Hiya Darlin’!
What a great night of sleep! Was in bed before 10:00, didn’t take long to fall asleep, and woke up around 6:00, so I got my full 8 hours! The intense quiet here was certainly a factor! I’ll be happy to get back in the circadian rhythm of the day and night, rising and setting with the sun. Laid in and read for a bit to give it a little chance to warm up (thermometer in the back of the trailer said 41 degree), but I just put on some layers and it was all good! After breakfast, I arranged to return the brake parts, so I got those all packed up, then headed out. First stop was to drop off the packages, second stop was Tractor Supply for propane and horse feed (they actually carry the hard to find Balance!), then Walmart for a few essentials, then off to a haymaker named Tim Adams, where I bought 13 bales of hay. First time I’ve ever paid $10 for TN hay, but that’s what I’ve been paying in Florida, and the horses gotta have it, so that’s all there is to it! Got back and discovered no one had been around to fix the spigot, so that gave me more to do in the afternoon. After putting away the groceries, I then had to pull the slide in so I could back the truck up, off-loaded 8 bales into the front stall, leaving four in the truck and one I mixed with some of the old stuff and gave to the horses. Then I had to gather up some hoses and got to another spigot so I could fill up the tank. The first spigot I went to leaked like a sieve, so I ended up going to another one. Even though that one didn’t leak, it still took a long time to fill up the tank. Didn’t have enough pressure to clean the tank, and it is kind of nasty, so I made sure to put a bleach tab in my fresh water tank when I was filling it up. Good thing I don’t drink that stuff! But at least I have enough left for the horses for a few days. That all took until nearly 5:00. Cut a few stems off my mosquito plant and stuck them in a pot. I’m trying to keep it more like a bush, but it keeps wanting to grow tall like a tomato plant. Not that I’m worried about mosquitoes in these temps! Cold forecast again tonight, and even colder tomorrow night! Horses are back in their winter blankest, of course. Watched a good Helen Mirren movie, just have tea and Spanish lesson left, and it’s shower and bedtime for me! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Archives for 2023
Monday, May 1, 2023 – Travel Day to Lost Corral, Cherokee National Forest
Hi Sweetie!
Up before dawn this morning, quick breakfast, finished packing up, loaded the horses, and was on my way a bit after 7:00. Through the Ag Checkpoint at 7:15, the rest was clear sailing except for a couple of slowdowns around Atlanta, the usual. Found diesel at a growing chain called QT, they’re giving Flying J and Pilot a run for their money, finally. Ever since those two merged, their prices have gone way up. They’re typically 60 cents more a gallon than everyone else, but the QT was just $3.39, best price I’ve seen in a long time. A little tricky getting into the aisles, and there’s a big truck section in the back, but the line was a mile long! Only stop I had to make, though, and the rest was super easy. Got off the freeway onto US 411 which was a perfectly serviceable road with hardly any hills, and, of course, the road surface was fantastic as soon as I hit the TN line, as always! TN had the best roads! Was delighted that I arrived at 2:30, plenty of time to get set up. Took me nearly an hour, though, to find a good spot and get into it. I wasted about half that trying to swing into a pull-through, but it just wasn’t level enough, so I ended up moving to a back-in, which was just wide enough to get in. I parked near a spigot, which, after I got all set up, discovered wasn’t working, so I called the Forest Service, they said they’d send someone out in the morning. Thank goodness I filled my truck’s water tank half full yesterday! Had to fiddle with the jacks, though, put the generator on to get enough voltage to it. There’s still a problem with the electrical system on this trailer, but it will take a real electrician to figure it out. The battery has never charged when the truck is plugged in like it should, and I don’t think both batteries are getting to various power points, but that’s another project, and I’ve been working around it all this time, no need to worry about it now! Finished setting up, got the horses settled in and put their winter blankets on, because it’s supposed to get down to 42 degrees tonight, and they’ve barely got their summer coats in! Flash jerked his head up unexpectedly and conked my forehead, now I’m getting a pretty good bump there. Ouch! Anyway, I have every intention of taking a quick shower and going to bed right around dark, and to read rather than watch TV, figure it will be warmer in bed. Going to be tough getting up in the morning with the chill! Just getting used to 50’s at night, not quite ready for 40’s! Daytime will be gorgeous, though, so I’m a very happy camper! Remember, May 1 is my personal independence day, third anniversary this year! Hard to believe! Well, I’m just going to finish my tea, take my shower and crawl into my nice warm bed (with a wool cap on), and recover from this long day! Love you, babe! Good night!
Sunday, April 30, 2023 – Short Ride on Apollo, Got Trailer Moved
Hey Babe,
Another good night sleep, then after breakfast I took Apollo on a short ride just for the exercise. When I got back I mostly finished packing. I wanted to move that trailer on to hard ground, and Deb had asked neighbor Fred to be on hand in case I got stuck. Well, we almost made it! We put the landing pads in all the right places, and moved right off the spot, but then we got our communications off a bit, and I got directed too far off to one side and my trailer tires went into a soft spot (it rained hard again early this morning), and that created a bunch of problems. Eventually, I had to disconnect the trailer and come in at it from a right angle with the truck, plus a little assist with Fred’s 4×4, and managed to get straightened out. Not taking any chances, we went all the way out to the road, then backed up onto the hardest driveway surface just far enough to get off the road. It will be a close call on the turn, but I’m sure I can make it in one or maybe two tries. It took about 90 minutes to accomplish all that, so I’m really glad we did it today so I don’t get stuck tomorrow! I filled the truck water tank about half full so I’ll have some for the horses in case there’s a problem when I get to Lost Corral, and everything is fully charged up. I checked all the fluids in the truck, I did the tires last week, so I think I’m done! I made a discovery with the inverter, too, I actually left the charger on so long that it fully charged the battery and then turned off. I don’t think I’d ever heard it do that before! All the way do to 2 amps! I used to shut if off around 15, but these new batteries are terrific. Fred and his sister Roseanne, who was very entertained by the whole thing, invited me to dinner, which was great! I didn’t have to cook or clean or use up any of the water in the trailer (I put about half a tank in there, too, so I’d be able to pack up the hoses and still take a shower), and it was a delicious meal of smoked pulled pork, beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, and peanut butter cookies for desert. Hmm, mmm, good! Got back, settled down to a fun movie with Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, and will finish off as usual! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Saturday, April 29, 2023 – Short Ride on Flash, Brakes Finally DONE!
Hiya Darlin’!
Had a better night sleep last night than I’ve had in awhile, had my earplugs in, that always helps. I did vaguely hear Sheila leave this morning, but had a few more hours sleep after that. I knew my mechanic was coming over today, but he’s never gotten here early, and I’m tired of missing days of riding, and it’s supposed to rain this afternoon, so I took a chance and saddled up Flash after breakfast and took him for a short ride down to the end of the trail along the river again. Not quite so speedy as the other day, likely because it’s been a lot more hot and humid, but we still did five miles in just 1:10, so not too bad. Just as I was coming down the road on the last stretch to the house, Daniel’s truck was coming in from the other direction, and we arrived at just about the same time, so it was perfect timing! Right at noon. He’d already replaced the missing adjuster screw on the one brake they’d taken off, so he put that on, rewired it because apparently there had been a loose wire before, which likely accounted for some of the problems, and put it all back together. Then he took off all the rest of the brakes, greased the bearings, readjusted everything, and it seems like there isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with them other than what he fixed, so I’m hoping this well work for the time being. I thought he charged me a reasonable price considering all the extra trips they had to make out here, and he did a great job of filling in the holes he had to dig out to jack it up, so it seems almost level now, which will hopefully make it easier to pull out of here. I’ve decided to move tomorrow, just to get into a part of the driveway where I have more confidence I won’t get stuck again, better to have any trouble tomorrow instead of Monday, since the drive on Monday will be very long. I don’t need to start the day off getting stuck! He was finished by about 4:00, just as the rain was coming in (again, perfect timing!), so I settled down for the evening to dinner and a movie, though not one I particularly liked. Too violent, so many twists and turns it became almost impossible to follow, and they were pushing the envelope on every adult theme you can think of. Anyway, now it’s teatime, Spanish lesson time, shower time and bed time! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Friday, April 28, 2023 – Another Wasted Day!
Hey Sweetie,
I can’t believe I spent the whole day communicating about these brakes, and at the end of the day, I barely made any progress. Every new person that got involved kept going back to the same remarks, things that I had asked about from the very beginning! Very frustrated! By the time it got to 4:30 and I get a call from someone in California, who informs me that the ONLY guy who could give me an answer had probably already left for the day, I was LIVID! And if the answer from him is that there are no replacement parts, then I should get new axles put on, because they claim their axles only have a 5-10 year life span. That sounds ridiculous to me, but that’s the best he could offer. And, of course, there’s a 4-6 week wait for new axles. But I’m stuck. So the end result, after all of that, was that the mechanic is going to come back tomorrow and try to cannibalize whatever parts he needs from the new brakes to get me back on the road. So the whole day was wasted and I’m back to where I started. Meanwhile, Sheila and Dave are leaving in the morning, and Deb will be gone early Monday morning, so I’m going to be pulling out of here on my own. If I get stuck, I’m in trouble! I’m actually thinking about trying to move out of this spot on Sunday to harder ground, so at least I can be sure of getting out early on Monday, now that I’ve decided I have to drive straight through to TN. It’s 400 miles to Lost Corral, which I don’t normally like to do that much, especially to a place I haven’t been to before, but it’s mostly freeway, so I’m just going to have to tough it out. At least when I get there I’ll be back on schedule and I should be able relax a bit. Meanwhile, I’ve found a place where I can leave Apollo while I’m on the Shore-to-Shore ride, and got a few other minor logistical things accomplished, but I missed another day of riding (and will again tomorrow, and probably Sunday, too!), so we’re behind on conditioning now. Very frustrating day. At least I won one of the games of Farkle tonight, and relaxed to a fun Sandra Bullock movie. Ready for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!
Thursday, April 27, 2023 – Another Setback
Hi Babe,
Well, I had high hopes today that I would be leaving tomorrow, so I packed some things up, did another load of laundry, got caught up on my bookkeeping, and generally got the place picked up. Lined the truck up, did as much as I could. Time kept passing and I was getting more and more discouraged about the mechanic getting out here. He and a young apprentice finally arrived, right around 5:00. They got started, but 45 minutes later he came to tell me the parts didn’t fit, that the holes didn’t line up. He showed me what he was looking at, and sure enough, they weren’t right. We discussed trying to cannibalize the new parts to make them fit, but didn’t have a sure solution. Finally, I just checked the parts website again, and sure enough, they sent the wrong parts. Grrrrrr! The number on the part came up as a similar but not identical brake assembly, so now we’re back to square one. Being that it’s Thursday, even if they ship the part overnight tomorrow, and even if the mechanic could get out here on Saturday and put them in, I still wouldn’t be able to get out of here until Monday, since I won’t drive on Sunday. I’d already half made the decision to drive straight through to Lost Corral in TN, even though it’s 400 miles. A bit longer than I usually like, but it’s mostly freeway driving so it won’t be taxing, just long. If I have problems when I get there, it will be more challenging, but hey, that’s what life is all about, right? At least I’ll be able to get in a couple more days of riding here, having a more firm schedule. All this sitting around waiting has been driving me nuts! Plus there’s rain in the forecast for most of the weekend, with clear skies on Monday, so hopefully that will be my travel day. Not making any bets on anything right now! Anyway, heading to shower and bed after my tea. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Wednesday, April 26, 2023-Busy Prep Day
Hey Darlin’,
Had a terrible night’s sleep, could NOT get to sleep for anything! It was after 2:30 when I finally nodded off. Then I kept waking up remembering things I had to do before I leave here, and I knew I’d never remember them so I started a list on my phone. By the time I got out of bed at 8:00 it was a pretty long list! So I spent the day doing all that, a lot of computer work, printing out my Coggins and Travel permits, changing my reservations at Mammoth Cave, writing back to a student from my last workshop, etc., then I spent some time flushing out the black water tank. It was past mid-afternoon by the time I got everything done. Played Farkle after dinner, won one, lost one. Started watching a Johnny Dep movie but couldn’t stay with it, he was just too over the top trying to play a more subtle character. Switched to another pretty boring movie about an artist that goes to Norway to paint a barn, not much to say about that one either. Getting to bed early tonight, though, after last night! The brake parts came, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that the mechanic can come tomorrow and put them on, should be fairly straight-forward, I hope. I’ll have to get everything packed up tomorrow if I’m going to leave on Friday. I hate moving camp on Friday, I only hope my usual spot is open, because there aren’t a lot of spots there where I can fit! Anyway, ready for my shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 – Long Beautiful Speedy Ride on Flash
Hiya Babe!
What a perfect day! Great weather, a gorgeous trail, my fabulous speedy horse, just a perfect day! Today we cut through the Spirit of Suwannee Park to reach the river trail, and followed it down to the old “graffiti” bridge, and kept going all the way down to the Linnville Tract, which had some wonderful trails. Some were in better shape than others, but they were all passable. When Flash saw a long straightaway along the south fenceline, he just decided he had to run the whole way! Didn’t exactly go on my planned route, but it didn’t matter, we rode almost every trail in there anyway, just in a different order, and he just kept cantering and gaiting fast as much as he could! Full of vim and vigor today! On the way back, I decided to cross the graffiti bridge to get a look at the Suwannee Springs, and he didn’t like the feel of that hollow concrete, so I had to dismount and walk him across, then mounted back up and he was fine on the way back over. Took a video, will try to upload it, but my connections a little spotty. In all, we did over 12 miles in less than 2:45, and that includes walking over the bridge. Pretty speedy! Meanwhile, I got a confirmation from FedEx that my parts should get here tomorrow (yeah, right. You know how much I love FedEx… NOT!!) Played Farkle with just Sheila after dinner, I won one and she won two. Then a rainstorm came in, lots of thunder further south, just a bit of rain here, enough to settle the dust. Did more research on Mammoth Cave, think I found another campground that I’m going to switch over to. Of course, there is a cancellation fee for the reservation I made, which is another thing that hardly ever happens anywhere else! But the new place I’m looking at seems a lot friendlier, though only a little bit less expensive, feeling a lot better about it. Trying to get Trish and her gang to change, too, but in any event, the new place is a lot closer to where they’re staying, so it will be easier all around. Anyway, it’s been a long and lovely day, heading to shower and bed! Love you, darlin’! Good night!
Monday, April 24, 2023 – Ordered Parts, Short Ride on Apollo
Hi Darlin’,
A good night sleep, spent the morning ordering the parts I needed, but still don’t have a tracking number yet, so I’m not sure yet when they’ll be getting here. Good thing I built some time into my schedule, though not too much extra, I’ll have to be careful to make sure I get where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there. Took a short ride on Apollo, just for exercise, mostly along the river, down to the Canoe Post and just beyond, just over an hour. The trails here are mostly beautiful, but there’s just not too many of them. It was cloudy and occasionally there would be a tiny spit of rain, but there’s more in the forecast, so I don’t know how much riding I’ll be doing this week, though I need to keep trying to get Flash in shape for the Shore-to-Shore rides in June. Moved my hay out of the truck into the trailer storage, spent most of the rest of the day reading and enjoying my clean trailer. Played Farkle, and for once, I didn’t win either game, which made it more even for the week. The usual, dinner and a movie, soon a shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Sunday, April 23, 2023 – Day of Housework
Hiya Sweetie,
Had some trouble getting to sleep last night, so ended up sleeping past 8:00 this morning, but I woke up in the rare mood to do housework, so I spent pretty much the entire day doing a deep clean and lots of laundry. Did all the layers of bedding and blankets and pillows, which took most of the time, pulled all the carpeting out and mopped all the floors, took down and cleaned all the lighting fixtures, pretty much did the whole living quarters part of the trailer from top to bottom. A good job done! Of course, now I’m exhausted, which is fine, hopefully I’ll have less trouble getting to sleep tonight. Taking my shower early so my hair will dry, but I’ve still got laundry going, so not quite yet. Glad to get it done, though, it was overdue. Won’t be long out of bed! Good night, babe! Love you!