Pix to come!

Hey Babe!
What gorgeous weather we are having, so much more comfortable than down in Indiana! Was below 50 when I got up, warmed up nicely! Forgot to set my alarm, and slept until 8:00, so I had to rush chores and breakfast to make it down the group camp by 9:00. Drove down, but discovered that the meeting I thought was at 9:00 wasn't really, but after speaking with several folks, it was determined that a section of the ten-mile loop had been marked the wrong way, so I offered to ride out there and straighten it out. Drove back to my camp, saddled up Flash, and headed out on trail. He started out slow for about the first 100 yards, but then he picked up to his normal speed, and when we turned off the first loop in the opposite direction from yesterday, he re-engaged his brain and came alive. The first section was along the AuSable river, and it was gorgeous! Eventually we crossed Rollaways Road and ended up on some fabulous hard packed sand roads which made Flash immediately want to canter, which we did, for miles, only stopping to change the markers. We did the whole ten miles, including the markers, and still got back to camp in less than two hours! True speed demon today! What a pleasure this horse is to ride! Once we got back to camp, there wasn't anything else I could help with, so I went back to my site, then drove out to find a cell phone signal good enough to get an internet connection. I drove most of the way Hale, about 8 miles or so, before I got a connection good enough for internet, and then for some reason, I still wasn't able to make a phone call! Four bars and I couldn't make a call??!! What's up with that, Verizon! I was delighted to see an email from Starlink saying my unit had been shipped (yay!), but FedEx tracking said they hadn't received the package yet. Coming from Washington State, but hopefully it will arrive early next week. What a godsend that will be! Went back to the group camp at 4:00 when the vetting was supposed to start, but neither vet arrived until after 5:30, so vetting didn't start until after we ate, around 6:15. We did manage to get everyone vetted in before the ride meeting at 7:00, which lasted nearly an hour, but several people introduced themselves to me after Barb called me out for my trail-marking, including Jan G. who had offered to put me up at her place when I broke down earlier this week, and several others I had met previously during the 2023 Shore to Shore ride. Seems most of them have been following me on Facebook! Just as I was leaving, I noticed my phone had a bit of a signal in the spot where I parked my truck, so I did a quick Spanish lesson (I had forgotten to do it while I was out today) and checked a few other things quickly before it petered out on me. So intermittent, so crazy! Anyway, got back to my site, fed the horses and took Lola for a walk. Ready to settle down for a short tea and ice cream break, shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Went to bed at a reasonable hour and was rewarded with a good night sleep. Woke about 7:00, but read until I got up at 8:00. Flash and Apollo had a nice run around the paddock this morning, so taking Flash for a ride was a must today! Brian had slipped by at some point and left me markers, though I still wasn't sure what the plan was. Did chores and breakfast, then Brian came by on his ATV and we chatted a bit. Turns out Harry and Cheryl for the MTRA are here to help with the ride, I met them back in 2023 when I did the two Shore to Shore rides, so we walked over there and chatted with them for a bit. Eventually the ranger came by and opened the group camp gate just before noon, so I came back and saddled up Flash and headed over, finally meeting Ride Manager Barf in person. She determined that she would ride and mark the 10 mile and I would ride and mark the 15 mile ride, so I went back for the markers and hit the trail. We're only doing ribbons, the MTRA folks will finish it up, with some supervision, since they're not as experienced in endurance-style trail marking. I remembered that this was my favorite section of trail on the S2S rides and it once again put me in my happy place! It runs right along the AuSable River for most of the way, then it turned on a sand road for a a mile or so, then south again, doing a lollipop configuration back to the S2S. Flash loved it! Only a little bit of it was rocky, so he really got moving when we hit the rest of it! We left just before 2:00 and were coming into camp at 5:00, so 15 miles in three hours, while marking trails and occasionally clearing a few branches, well, we made good time! I thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Nice trails, great horse, perfect cloud-free sky in the mid-70's, just what I crave! Happy day! Once I got back and put Flash away, I tried to check my email, stock portfolio and do my Spanish lesson, but the cell phone signal here just wasn't having it, so I ended up driving all the way to the end of Rollaway Rd., and even then I was only barely able to do my lesson. Can't wait to get my new Starlink, I'm sick and tired of all the time I am TRYING to get internet service through my phone when the signal is so bad. I don't know what's up with Verizon, they usually have the best coverage, but Northern Michigan seems all but barren of signal, darn it. Finally got back to camp and settled down, made some dinner (after starving all day!, but my weight was down this morning, so I'm not complaining!), and am now just trying to finish off a few things before shower and bed. I hate it still being so light at 9:30 at night! KILL DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!! Anyway, overall a great day, off to shower and bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had another lousy night sleep, tired of feeling tired, not sure what's causing it, except Lola being restless again. Sigh... Woke up not only to hot and humid weather, it was also very smoky. Apparently there are wildfires in Canada that are causing all kinds of smoke pollution, and it all drifting this way. It seems to be worse in Michigan, where I am planning to go on Monday, but hopefully the rain over the weekend will help clear it up. Anyway, had about a six mile ride which took several hours because I spent most of it doing trail clearing. Lots of raspberry brambles, and have the scratches to show for it, plus a lot of other bushes and trees that needed to be cut back as well. Flash was his usual patient self, letting me drop all kinds of limbs and branches on his head in the process. Got back around 2:00, read for some of the afternoon, then walked Lola up to Linda's trailer where I got a quick tutorial on how the ride will be done tomorrow. Sounds interesting, looking forward to it. It doesn't start until noon, and there's rain and heat in the forecast, so I hope we're not rained out. Had a quiet evening of House episodes, determined to get to be earlier tonight, hoping to reset my body clock, though my lack of sleep is mostly being caused by Lola being restless, so I'm not sure what I can do about that. Anyway, off to shower and bed. Good night, baby. Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had another crappy night sleep. Don't know what's going on, though this morning my sleeping issue was compounded by Lola getting very restless before daybreak, so that didn't help my already annoying sleep issue. Got up a bit after 8:00, did chores, printed off a change of address letter for the British pension, then saddled up Apollo for a short ride, about 1.6 miles, just for some exercise for him. After we got back, I headed out for a bunch of errands, stopping to finally talk to Linda, who's helping organize the ride this weekend, then headed down to Plymouth to Tractor Supply, topped off three tanks of propane and picked up some horse feed, then Walmart for what was supposed to be just a few things, and turned into $175, picked up fuel at a Speedway with the lowest price around, $4.60 with my member discount (glad to see prices have been dropping lately!), stopped at the post office to mail the aforementioned letter, and finally picked up a dozen bales of 2nd cutting hay at a local haymaker. Nice grass hay, the going price lately is $7 a bale. Can't say I blame them with the high cost of diesel, though I expect that will go down as the summer progresses. Got back to camp after 4:00, stored the hay and feed, and finally settled down for the afternoon. Had some visitors around 5:00, the family that came by the other day. They gave me a lovely thank you card, a key chain and some more peppermints for the horses, which we promptly started to feed my boys. We ended up putting both girls on both horses and walking them in a circle around the paddock a few times. Gotta do everything we can to make new cowgirls! They stayed about 45 minutes, then I went on to make my dinner and have a couple of drinks, hoping it might make me sleep a bit better. I'm determined to adjust my sleep cycle so that I can sleep better, but it all goes back to HATING DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!! It's crazy that it's still light at 9:30, and it's only going to get worse as I go farther north, but I guess it can't be helped. Took Lola for her last walk of the day, came upon Linda and her granddaughter and chatted a few minutes with them before finally getting back to the camper and finishing the night with another bourbon (hoping it will help me sleep). At least it was a productive day! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Not a very good night sleep for some reason, got chores and breakfast done, then saddled up Flash for a spin around the park. I had met up with two ladies yesterday who are involved with the ride this weekend, and they indicated that the trails were in pretty good shape, so I decided not to take my clearing tools and just have a pleasure ride. Turned out there is a lot of clearing that could be done, but I was kind of glad I didn't take my tools along, or it would definitely have been a work day and not a pleasure ride. We did about seven miles, which is practically every trail in here, not really a lot, but what's here is pretty nice, except for the brambles. Was only out for about an hour and a half. Flash was in a pretty good mood, doing a nice four+ mph walk the whole way. Got back to camp and spent some time working on the kitchen faucet, something inside of it slipped, but I only made a marginal improvement. Another thing on my list of trailer repairs the next time I take it in. Then I spent time finding hay and making an order at Tractor Supply, although the nearest TSC doesn't refill propane tanks, so I'm have to go quite a bit out of my way for that, but I also need horse feed, so I'll make that trip tomorrow. Pretty hot today, can't wait to be heading north so I can enjoy the summer weather without it being too hot to ride or do anything else outside! Settled down for the rest of the day and evening, cleaned up my saddle a bit, it was pretty muddy from the previous muddy days, tried to hook up with Linda, the gal ride organizer Marti suggested I get together with, but all three times I went by, either on horseback or walking Lola, she wasn't there. Hopefully we'll catch up tomorrow! Horses are good in a nice fenced in pen, and Lola's enjoying some freedom. I've been letting her out alone since there's no one else near us and she's not fit enough to get too far, though I've been walking her on her leash when we go farther. Anyway, an otherwise quiet day, and ready for bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had a good night sleep, woke up before my alarm, got breakfast and chores done before heading out to check out some more trails. I had intended to do all of the remaining loops, about 10 miles, but Flash was showing signs of some gimpiness, so I cut it back to the two southern loops and two shortcut trails, about five miles in all. The trails are not difficult per se, but they are not pleasant inasmuch as there are long stretches of mud, some of it quite deep, and more long stretches of gravel. The combination is my least favorite, because I'd like to use boots for the gravel, but with deep mud, I'll be so concerned about losing a boot it won't be very enjoyable. I'm sure Flash will be happy to have the rest of the week off! When I got back, I ponied Apollo around the campground loop a couple of times just to get him some exercise. After putting them both away, I headed out to nearby Huntington to do some shopping. I was disappointed to learn that the Tractor Supply there doesn't do propane fillups (even though it says they do on the website), so I wasn't able to fill up my two empty tanks. No worries, though, I won't need any more for a couple of weeks, since I have electric here and at the next stop. Went to Ace Hardware to try to find a cap for the hub on my utility cart, I lost it back at Tippecanoe and my wheel has been falling off. They didn't have exactly the right thing, but in the end, with a little German ingenuity and a sledge hammer, I managed to make it work. Was very happy to see diesel prices coming down, found a Phillips that had diesel at $4.59, so I topped off. Guess the Iran war is getting more settled and the Hormuz strait is more open. I don't know, I never watch the news anymore, too depressing. Finished off at Walmart, as usual, and stocked up on all the usual stuff, plus a few extras just to solve a few issues and repairs. Settled down for the usual evening routine, off to shower and bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
A good night sleep, woke up to my alarm so that I could get an early start, got chores and breakfast done, saddled up Flash and was out on trail by 10:30, with perfect weather. Trails were pretty wet and muddy, plus there are lots of areas with heavy gravel, so it was a classic case of "to boot or not to boot." I took them with me but didn't put them on. I came across a couple of sections that were all but impassable with downed trees, and a couple of places that were just inconvenient to get around, sent the info all off to ride manager Noelle, as I'm sure she had someone with chainsaw skills available to help out. It was a lovely ride, reaching all the way up to the farthest north loops, though I didn't go around the big fields, figured that was surplus to requirement. Flash was his usual brilliant self, naturally. Got back right around 3:00, gave him a nice rinse, Lola for a walk, and settled down for the rest of the day. Perfect weather, a wonderful ride, couldn't ask for much else! Good day! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
It just doesn't seem possible that it's been 50 years since we celebrated the Bicentennial during the year I graduated from high school! It really drives home the point that life is short! That being said, it's been an amazing 50 years, so much has happened, so much of our life together just flew by, and yet, we filled it with so much. I could not have asked for a more fulfilling life, and to have a better life partner than you, my soulmater, my best friend, my greatest love. These times are amazing! But back to my small life, I slept obscenely late this morning before getting up, because the forecast said it would rain this morning and I didn't want to set the alarm only to wake up to rain, so when I finally did wake up, it wasn't long before I was saddling up Flash for our Independence Day ride. We did the north loop and the west loop, trying to get in as many miles as we could, since this will be our last ride here, and that's a challenge since there isn't a lot of miles of trail here. We did have a storm front come through last night, and it dropped more trees and limbs on the trail, so there were several challenges along the way, but nothing too serious. Flash was, of course, his usual brilliant self. I swear, he knew exactly where the halfway point was, because he immediately started speeding up once we hit it, even though it was an east/west part of the loop and camp was to the south. He's so funny! During the last stretch on the trail on the southwest side of camp, there were some more limbs down, and at that time, I didn't think much of it. We got back to camp and I picked up Apollo and ponied him, just to get him some exercise, going along the #10 loop and back again, which he seems quite happy about. Once we got back to camp, I let them graze in the clover and grass for a bit before putting them away. The storm front dropped the temps a bit, so it was nowhere near as hot as it has been, thank goodness! When I eventually took Lola for a walk, I was astonished to see the amount of damage the storm had caused in the campground! It was mostly localized to the southern section, where there is a wide open field to the south, so I'm thinking some straight line winds must have come up, since I don't think it was a tornado, that would have caused a lot more damage. Good news is, it didn't cause any damage, except one limb down, on the north side of the campground where we are located. Very glad about that! Anyway, settled down for the rest of the day, more rain came in and the temps dropped again, so I didn't have to run the generator and AC as long as I have been. Watched some episodes of House, then a number of the July 4th celebrations, now I'm headed to shower and bed. I'm listening to a lot of booming in the background right now, and I had to sedate Lola awhile ago to keep her calm, but celebrating this great event is worth it! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Lola was restless at 2:00 a.m., panting so hard it woke me up. Took me almost an hour to get her cooled down, putting a fan in front of her, an ice pack on her, taking her out to her pool to wet her down. She finally cooled off enough to minimize her panting, but I finally had to put in earplugs if I was going to get any sleep, which I finally did. Got up with a plan, though! After chores and breakfast, I saddled up Flash for a ride. I decided that I wasn't going to let myself become a weather wuss! So what if it's hot out, it's always cooler in the woods, and it hasn't been that long since this gal spent a summer in south Florida putting in an entire trail system in 95 degree heat with 100 percent humidity, and survived! So Flash and I took a nice ride, about 6.5 miles, during which I stopped at the fire tower and climbed all the way to the top, just to see the view! I'm wondering if I'll be able to see fireworks from here, like I always like to do at Watkins Glen. Considering doing that if it isn't raining. Anyway, it was a lovely ride which didn't phase either of us. Once we got back and I put him away, Lola and I got in the pre-cooled truck and drove up to Tractor Supply to refill three of my propane tanks. It's only about 15 minutes away, so my plan is to simply run my generator as long as necessary to run the AC during the hot spell. Fortunately, it never overheated on me, and ran all day and evening with no problem, and managed to get it comfortable. It's sure to get stuffy overnight, but that's the best I can do for now. I had the horses loose on the grounds, since there is no one here, and yesterday the gal ranger had no problem with it, but today the old guy ranger made me put them away. Sigh... Such nice grass and clover going to waste! Finished off my Being Erica series and started on House, which I had heard was good but never saw, so that will be my latest binge. Time to take my cold shower and go to bed. Fingers crossed Lola lets me sleep through the night! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
First job this morning was the check the oil in the generator to make sure that wasn't the problem, and was happy to see it was fine. Started it up and ran it for a good couple of hours, finally managed to make a dent in recharging the batteries, yay! Did a few other chores and computer searches, and was quite surprised when it started drizzling, as there was not one word about rain in the forecast! When it finally cleared up in early afternoon, I saddled up Apollo for a change. I am starting to see just how detrimental letting him atrophy is becoming, so that's something I need to remedy. I trimmed his front hooves, then rode him for a very short ride down to the Tippecanoe River, then added a bit more by going around the west loop of the campground. Just at two miles when we got back to the campsite, which I thought was a good start, all things considered. By then, most of the camp was empty, there are only a few folks left, typical of a Sunday. Took Lola for a couple of walks today, she is doing so much better! She's been going in and out by herself without injury, so I'm really beginning to think it's not a torn ACL, just some other soft tissue issue. Settled down for some more binge watching, ran the generator again for a bit, happy to see it really charging up the batteries again. Headed to bed shortly! Good night, baby! Love you!