at Ferne Clyffe and came across me. How fun! Thanks for stopping by, ladies! Well, it wasn’t long after that that I finished packing, headed to the dump, said good-by to camp host Amy, and headed out around 12:30. A quick stop at the post office to drop off a priority package (book sale), then straight north, mostly on the interstate, so easy driving, then no trouble finding the horse camp. It didn’t take long to find the perfect spot (I’ll have a straight shot out and didn’t have to worry about any sharp turns in the loop because I backed right into it), got the horses out and tied them to some crazy triangular pipe stand, I’ve never seen THAT before, but it was just temporary until I could get their highlines up. That took a little doing, I had to get the ladder out, and I put Flash closest to Coco, now they’re snuggling, but Apollo and her have been “having words”, probably because Apollo can be such a bully, but Coco is holding her own with him, no problem! They’ll get it sorted out in no time. Meanwhile, I’ve had dinner, done a load of laundry, and settled down for the evening. Won’t be long before it’s shower and bed! I had a great night sleep last night because of the cool weather, waking up only once to add a blanket! Nice change, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts! So I’m signing off, my love! Good night!

Hi Babe!
Had a pretty lousy sleep again last night, it was so hot as to be really uncomfortable, and there were storms heading out way so Lola was as restless as ever. She kept trying to scratch at the bedroom partition, and I was sweating just laying there. Finally got to sleep, but kept getting woke up practically every hour by one thing or another, storms and dog. After chores and breakfast I got busy reorganizing the back of the trailer in order to make room for Sandy’s horse. Moved the tool box to the stud stall, which made most of the room, but it’s obvious I am going to have to move the feed bins into the back of the truck. I measured them and they’ll just fit, though I won’t have much room to take the lids off, so they’ll have to be near the front. Unfortunately, I just filled them up yesterday, so they’re too heavy for me to lift now, so I’m going to have to get some help to do it, or empty half of it out somehow. Then I took a ride down to the local hardware store in Goreville to get the hardware and rope I needed to create another highline, but they didn’t have what I needed, so I ended up running up to Marion to get it at the Home Depot. I called four different places looking for half inch cotton rope, and no one had it! I’ve had to get some kind of polymer which I don’t really like but was all I could find. Managed to get everything else I needed, though the pulley I bought was bigger, I may exchange it. So I’m all set to accept delivery of the mare now. Unfortunately, it turns out Sandy wants her in western Michigan near her daughter’s house by July 1, which essentially means I have to run up there practically non-stop in order to get there in time. Basically drive a day, rest a day, drive a day, with pretty much no time to do any riding. Wasn’t exactly how I planned it, I had hoped to take it a little slower and enjoy the camps I went to, but I guess that’s not going to happen, at least not until the horse is delivered. No good deed goes unpunished, as they say! Anyway, I’ll be able to slow down once I get there, I guess, I just won’t see as much of Illinois as I had hoped this summer. The good news is that throughout the day, it got cooler and cooler, until now it’s in the mid-60’s, which feels positively fabulous, even if it is a bit damp! Going to be a beautiful day tomorrow, just sorry there aren’t any more trails to ride here, and I’ll be spending my day waiting for the horse. Just looking forward to a really good night sleep tonight, fingers crossed! Had my shower, so I’m off the bed now, to read and hopefully sleep through the night! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Still very warm here, keep waking up early because it’s so hot. Fingers crossed the promised cool front comes in tomorrow! Well, today would normally have been my day to start packing up, but everything’s been in a state of flux while I wait for Sandy to decide whether she wants me to help with her logistics on getting her horse home. After waiting most of the day, and thus, not packing up anything, I finally contacted Trish and learned that she and Candy just can’t get their schedules to mesh in a way that works before the second week of July at the earliest, so Sandy finally decided to let me just bring her. I mean, I’m only 85 miles away, it doesn’t make sense for the Indiana gals to drive eight hours round trip to get her when I’m still in her back yard! Anyway, that’s settled, and they’re even going to deliver her to me here so I don’t have to worry about finding a trailer and making that trip. Seems like it might be Tuesday, which is no problem, I’ll probably stay an extra day so the horses get to know each other a little before putting them together in the trailer, but we’ll see. Tomorrow I’ll reorganize some things to make room in the last stall for her as well. I also had a visit from one of the rangers and from the campground host today, just about the only folks I saw today, except a few passers-by that just came and went. A very quiet, hot day, kind of glad I didn’t have to do much today. Was going to do laundry but changed my mind because the next place has electricity, figured I’d save it until then, so I won’t be sweating on clean sheets, either. Anyway, things will be busy this week, so a rest day was probably a good idea. Off to shower and bed soon, so good night, my darling! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Another warm night, but slept okay for the most part. After chores I decided that rather than ride today (there’s not enough trails here to make it interesting), I decided to hike the waterfall trail, which is evidently the highlight of this park. Lola had to be on a leash for some of it, which was fine. There’s an “improved” trail much like some of the horse trails (improved with gravel, unfortunately!), that’s flat and straightforward, and I took that the half mile to the waterfall, which, since we haven’t had rain in a while, had no water in it! The cliffs were quite striking, and covered with ferns (thus the name of the park), but the whole thing was much to civilized for me, ruining a “natural” spot like they so often do. Elaborate bridges, decks so you don’t have to walk on uneven ground, benches, etc. Since the purpose of the hike was to give my knee a challenge, on the way back I climbed up a trail that took me to the top of the waterfall, then around the back of it, then eventually over to a campground, which was the wrong direction but wasn’t even on the new map (how crazy is that?), but eventually came back down again to the main trail and back out to the parking lot. Just under two miles, with lots of ascending and descending, so it was a good workout and my knee did just fine! Drove back to camp, grabbed a quick lunch, then had a conversation with Amy, camp host extraordinaire, who stopped by and chatted for awhile. After she left I decided to take the opportunity to wash the trailer. Somewhere along the line I accumulated a lot of dirt, especially on the hay loft, it was really an interesting mosaic. It looked like someone took a bunch of leaves, covered them with black paint, then plastered them all across the roof. It would have looked lovely if it weren’t for the fact that it was dirt! Well, it took several hours to get that done, but working with water wasn’t a bad way to spend a hot afternoon. Had to run the generator again, not getting as much charge out of the solar panel as I had hoped, probably because I have both extensions on it to reach where the sun actually is. No problem though, since I refilled two propane tanks yesterday anyway. During the evening I spoke with Sandy, who has finally decided to buy the horse she saw in Kentucky, so my plans may change in order to help her get the horse up to her. She’s working on some logistics now, hopefully I’ll know better tomorrow. I was planning on leaving Monday, but it looks like a lot of rain in the forecast for that day, so I may just stay another day anyway, and if she wants me to pick up the horse, it will probably be Tuesday anyway. She may just want me to get her in Indiana after Trish and Candy go get her, but that’s all in flux right now. We’ll see! Meanwhile, I’ve had my shower and watched a movie, so bedtime has come! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
A warm night last night, no breeze, so a bit uncomfortable sleeping, but I’m getting used to not having air conditioning. Did my morning chores and a few other things, then headed out with Lola to do some shopping. The nearest Tractor Supply was almost 50 minutes away, in Harrisburg, which also had a Walmart, so that’s where we went. I filled up two propane tanks (I just switched over late yesterday), and got some horse feed. Wouldn’t you know, they normally carry the hard-to-find Balancer, and it was on sale, but they were out of stock! Just my luck. I didn’t need too much at Walmart, so we were back on the road again before long. I filled up with fuel at a station halfway back to camp that was much cheaper than in town for a change, so I’m good to go on Monday. The Campground Host, Amy, texted me to say she came over to check on the horses (I mentioned I would be going out today) and that everything was fine, so sweet of her to do that! Got back around 4:00, got everything put away, fixed the hoses in a few more places (I might be caught up now, but it seems to keep springing leaks in new places every time I hook it up and turn the water on!), then finally settled down for the evening. I had to use the BeatIt! Charger to start the generator today, first time in a long time, but I’m in so much shade and I wasn’t here to move the solar panel around to catch the most sun, so I’m not surprised. Doing pretty well, though, so far, but I must admit I’ll be glad when this cold front comes through on Monday and cools things down a bit. The next place appears to be a bit more out in the open, though I’m not positive about that, so hopefully I’ll get more solar power going, though it does stay cooler in the shade. Anyway, finished off the series I was watching, then watched a movie, now I’m off to shower and bed. A cool shower, mark my words! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Another warm morning, another relaxing morning, finally saddled up Apollo for a short ride today. I wanted to check out the northbound trail that is part of the River to River Trail, thinking I might take Flash on Saturday, though a long section goes right beside a road in order to get the the next section of it. That didn’t exactly work out, though. We followed the creek trail, which is pretty nice, though a bit narrow, then turned up the northbound trail. It was fine for awhile, then we came across a very steep climb that was almost entirely large smooth rocks, exactly the kind the Flash was slipping on yesterday. I had put the boots on Apollo hoping that it would help with traction, but even with those on, we didn’t get 10 yards up before he started to slip. Well, I’m not out here to prove anything, and with another 30 or so yards of climbing, I wisely chose to turn us around. I dismounted and walked him down, not wanting to fall onto any of that rock. Honestly, I don’t know how horses with shoes even make it up that slope considering how much worse they are for slipping. Anyway, we diverted over to another trail that took us past some hunting fields, which were generally much easier and safer, before heading back to camp on the creek trail. Despite the boots, Apollo was till trying to avoid the gravel, so I got online and ordered some comfort pads for the Cavallo boots, figures if I was going to keep doing this rocky trails I had to do something! I also looked at some other boots I’ve heard about, and am particularly intrigued by the Scoot boot. They look well-designed, though maybe a bit flimsy-looking, but they have folks raving abouth them, so I may have to give those a try next time I need to replace boots. I like the fact they don’t rub on the bulb, which is Flash’s problem right now. The Cavallo folks just told me I had to break the boots in slowly, but how am I supposed to do that? I ride when I ride, I can’t do 20 minutes here and there for days or weeks on end. Anyway, they’re sending me something they say will help, we’ll see. Meanwhile, I’ve been mostly letting the horses graze in the yard until bedtime, watched a couple of episodes of The Duchess of Duke Street, and old BBC series I’ve been watching, took my shower early to cool off (we’re having a heat wave, lower nineties the next few days before a cold front moves through), be ready for bed soon! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up early, about the same time as yesterday, my body clock apparently reset itself to the crack of dawn. Stayed in bed for a bit anyway, then finally got up to finish packing and adjust the brakes. I was halfway done with the brakes when Joe showed up, we chatted for a bit while I finished adjusting the brakes and doing the rest of my chores. He finally said his good-bye and I loaded up the horses and headed out. Left the dump right at 10:00. A few miles on the highway and my phone blew up with all the voicemails, texts, messages and phone calls I had missed for the last two days. Sandy was wondering if I would go ride that horse she was looking at, she can’t get her out of her mind. A great “I told you so” moment, I had suggested several times she at least RIDE the horse to see if she liked it, but she didn’t. 🙂 It’s only about 85 miles away, so if she wants me to, I’ll drive back down and do that for her. Maggie made it home LATE because her second flight was delayed by more than three hours, apparently due to storms in the Orlando area where she was landing. Fortunately, I have a very good cell phone signal at my new location, so I can handle all of these things when I have a few minutes. Arrived at Ferne Clyffe just after noon, missed a turn and ended up having to turn around in a very small loop at the end of the picnic area, then had to make a sharp turn to get on the correct road. This is a very small camping area, with just enough room to turn around and back up into one or two spaces, the rest are good for tents, but not much else. There’s one spigot and a couple of pit toilets, and it’s VERY shady, so it feels SO MUCH COOLER than the last place. I thought the forecast said it would be cooling down, but now it’s saying it’s not, but I think with all this shade and cooler nights, it will be just fine. I managed to find a spot to get my solar panel going, though I’ll have to keep moving it to follow one or two spots with sunshine. Beautiful day today, though! A nice uneventful drive, except for that narrow loop in the picnic area, but we’re here! I put Apollo on an anchor and let Flash and Lola run free, there’s no one else around for quite a ways, but there is some grass to graze, which they did while I finish getting set up. I did some repairs on the longest hose as well, it’s leaking in three different spots, I managed to repair two, and might do the other one next time I run water through it to find the hole. Finally made some dinner (a burger, of course, I have to get rid of them before they or their buns go bad!), and settled down for a lovely evening, planning my ride for tomorrow. Not a lot of trails, and no real loops to speak of, just have to explore what’s here! There is a section that’s part of the River to River trail, another linear, but that’s a lot longer so I’ll save that for another day. Tomorrow is just to find out how the footing is and whether Flash can handle it or not. Anyway, it’s early, but I need a shower to cool off, so off I go! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Well, it certainly was an early morning, plus I had a hard time getting to sleep last night (as did Maggie, because Lola was restless), but we managed to get dressed, get hay and water to the horses who are now on a highline, and still get out in about thirty minutes. It was a beautiful morning, actually got down into the upper 60’s, a beautiful day for flying. We had an uneventful drive to the airport, which was busier than usual so our good-byes were rushed, but I enjoyed having company these last few weeks, was sorry to see the both of them go. Stopped at the post office on the way back to drop off a priority mail book order, then stopped again at the gatehouse to let them know I’d be leaving early and to arrange for a refund. Then I discovered their cancellation policy is NO REFUNDS, PERIOD! Can you believe that? Regardless of the fact that I only made the reservation for this week at the gatehouse last Tuesday, they fully intended to keep every penny I paid for the extra six nights I wouldn’t be here! I’ve never heard of such a thing! Well, naturally, I made a fuss about it, refusing to accept that ridiculous policy, and eventually, after about 45 minutes, one assistant superintendent finally succumbed to the absurdity of the situation and issued a refund for five nights at least. Still, what a crazy policy! Yet another reason not to come back to Wranglers. I finally made it back to the trailer and started putting things away, took down the screen room, etc., though since my next stop is less than two hours away, and it’s supposed to be cooler in the morning, I thought I’d leave some of it until then. I did a load of laundry, then kept falling asleep all afternoon on and off while I was reading. Joe came over later in the afternoon to chat for awhile, we exchanged contact information, then after he left I decided to put more stuff away. I don’t really like breaking down and setting up all on the same day, so I got as much done as I could. I’ve also decided that it might be a good opportunity to adjust my brakes, since I’m in a long driveway and I can just keep pulling forward to get it done. Mileage-wise it may not need it, but I figure better safe than sorry, since I’m not sure what kind of terrain I’ll be driving through tomorrow, and brakes are my most worrisome thing mechanically. Got everyone fed and finally settled down around 7:30 with soup for dinner and a movie. Got my shower done, now I’m heading off to bed for hopefully a better night sleep! Good night, darlin! Love you!