Hiya Darlin',
Finally had a good, solid, eight hours of sleep, waking only once for a very short time. Wonderful! Did my usual chores, then put the screen room up. There were a lot of flies and gnats yesterday, so it seemed essential to have another line of defense. Did a few other minor things, then got Apollo saddled up for a short ride. I had planned out about 4.5 miles, but ended up missing a turn and getting lost. When I discovered my error, I was already halfway across my loop, and decided to keep going and just make a figure eight instead. Of course, that put me going "backward" from the markers (I hate that they don't mark both directions!), and I ended up missing some more turns, even though I was following my GPS, and where it said to turn there was no turn, so I obviously have more work to do! Apollo did well, pretty slow, naturally, and Lola was actually impatiently way out in front of us, but I managed to get him jogging for quite awhile. Once we got back to camp, though it was a bit more than 5.5 miles, I let them go a-munching again, and I worked on the trail map a bit, trying to make sense of it. Still have more work to do! A gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky, moderate temps, just perfect! Couldn't ask for more! Had a fattening chicken alfredo dinner and settled down for my usual evening. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Another beautiful day on the trail! Today I decided to take Lola with me, since there's no one else camping except the camp hosts, and no one on the trails. I was taking the orange trail, which was supposed to be about five miles, which I figured would be a good distance for her, but turned out to be about six and a half. Still, we were moving very slowly since we were clipping and lopping and pruning, and she was way ahead of us most of the time, moving very well! There were a couple of creeks and a lake, so she was able to get water, and it was a lovely ride. We left just after 10:00 and were back at 1:30, so not a terribly long ride, just perfect! They do have nice trails here, though the map is ridiculously bad, but Kathy said they're in the process of updating it, so it should be better soon. Of course, Flash was very good, though he's been getting in the habit of going really slowly in the beginning, making me think he's not feeling well, but that all disappears once we start heading back toward camp. Too many rough rides lately, I think, but he was better today than yesterday, since it's pretty easy riding here. Got back to camp and started doing a bunch of repairs. My stirrup had started to come apart again, so I put a washer in with the Chicago screw, hopefully that will keep it from pulling through. Did a bunch of mending on my saddlebags, my horn bag, and my sheepskin saddle cover. Started packing up what little I had taken out, I did a load of laundry, just because I have water and electric, a luxury I'll be without for awhile after I leave here. Put some water in the truck tank just in case. So it was a busy afternoon after the ride. Since I didn't unhook from the truck, it should be easy to get out in the morning, though I do have to stop at the dump, which is in the regular campground. Don't know how hard or easy the access is, so that should be interesting. Looking forward to Sandhills! Patsy says the trails are all in good shape, so I don't think there will be any trail work to do while I'm there, so having to fetch water and propane while I'm there will be my only challenges. Might get some rest! It's supposed to be a quiet campground, so Lola and I are looking forward to that. Just having my usual evening! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up before the alarm this morning, did all my morning chores, getting back to my old routine now that the horses are on a highline. After breakfast, I saddled up Flash and we were on the trail by 10:00. I tried to follow my planned route and didn't quite get there in the beginning because there was a gate, but eventually I got on track. I managed to do a lot of trimming on the white trail, and could see where they had stopped, and there was a lot more to do, but there wasn't any really storm damage, it looked like just regular maintenance to me. When I finished with the white trail, I turned on to the red trail, and did a bit more trimming on that, though it didn't need too much. So many spider webs, though! I had to find a massive spidey stick to keep them from completely cover me up! Not long before camp, I finally did come across the top of a large tree fall that was mostly blocking the trail, which was really a road at that point, so I finally felt like I was doing something constructive, and cleared it all away using my pruner, since it was all small limbs. Got back to camp around 2:00 and seven miles later, so not a long day, but I figured it was enough. I wasn't back at camp long before Kathy stopped by. She's the gal who's the head of the friend's group that I've been talking to. I suggested that tomorrow I work on the blue trail, but she said she managed to get three DNR folks lined up for that one, and that the orange trail needed immediate attention, so I guess that's my plan. It's only five miles long, so if it's not too bad and I have time, I may try to get over to the blue anyway. There's another small section of red I need to check as well. I also spent some time on the computer sorting out where I'll be going on Thursday. I wanted to go to Sandhills early, but didn't know if they would let me extend my stay, since I'm already at the 14 day limit, but apparently they don't enforce that during October for some reason, so I've made those arrangements to go there. It's primitive, with no power or water, but I was told I could fill up my tank at the ranger station, which is only about five miles away. I've been spoiled with water and electric lately, but it's no problem getting back to my roots, as it were! And it looks like the weather going to be perfect for quite awhile, which is good news, as there's another hurricane about to hit Florida, but it slated to go straight across the state, uncharacteristically from west to east, then out into the Atlantic. Levy County will be getting hit yet again! I'm certainly going to have my trail work cut out for me once I get there! Anyway, teatime, then shower and bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Up with the alarm, breakfast, saddling Flash and on the road by 9:00 with Linda and Holly. She drove us to a little road near Willis Springs, and we headed out on a trail that was a magnificent loop that swung us down into Georgia. We started out with quite a few trees down, but managed to clear them with no problem, then later the trail got wider, more like a forest road, and we had a lot less obstruction. Flash and Lola both had an interesting day. At one point, we went up a section of mountain that gained 200 feet in elevation in just a quarter mile, and as we neared the top, Flash just gave out. He's never done that before, but then again, usually the mountain trails we ride have switchbacks, and don't go straight up like this one did. I got off and let him rest a bit, until his shoulder stopped quivering, and finally was able to lead him to the top, which was only about 20 yards to go. We carried on okay after that, though there was one tree that we cut down that dropped right near an edge to a dropoff, and Flash just refused to go over the log. Again, he's never refused to go over a log, but I think it was because it was so close to the edge that bothered him, though he's always been okay with that before. After trying everything we could think of, I finally got out my little saw and finished cutting the log so that there was about a foot gap to get through. He even refused that! Finally, we got him through that, which was so weird. And strangely, about a quarter mile further on there was an even bigger tree just as close to the edge, and he stepped right over it without a second thought! And that time, we were in the lead, so he didn't even see the other horses stepping over it. Very weird! Well, the rest of the trip for him was more normal, but by then, Lola was getting tired and going pretty slow. I had decided to bring her because she has been so lively the last couple of days, and she so needs more exercise, and I was glad I did, even though she was slowing us down near the end. Linda and Holly really like to move out, and usually so do I, but they were nice enough to slow down a bit for Lola, who was doing her best to keep up. When we were getting ready to cross back over the Conasauga River, I was afraid she would be too tired and considered putting a rope on her to make sure she didn't get swept downstream, but she went right in the water before I had a chance and managed to get to the other side with no problem, though she was dragging the rest of the way back to the truck, about a quarter mile. But she made it! I gave her an extra pill when we got home, they've been working a miracle on her, and she did overdo it a bit today, but she'll certainly sleep tonight, and it's a good step in the direction of getting her fit again. I also had the misfortune to break my right stirrup (probably from the extra pressure of trying to get Flash over that log!), so I was loose-footed for the majority of the ride. On the way back, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant and had a nice meal and a peach margarita, which saved me from making dinner, yay! Whew, what a day! It was a nice break from all my deep-cleaning, though! Guess I'll be back to that tomorrow. Fixed my stirrup when we got back, and did a couple of other small things while I was still moving, then finally crashed into my usual evening routine. Ready for shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
What a fun day today! Flash and I did 23 miles today, some of it at a wonderful high speed. It seems I finally got my horse back! It started with a leisurely morning, having been instructed to not leave camp until 10:30 so as not to get in the way of the other competing riders, so I had Flash saddled and ready to go by that time. I gotta say, Flash was a different horse today. He was frisky and energetic and wanted to be in with the groups of horses that were riding by. He obviously though he was part of the race! So glad to have my speed demon back! I was told to take the shortcut on the bike path, so I was at the French Broad River (FBR) bridge in less than two miles. Apparently a lot of the 50's hadn't gone though yet, so I sat and chatted with Steve and Cam, who were spotters there, taking numbers as the riders went in and out of the west side until all but a few had gone through. Since my job was drag, I probably should have waited, but I figured I would be going slower and the rest would pass me. As it turned out, there were only three, and they did pass me about halfway through the ten mile loop, so I followed along, staying far enough behind to stay out of their way. The orange trail was first, and it was just lovely. We passed a lot of the farm animals, as this part of the estate is dedicated to that, with beautiful black cows and lots of sheep being guarded by Great Pyrenees. There was a sign for pigs, but I didn't see any. The weather was perfect, a bit on the warm side but gorgeous as far as I was concerned. Flash was brilliant, we did run across sections of gravel, but he didn't have any trouble powering through it, and there was mostly enough room along the side of those roads to avoid it. He kept up well, and we arrived back over the bridge very shortly after the last riders did. Just as we were on the last approach, a couple of riders that were on their third loop, the blue trail, turned up right in front of us, and Flash decided he needed to catch them, and he leapt forward and began to race with them in earnest. He's so competitive! We stayed with those long legged trotters all the way to the bridge. Once I arrived back at the spotter site, I made the decision that I would go ahead and drag the third loop, as some of the riders were already over there, and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and ride the blue trail while I had the chance, so I waited with Steve and Cam. As it turned out, there was a little miscommunication, and we waited about 15-20 minutes longer than necessary, as there were three riders who weren't coming that we were expecting. It was nearly 5:30 by this time, so I hopped on Flash and we headed out, trying to catch up with the last rider in true drag fashion. We never did quite catch up, but we came close! Flash clocked 6.8-7.0 mph the ENTIRE blue trail, PLUS the shortcut trail all the way back to camp! That was over seven miles! I finally brought him to a walk the last hundred yards or so, just to cool him down, but he was raring to go! So nice to have my REAL horse back! He performed brilliantly, I'm so proud of him! We arrived back at the trailer right at 7:00, I fed him, then jumped in the truck to get down to the awards ceremony. I was a little late, but it was all good. The trail gals I've been working with were very complimentary with their appreciation for all the work I did, especially sending them pindrops with any problem areas, they were able to find them easily. They gave me a bottle of wine and a nice snack bag for Flash, and were thrilled to hear that Flash was back to his old self today, they were worried about him being sad and depressed, but I let them know he seemed to be fully recovered because he thought he was in the ride! Finally got back to the trailer with some pizza Rachel had brought out to us at the spotter site, and settled down for a short evening. Can't wait to take my shower and get to bed! Feeling very satisfied, though, it was such a fun day. I'm going to have a leisurely morning and get out whenever I feel like it, since it's less than three hours of driving on freeway tomorrow. Looking forward to crashing when I get back to Linda's, though, I need a day off! Love you, sweetheart! Good night!

Hi Sweetie,
An excellent night sleep, a good start to our final day of trail checking. Today it's the white trail, and a mystery from the spring ride was solved. Apparently there are two white trails, the white river trail and the white forest trail. I had been told by several people that the white trail was their favorite, and the only one I knew about was the white river trail, and I didn't particularly like it. Today, however, I was checking the white FOREST trail, and I can certainly see why people liked it, it was lovely. Not quite 15 miles, it did mostly meander through the woods, so there was only the occasional bit of gravel and stone to cope with. Once again, I didn't put boots on Flash, but he was still pretty slow at first. I'm now pretty sure his problem is simply that he's depressed and missing Apollo. He's been laying down even more than usual, which is really saying something, but he didn't have any signs of limping or discomfort, he is just going really slow. Once we got turned back toward camp, though, his pace picked up considerably, so I'm thinking his slowness isn't physical, it's mental. He might be a little tired, after all he's done over 50 miles this week now, but I'm not convinced it's that. I'm continuing him on the bute, though, just in case. Normally I would give him a day off, but the trailmaster Stagg is giving me the extreme honor of being able to ride on the west trails, a rare privilege usually only reserved for the 50 milers or more, and is closed off the guests the rest of the time, so I just don't want to miss this chance! We're labeling me as a "drag rider," following behind everyone else to make sure everybody gets out okay. They apparently used to do it but quit when drag riders were getting lost, something he knows he doesn't have to worry about with me. Anyway, Flash is just going to have to tough it out for me tomorrow. I learned of a shortcut that will take about four miles off, and I'm taking the orange west trail, so in all it will be about the same as today, about 15 miles. Got back today before 3:15, chatted with Patsy a minute, then got back to camp and put Flash away, giving him some feed. He's not liking this hay too much, I'll be glad to get rid of it! Drove down to have dinner with the group, a nice self-serve buffet of rigatoni lasagna, salad and garlic knots, and sat in the riders meeting, where Stagg and I worked out the logistics for tomorrow. Got back after 7:30, watched a Farscape, won't be long out of bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
A great night sleep, managed to get out on the trail just after 10:30. Flash seems to be feeling better, though he was still crying for Apollo this morning, and he's doing a lot of laying down. That's not really unusual, it just seems he's doing it even more than ever. I know it sounds crazy, but I suspect he's depressed. I didn't put boots on this morning, and he did a lot better, though I don't know if it's the bute or the boots. Regardless, our task today was Lime Green out and Purple back, which we've done before, and it was a nice ride. I took my rain jacket along just in case, but as it turned out, it cleared up and we had blue skies for a few hours, then a few clouds came in. I heard it sprinkle for about 30 seconds, but otherwise it was a beautiful day! Today's ride took us past the goats, and they were actually in their pen today. We passed yesterday but they weren't there. We also passed by the sheep, they were just being let out into the pasture, and there were so many babies! Flash was a bit startled by them, not sure why. Their Great Pyrenees guard dog saw Flash looking at them intently, and it started him off barking away, making sure his warning was heard! Finally, we passed by the big carriage draft horses in another paddock. Busy day for the animals! It was a nice ride, and Flash did seem to move along a lot better. One more trail tomorrow! When I got back, I swung over by where the competitors were camping, and found Patsy in the same spot as in the Spring. We chatted for a bit, then I sent back and put Flash away and did some work on the computer. I made myself a nice shrimp salad and drove down to share a meal with Patsy, chatted until almost 7:00, came back and fed Flash and caught a short movie. Won't be long before shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had a little lazier start to the day, didn't get out on the trail until around noon. Flash was giving me a hard time, really fussing about his boots, and when I tried to ride him, he seriously limped for a few steps. I seemed to remember the Red trail, which is our assignment today, didn't have that much rock and gravel, so I ended up taking the boots off and putting them in my saddle bags. Since there was supposedly only a very slight chance of rain today, I took out my slicker to make room for them. That was a mistake. I also decided not to wear my rain suit again today. That was another mistake. Of course, halfway through the ride it started raining, and fortunately I did have an old holey poncho in my saddle back, which helped somewhat, both in keeping me dry and also warmer. I thought it would warm up in the afternoon, but it really didn't. With Flash limping off and on like he was, I began to think that leaving Apollo in TN was another mistake. He didn't seem as bad once the boots were off, but he was a terrible slug again today, barely topping 2.5 mph on average. It was 3:45 when we got back, which, for a ten mile ride was ridiculous! Sometime he seemed to be limping, but most of the time not, so I'm not sure if he was just playing silly buggers with me or if he was truly having a problem. Anyway, the markers were in good shape, but there was one small blockage with a bunch of vines across the trail, dragged there by a small dead tree, but I didn't have my leather gloves with me, and it looked like brambles, so I just reported it. There was another much larger tree down later, probably close to three feet in diameter across the trail, I reported that, too. Once we dragged ourselves back to camp, I gave Flash an apple spiked with bute, so hopefully he'll feel better after that. Spent a little time cleaning my tack, there was so much accumulated mud on it, it was long overdue. Around supper time, at last, a couple of other trailers started coming in. I was surprised it took so long, I seem to remember it was a lot more crowded here by this time in the spring ride, but I may be wrong. Steve and Cam arrived, they were here last time, and another couple who are just camping, though their kids will be riding this weekend. We all sat around chatting until nearly 9:00, so I'm just getting my tea and cookies now. Just about back on schedule! I'll give Flash another dose of bute in the morning, hopefully that will make it easier for him on the ride. I'm doing Lime and Purple tomorrow, together they're only about nine miles, so that should be easier, and he'll get a longer rest afterward. I hope he recovers okay, Friday's ride is about 14.5 miles, and I might even be able to get over to the west side on Saturday, that will be the longest ride yet, but I really want to do it because it's highly restricted over there and it's my only chance. Of course, I won't if he's not fit, but I'll do everything I can to get him right! Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Busy day today! Woke up and finished packing, got Flash loaded up and was on our way to the Biltmore just after 9:00. Had a wonderfully uneventful drive, and for the first time EVER, I got all the way through Knoxville with NO CONSTRUCTION! That's a first! I did run into a short section of road works right at the border to NC, but other than that, it was a breeze. Arrived pretty much on schedule, got all the way back to the volunteer parking, and discovered that unlike the last time I came here (when it was empty), today it was packed with day riders and some campers. I managed to move around and get a perfect spot, right next to the washrack so I can easily get water, and not too far back on the grass, because they're calling for a lot of rain this week (tropical storm on the coast), and I wanted to stay near the gravel. I decided I had better get the trail checking done before I got everything set up, so I got Flash out and got him saddled and we were on the trail just after 2:00, which was exactly my plan. Our first trail check for the new Green trail being used for a Ride and Tie on Friday, and the markings were all perfect except for the very end, which, after bringing it to the trail master's attention, will be fixed. Only had a few branches to trim back and one limb to be moved off the trail, other than that, the trail was fine. A lot more gravel than we like, but that's just the way it is here at the Biltmore. Flash was crying for Apollo the whole time I was tacking him up, and he's still doing it now, well into the evening. I knew he would be upset, but it just didn't make sense to make all the extra work when it wasn't necessary. We got back before 4:00, and I went about getting his fence up so I could put him away. He was pretty tired with all the travel, riding and crying for Apollo, so once he got into his paddock, he crashed for a little while. Got completely finished with setting up right at 5:00, including solar panel, though I doubt I'll get much sun with all the rain in the forecast. Looks like a lot of days riding in my rain suit! No worries, that's what I signed up for! Had dinner, managed to get a good enough cell phone signal for a couple of Farscapes, ready for an early bedtime tonight! Love you, darlin'! Good night!