Hiya sweetie!
Despite my knocking every fence post with my mallet, I woke up at 4:30 (the new 4:30 with the time change overnight), hearing a little knicker every couple of minutes. By the third knicker I knew I had a problem, so I got up, put my robe and boots on, took my flashlight, and sure enough, two posts were down and Apollo was missing. Thank goodness Flash didn’t escape, too. I headed toward the round pen, and with my bright flashlight I soon saw photo-flash eyes near the edge the of the woods beyond the pen, and walked right up to him, put on his halter and walked him back to my site. This time, I hung him up on a highline that’s a permanent fixtures between some trees, so at least he was safe until morning. I went back to bed, read for a while, then managed to get back to sleep. I woke up a few hours later, fed them both, had my breakfast, then got busy putting up my highline a bit closer to the trailer and put him on there. I decided to let Flash stay inside the fence for awhile, to let him finish the hay, but I moved over a water bucket for Apollo, and all was well. I blew up the tire on the water trailer that they have here, and it looks like it isn’t leaking, but I don’t seem to have a trailer ball small enough to fit that trailer, but I am still going to have to find some place where I can fill up with water tomorrow when I’m out shopping. Not long after that, a couple of the members here, Craig and Susan and Ashley invited me to lunch, so we headed out to the Mexican restaurant and had a nice lunch. When I got back to camp, Wayne was here, and he had brought me a pile of hay bales! All these folks are just so kind and generous! They treat me like I’m celebrity, and I’m truly flattered. JD was here, too, with his granddaughter, and I asked her if she’d like to go riding, and she said yes, so we saddled up both Flash and Apollo, then had another member, Bob, join us on his gigantic Fresian/Walker cross, and we took a nice 90 minute ride, mostly on trails I hadn’t been on before, which was lovely. Saw a few nice deer, and really enjoyed it. One trail we took was the MIA trail, and the ladies that have adopted it have put up all kinds of artwork and decorations along the way, which made it even more fun. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to take advantage since the weather is taking a turn toward freezing, supposed to get down in the low 30’s tonight! I put the warm winter blankets on the horses, got Flash on the highline and fed them with a combination of new and old hay, chatted with Bob for a bit, then Wayne stopped by after he quite raking the campground (after dark!), cleaning up after all the work we did yesterday. These guys are working so hard to get this place in shape. They are really a great bunch of folks! Once the place cleared out, I settled down for the evening. Season 7 of Agents of SHEILD was just released, so after watching a movie I watched a couple of those episodes. Of course, with the time change, it’s now dark at 5:00 (ugh!), so I’m looking forward to getting back to Eastern time in the near future. Took my shower early so I’m not going to bed with a wet head, but tonight I’m sleeping in long underwear so I won’t be freezing in the morning! It’s still pretty early, but I’m going to bed anyway, once I get the place warmed up with the furnace in a few minutes. It’s definitely going to be a cold one tonight, so I’m going up to get warm before it gets too bad. So good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi my love!
Had a great night sleep, but was awakened by a knock at the door at 7:00 am by one of my neighbors, Kathy, with Apollo (aka Houdini) on a lead. Apparently he had escaped and gone over to visit her horses, so she caught him and brought him over. She was nice enough to put the fence post back in and get him in the fence before I even had a chance to get dressed and get out there, for which I thanked her profusely. I got them fed, had breakfast, and arrived at the gathering point of the work crew that I had volunteered to help today, so it wasn’t long before we were of picking up limbs of the trees that had fallen while the guys manhandled their chainsaws throughout the campground. That kept us busy most of the morning, then eventually pizza arrived, then after lunch we headed out on the main service road and started clearing trees from out there, keeping busy until nearly 5:00 before we headed back to camp. It may have been exhausting, but it was very satisfying, we got a LOT of work done, making a big dent in the trees that came down from the tropical storm. When I got back to camp, though, once again my clever Apollo was missing, though Flash was still inside the fence, and I knew that Apollo had done one of his fence-pulling tricks, when he grabs the top of the fencepost with his teeth and pulls it out. There was one post down, but that was enough for him. Anyway, someone had put him in the round pen they have here, so I collected him and put him back, then I got the rubber mallet out and pounded every post down as much as I could, so I’m hoping that’s the last time he escapes. If not, then I’ll have to put them on a highline just to keep them safe. After I got them fed and settled, I headed over to my neighbors again, and a few other folks that had spent the day working stayed around, and we ended up telling stories and laughing harder than I have in a long time. Lola and I stayed out there till after 8:30 before finally coming back to the trailer, under the brilliant light from a full blue moon. It’s also Halloween, of course, and one lady showed up this morning in a one-piece mule pajama outfit, which was quite funny. Anyway, got back to the trailer, warmed up a piece of leftover pizza, had my nighttime tea, now I’m ready for shower and bed. I have no doubt I’ll sleep well tonight! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Woke up to a chilly morning, stayed in bed longer than I should have just to keep warm, though thankfully I brought my heavy robe to bed last night for when I finally got up. Had a hot breakfast for a change, did my morning chores, did a few computer jobs, followed up on the long-awaited refund from the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn, which still hasn’t sent me my money after almost a month, then people started arriving to do some odd jobs around camp. I met a lot of people today, and made some new friends. Two ladies took me to lunch at a Mexican restaurant, which was a lovely change of pace, I haven’t done Mexican in a long time, and we had a very nice time chatting. When I got back to camp, one of the ladies I had lunch with was going over to the mounting stairs, which I apparently inadvertently clipped when I came into the camp, which broke a board and twisted it around a bit, but she was with a man who was here to fix it, so I helped him put in the replacement board, then we enjoyed a glass of wine together before he headed home. Then I met some more women that had arrived that are just camping and riding for the weekend, and we had a chance to chat as well, ending up drinking wine around the campfire. Then a latecomer arrived, and it turned out she had been at Guntersville when I did my Snowy River last week, and they all ended up asking me to do it, so I obliged. We spent a couple of hours sitting around the campfire chatting, it was very nice. Now I’m back at home, warming the trailer up a bit (it’s supposed to get down into the mid-40’s tonight, and is already well on it’s way!), and settling down for the remainder of the evening. Tea is on and I’ll soon be on my way to shower and bed! So, good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Had a lot of rain come in overnight, so I had to put my earplugs in after a while, then got up at a good time, had breakfast and did my chores, then headed out to the grocery store for propane, only to discover that the one guy at the store that works the propane doesn’t work on Wednesdays! Would have been nice if the girl I spoke with last night had mentioned that! Anyway, the next nearest Tractor Supply ALSO didn’t have propane, so I ended up going to a hardware store for it. All this took time, so it was awhile before I got back to camp. I had some lunch, then was reading for a bit when I started to feel very tired and started to fall asleep, so I crawled into bed and had a nice long nap. There’s a tropical storm making landfall near New Orleans, and it’s supposed to arrive here overnight with strong winds and rain, so I figured I’ll have trouble sleeping tonight anyway, so a nap would do me good. It’s supposed to be gone by morning, so maybe I’ll ride in the afternoon. Flash’s ankle seems to be just fine now, so I might take him for a change. I started watching an interesting limited series program on Netflix about a girl chess prodigy, and now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, my love!

Hey Babe!
Getting used to getting up earlier, was out and about by 7:30, a quick breakfast and packing up. I didn’t do hardly any last night, left it all until today, since my next stop was only about 60 miles away, though I took a longer route to avoid climbing mountains, so it took me about two hours, I found it with no trouble, and I chose a spot the looked a little slope-y but not too bad, set up the horses’ fence and got them out so they have a nice little paddock. There are plenty of trees to highline, but I decided the fence would give them more room and be easier to clean up. I had a long chat with a local legislator about all their big plans for the place, and met the president of the local Backcountry Horsemen chapter, then set about finishing my setup. Unfortunately, that little slope turned out to be pretty deceiving, and though I got the trailer almost level with three boards under the jack, the step out of the trailer, even to the top of my two-step mounting block, was too high to be comfortable. I didn’t want to risk it, so I ended up moving to a different spot that was close by but more level, though I left the horses where they were. Once I got settled in, I ran down to the post office to make sure they would accept the General Delivery package I have coming, which they will, then went to Tractor Supply to fill up with propane, only to discover they don’t have propane at this branch, darn it! The only other place in town I could find was a grocery store, but there’s only one person that knows how to do it, and they won’t be in until morning, so I had to skip that for now. Walmart was right next door, so I ran in and grabbed a few essentials before getting back to camp. I settled down for dinner, watched a great movie about Cornish folk singers, now I’m headed to shower and bed. Water may be a problem here, their only source are a couple of tanks, so I’m not sure how long I’m going to stay. I’m feeling a bit tired, and my back hurts for some reason, so I may take tomorrow off rather than ride (other than the trip to get propane, since I’m down to my last tank, and I’m in the shade so I don’t think I’ll gain much from my solar panel, even though I set it up), but we’ll wait and see how I feel. The remains of a tropical storm is supposed to come in tonight, and there’s rain forecast for the next two days, so I may just take it easy and rest up. I have a decent cell signal, so there’s some computer work I can do that will take some time, this is a good opportunity to do it. Anyway, I’m off to my shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Another good night sleep, with only a few campers left this morning, and most moved out by mid-day. A couple of the women went for a long ride, but Flash is still favoring a foot (though it’s much better now, just not quite there yet), and it was pertty cloudy, just not the greatest weather, so I decided not to ride today. I mostly read during the afternoon, but then one of the ladies, Janet, invited me to join her for dinner at the state park Lodge, so we went there meeting at 6:30. It’s been awhile since I had a nice restaurant meal, and this was a lovely piece of salmon, all very nice. Janet was picking my brain about traveling, it’s a desire she has, too, to just travel, but she’s got a house and a business, so it’s hard for her to get away. We had a nice conversation, though, and I expect I’ll see her again, and hopefully ride with her as well. She had a mule, so that would be interesting. Anyway, I got back around 8:00, fed Lola (I did the horses before I left), and settled down with a little ice cream and reading. I’ve been bingeing on James Herriott’s series All Creatures Great and Small, about a Yorkshire-based veterinarion in the 1930’s forward. You would have loved these books, there are so many references to things I’m sure you would have recognized from your childhood growing up in England, I can almost hear you laughing at some of the clever writing. I know I’d be asking you a lot of questions about some of this stuff, I’m just guessing at some of its meanings, and you could have filled me in! Sorry you didn’t get a chance to share this with me. Anyway, once again, I’m heading off for my shower and bed, early! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey darlin!
Getting the hang of getting up earlier, I woke up around 7:00, though I stayed in bed a little longer. Heavy rain came in overnight, and though it stopped for a bit, a lot more rain came in through the day, so the ride was kind of a washout. There was only a 40 percent chance forecast, so I can understand why they didn’t postpone it until the rain date next week, but only about half the usual numbers showed up for this ride, and they all got wet. I didn’t ride because Flash still is still favoring one hind leg, and Apollo needs rest after two hard days of riding, and you know me, I’m a fair weather rider, so rain was not very appealing to me. Instead I helped the club (it’s a Backcountry Horsemen’s Chapter, you remember how great those groups were out west for improving horse camps!), by doing a few odd jobs for them, then later helping to serve, then after everyone was fed, those still remaining for the raffle were treated to my Snowy River again. I didn’t have a raffle ticket, but they ended up letting me have my choice of door prizes anyway, so I chose a nice teal halter and a green scoop. The old scoop was a little cracked, and of course, I’m using two feed cans, so that extra scoop will come in handy. I spent most of the afternoon hanging around over there, then finally came back to do some work. That battery jumper that we bought fell over and the casing where the screws went in cracked, and now it won’t take a charge, so I either need to get a replacement under warranty (doubtful), or buy another one. The trick, of course, is getting it delivered in time somewhere. Well, that’s another challenge for another day. Fed the horses, put a blanket on Flash, because it’s damp and there’s a breeze, and he takes a chill pretty easily, even though the temps aren’t supposed to get below 60, but I don’t want him to be uncomfortable. Settled down for the evening with a movie, and I’m heading for a shower and bed early again, to read for awhile. This schedule seems to be working for me, I’m actually waking up pretty rested these days. I may go for a ride tomorrow, but I’ll see how the horses and me feel in the morning. Good night, babe! Love you!