Archives for June 2024

Hiya Darlin',
Another night where getting cooled down took some time, but ended up being a good night sleep eventually. After chores and breakfast and a bit of reading, I finally saddled up Flash to check out the trails here. I haven't been able to get Google Earth to open up MyPlaces for some reason (it's saying it can't connect to the network, but that never stopped it before, so I don't know what's going on,) so I wasn't able to do any of my usual planning, but I did have a map, so off we went, leaving a little after 11:00. We headed out the back way from the campground, and soon found a sign for the Wildcat trail and followed that. The plan was to do a loop from that trail to another one that comes back on the west side (Ant Hill Trail), possibly hit another trail, the Abigail trail, which would go further south, if we were in the mood to go any further. Pretty quick out of camp we weren't happy with the footing, it turned into some very rough stone, and I was a bit sorry I didn't decide to go to the post office first, where a new Cavallo boot is waiting, but I didn't think it would be that bad. There were large areas of logging going on, and I ended up losing the trail completely several times as a new logging road had destroyed some sections of trail. Someone had put up some blue flags that I was mostly able to follow, until I hit an area where they were actively logging, and I couldn't go any further, as I couldn't find any markings. The loggers had utterly destroyed the trail, so we had to head back and try to find another way. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but there was absolutely no water on the trail, and Lola was getting extremely dehydrated and overheated. We stopped several times to let her rest, and I gave her pretty much all of my water, and unfortunately, didn't bring any spare like I usually do, as I had cleaned out my saddlebags before taking them out to Utah and hadn't really restocked them as thoroughly as I normally do. It got so bad she was wheezing, and I tried to get her up on Flash's rump, but she wouldn't stay up there. The only trail I could find was cutting all the way across the widest part of the forest, downhill, until it finally met up with the first trail we came on. She was is such a bad way, I finally decided to use a poncho (the only thing I had!) to tie her to a tree and left her with the last dribbling of water, then got Flash into his best speed on these rocky trails and got back to camp in about 15 minutes. I loaded up with water and headed straight back out. Fortunately, Lola was still where I left her, a little rested but still panting horribly, and she promptly drank two whole bottles of water. I made her rest a little more, then she finally headed up the trail on her own, obviously ready to get back to camp. We followed slowly, letting her do her own pace, but at one point, she threw up some of the water she had drank. About halfway back to camp (which, thankfully, was less than a mile away), I stopped again and let her drink almost two more whole bottles of water, but made her lay down so it would have a chance to absorb into her system before moving on. We finally made it back to camp, and she went straight to her water bowl and drank some more, still panting heavily. I got her into the shower and gave rinsed her in cold water, letting her stay there for awhile. She seemed better, so I finally got her back outside, where it was cooler in the shade, and put the small fan on her. I wasn't too long before she finally stopped panting, and seemed to be fully recovered, thank goodness! I was really getting worried about her. I'm thinking she may be getting past her trail days, at least when it's this hot and there's no water on the trail. I'm certainly going to load up on water next time, for sure! Anyway, crisis averted, I finally settled down for dinner (no movie, as I still don't have a signal), but I did fun the generator and the AC for about half an hour just to blow some of the hot air out, and to recharge the batteries a bit. I've had good sun on the solar panels, so this is the first time I've had to turn on the generator. Of course, it helps that I'm not watching TV :-). So, an evening of reading, shower and bed, another day gone! Good night, sugar! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Ended up having a pretty good night sleep, though it took awhile for it to cool down enough to be comfortable. I wanted the horses to rest today, but I needed to find water, so I headed down the hill southward until I got to the first State Park Campground and found both a dump and a spigot there. The sign said it was for campers, and since I'm a camper, albeit not at that campground, I figured it was okay, since they were both PA State facilities. Anyway, no one stopped me, which was all that mattered. Then since I was so close to the post office, I decided to take a quick drive to see if my package had arrived, since according to the tracking it had arrived at the main post office in Chambersburg early this morning, I figured it would have arrived at Fayetteville. Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on the post office being closed, which is was, for some made up new federal holiday called "Juneteeth." Seriously, did we need another federal holiday between Memorial Day and Independence Day? And in the middle of the week? Not happy about that! But since the Walmart was only a few more miles up the road, I headed over there to get a little bit of shopping done. I didn't need much, but I figured I can get it out of the way, so I did. On the way back to camp, I decided to see if the route off the west side of the mountain was less steep than the way I came in, I was a bit worried about that one short mile that had a really steep grade when I came in. Turns out the west road is much less steep, so that will definitely be the way I go out. Got back to camp, put all the groceries away, then read most of the afternoon. Was a little disappointed that a group of young folks had pitched some tents in a spot not far from me, and were playing loud music all day. Not quite the peace and quiet I like in a campground, but nothing I can do about it. I wasn't able to get a cell phone signal at all today, so no TV or uploading anything, though I found a spot in the next parking lot where I could at least get enough to check my email. I'll just have to drive over there in the truck with my booster and see if that saves me from having to go all the way down the mountain. I can't believe the signal is so bad up here! Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Pix to come!

Hi Babe!
Woke up half an hour before my alarm, but it was daylight, so I got up and started moving. Everything went smoothly and I was headed out the driveway just before 8:00. The whole day went well, thank goodness. The morning was mostly cloudy, and there was even quite a bit of fog going through the Virginia Highlands, so the temps stayed in the 70's for quite awhile. By the time the clouds were cleaing up a bit and it hit 90, I was stopping for fuel as we were heading up the Shenandoah Valley, which was relatively flat, so I didn't need to worry about managing the AC. Not that I've ever had to worry about it on this truck, but it's just a habit. Then, about 10 miles before the turnoff from I-81 to the campground, I hit a brief rainstorm, and watched the thermometer plunge from 95 to 74 in about five minutes! It started warming back up again as I went through Chambersville, it was back up to 88 when I started climbing the hill to the campground. The first part wasn't bad, but after the turn onto Shippensburg Rd., it got really steep, and I crawled up the hill the last mile. The temps only came down a couple of degrees, but there was a lovely breeze, so it didn't feel too bad. I got the horses' highline all set up and ready before getting them out of the trailer, and was pretty much done by 4:30, though my front end is a bit higher than the back, but I can't get the jacks any lower! I barely have a cell phone signal, and only with my booster, but I managed to watch one Warehouse 13 before giving up for the evening. Think I'll be doing a lot of reading here! And maybe even breaking out the Dish PVR, it still has a lot of movies left on it. Tomorrow I have to go in search of water, but otherwise have no plans, though I have a few NY friends nearby at Gettysburg, maybe we'll figure out a way to get together. I'll no doubt do some trail planning as well, but I think after 8 hours in the trailer, the horses deserve a day off! Looking forward to a cooler night, even without AC! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Mostly cloudy today, which kept the temps down a bit but the humidity high, so once again, I was glad I have electric for AC, and not feeling too thrilled about the heat wave I'll be driving into this week. The good news is the campground is at nearly 2000', so that will help some, but it's still going to be a hot time! Did a little packing and some housekeeping, though I didn't unpack much anyway, so I should be able to get out pretty early tomorrow. Almost 400 miles to drive tomorrow, more than I like, but it's almost all highway, so it should be fairly easy. Had a quiet evening, getting to bed extra early so I can get a full night sleep and still get up nice and early in the morning. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Not quite as good a night sleep, but I ended up resting most of the day, only doing my laundry. I've decided to stay here until Tuesday, having made my next reservation starting on Tuesday, so tomorrow I'm hoping to have enough energy to do housekeeping and general maintenance before the long drive to PA. Ordered a Cavallo boot for Flash, one of his has split some seams and won't stay on, and I'm going to need those in coming weeks, as some of the trails I'm going on will be rocky. So, had a relatively relaxing day, still coughing up phlegm but it seems to be less thick, so I'm hoping to have a full recovery soon, I'm sick of being sick! I hope I get a good night sleep after my usual evening. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, and even fell asleep after waking up at 5:30, a rarity! I'm still not 100 percent, still coughing up phlegm and otherwise removing germs from my body, but at least I had some energy today. Finished packing up, had Luis bring down my horses (they must have been easy to catch, it didn't take him long!), and they loaded right up into the trailer. Said my good-byes and headed out by about 10:15, arriving at JCR Campground around 12:45, a bit later than I planned but I did stop for fuel along the way. Not a lot of room behind the trailer for the horses, but I managed to carve out a little spot between the fence and the hitching rails that happened to also have about the only shade tree in the whole place. It got very warm, so I was happy that I had power, albeit only 30 amp, but that was enough to run the AC all day, which I needed. Once I got set up, I discovered there was no cell phone service here, but did manage to get the password for the wifi, so I'm piggybacking off of that. I read for most of the afternoon, then had my usual evening of dinner and a movie, and intend, once again, for an early evening to that I can continue to get the rest I need and stay on the mend! Forecast is looking very hot, even up into PA, so I'm not sure when I'm going to move again, though I have confirmed that the place I want to go in PA is at nearly 2000', so it should be somewhat cooler up there. We'll see. Meanwhile, I'm sleeping in AC! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
At last I woke up with a little energy. Not a lot, but enough to get some stuff moving along today. I did a little packing up, ran into town to do some shopping, which finally included getting a long overdue compressor. I've given up on those portable tire inflators, so I had to go for a bigger 6 gallon pancake compressor. I didn't really want to carry something that big, but it seems like the only thing that might hold up over time, and will be good for a lot of other purposes, too, I think. Did my grocery shopping at Walmart, had to stop at Publix for grapefruit juice, then came back home and put everything away. An hour later, I went out to pick up some freshly-baled hay, just five bales is all I had room for, but my horses are really not liking the stuff I bought before, though this new stuff looks a lot better. Got back and got that stored, then settled down for dinner and a movie. Felt a bit tired by the end of the day, understandably, but with a good night sleep, I think I'll be fine to move on tomorrow. I only have 20 amps here, so I can't run my AC, so I really need someplace with higher power during the heat wave that's here. I'll be at a much higher altitude and latitude in PA, so hopefully it will be cooler up there. Looking forward to moving northward, even though I don't have any specific plans at the moment. Just go with the flow! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Well, I thought after doing nothing all day yesterday that I would have enough energy to get a bit busier today, but it seems, I did not. I barely managed to get up this morning, just managed to drive over and finally visit with the horses, who came running to me looking for their treats, which, of course, I had brought with me, then back to the trailer. I finished emptying my duffel bag, and that was about all the energy I had. This cold really has me dragged down! I'm hoping today's rest will be enough to have more energy tomorrow, because now I'm running out of time. I've arranged a reservation at Love Valley starting Friday, just because I don't want to overstay my welcome here, and it's time to move on. Read and napped most of the day, watched a movie, and am definitely heading to bed early, in another last ditch effort to regain my strength. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a sound sleep all night, thank goodness, but got up around 8:30, even though I would have liked to stay in bed longer. Instead, I started on laundry, since I had so much of it, and spent the day reading, resting, and watching TV in an effort to speed my recovery. Still coughing and having some chest congestion, but I think another good night sleep will have me on the mend. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll have a bit more energy, enough to figure out what it is I'm going to do for the next two weeks. Haven't heard back from the folks at Fairhill yet, so I may just have to skip by that one, as I need to make a decision here soon. Anyway, I'm done for the day, off to shower and bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!