Archives for 2026

Hi Babe,
Finally managed to have a little quieter day today, though not quite as much as I had hoped. My dentist appointment was cancelled at the last minute, so I ended up having lunch with Art and Helen at Willard's, then I spent a little time researching travel insurance, since that seems to be a requirement of the outfitter. I've never seen such a disparity! Policies ranged from under $20 to thousands of dollars, even though the coverage didn't seem to be all that different! Very confusing. I did end up getting one, just to meet the requirement, from what I guess is one of the bigger companies so the premiums were lower. I've never bought travel insurance before, but hopefully I won't have to use it. Anyway, once I finally got that done, I relaxed for the rest of the evening, so I feel like I got a little rest. Won't be long out of bed, since I have to get going early in the morning for my postponed dental appointment at 9:00 tomorrow. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
A pretty good night sleep, chores and breakfast, then spent most of the day sorting out my airline tickets and getting them paid, figuring out which vaccines I need and get them lined up, getting my dental work scheduled, working on putting together my Tanzanian visa, etc. Very excited about making this happen! Glad it's mostly done now, though, so I can get started on the many repairs and improvements I need to make on my truck and RV. I really did a number on my ladder this last time, so I have to start that job from scratch. So much to do, and I would really have liked to have a day of true rest before I got started, but it's not going to happen right away. No worries, I'll live! And now, by being able to stay in one place for awhile, I should be able to get a lot done. Tea, shower, bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had a busy morning getting packed up and moved over to Chelle's, but managed to get over there by 10:00. Challenging to get into her driveway, it as a pretty narrow entrance with a culvert on each side, so I had to take a couple of passes at it, but managed it, just barely! Got parked in a good spot, though, near the horses' pasture, close enough for water and electric, though I may have to either get the sewer tank out of the attic or maybe borrow and extra sewer hose from Chelle to reach her trap. Either way, I'm settled in. Took a quick trip back to get my mangled ladder and to turn off the power at the host site at the trailhead. There's some hardware I want to get off the ladder, if I can, or I may just start from scratch. The ladder has been bent so many times now, and it's been needing to be repaired for a while, so it will be a good job to get that done. Once I got settled at noon, started some laundry and got on my computer, I was delighted to see an invoice from the African safari folks, so I was able to wire my payment to them, thus securing my Serengeti trip! Yay! Spent most of the rest of the day trying to work out the best routes to fly there from Gainesville, since it seems like I'll be staying here for the duration. Thought I might have some better alternatives, like flying out of Miami or Atlanta, but none of the connections made enough sense, so it looks like the DFW connection will work the best. I'm having to make it two separate flight reservations, unfortunately, because the direct flight I wanted wasn't available for points, meaning I would have to take more time and an extra stop in order to use them. Too bad, it would have been super cheap if I could have, but that's not important. I'm using points to fly from Gainesville to DFW first class, so that will help. Anyway, I put those on hold just so I can double check it all tomorrow before I make the purchase. I was just wrapping up when Art came by for a visit, staying until it was suppertime for the horses, then I settled down for the evening, hoping for a more restful day tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Another early morning, on my way by 8:15, picked up Art, arrived at Apex, dropped him off to help, and was out on the trails nice and early. Followed my plan for checking out trails and putting out the stuffed safari animals, and made it back to camp by 10:30. Did a trail talk at 11:50, everybody out by noon. Had to deliver some pizza to Station 1, which was difficult because it was after everyone left, and there was a crowd, but we managed. Everything seemed to go smoothly, we ended up with a pretty good crowd, even though the pre-registrations were down a bit this year, but we had a lot show up today, not surprising since the weather finally took a turn for the better. Gorgeous day! At 3:00, Art and I went back on the trails to take all the markers down, and managed to do all but the bike trail before it got too late, and the bike trail is only a couple of signs that can be taken down by a regular vehicle. Got all the stuffed animals back except the black bear, which was the farthest out, and the rattlesnake, which was right at the start of the rider's trailhead, but maybe one of the volunteers took that down, I don't know. Went to dinner at Willards because I was too tired to cook, and we chatted for quite awhile. Didn't get back to camp until 8:00, fed the horses, and discovered that the rope I had Lola tied to had come loose, though she was comfortable ensconced inside the trailer. For the first time in a week she hadn't torn the place apart, so at least I didn't have to yell at her for a change. Settled down for what was left of the evening, but I'm going to bed shortly, as I have plans to ride with my friend Bettina in the morning. Feeling very tired, but content that most of the plans (except parking, which I don't even want to get into!) went off pretty well. That said, good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
Woke up even before the alarm, but had a good night sleep because I went to bed pretty early, and glad I did! Off and running, running by Chelle's to pick up the signs, picked up Art hitchhiking :-), and were on the trails in the Gator by 9:30. Chilly morning, but I had my long johns and four more layers on, so it wasn't too bad except when we were heading into the wind and going fast on the road. We finished our first circuit just before 1:00, checked in with Chelle at the trailhead, then back out again for round two. I think we're in good shape. I just need to check the signs tomorrow and get the stuffed safari animals out, and I've made a plan that should be relatively straightforward to accomplish that. Arrived back at the trailhead in time for the volunteers meeting at 4:00, and managed to be on our way by 5:00, with a quick detour to Meg's to pick up the stuffed safari animals. Dropped Art off, came home to another mess, thanks to Lola. Don't know what's gotten into her lately, but she's ruined the trellis gate I had blocking the dining table and has been scratching the leather, making new tears, flipping over the garbage and sending it all over the place, and today she even managed to somehow push the welcome mat all the way into the laundry room! What a mess! She's been doing versions of this every day lately, and she's not responding very well to my anger about it, so today I put her outside and made her stay out there for a couple of hours, hoping I've made my point. We'll find out tomorrow. Anyway, as soon as I got back and got the horses taken care of, I quickly finished a couple of things on the computer, printed off a few more signs, settled down to a soup dinner and a little TV to relax, then got back to making the plan for checking the trails and putting the safari animals up. All done, so now it's tea, shower and bed, and a busy day tomorrow! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Started the day with a run down to Apex to meet the Portapotty guy to show him where we wanted our unit, then a stop and quick doggie play date while I picked up ribbons and other trail markers and helped Jo put blankets on her three horses, because there was a cold wind blowing and the temps are going down tonight. Back to camp for a short bit, then met Chelle at the She-Shed at Val's to pick up some stuff we are borrowing, which required three different stops around the property to find. Back to Chelle's where we loaded up everything in her new-to-her horse trailer and moved it down to Apex. Got back to camp for a few minutes before heading out to pick up my friend Bettina, who's staying at the Equestrian Center next door, and went to Willard's for dinner and were joined by Art, who just arrived back from Canada late this afternoon, and Chelle. Had a very nice dinner, great conversations, before taking her back to my camp for a few minutes. Found Flash running around the paddock in his usual self-exercising routine, so I decided to take a few minutes and feed them and put on their winter blankets, which I put right over their rain sheets to save time, and since it's getting back down to below freezing tonight. Finished that up and drove Bettina back to the Equestrian Center where we chatted for a few minutes, then got back to camp and settled down for the evening. Well, after I had to clean up after Lola, who has been systematically defeating the system I have for keeping her off the dining bench seat, and has pretty much destroyed the gate, and today managed to scratch a couple of new holes in my leather, exactly what I've been trying to keep her from doing. Not happy with her right now! Created some maps of the parking area for Chelle to print before really relaxing. Just tea, shower and bedtime to come! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Was a bit busier today, grateful it wasn't as cold this morning, hardly any ice on the water buckets this morning! My trail buddy DeDe came by and picked me up and we went down to Apex to run the trails, just to make sure they're in good shape for the Taste of Goethe this weekend, and was delighted to find they were in excellent shape! Very little trimming and cleaning, though we had borrowed a weed whacker to clean up the area around where Station 2 will be, but ended up doing most of it manually with loppers. It's not perfect but it looks much better, and frankly, good enough! We finished shortly after noon, so we went to Willards for lunch. Got back to camp, did some computer work, then headed over to Chelle's to drop off the weed whacker and card stock paper I picked up at Jo's for the signs. Her printer died yesterday just as she was getting started on it, so Chelle's taking over that job. I also helped her unload some hay, then back to camp where I settled down for the evening. Only put light blankets on the horses tonight, and only because there is rain coming in overnight. Thankfully, the temps are staying very moderate tonight! Looking forward to the upcoming busy days! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Not quite so cold this morning, but there was still ice on the horses' water buckets, and that's the last of it for awhile. Something about this cold weather, or maybe it's because I know the rest of the week is going to be busy, but I didn't feel like doing much today, so I didn't! What a luxury! Spent the day mostly reading and binge-watching TV, plus arranging the rough schedule for the rest of the week, but otherwise, it was an extremely quiet day. The calm before the storm, I'm sure! On that note, teatime, shower and bed! Love you, my darlin'! Good night!

Hey Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, woke up to another chilly morning, though it seems like it's going to be improving as the week goes on, and the forecast for the event on Saturday is starting to look stellar! I had both an eye appointment (everything's perfect!) and a dentist appointment (not so much), with a short stop at Walmart in between for a couple of things. Got my mail as well, got home fairly early and settled down for the day, with a couple of computer things to get done. Pretty mundane day. I'm taking advantage, though, because the rest of the week looks like it's going to be pretty hectic. Tea, shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!