Hey Darlin',
Had plenty of sleep again last night, so I woke up nice and rested, did my chores, and found the parking lot filling up with forest folks. Evidently there's a burn scheduled for 80 acres north of here. I posted a notice on the Facebook page for Goethe, then hooked up the trailer and headed to Tidewater with Flash. There's a big event this weekend and I wanted to do a good trail clearing session, and boy, did I ever! Exhausted this evening! Did a lot of heavy trimming along with a few new stickers, and was out there for over five hours, finished over 16 miles of trail, so it's no wondered I'm tired. It was after 6:00 by the time I got back, got Flash settled and fed the horses. I warmed up some leftovers and settled down for the evening, looking forward to getting to bed early. I felt like I needed some physical activity, and I sure got it today! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had a great night sleep, slept right through to the alarm this morning! Had a busy morning with chores and preparing the chicken for dinner at Jo's tonight. I had gotten up early so I could ride the entire orange long trail out of Apex, which means, except for the two cutoffs on orange and green, I've been on every designated trail out here. Yay! Thankfully, it was a lot drier, though there were still quite a few puddles and creeks, but nothing that lasted a hugely long time. Of course, all week the forecast had no rain for today, until this morning when it suddenly jumped to 60 percent. I took my new yellow Goethe poncho with me, and had to pull it out and use it when the rain started to come down a bit. Not real bad, but it was enough to get wet! I only put on a few stickers, cut a few odds and ends that were sticking out on the trail, etc., but once it started raining, I cut it short and headed straight to camp. As it turned out, I got there just in time to get Flash settled in the trailer and parked in front of the HQ for the 1:00 meeting there with Helen, Jo and Rick. Jo was a bit late, but we all had a nice chat while we were waiting. Helen remembered me, even said she had looked me up and was impressed by what I'd done. I was very flattered! We all had a nice chat, Jo presented the checks, one to the forest and one to Operation Outdoor Freedom, the two groups that are the beneficiaries of the December ride. Afterward I headed back to camp for a bit, then gathered all my stuff and headed over to Jo's, where we had a fabulous evening eating, drinking white Russians, and chatting until after 8:00. I got back to camp and fed the horses, blanketing them for 35 degree weather, though Apollo took exception and managed to kick me in the shins in his objection. We had words, then I had to put an ice pack on my leg for the rest of the evening. Watched one quick episode of Eureka before settling down to my usual Spanish lesson (600 day streak!!) and shower, then bed. Goodnight, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Woke up a bit early, but stayed in bed until the temps warmed up a bit, then did my usual morning routine. After breakfast I did work on my Quicken program, and finally managed to figure out a workaround to merge my two credit card accounts, but it will still take some more time to correct and reconcile everything. At least I have a starting point now. I cleaned the restrooms, then saddled up Apollo for a short ride. He was only slightly better today about the pigs, and it took us almost an hour just to go two miles, but at least he got off the highline for awhile. We came across one downed tree but it was a bit too big for my little pruner, so I dropped a pin on it and sent it to Ranger Rick. He happened to be nearby, and drove up the road as Apollo and I were coming back to camp on it, so we chatted a few minutes. Also chatted with some riders in camp, and Jeff stopped by for a quick chat as well. Finally settled down for the evening, started and then abandoned a movie, now I'm just about ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Well, I didn't have to wait long for a warmer, sunnier day. Well, warmer, at least. The sun came out occasionally, but it was mostly cloudy. Started in the 50's and worked it's way up to about 70 by the middle of the afternoon. With all the riding I've done in Goethe, I'd never been to the Apex trailhead by the forest headquarters, but since it's one of the trails that I'm responsible for now, I figured today was a good day to give it a look. Turns out we needed to do a LOT of work on it. We rode the long green trail, and had to cut up and move quite a few trees and limbs, cut back some growth that was sticking out into the trail, put a few new stickers on the markers, battled with some brambles, and waded through miles of water, but managed to get the trail in somewhat better shape than it was. Not perfect, but a heck of a lot better. Not sure I would willingly ride this trail again, unless it's after about a two month drought. Got soaked up to my knees, and Flash was in knee-deep water so often it turned his fur brown. Lola enjoyed playing in the water, but I think even she was tired of it by the end of our 12.5 mile ride. Took over 3.5 hours, and had to use my little pruner quite a lot. The weather was fantastic, though, so I never got too cold even with being wet. Still another trail or two out here to do, that will be on the next nice day. Got back, got everybody settled, had a nice dinner, and my evening proceeded as usual! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Woke up to a chilly morning, in the upper 30's, but nice and sunny. I couldn't decide what to do today, but as it warmed up, and as the forecast for the coming days is lots more rain, I decided to take advantage of it, so I packed up Flash and headed down to Tidewater to put in the new stickers on the markers on the purple trail. I also figured there might be some damage from the storm, and sure enough, not 100 yards out of the trailhead, I came across a pine tree across the trail. I made short work of it with my little chainsaw pruner. Fortunately, that was the only trail blockage, though I did use it again clearing some growth that was obscuring some of the markers. Flash was brilliant on the trail, standing almost perfectly at every tree. He'd sidle up to it in the exact right spot and stand quietly until I was finished with each marker. What a good boy! All except his exit from the trailer, once again, I couldn't get him to back out of the trailer, I had to let him turn around. We worked on it a bit when we got back to camp and I was finally able to back him out of the back stall, figured we can keep working on it. Anyway, it was a lovely ride despite all the work, and I even scouted out a section of the trail I'd like to move away from the road, if they'll let me. I see no reason not to move it over slightly, but I don't know the process. Got back to camp after 5:00, worked with Flash a bit on backing out of the trailer, then Jo's husband arrived, he's apparently been out scouting some of the hog hunting spots he's chose, but with all the rain, a lot of them are underwater. We chatted a few minutes, and when he left I fed the horses, came in for dinner, and settled down for the evening. Too late for a movie, I watched a couple of episodes of my current binge-watch, Eureka, now I'm ready for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Spent the morning do my usual chores, a little computer work, and finally getting Flash into the little trailer for a ride down at Tidewater. Today we were going to do the purple and blue trails, not hugely long, but I took along about a dozen purple stickers for the trail markers and ended up using them all long before I even hit two miles! There are an awful lot of markers out here that need refreshing! Once we got down to the south end of the forest, we ran into a prescribed burn they were doing, and I ended up having to take a shortcut off the purple trail to avoid the worst of it. Unfortunately, a long section of that trail had been torn up by a bulldozer, so what I imagine were lovely trails last week are a mess this week! Hopefully we'll have some rain to tamp it down, but I'm also going to see if they can run over it with a tractor to flatten it out before the next ride in three weeks. I remember they did that for us a year or two ago when one of the trails had been tilled up as a firebreak, maybe they can do that again. Otherwise, it was mostly a lovely trail, typical Florida, not too exciting, but a beautiful day! Jo had mentioned there's a stretch that goes right along the road and wondered if there was a way to reroute it to avoid that, and at a quick glance, I can't see any reason why not, but I'll have to go back and do a bit more exploring to make sure. We got back to the trailhead and got him loaded up, though he was a bear getting out earlier. For some reason he's decided he can't back out of the small trailer, something he's never had a problem with before, and keeps insisting on turning around. We worked on it for a bit, and managed to make a little progress, and when we got back home, he did manage to back out, though I could only make him do it when one back door was closed. But at least he managed! After I got him settled, I went ahead and emptied my black water into the portable tank and rolled it down to the restroom with the newly established access to the sewer line, very glad I can do that now! So much easier! Finally settled down for the evening, watched a Nicholas Cage movie, now I'm ready to finish the evening with Spanish, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Sleeping very well again these days, woke up around 7:30 but stayed in bed to read while it warmed up outside. Another chilly morning in the upper 30' this morning. Got the horses fed, did some work on planning my ride today, and was just getting ready to go when Ranger Rick came by and we chatted for awhile, talking about a slightly difference approach to the map-making that we had discussed, and also about making this campground a bit more horse trailer friendly. The sites have room, but they've built big tent pads and locked down picnic tables in areas that are so small a trailer can't get in comfortable. He seemed open to the idea, and doesn't think it will take much to accomplish, so I'm hopeful about that. Eventually I got the little trailer hooked up, filled a tire that evidently has a slow leak in it, saddled and loaded up Flash, and headed down to Tidewater to start looking after those trails. There were a couple of other day riders parked there, but I didn't see anyone. Today we took the yellow trail, the long loop that's just under 15 miles. I'm not as enamored with this side of the forest, a lot of it was more like a tree farm, there were only a couple of short sections that seemed to have live oak or cypress, there rest is just straight pine. We saw a couple of pigs (thank goodness Flash isn't bothered by them!) and made good time going around the loop. Typical Florida riding, though, nothing too exciting, but mostly flat and straightforward, with a few stretches of water. I found several stray yellow ribbons from the ride that I picked up, and let Kelsey know I had them. When I left camp this afternoon, the forecast said rain at 6:00, but naturally, just as I was arriving back at the Tidewater trailhead just after 4:00, it started to rain! Quick packed Flash in and drove back to Black Prong, got him settled, fed both horses, then settled down for the evening. It's supposed to rain most of the night off and on, but be gone by morning. Not quite as cold, mid-40's, I put on Flash's blanket by Apollo made it clear he wasn't interested in his, so I let him have his way. Fireplace is on and I'm just about warm enough to take my shower and go to bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Finally managed to get down to the south end of the 50 mile endurance trail and pick up the rest of the orange ribbons, which took most of the afternoon. Flash was once again brilliant, stopping at starting at every ribbon, which only the occasional heavy sigh. I was a bit disappointed to find that the trail I had planned and delegated to be done wasn't the trail that was marked, making the trail short by nearly a mile. Good information to have for the future, though. Once we finished picking up markers, I let Flash pick a pace, and he decided he wanted to gallop all the way home, though I kept him more at a canter, with the occasional puddle that needed to be walked. The last few miles were a record pace, though! Exhilarating! Settled down for the evening, watched a Frank Campra movie, Pocketful of Miracles, which I can't believe that I've never seen before! Not exactly Christmas, but very heartfelt nonetheless. Had a nice dinner with the movie, and an eggnog ice cream and bourbon dessert just to top it all off. Heading to shower and bed, just have shopping planned for tomorrow, so no hurry getting up in the morning. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Started out as a fairly lazy morning, did some computer work on the trail marking system here, and got a couple loads of laundry started before finally saddling up Apollo for what was supposed to be a quick ride today. It seemed, however, that a whole lot of elements came together to create quite an adventure today. Maybe it was the little treat of alfalfa I've been giving the last week (just a few handfuls with each meal), or maybe it was just because it's been awhile since we went riding (well, not THAT long), or maybe there really ARE horse-eating hogs out here, whatever, there was a conspiracy to frighten Apollo, so today's ride was more like schooling a three-year-old who'd never been on a trail before, rather than my 26 year-old usually bomb-proof senior horse! This forest is FULL of wild pigs, even close to camp, but Apollo was convinced they were all out to get him. I had to change my trail plan in the beginning just because I couldn't even get him down the first trail. We went down the road for a bit, until we finally turned into the woods, but even then he was hesitant. I was holding the reins tight in one hand and hanging onto the horn of my saddle for dear life with the other, not knowing when he was going to spin around like a cowpony, which usually ends up with me on the ground, but not today! He got really stubborn in a couple of places, but I just let him stand there trembling until he finally got past it. I was actually quite happy when we finally did see a big black pig meander across the trail in front of us, so he could see it, and hopefully realize it wasn't after him. A few minutes later, several younger ones passed by even closer, and he watched them fiercely until they disappeared. He stood stock still for awhile, and when they didn't come back, he finally moved ahead. Eventually he settled down a bit, the last mile of our 4+ mile ride was a bit more relaxed, thank goodness, but I stayed vigilant. I was determined not to end up on the ground! So it was not a very relaxing ride, but I'm glad we made it through, four and a third miles that took us nearly an hour and three quarters with all the stops, starts and standing. Regardless, I was on the back of one of my horses of Christmas Eve, so I'm still a happy camper! Got back and everyone settled, then settled myself for the evening with another Christmas movie and a couple of Eurekas before heading to shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Babe,
A decent night sleep, chores in the morning, did a little bathroom cleaning in camp, then finally saddled up Flash around 11:30 to go pick up the markers for the white trail. Lola came along and managed to get back to camp without limping, though Flash seemed a little gimpy again after about ten miles, but he made it back to camp okay. Everything's done now except the bottom half of the fifty, I need to check to see if the gals that marked it for me will be picking up the markers or if I need to do it. I think I need to give Flash the day off tomorrow, though, just to make sure he's not gimpy again. Got back around 4:00, and promptly settled into my evening routine, with one addition. I've been carrying around an unopened bottle of dry vermouth for years, promising myself that one day I would get a bottle of gin so I could use up the vermouth making martinis, and yesterday, I bought a bottle of gin so I could finally do that. So tonight, I splurged on making myself a martini (something I learned at an early age to do for my father), and I enjoyed it so much I had two! Watched another Christmas movie, then switched over to bourbon and eggnog (with both the ice cream and the liquid carton combined!), so I'm expecting a great sleep tonight! It was a lovely ride, Flash did a brilliant job, even though he did get a little impatient at the end when I took him all the way down to Helen's when he wanted to cross over the street home 1/4 mile earlier, but it had to be done! Lola, thankfully, didn't seem to get limp today like she did the other day, so she's apparently on the mend. A beautiful ride, with lots of water, and thoroughly enjoyable. Love it here! Good night, sweetie! Love you!