Hi Darlin’,
Well, it didn’t take me too long to pack up and get out of Seven Springs, left by just after 10:00, and had an uneventful drive arriving around 12:30, with just one traffic delay on I-40 just before my exit due to construction. Was well-greeted when I arrived, even running into manager Anthony, and we arranged to get started with a plan tomorrow morning. I picked a really nice spot, under some shade trees and right the closest row to the creek, a nice change from being out in the sun last year. Since I’m staying here two full weeks, the first time that’s happened since I left south Florida, I got everything out, including the full screen room, the grill, everything. I put the horses back into the same area as last year in their electric fence. Sorry to say that the washer didn’t fix itself, so I spent some time trying to find an appliance repair service. Callie arrived just as I was taking Lola down to the creek to play for awhile, she really needed to get some exercise, we chatted for awhile. Finally settled down for the evening, have to get to bed early because I have an early morning virtual doctor’s appointment I need to get up for, not to mention getting busy with jobs tomorrow! Looking forward to getting started with whatever they want me to do. Off to shower and bed now, it was a hot sweaty one today! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Archives for 2021
Sunday, May 23, 2021 – Pack Up Day, Washer on the Fritz
Hi Sweetie,
Had an excellent night sleep for a change last night, woke up refreshed and ready to get to work, and promptly did so. Spent the morning housekeeping, including some long overdue items like the black marks around the bedroom window, not sure what it was and wasn’t sure they would come off, but I managed to make it look like new! Did a pretty thorough clean, including flushing out the black water tank again, and was doing laundry when for some reason it quit. I was getting an error indicating it wasn’t getting water, and I did, in fact, turn it off once while I was flushing the tank, but usually once I turn it on again, it resumes with not problem. Not so this time! I spent some time trying to figure out what it was, whether the pump has gone again or if it’s something else, maybe something jammed, but I’m hoping once we hit the road tomorrow it will unjam and miraculously fix itself. Otherwise, I’ve got probably an expensive repair to do! Or a replacement, which will be even worse! Fingers crossed! Anyway, that kept me busy most of the afternoon, until it really got too hot to do anything, so I relaxed a bit until the sun was getting low, then I fed the horses and put them on the highline, took the fence down, cleaned up the yard and lined up the truck with the trailer so I only need to drop it down in the morning. I’ve opened up the jack to see if it needs more oil in it, it’s squeaked a couple of times and I’ve been meaning to look at it. It might just be from sitting in one position for so long, because it seems to have been better the last couple of times I used it, but better safe than sorry. It’s about a three-hour drive to Loretta’s, but I’m taking a slightly indirect route, because the direct route looks like it’s on nothing but back roads with dubious windy narrow turns, and I’d rather take at least US highways, which will take slightly longer but be safer. At any rate, I don’t have to leave at the crack of dawn, though I wouldn’t mind getting there before the heat of the day, since it’s going to be a hot one tomorrow! Once I got some more stuff put away, I went over to visit with my Indiana neighbors for a bit until it got dark, then came back to finish off what I could inside. Ready for shower and bed, at least I got my sheets washed and dried before the machine quit! Good night, babe! Love you!
Saturday, May 22, 2021 – Last Ride on Flash at Seven Springs
Hi Babe,
Well, this is definitely a case of “Glad I came, but won’t be back!” I had a hard night sleep, as I typically do when I eat late and drink hard liquor, woke up around 3:30 and took a long time getting back to sleep, daylight was coming by then. Rose up to say good-bye to my Florida panhandle folks who were planning on driving all the way back today, close to eight hours straight home. Hope they made it okay! Saddled up Flash after breakfast, put his boots on, tried to duct tape the one that fell apart, it got me about as far as the trailhead (100 feet), and I had to take it off. I stayed with one on for awhile, switched it over once just to keep it balance, but eventually took that one off, too, and he was barefoot most of the second half of the ride. I tried to stay on wider trails today, and for a couple of minutes, I even got on a section of the C trail where I started to relax! I hadn’t realized it, but I hadn’t had that feeling all week! But it was short-lived, because that soon turned to deep mud, with occasional side trails that went around it which were only marginally better in some cases. Still, there was more to like about the C trail than to dislike, so it wasn’t bad. I had planned to take 16 out towards Mountain Top, but it was in really bad shape, evidently it hasn’t been looked after in quite some time, and I eventually figured out that it actually goes below the bluff not on top of it, but I didn’t know that till much later. I opted to pick up 17, which was obviously a more traveled trail, and that took me all along the edge of the bluff for awhile. Not too bad, just a lot of knee-knockers, so I was constantly pushing against trees to prevent a disaster (so not relaxing, again!) I misread the map (again) and ended up back at the old saloon (which I had already passed once, then followed the signs to Bald Knob, another destination with a 360 degree panoramic vies and a flagpole on top, where I ran into three other riders who tagged along with me as I headed down the trail to the pipeline. They stopped at the picnic table and I kept going, mostly on the eastern pipeline (which is a bit nicer than the western one) until I arrived back at 3 sisters trail. Then I headed into the woods on trail 1, which was right near camp and actually one of the nicer trails I’ve seen except, of course, it had some knee-knockers, too. We did eight miles, though Flash wasn’t too happy because of the stones and gravel, but Lola really had a good time, as always. I got back around 3:00, put everyone away, and eventually decided to go down to the Rattlesnake Saloon, which is the main attraction here, a restaurant partially inside a cave, with live music and bar food. It requires a taxi ride (a pickup truck with benches in the back) to get there, and I tried to bring Lola along, but the security guy refused her, saying it was a health department violation. That’s interesting, since I’ve never been turned away from a restaurant, a hospital, a senior home or anywhere else for that matter, this is the first time ever. Well, that’s just another item on a long list of reasons not to come back here! I brought her back to the trailer and returned, where the line had gotten three times as long and there looked like there might be a wait. I did managed to get on the next trip, though, but the only table they had was a six-top in the outer section, which was crazy for just me. Worse, the table next to me had five people, all smokers, and the wind was such it was all coming straight at me. I asked the server if she had a fan she could put out to blow it in the other direction, but she didn’t. Fortunately, a four-top farther away from them opened up, and she was kind enough to let me move over there. The burger was decent and the fries small and seasoned, the hard cider okay, I wasn’t really interested in the live music though it sounded about like what you’d expect from a local, rural Alabama band I suppose. Got back before 7:00, got the horses fed and put up on the highline, then went over to visit my other neighbors from Indiana, who I haven’t had much time to spend with, and we had a nice chat. I had a chance to do my Snowy River for them, they seemed to appreciate it. Once mosquito hour hit, it was time to settle down, now it’s time for my shower and bed! Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Friday, May 21, 2021 – Quiet Restful Day
Hi Darlin’,
Had a good night sleep, though I had to put in earplugs because for some reason, Lola was uncharacteristically restless, which surprised me considering how tired she must have been after a nine plus mile ride! I ended up having to give her an allergy pill just to make her sleep, and finally I was able to get to sleep. While the big group went out with the local trail guide, Tim, and another guy on a white mule, I spent the day resting and doing a few odd chores, like finally clearing out the back of the trailer and cleaning out the water filter, which for some unknown reason still had some of those leaf-like things getting trapped in it. So weird! Flash whinnied for quite a while after Apollo left with the group, but finally settled down. I thought I might go on a short ride with Flash but felt so tired, I ended up just reading, and rather surprised I didn’t fall asleep in my chair doing so! The group got back around 4:00, though I didn’t see them come in. I went out to check on Kris’ horse only to discover that Apollo was back in the paddock munching away. I joined them again for drinks and dinner, and even got a “to go” plate for later in the weekend as they had cooked so much food. I’ll give them their due, these southern gals sure know how to cook! I brought Lola with me, and was glad when she behaved herself. They’re all leaving in the morning. Meanwhile, more new neighbors moved in right beside me, a younger couple celebrating the husband’s 35th birthday, they seemed nice, too. I finally made it back to the trailer around 8:30, settled in for a quick one hour of TV, but am more than ready for bed, despite having rested for most of the day, well, apart from a bunch of chores, like fixing my water and clearing out the trailer. Noah and Steve came over and did some work on my stairs, but it looks like they’re going to need to be replaced, or at least re-welded, though a new set will probably be better. Another repair I need to make! Anyway, time for shower and bed, looking forward to a long ride tomorrow, then a sort of rest and prep day on Sunday. Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Thursday, May 20, 2021 – Long Solo Ride on Flash
Hi Sweetie,
Well, I’m still in search of a trail worthy of recommending to anyone, sorry to say. Haven’t found one I’d even care to go back to, really. I did my usual morning routine, and since most of the group was driving ninety minutes somewhere to visit an Amish farmers market, I had decided to take Flash on a “short” trip today, but, as usual when the trails are poorly marked, that turned out to over nine miles, and a lot of them are really tough miles! We headed first to a destination called the Wave Rock, which was essentially a bluff, but it was unusually smooth for quite a distance, which is somewhat remarkable. Then, despite my GPS in one hand and the map in the other, I still ended up getting turned around because of poor trail markings and renegade trails that aren’t even on the map! Grrr! I ended up going a silly circle in rough terrain just to get out of it again! Finally I got back on track, at least for awhile, but I was plagued by the same annoyances for the entire ride. The boot that wasn’t in great shape got completely twisted, so I had to take it off, then at one point Flash slipped on one of these flat rocks in the middle of a road and went down. I managed to stay on during his first effort, but he slipped again and I came off on the second, slamming my hip onto the rock, so I’m sure I’ll have a nice bruise there by the time I get home. I passed a marker for the Indian shelter, which was still a mile away, and that was the last marker that I saw for it, even though I went on 4 or 5 different trails to get there. There was one quarter mile section of trail 33 to the lower waterfall that I like, but it didn’t last long and got worse afterwards. Flash’s second boot slipped off, so finally I took that off as well so he was barefoot most of the way. I got tired of narrow, knee-knocking trails so I stayed on more of the wider trails, but of course they had more gravel so it bothered him more. I must have backtracked more than half a dozen times trying to follow my planned route, and even then, I ended up on trails that didn’t match the map very well. So even though I was on the back of my horse, my usually mellow happy place, I was so frustrated and annoyed that it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. At least we were able to go faster and not have to worry about the big group, but still, it wasn’t as much fun as I hoped it would be. Lola came along this time, though, which was mostly the point of going out alone today, and she enjoyed herself for sure, though she got ahead of us a few times and had to come a long way back to catch up with us when we backtracked. Anyway, I finally got back to camp, spent some time working on my weekly reports in advance, was hoping to set up the accounting as necessary but the signal is so bad here it’s almost impossible to get on the internet, whether it’s my Verizon hotspot or the ranch wifi. Didn’t need that added stress here either! Like always, though, I’m glad I came, just don’t expect me to do it again! I learn from every experience, and Flash was really good today, despite the fact I’m sure he was tired and sore from yesterday. Anyway, a long hot shower and bed is in my immediate future! Good night, babe! Love you!
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 – First Ride at Seven Springs
Hi Babe,
After a casual morning, I started saddling up Flash and one of the group, Chris, came up and got Apollo to ride today, using her saddle. It wasn’t long before we were off. It had been suggested that we ask about the local trail guide Tim, but he wasn’t anywhere to be found today, so we decided to go with the trail I had already planned on, about ten miles mostly around the outer perimeter, or so I thought. Just out of camp we were on the Three Sisters trail, where there are some stunning carvings right in the rock wall, quite remarkable. We hadn’t gone too much farther when, according to my map, we were near a waterfall, and when we saw a sign for the waterfall trail we followed it. Oddly, that trail didn’t take us to the waterfall we were near, it cut us way off our route to ANOTHER waterfall that we would had reached had we stayed on our original course in about a mile! Weird! The trails are reasonably well marked, better than some I’ve seen, but there were still numerous intersections with little or no signage, and some were on the ground in pieces, so not very helpful. Glad I had my GPS map tracking us! Well, it was a nice waterfall, though they had dressed it up with a washing line full of laundry, which I guess some would consider cute, but I just thought it was a bit tacky, and took away from the natural beauty of the spot, but that’s just me. Anyway, I managed to get back on track right after that, and we made our way up to the old saloon, which was a nice picnic area. I wish it had been marked on the map that it was a picnic area, as we had stopped shortly before that on the top of a hill in the woods and had our lunch, which was nice, but not very convenient for those who had trouble climbing up on their horses without a table or mounting block to help them. Still, we made it okay. It was decided that we would skip the final far loop in favor of getting back to camp so we didn’t wear ourselves or our horses out too quickly, so we headed back down the gas pipeline in a beeline for camp. Unfortunately, that route, though open and straight, was quite steep, with several ups and downs that were quite challenging. With the gravel, we put the boots on Flash and Apollo, which helped a lot, but one of Flash’s boots was a lot worse for wear by the time we got back. It was a mostly pretty ride today, but slow going, because of the hills, one place in particular had a very steep slippery rock the horses had to literally slide down. And with so many of us, eight of us, we had to keep stopping or slowing down to wait for things, well, suffice to say that 8.5 miles over better than 3.5 hours was the slowest ride I’ve been on in a LONG time. Everybody did well though, and there were some pretty sections, but we’ll definitely avoid the pipeline in future! Too many nicer side trails. We didn’t run into too much mud, fortunately, but I’m worried that boots will be needed to be used on the gravel, and that when we do run into mud we’ll have to be very careful about not losing them. Anyway, we got back, then the rest of them rode down to the Rattlesnake Saloon, which is in a nearby cave, and evidently they were shooting a music video down there, even though the place was technically closed. I didn’t go because I had already taken off Flash’s bridle by the time someone mentioned it, no worries, I’ll check it out tomorrow. Got everything put away, had dinner with the group again, fed the horses, then finally got back to settle down for the evening. I ordered a new pair of boots for Flash, but can’t get them until next week, so I’m having them sent to Loretta’s, and I got the final contracts from the union, so I’m officially working again! Yeah! Now I can get my health insurance back, and make contributions to my pension plan, which I haven’t been able to do for a year and a half, thanks to this crazy covid thing. Anyway, a busy day, so I’m heading to bed shortly, as soon as all the pix load up, which is taking a long time because there is almost no cellphone signal here, and I’m barely in range of the local wifi, so that’s another challenge here. So I’m off to shower and bed once again! Good night, darlin’! Love you!
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 – Setup, Shopping, Repairs and Hanging Out Day
Hi Darlin’,
It was still raining when I woke up this morning, and several times during the night as well, not a real heavy rain, but there was likely some accumulation overnight. It looked like it was going to be drizzling for a good part of the day as well, so I decided to do some other stuff. First after breakfast, I went down and registered, there was finally someone in the office, then I drove into Muscle Shoals to do some shopping and fill up with fuel. I managed to find some diesel at $2.84, which was even cheaper than at the Walmart, though it’s been going up steadily since the new administration shut down the XL pipeline in January, and it’s likely to keep going up, how far, who knows? Once I got back to camp I put up the fence to make a nice paddock (I got permission from the office), so the horses where able to get out and roll, which, of course, made them happy, along with an abundance of clover, then I had a few repairs to do. First, the hose had a few leaks that I had to fix, then the electrical plug did turn out to have a couple of loose wires, as I suspected. Meanwhile, the crew I met at Wind Creek arrived and was getting set up as well. Two of the men came over and visited with me awhile (and helped me with the last hose repair, not that I needed it, but what the heck?), and we spent the afternoon and evening back and forth, right through to dinner, which they invited me to again. Eventually it started getting dark, so I left, put the horses back on the highline and settled down for the evening. Lola got a treat with lots of leftover fat from the steaks they grilled, she scoffed that down along with a whole can of food and then tucked away some dry food as well, which is good because she hadn’t eaten much in the last couple of days. We’re all planning on riding together tomorrow, and one of the ladies’ horse is lame, so she’s going to ride Apollo as well. Anyway, I’ve watched an hour of TV, and now I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!
Monday, May 17, 2021 – Drive Day to Seven Springs
Hi Sweetie!
Well, Google Maps did it to me again, taking me on backroads where I shouldn’t have been even when the map I downloaded was all major highways. I did do a stretch on an interstate I don’t think we’ve ever been on before, I-22, which goes from Birmingham to Memphis. Going through Birmingham, like any city, was a nightmare, but we managed to make it okay, except for one tiny road that made a sharp right onto the last road before we got here, that was also steeply uphill, and I ended up scraping bottom. I discovered the stairs are all out of whack again, another job on my list! Left late because I got into some conversations with some folks this morning, managed to sell a few more books (at least my fuel is getting paid for 🙂 ), so it was almost 10:30 by the time I left. Arrived here a bit after 3:00, but both offices were closed and there wasn’t anyone around. I call both “emergency” numbers and left voicemail on both (good thing it wasn’t an actual emergency!), no one ever got back to me, no one ever showed up. I had no choice but to pick a spot and park in it. Hardly any of the sites are level here, and there are very few highline posts. Since I know my new friends want to stay near the barns, I didn’t want to get too far away, and about the only posts I could find were at the top of the hill at a full hookup, that’s where I ended up. Unfortunately, the hookups are right by the road whereas the highline is tucked way back, so there’s a long yard between me and the horses. Had enough hose for water, though, thank goodness. Maybe they’ll let me put my fence up and create a nice paddock for them, there’s quite a bit of nice clover in there. I didn’t unpack much else, though, since I may have to move tomorrow when I finally check in. They seem very lackadaisical here, which I trust will work in my favor but we’ll see tomorrow! Got the horses settled, and got me settled. There’s a horrible cell phone signal here, but I can just reach the guest wifi here, just enough to watch Prime on my computer and screen share with the TV, which couldn’t stay connected directly for some reason. It started raining during the evening, and this place is already known for muddy trails, so I’m expecting to spend a lot of time wet here! Anyway, it’s been a long and tiring drive day, so I’m heading off to shower and bed early. Good night, babe! Love you!
Sunday, May 16, 2021 – Prep Day, New Friends Arrive
Hi Babe,
Spent the morning doing my usual chores and breakfast, then got busy with laundry and housework, don’t want to take one camp’s dirt to another camp. Worked off and on with that, as well as putting stuff away in preparation for my departure tomorrow. Just after lunch, some of the folks I met down at McCulley Farms arrived, and we spent some time chatting in the afternoon, culminating in a nice hamburger dinner, and another chance to do my Snowy River, especially now that I’ve got it cleared through the union, yay! I had planned on going to Owl Creek tomorrow, but they’ve got me persuaded to come to Seven Springs, where they are all heading off to on Tuesday, and since I’ve never been, and they seem reasonably affordable, and because it’s supposed to get really hot later in the week and I’m not sure I want to be without electricity like I would be at Owl Creek, I’ve decided to change my plans. It’s a little further to drive from here, but about the same distance to Loretta Lynn’s from there, though I’ll have to take back roads rather than the freeway, but it would be nice to get on some new trails and new terrain. Getting tired of the same old places, after all! I’ve heard it can get muddy there, but it’s been pretty dry all week so hopefully it will have improved somewhat. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve gone on muddy trails! I remember last May everywhere we went was muddy for weeks! Anyway, this place started getting busy (unusual for a Sunday night), and there were several first-time campers that drove right to the end of the road, and couldn’t believe there wasn’t a turnaround at the end! They had quite the time turning around, and ended up camping at the end of the road, putting up paddocks in that whole area! I can’t believe the park folks haven’t figured out they have to put a turnaround at the end of this road! Anyway, got back to the trailer, put a few more things away, and settled down for the evening. Be ready for a shower and bed soon! Good night, my darling! Love you!
Saturday, May 15, 2021 – Finally, A Nice Ride on Black Trail
Hi Darlin’,
Well, another good night sleep, got the chores done, then saddled up Flash and went off on what turned out to be a decent ride for the most part. I also put boots on him since the dirt and stones, no matter how few they seem to me, have been bothering him, which really shouldn’t surprise me considering they’ve been on nothing but sand for the last six months! I reviewed my notes from last time we were here and recalled that the black trail across the road was the nicer one, so today I headed off in that direction. Of course, the first mile was on the same old trails out of camp, but we finally crossed the road and got onto the nice part of the black trail. It seemed it didn’t follow my GPS exactly (which means their map is wrong!), but I quickly backtracked and managed to follow my entire planned route, which was really nice. The trails are wider, which means no knee-knockers (thank goodness!), it still went along the edge of the lake in a few places, and had a few challenging grades which made it interesting. The footing was better in most places as well, so at least we had one nice ride here for a change. I won’t regret not coming back here, though, I’ve been here enough. We were back by 1:30, and I spent the rest of the day reading and just hanging out, nodding off once or twice in my chair, despite the fact that the campground was rather noisy today. Finally settled in for the evening, now I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!