Hiya Darlin',
Not a bad night sleep considering how hot it was today, though it took me awhile to cool off enough to get to sleep. Had a pretty restful day, finally had a chance to ice my leg using my machine, because Linda has a fabulous ice-maker in her freezer, and that made a big difference. Did a load of laundry, but otherwise had a pretty lazy day, which I needed to catch up. She felt better this morning, but toward the end of the day her husband started to get sick, so now she's doubting that it was food poisoning, and maybe something she picked up at her doctor's office on Tuesday. Hopefully I don't catch whatever it is, and Richard gets over it quickly, but we should know pretty quick! Anyway, a nice relaxing day, which I needed, and hopefully a good night sleep! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had a better night sleep, woke up about 7:00, got up and did my packing, managing to get out of camp by about 8:30. It was an uneventful drive, and a beautiful one along lots of country roads, though a bit twisty and hilly, which was probably a challenge for the horses. I arrived at Linda's in TN around 11:40, and managed to get set up in decent time. I did some essential housework (it was in such bad shape it was really bugging me!) and two loads of laundry. I forgot I only have a tiny breaker here, so I could only do two things at a time, so I'm having to manage my power circuits. I didn't see Linda all day, she's suffering from food poisoning or a stomach flu, so she's not feeling well enough to visit. Hopefully tomorrow. It's a bit too hot for my liking right now, especially since I don't think I can run the AC, but I have all the fans going, and thankfully, we had a nice rain shower around 7:30, so that's cooling things down. There's more heat in the forecast, and more rain, too, so I need to get settled on some plans to get farther north! This is a great stopover, though, to do what needs to be done, even if I don't get a chance to ride. Hoping to at least get a short ride around the farm on Apollo, though, he's desperate for some exercise, as is Lola. Anyway, heading to bed soon, need to take advantage of the post-rain temps! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had an excellent night sleep, up before the alarm, fed the horses and Lola and headed over to the volunteer area where breakfast casseroles were waiting. Literally ended up sitting around all day with nothing to do but eat the voluminous amount of snacks sitting around and talking to other staffers and volunteers, mostly with the vets. But in the case of ride management, an uneventful day (other than the completion of the horses and riders) is a good thing. No real emergencies, nothing that needed to be handled, all very well done. I did have one of the vets come over and check on Flash, who is still pinning his ears back and keeping his head against the tree, but everything checked out, no fever, good gut sounds, everything was fine, so I'm thinking maybe he's just depressed standing on a highline or something. Stuck around for dinner, the awards ceremony and the raffle (I won a nice bottle of body wash), then left as the band was starting, taking two young gals with me who wanted to see how my highline was set up. Now the day is done, I'm more than ready for bed. Weird, it seems sitting around doing nothing is just as tiring as having a busy day! Anyway, bed shortly! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a pretty good night sleep, still woke up early. It seems I'm settling down to just six hours of sleep instead of my usual eight, don't know if that's permanent of temporary. The morning started out slow as the ride managed didn't get to camp until about 11:00, but after that it was go, go, go, with a lot of odds and ends. We put up canopies and corrals and cleared a trail down by the river for the photographer, as well as a few other things. Sat through the ride meeting, had dinner after that (opposite what was scheduled, but it didn't really matter), gave a tour through my trailer to a lot of folks who are nearing retirement and contemplating going full-time on the road like me. I helped nurture some newbys who have not done much camping or endurance riding, and general tried to make myself useful. Even sold a couple of books! It was 8:20 by the time I got back to feed the horses. Flash is doing better, he's been under the weather for the last couple of days. I think he got overheated on the drive up, and even though he's been drinking, eating and pooping normally, he's had his ears pinned back and was rubbing his head on the tree unnaturally, and he had some heat on his muzzle and his ears. Took him for a walk today and he pooped again, and he seemed better by dinnertime. Very productive and satisfying day! Looking forward to another one tomorrow! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Maybe went to bed a bit too early, I ended up waking up around 3:30, and only dozed occasionally after that. I finally got tired of waiting for my alarm to go off, so I got up at 5:30, still in the dark but already 72 degrees with 99% humidity. I was sweating like crazy by the time I got everything done, but I was glad to leave early, since there was a lot of rain in the forecast. I managed to get out of camp by 7:10, would you believe! I have to say, I felt a lot more confident now, considering all the work and expense I've done on everything this year. The truck has two new batteries, four new tires on the back, new back brakes as well, and a new brake controller. The trailer has two new axles, which means new brakes as well. It felt a lot more sure-footed, that's for sure! Even drove a bit faster than usual, at least before it rained too much and we ran into traffic. OMG, it was stop and go from McDonough north all the way until I got through Atlanta and onto Hwy. 400, and 75 was chock-a-block north of there, so I was glad I wasn't going straight to TN or I would have stuck another half an hour or more. It was slow going, but I did manage to arrive at just before 3:00. They found a good spot on concrete for me, with all the rain I'm sure I'd get stuck on anything less than gravel or better. Quite a few of the folks I ran into I've seen at other rides, so it's nice to be back in the family circle again! As soon as I got the horses on their highline, I headed over to the fire station and got my truck tank full of water, since I hadn't bothered to fill mine up. I didn't want to drag any extra water weight that wasn't necessary. Then I was so hungry, I decided to pick up some dinner so I wouldn't have to cook, and since I'd never tried Chik-Fil-A, and there was one handy, I decided to do that. Considering the line at the drive-thru, they did a good job and moving everyone through, so I got my Chicken Club with fries (which turned out to be waffle fries, how cool is that!) and a lemonade. Headed straight back to camp, munching on a few fries and a couple of bites of sandwich before I put it back in the bag and got out to water the horses. They were definitely thirsty! As soon as the buckets were full, I went back into the truck, figuring I'd put on the generator for a minute and heat up the chicken and bacon a bit, only to discover that Miss Lola had decided to help herself, and had torn open the bag and helped herself to every last bit of my meal, lettuce and tomato included! So much for my dinner! I ended up eating a bowl of cereal just to get me through. Finally met Shannon and we worked out a schedule for tomorrow, not starting until about 9:00, which will be wonderful if I can actually get a decent night sleep. It seem strange that I can work myself into exhaustion, and then not be able to fall asleep. It's been that way for days now! I think that may have had a lot to do with the heat, and now that I'm in upper 60's with low of 60 tonight, I think it will be a lot better. Be nice to open windows at last! Anyway, it was a good day of travel, no drama other than Lola stealing my dinner, and I'm ready for shower and bed, though I think I'll have some sleepytime tea as well. It's been too late and too hot the last few nights, and I'm thinking that's one part of my evening ritual I shouldn't neglect, and may also be contributing to my lack of sleep. Looking forward to a fun weekend with good company! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
A lousy night sleep for the second night in a row, so I woke up tired, unfortunately. Which means I've been running on adrenaline most of the day trying to get everything done. Up bright and early, was on the road not long after 8:00, first stopping at Apex and Buck Pond trailheads to glue the plaques on the final two mounting blocks. Next stop was the DMV, where I sat for nearly 90 minutes (surprise, surprise), just to change the address on my license and registrations, only to be turned down because the insurance company has never gotten around to adding those three little digits I need to match the address the SS has. So that was a bust. I made it just in time to get my haircut, a nice short cut designed to get me through the summer, then filled up with diesel (glad to see it back down to a more reasonable price), then to my mailbox, then to Ace Hardware to the return the coax cable ends I couldn't use for the radio antenna, then to Advance Auto to pick up a battery for the Buick. By that time it was late enough to get down to Kelly's to have them look at the AC that's not working (it takes a long time to get cold), which took nearly an hour, and was told the reason was because it had been overcharged! I got the impression he didn't believe me when I said no one but his guys have touched it since I had the AC done, but whatever, it works much better now! It's been in the upper 90's with a heat index well over 100, so it's been pretty unpleasant trying to work outside. From there I went to Winn Dixie to get some chicken (only because I forgot when I went by Walmart), then back to the DMV because I THOUGHT I might have solved the problem by changing my banking address, but after multiple phone calls with multiple promises, turns out nothing will get to me before tomorrow, which will be too late. Grrrr! Guess I'll have to get it through the mail anyway. Finally left there, stopped at Jo's to give her my mailbox key, then to the folks who have the Buick to drop off the battery, then finally back to camp, where I moved all the remaining hay out of the way, put the last bale in the back of the truck, and got all lined up so I only have to drop it on in the morning. I finally had to take a break just to get a drink and relax, when I got an email about my Coggins and health certificates. I had forgotten about them, so I took the time to print them up. Eventually had dinner, fed the horses, put some more stuff away including the patio rug, and now, at last, I'm calling it quits for the night. I'm going to take a shower and get to bed VERY early, with my sights on getting up at the crack of dawn (or even earlier) tomorrow so I can have a more leisurely drive. It's about 400 miles, which is more than I typically like to drive, but most of it is freeway, so it shouldn't be bad. Looking forward to seeing how my new axles and brakes work. Whew! That's enough! Good night, sweetheart (even though it's not even close to being dark yet)! Love you!