Hi Darlin’!,
What a busy day! Got up early, quick did chores and breakfast, called the tire store and confirmed my tires were in, drove down there, they were done within the hour (tires look and rode great!), got back to camp and took Apollo for our first ride together in months! We covered the Poker Run trail, and there were only a couple of limbs down which I managed to clear up with my campsaw, so no sawyer needed, then started work on the awning. Managed to get the motor off with only one minor scratch to my face (the arm didn’t quite go the way I expected, but no big deal!), then spent the afternoon tearing the motor down to its smallest parts. I managed to free everything up, and started putting it back together, bench testing it with the truck battery every step of the way. I think I finally got everything working, but when I put it back together, I didn’t notice that one set of wires was farther away than it should have been, and wouldn’t you know, when I tried to get it apart again to fix it, I rounded out the phillips head screw. So now I have to try to drill or tap it out, and I’m thinking of just taking it to a hardware store and seeing if they’ll do it for me, or at least show me what tools I need to do it. Probably could use a tapping kit anyway. Probably have one somewhere, just don’t recognize it! More likely I sold it at one of my garage sales when I sold the house. Anyway, I lost track of time, suddenly realized it was after 6:00, so I started to saddle Flash, since Alayna was supposed to be arriving right then, though she was running late. Turns out she wanted to ride Apollo and Faith brought Glory, so the three of us finished saddling. Didn’t get out of camp until after 7:00, and I was getting worried it would be dark, and Apollo was a slug this morning I knew he’d be going slow. Two rides in one day for him is unprecedented! He did fine, and he needs the exercise, he put some weight on this summer and can stand to lose some. We split up at one point, and then Flash rushed back to camp once we were done putting up the poker chip bags, so we were done right about 8:00, so it was all good. I fed the horses (I hadn’t even had time for dinner, made myself a quick half a PBJ sandwich just before we left!), drove Alayna back up to her campsite, and now I’m bushed and ready for my shower and early bed! Whew, what a day! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Babe!
Woke up to the sound of Gale firing up his motor home and getting out of Dodge. Can’t say I blame him, he spent all day yesterday doing nothing, since most folks left, though one small group of three checked in for the weekend. Did a little more work on the computer this morning, figured if I was going to give the MTRA gps and kml files, I should complete them, so even though I have ridden the Hopkins Creek to Cadillac leg, the ONLY ONE of the Shore to Shore ride that I haven’t done, I decided to make the files based on the map they gave me when I first got here in May. Then I tried to upload them to Dropbox, but, not surprisingly, that didn’t work, so again, it will have to wait until I have better internet. I have an appointment to take the truck in to replace the power steering box (it leaks like a sieve!), and I seem to remember last time I was there they had a guest wifi, so that seems like a likely spot. When I finally finished with that, I saddled up Flash, and Lola and I set off on a nice ten mile ride out to Dollar Lake. We took the route mostly backwards from when I did it the other day with the gals, and added a bit more just for the mileage, and we had a beautiful ride! As we went around the lake, we went by a campsite where the folks didn’t realize they were camping right in the middle of the trail, and obviously hadn’t expected horses or anyone else to come through, and their dog not only barked at Flash, he came at him very aggressively, enough to make Flash sidestep, which is unusual because dogs don’t usually bother him. Then again, they don’t usually made a beeline toward him and barking like an idiot. But that’s all he did, he settled down immediately once they grabbed the dog and pulled him back. I diplomatically suggested they may want to consider that they’re spreading their stuff on a trail (there was a cooler right in the middle, and a hammock almost strung across it!) and I suspect they will move some stuff, now that they know. Only one other little mishap, when we turned back toward camp just as we arrived at a rode, and Flash decided he want to gallop home, but his first step was in very deep sand and he lost his balance and almost went down, so that straightened him out! That was the end of that nonsense! The rest was uneventful, but very enjoyable. The weather was perfect, mid-70’s with partly sunny skies and a breeze, absolutely perfect! We even managed to avoid all of the ATVers that were out there, always off the road when they went whizzing by. Got back to camp, and on the way to the watering hole, said good-bye to my cornhole champion partner Emerson, who was just leaving. He’s heading off the a six week farrier course in Oklahoma, then he’ll be coming back to start work! A man with a plan, I like it! Put Flash away with an apple and some hay, poured myself a nice little bourbon and settled down for the evening! Dang, life is good! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
Didn’t sleep very well, but had a great day! Got up early and did chores and breakfast, then saddled up Flash and was over by Jimmy’s trailer at ten minutes before 8:00. Got loaded in and off we went! Jimmy took me, Joyce, Scott and Emerson down to the entrance of Hopkins Creek, and we headed north on that leg of the Shore to Shore. The first seven miles or so was mostly road riding, and just as we were starting to get into some forest areas, we came across a bridge that was closed, and no practical way of getting around it, so I had to find a detour to the nearest bridge, which turned out to be nearly 3.5 miles, about half on a gravel road, the rest more sandy, until we got back to the other side of the bridge. Even from that side, I couldn’t find anything that looked like a safe crossing, so there will have to be some kind of a re-route before their Fall ride. Once we crossed the main highway of 131, we started getting more into the woods, and it became a much nicer ride. We didn’t do as much gaiting as I thought we would, and there were many times I had to run Flash out, then stop and wait for them, so it was a typical group ride of reacting to the slowest common denominator. When we arrived at the little girls grave and paused for a few minute, I knew we were less than three miles from camp, and so did Flash, so he wanted to really start moving then. Amazing, after 21 miles, he couldn’t wait to go faster! So at that point, I let him. We moved away from the group and I just let him do whatever speed he wanted, which was pretty fast, and I rode into camp just after 3:00, feeling not the least bit tired (either of us). I rode by and chatted with Jimmy, thanking him for the lift, and took Flash down to the creek where he had a long drink. I came back and a few minutes later Emerson arrived. I didn’t see Joyce and Scott, but their trailer was at that end, so I’m not surprised. Got Flash back to camp with a big bag of hay and settled down. I started nodding off when I sat in my recliner, though up until then I didn’t feel tired. I think it was more the bad night’s sleep rather than the ride. Anyway, I had dinner, then went to the 7:00 meeting, where they had a mini pie eating contest for the kids, and now I’m settling down for the evening. Quite a few folks left today, and more are expected to leave tomorrow, including the kids, so I imagine it will be a much quieter day tomorrow. I’ve got some repairs I want to try to do, and it’s supposed to rain in the afternoon, so it will mostly be a packing and rest day for me. Meanwhile, it’s time for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Another busy day of fun and games at Schecks! Took a nice, though short, ride with Pat and Jimmy out to the grave of a child named Emma who died in 1875 near here while moving west with her parents. There’s quite a story about her, and people keep leaving things at her grave as though it just happened, very sweet. It was a lot of road riding, with some single track on the way back (the Shore to Shore trail, which I’ll be doing on Thursday), and Flash was fine until near the end, when once again, he got sick of walking and I had to run him up a road to stretch his legs for a bit. Once I got back I headed into Traverse City to pick up some horse feed, and I managed to get an appointment to get my hair done at a little place called Hair 2 Dye For. Shawna was my hair cutter and she did a fabulous job! I was so sick of ponytails and knots in my hair, so I decided to go for a nice short wedge (think Dorothy Hamil without all the bounce), which feels fantastic! She did a great job! Picked up the mail and packages on the way back, then relaxed the rest of the afternoon. At 7:00 I went up to the middle of camp where they were setting up some games. I partnered with Emerson on cornhole, which I had never played before, and despite the other team, Pat and Connor, being ahead for most of the game, we had a pull from behind, classic underdog win in the end. Then another two teams played, then we played for best of winners against Jane and Jimmy, and miraculously pulled way out front early and they never had a chance to catch up. Final score was something like 21-3. We are the champions! Pretty good for a newbie! Then we sat around chatting until well after 9:00, now it’s time for shower and bed! I’m ready! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’!
Woke up early, read for awhile, then finally went back to sleep, not waking up again until after 9:00. Got all my morning chores done, then saddled up Flash, using the new saddle, and left with Lola out of camp. Basically just meandered around again, didn’t really have any destination in mind, but managed to cobble together a ride nearly eight miles long, mostly on the roads and the Shore to Shore trail, though I did manage to find a stretch on an old two-track again. I’d like to find some more of those! The saddle was very comfortable, so that will become my regular one from now on. Once I got back, I took off the saddle and rode Flash over to the “beach” and gave him a good rinse off before putting him away, I heard from Pat that she was taking the kids and families tubing, so I joined them with my kayak, which worked a lot better with only one person. Also, the bottom section had deflated the other day for somer reason, but I had pumped it back up the other day, and held up just fine, so not sure what that was about. It was a lovely ride down the river, a lot more leisurely, though I did have to keep stopping and waiting for them since I was aerodynamically superior to their tubes and kept getting ahead of them. Pat had this huge inflated duck, but she didn’t spend much time on there, some other got cold and she swapped with them, and ended up essentially walking and occasionally floating the rest of the way. I had it easy with the kayak, staying warm and dry, right up until we reached the horse camp beach, where two ladies lay in wait with water guns and squirted us when we came in. Nice to have a welcoming committee! It was 5:00 by then, so I settled down with a few computer chores, then went to a 7:00 meeting, and I think we’ve got it worked out for a trip to ride from Hopkins Creek on Thursday. While others are having bonfires and other social events, I came back to the trailer to finish up with some uploading of photos from the cattle drive in December, which for some reason I never got around to, and now I’m just about ready for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Sleeping like a baby these days, must be the Sleepytime tea I’ve been trying to get in the habit of again. Did my usual chores and breakfast, plus a load of laundry, and since I was using some water, I decided to fill up my truck tank, but first I did some scrubbing to clear out some of the algae that’s been growing, threw in a bleach tablet when I started refilling it. By the time I got that all done, the ladies had already left on a ride, so I saddled up and went out on my own for a bit. I didn’t take Lola, just because I figured there were too many other folks out on a Sunday. We meandered for a bit, went past some markers for what I’m guessing are founding MTRA members, took some trails, some roads, and a few old forest roads that have evidently not been used in a long time, but made for a nice ride, albeit a lot shorter than I would normally go. But then, the sky was getting cloudy and started to look like it might rain, despite the fact that I checked the forecast this morning and it said there was only a 10% chance, which is why I hung out my laundry. By 3:00, though, it had changed to 70%, and everyone was putting everything away. These forecasts are making the local haymakers go nuts! Anyway, I got back early in the afternoon, got my laundry down, though a couple of drops of rain did come down, then I started working on changing saddles. Another ring on my saddle broke, so now I can’t use my breast collar, and several other have broken or gone missing, so I decided it was time to change over to your old saddle, the Aussie with the horn. I had used that when we first got Flash, because he was such a nutcase I wanted something to hang onto, and it’s still in very good shape, so I moved everything over to that saddle for now, and started looking on Marketplace for another one without a horn, though who knows? I might just decide I like it better with the horn anyway. The ride was less than seven miles, but still not bad, though roads are not my favorite. I went do to visit with the ladies and first we played a strange tile game like dominoes, but it involved little plastic trains, and required too much math for me. It finally started to rain a bit more steadily, though it didn’t last long, so we moved inside and played some euchre instead. At 6:30 I cam back, had some dinner, then went to the riders meeting, which no one except me came to, then after awhile, Gale and his friends asked me to play euchre, and we managed to get two games in before dark, which Gale and I won both. Finally calling it a night at 9:30, having my tea, doing my Spanish lesson, and soon shower and bed. A pleasant day all around! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Another great night sleep, which usually happens after a nice busy day like yesterday, sleeping late was a wonderful luxury. After breakfast, I saddled up Flash and headed down to where the two Janes and Pat were, and they weren’t quite ready yet, so I came back to the trailer and started to work on putting on my MTRA stickers. I’m not much of a joiner, but this is one group of which I’m proud to say I’m a member! I got the Michigan Trail Horse sticker on before the gals showed up, so I abandoned it and we went off. Pat was anticipating a few minor problems with her Icelandic, so we left ahead of the other two, and it wasn’t long before her horse, Bree, settled down and we were off! We headed north on the Shore to Shore trail, which seems to be about the only decent way out of camp, but it’s a nice ride through the forest for quite a ways. We passed a couple of other riders (my neighbors Doug and his gal), and just as we reached the rode, the two Janes caught up with us. We stayed on mostly roads until we reached Dollar Lake, which was a good watering spot, then made a nice loop around the whole lake, then back toward camp. We ran into one very rude ninja dirt biker who was all miffed because we were on the road (actually, that section of road was ALSO part of the horse trail), and was very obnoxious when we tried to explain that horses have the right of way. Anyway, for some reason, after that, Flash got a little excited (it could have just been that we were heading back to camp), but he started doing his little dancing canter in place, so eventually I asked to go in front, and when I finally hit a road, I let him loose. He ran for a quarter mile, then I turned him around and headed him back, again and again, until he finally seemed to let off enough steam to walk into camp calmly. He gets a bit frustrated walking all the time, so it doesn’t hurt to let him run and really get some exercise. Once we got back and I put him up, I finished off putting on the MTRA numbers, then had to fix the back end of the trailer. For the last few days, I haven’t been able to shut the right back door, and found that the reason why was that a piece of metal framework had come loose from the frame and was getting in the way, so I found a screw and tried to pin it down. The screw succeeded in pushing out the rivet that was broken in there, so I got out the rivet gun and put in a new rivet, and that solved the problem, good as new! Time to feed Flash, and by then, Gale the camp host and Jimmy, another board member, had arrived, and we chatted for a few minutes. Then I made myself dinner, watched a Big Valley, then carried my chair over to where the girls were, but they weren’t there, so I ended up chatting with Bob, Jeff B’s uncle and his wife for a bit. Got back to the trailer, read for awhile, now I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’!
What a fun day today! I started out by plotting a trail route based on Google Earth, which showed trails that I included, though most of those turned out to be hiking and ski trails, but cyclists were using them too, so I figured as a multi-use trail, horses were okay. Well, probably not, but as I’m fond of saying, they gotta catch me first! It was a lovely ride, with only one dubious point when we had to cross a boardwalk over a bog, and it probably wasn’t built for horses, but we made it over fine. Probably wouldn’t want to try it on a heavier horse though! We went just under 11 miles, most of it through lovely forest and single track trails, and it was a nice ride with Lola along. When we got back into camp, there were a lot more horses and horse trailers in camp, as folks were starting to arrive for the event that starts tomorrow. It wasn’t long before I was chatting with some friends from the earlier rides (two Janes and Pat), and when I suggested going kayaking, they all jumped at the chance. Half an hour later we were heading to the launch point, two hard kayaks and my inflatable, which Pat joined me in. Turned out the creek was a lot lower than normal and was quite shallow in spots, so we had a lot of maneuvering to do, but it was a great time! We all enjoyed it immensely. It was a beautiful day, and we passed a lot of tubers as we went down the creek. Arrived in camp around 5:30, and Jane ran me back to my truck. After I had dinner I went back to visit with them and discovered they were playing Euchre! At last, a Euchre game to play! I sat in for Pat after their game ended, and the next game lasted about an hour, simply because conversation was our primary activity, the game quite secondary, and it went all the way to a 9-9 tie before Jane and I won the last hand and took the match. What a great day! Looks like it’s going to be a fun week! For now, though, I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Had a better night sleep, woke up with a 7:30 alarm, and after chores and breakfast, got Flash saddled up to go ride with Rod and Nancy, my new neighbors from last night. I was down there a little after 9:00, as we had decided to go early because of a forecast calling for temps in the high 80’s. We managed to get on the trail by about 9:30, started out on the Shore to Shore trail heading north, then eventually left that and meandered around a bit. Nice woods, but nothing too exciting. At one point we headed cross country for awhile, but that petered out and we headed back to the road, and the Shore to Shore, and camp. Less than six miles, but it took nearly two hours. Needless to say, they have quarter horses, but Flash was really good about staying with them, even when we were out front. Not a bad ride, just really short by out standards. When I was downloading the route onto Google Earth, I noticed that they have some trails marked out, so I’ve planned a route following them, a bit over ten miles, which I’ll try on my own tomorrow. Once I got back, I tried to nail down UPS on my package, and finally did get a new password so I could log onto their website, something I haven’t been able to do in nearly a year, but I decided to wait to see if the driver was able to delay his delivery until after the post office opened, and lo and behold, he did! I got a text that it was delivered just after 1:00. I called the post office and they confirmed my box was there, so I headed over there. I decided to take a different route, with a lot more gravel road, and it was okay to get to the post office. I got my package and headed back, following an alternative route, and the one that Google maps had suggested, and what a mistake THAT was! There was a quarter mile that Google announced was called “Country Road”, but it turned out to be nothing more than an OHV trail! I almost didn’t make it through! Lots of sand, very deep, pretty narrow, and my wheels were spinning, but I kept moving, and managed to JUST make it! Whew! Adrenaline got going on that one! Made it back to camp, opened my box and got busy. First job was to replace the doggie screen door, Lola managed to break the plastic a while back, and of course, it was aging, too, so it was necessary. I also ordered a new fence charger, the old one quit awhile back, but the one I ordered didn’t have a battery, because the battery was still good on the old one and I was going to use that one. Wouldn’t you know, I couldn’t find the old charger to save my life! I cleared out every compartment, every drawer, everywhere I could think of looking for the darn thing and couldn’t find it. I even climbed up to the attic thinking I might have put it up there for some reason, though I couldn’t think why I would. Of course, while I had the ladder down I had to beat on it a few times to try to straighten it out, not sure it helped, but I got out some frustration with my rubber hammer! I finally decided that I must have just gone on a cleaning frenzy and threw out the old charger with the battery still in it, but that just doesn’t seem like me. Finally, I took one last look in the basket on the breakfast counter, which I had already done twice already, and there I found the battery. I can’t understand why I didn’t see it the first two times I looked, but it made more sense than me throwing it away! Anyway, that wasted some time, but at least I was able to get the battery installed. Now I have to charge it up by either leaving it in the sun for three days, or with an electrical outlet for 8-10 hours, so I’m going to try to do both. Have it plugged in and in the sun until it’s charged. Or I just might put it on the cell phone charge, that might work for eight hours too. The old one didn’t have the AC option, so I really like that feature. Anyway, it was a nice day, albeit fairly hot, but comfortable in the shade, we had a nice ride, and I got a lot done. Couldn’t ask for more than that out of life! Settled down for the evening to the sound of rolling thunder (once again, the forecast was WAY off!), followed by a good hard shower, then cooler temps and a few more hours of sunshine before dusk. Ready for shower and bed! A good day! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’,
Other than the usual chores and a couple of repairs, not much going on today except a nice ride on Flash. Once he was warmed up, he was speedy Gonzales today, gaiting for miles, and at one point when we turned in the direction of camp, he broke into a gallop and popped up a time or two before I managed to settle him down. Good thing he’s so small, I can just wrap my legs around him, makes it hard for me to come off, thank goodness! Did over ten miles in just over two hours, so we were making good time. Tried to do as many wooded areas as I could, but a lot was on roads, too, but a nice ride. Put a little map together an posted it on the Hopkins Creek Facebook group, hope it helps some folks in the future. Not much else going on today, pretty quiet here, unlike last weekend. Just a couple of other campers here. Won’t be long out of bed tonight, tomorrow is all about packing up, which shouldn’t take long. Good night, babe! Love you!