Hiya Sweetie,
Another beautiful morning, albeit a bit chilly in the early hours, as I got up a little early. Since I had a twenty mile trail to do today, I wanted to get out fairly early, and did manage to do so by about 10:00. The yellow trail didn't have quite as much road riding, but I have to say, with all this beautiful pine forest around, to have so much of the horse trail on the roads is a bit disappointing. Granted, the roads are mostly sandy, only a few places with any gravel, and only for a very short time, so I'm sure the endurance folks love it, but as for pleasure riding, I prefer something a lot more like a single track, not a road wide enough for two semis to pass each other. Patsy gave me two cans of yellow paint, so I was very careful for the first ten miles, and I managed to reach the ten mile mark just as the first can was empty, but the second half needed so much attention, I was afraid I would run out, so I ended up really scrimping the last four or five miles, and only had enough to do the turns. We ended up doing about 21.3 miles, and Flash was great again! Managed to get back into camp by 3:30, so I spent a little time mending a couple of things, like the ring on my saddle bag and a strap on my wool seat pad. Finally settled down for dinner and a movie, not sure yet which trail I'm taking tomorrow, but still plan an early bedtime. Good might, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Woke up to a beautiful, though a bit windy, morning, got my chores and breakfast done, then saddled Flash and headed out on the Pink Trail. I'm finding the trails here very well marked with only a few areas that need attention. The Pink trail started out on a couple of miles of wide, sandy roads, so not the prettiest trail, but eventually the lollipop stick gave out to a better loop through the woods. There were a couple of areas that had been logged recently, and there was some small trees and limbs on the ground, but too many to pick up. I cleared a couple of problem areas, but left the rest. I probably put up about half a dozen or so markers in places where I felt there was too much distance between them, but other than that, it was mostly a delightful pleasure ride. Flash was in good spirits after having a day off, and was very cooperative in everything we did. Got back to camp by around 4:00, got him settled, then had my usual evening of dinner and a movie. I'm planning on about 20 miles tomorrow, so to bed early! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had an excellent night sleep, without earplugs, didn't hear a sound all night. Was delighted when I looked out in the morning and saw Apollo getting a drink, so I knew he was feeling better. Turned out his feed and carrot bucket was empty, and at least half the hay was gone, so he's almost back to normal. Was planning on going riding around 10:00, but Patsy was delayed, and I ended up waiting for her, then there were some issues about the ride that needed to be resolved, so we waited for Nathalie, who arrived around noon. We spent a good 90 minutes sorting out various details about how we could mesh all the rides together in the most equitable way, and we managed to get it mostly sorted out. Finally, anxious Flash was let loose, and we flew down the purple dot trail with no agenda other than to see if we could follow the markings well enough, and thankfully, we had no problem whatsoever. It was a fabulous ride, perfect weather, great trails, almost entirely pine forest (which makes sense since this ride is called the Ride in the Pines!) and Flash was definitely feeling his oats! We did over ten miles in about 90 minutes, so a respectable time. This area is known for it's dog training, and we came across some folks shooting pistols and having their bird dogs retrieve dummy birds, and I watched for a few minutes. They were kind enough to ask if I wanted them to hold on shooting until I passed, but I said, no, go ahead. I was curious what Flash would do with a gunshot that close, and not surprisingly, he was brilliant! One little twitch and that was it! Then we passed while they continued with the rest of the fetching training. It was fun to watch. Got back to camp and spent some time working on the map for various reasons, and spoke with each of the ladies afterwards, and I think we've got everything pretty well covered so far. Settled down for the evening, expecting rain to come in overnight and a rainy day tomorrow, which is perfect timing for me to finish my taxes. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had an urge to ride someplace new today, so after my Sunday breakfast of blueberry pancakes, I hooked up the little trailer again, loaded up Flash and headed for a 45-minute drive to Cedar Key, pretty much due east of here. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going, and I passed one trailhead, and after making a turn, I had just about convinced myself that I was going to the wrong place when I saw a horse crossing sign, and a small parking area with signs for equestrians, so I managed to find it after all! Some guy in a van was parked so poorly, blocking part of the entrance, so I had to go in very slowly to miss him (he was too busy on the phone to bother moving, I guess), but I managed it. Got Flash saddled up and off we went! Not a huge amount of trails here, we ended up going out numerous dead-end spurs, but managed to get nearly 8.5 miles in. The trailhead I passed had some more miles in between it and where I started, but I'm happy I started in the middle, I got a good feel for the place. It was pretty nice, though there wasn't a lot of shade. The trails were quite wide and mostly dry, just a few puddles occasionally. There were several trails that were lined with some beautiful bushes that looked like they were covered with buds that were just about to open up, but their fragrance was already starting to come through, reminded me of lilacs! Probably going to be gorgeous next week. I love this feature on my phone that lets me take a picture and then it tells me what it is! I looked up the bushes, and according to Google, they're fetterbushes. Very pretty, but also apparently very poisonous, so I'm glad didn't touch them. Learn something new every day! The rest of the area was mostly open, with some sections that were pure swampland. I heard gators growling as soon as I left the parking area. We were out less than two hours, but it was a nice ride, purely for recreation, no measuring, maps, ribbons or planning, so very enjoyable. Flash stretched out on a number of occasions, gaiting and cantering, so we were moving right along. Nice to get on some new trails! Got back to camp by 4:00 and settled down for the evening early. Won't be long out of bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Glad to finally report that all of the trail marker retrieval is complete! I'm exhausted, but content that the job is finally finished. I can feel my body crashing, and I'm glad there's rain forecast for Wednesday, because my plan is to do as little as possible except rest and recover. Flash and I made decent time, getting back to camp by 2:30 or so, with all the horse gear put away by 3:00. I headed into town to pick up fuel, a few things from Walmart and Tractor Supply (though not the Balance I need, darn it!), and finally decided to reward myself with a nice sit-down dinner at Beef O'Brady's, where I had surf N Turf (steak and shrimp, though, not lobster) a Guinness and high calorie onion rings, just because. As much as I've liked the pasta casserole, every day was getting a bit boring, and I haven't had any beef in a long time. Got back to camp around six, fed the horses, poured myself a bourbon, started another load of laundry (my third today) and settled down for the evening. I can feel my body going into crash mode! Good thing there's no rush getting out of here tomorrow, all I have to do is pack and get back to Goethe tomorrow, and it's only a 90 minute drive, so I don't plan on getting up early tomorrow! Settled down to a little TV and a search for Balance (Rural King, Crystal River), and won't be long out of bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Another exhausting day, doing the Blue trail, which I had to reroute several times because of trail complications, and the Red trail, which I had to also reroute to get it back to where I had originally planned it, which worked out perfectly. All told, Flash and I did 26.5 miles today! Poor thing is exhausted! I have a couple of signs I need to put up on the Blue trail in the morning, for which I think I'll take Apollo, since it's not very far out of camp and he needs the exercise (not to mention Flash needs a day off!), and to get the water out. I've determined I need four water stops, hope we have enough tubs for that. I was in the saddle for about 10.5 hours today, didn't get back to camp until 7:30, it took every ounce of energy I had left to feed the horses and get my self dinner. Thanks goodness for Taste of Goethe leftover pasta casserole! Finalized the routes and the water stops, it's already after 10:00, still have to take my shower, so I'm off. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya, Babe!
Another chilly morning, another exhausting day, but Flash and I managed to get the convoluted Pink trail done. Had to make several changes, once again because of trails on the map that were impassable, and not just because of last year's hurricane, These look like they haven't been touched in a decade or more! Too bad, too, because they were lovely trails. So that made some of the intersections even more convoluted, so I did my best to mark them clearly, but no doubt someone will get confused and lost, even with ample warning. Some beautiful trails, though, I tried to use as much of the Suwannee River trail as I could. Tomorrow's going to be even tougher in some ways, as I not only have to put in the 10 mile Blue Trail, which may or may not have some impassable trails that will have to be rerouted, plus I have to go back and fix the red trail, which means picking up the markers further north which will add even more mileage. Clearly more than 20 miles on tap for tomorrow, unless I wait until Friday, but it's supposed to rain, plus I have to put out water troughs, so that's going to be very busy as well. And since I only have Saturday and Sunday, and maybe Monday morning to pick up markers, it's going to be non-stop until Tuesday, unless I decide to stay another day here, which I may very well do. Whew! I can't write anymore, I have to get to bed. Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
Had a good night sleep, but was very glad I put the fireplace on last night, as it got down into the 30's! Was barely 40 when I got up, and the wind made it feel even colder, but the trailer was toasty, thank goodness! Did my chores nevertheless, and kept procrastinating my departure because of the cold, but put on enough layers to make myself comfortable and carried on! Got delayed a bit because I had neighbors that wanted to chat, but finally got out around 11:30 or so. This white trail was supposed to be the most straight-forward, and, I hoped, the easiest, but then again, I'm trying to mark trails I've never been on, so it still turned into a challenge. I got sidetracked several times, and had to go back and straighten it out, so the 15 miles trail turned into a 20.5 mile ride to get it right. I have to admit, it was a bit easier being on my own, but even Flash was getting a bit antsy by our sixth hour on the trail (it was over seven by the time we finished!), so I had to deal with his unruliness, which just made it all the more challenging. I got a better feel for the area, though, which was helpful. I only had to clear a couple of spots, but there's one trail that is completely blocked, and as much as I tried to clear it, it just wasn't totally possible, though it is passable to some degree. I contacted the Water Management District, and I'm hoping they'll be able to come out and clear it, but regardless, the trail is going through there, one way or another! The guy did get back to me quickly, though I won't know if it will be resolved until I speak with him in the morning. But at least the trail is marked and as ready as it could be under the circumstances. Arrived back home exhausted, just managed to feed the horses and myself, and now I'm ready to crash, nice and early, because tomorrow is bound to be even more difficult, as I'm using a lot of smaller side trails that may not be in very good shape, and that's problematic! So I'm off to bed early. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Happy Birthday, my love!
Hard to believe you would have been 90 today, if you had only made it this far! Still celebrating our life together, you made me whole, and I miss you! But we never lived in the past, always the future, so today was another day of pressing forward for me! Woke up to a rainy day, and had to finish packing in the rain, unfortunately, but at least it quit about 20 minutes before I got to the Rest and Ride here in Suwannee. It's literally only a couple minutes away from Sheila's place, so in many way, it felt like a sort of homecoming. I guess whenever I spend any extended period of time anywhere it will feel like that! Arrived around 11:20 after an uneventful drive, but that didn't leave me much time to get ready, so I didn't even unhook the truck before I put Apollo in a paddock and saddled up Flash. Penny arrived on time, but after Linda, who I hadn't realized was the same Linda that stayed at Sheila's place with me, and even rode Apollo one day when her horse was not up to par! Small world! She's since sold her house and bought a new trailer, and has committed to being full-time on the road like me! Nice to see her again. So we headed off just after noon, and while it was productive, it was also a bit frustrating for many reasons. Penny isn't literate in GPS or Google Earth or any of the tools I sent her to use, so we were basically winging it most of the day. Trails I had opted to use (and were perfectly workable) she had never seen before, so they needed extra clearing, which kind of defeated the purpose of having her scout the trails for me. I also let her take me to the Suwannes Springs loop she kept insisting I use, but I really disliked it, as it went by and through a very junky area, not to mention under a bridge where apparently homeless people live, though they weren't there when we went through. Nevertheless, Linda's horse freaked out at the traffic barreling past her overhead on the bridge, and even Flash had trouble passing the dilapidated trailers past the junkyard, so I'm really adverse to using that last loop. I'm still trying to work out exactly the trail, and was a bit disheartened that we ran out of time to check out the last two trails I wanted. I also got turned around once and had to correct that mistake, so everything took longer than I expected. It was well after 5:30 when we got back, and then Penny wanted to show me where the best places to put out water troughs would be, so we spent another hour driving around the various trailheads that she thought might work. Of course, I can't decide that until I decide which trails we're going to take, and that's still entirely up in the air. This is really hard, to try to plan a ride when I have no idea what the trails are like, and no one to scout them out for me ahead of time. And it was all made worse by the fact that Flash was misbehaving, probably because of the other horses, but he was very jumpy all day, and I was getting rope burns from trying to hold him in all day. Just another reminder of why I prefer to ride along, especially when I'm marking trails. Anyway, it was after 7:00 by the time we got back, and by the time I fed and blanketed the horses (it was going to go into the 30's tonight!), it was quite late. I managed to soak Lola's foot a couple of times before I finally called it a night. Feel pretty tired, and a little frustrated, but, that's life! At least I'm still above ground, my love! Good night, babe!

Hi Sweetie!
Had a lovely, busy day today! A good night sleep, followed by my usual morning routine, then I hitched up the little trailer and loaded up Flash and headed over to Shangrila, which was surprisingly a lot closer than I thought, only about 50 minutes. Allyson arrived before me, but then Bettina and Amber go slowed down with an accident on the turnpike, so it was after 1:30 by the time we got on the trail. I managed to download a map onto Avenza, but that didn't prevent me from getting lost several times, so it was an adventure! A nice ride, though, glad to be in the shade with temps in the mid 80's already. Got back to the trailhead and went our separate ways, (though they're coming over for the Taste of Goethe on Saturday), I ran into Dunnellon, stopping first to top off fuel (got a ten cent discount at Murphy, so it was only $3.79, which is a bargain these days!), a quick run into Walmart for a few things, then to Tractor Supply to pick up an order I made yesterday, which they couldn't find, and then when they finally did find it, it was only two bags of Senior, and the other three bags I ordered they didn't have. When they finally found the Senior, it wasn't where it was supposed to be, and it had stuff piled on it, so instead of the five minutes I was expecting it to take, it was more like 15 and I didn't get what I needed. Not a happy camper after that! Another quick stop at Publix for nectar, then finally got back to camp. Running late, so I raced through feeding the horses, nuked a shepherd's pie I bought just because I wanted something different and fast, and scarped that down too fast. I just managed to make it to the 7:00 meeting on time, and that went for nearly two hours, and now I have a long list of things I need to collect tomorrow, so any chance of riding with the gals again is gone. It's going to be a very busy couple of weeks, if not longer! With Taste of Goethe Saturday, followed by the cleanup, packing on Sunday to get ready to leave on Monday, then all week marking trails for the Suwannee ride next weekend, then back here for two weeks before heading up to South Carolina for the Ride in the Pines... Whew!! I'm getting tired just thinking about it! But I'm glad, though, I feel like I've been too stagnant for awhile, looking forward to moving on to the next projects. Collected a few things I'll need for Saturday this evening, with a long list to gather tomorrow, so I won't be long out of bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!