Hi Babe!
Well, sensible me was in bed by 11:00, but a lot of the rest of the gang hung around the campfire until after 3:00 this morning, though I put my earplugs in so they didn’t bother me at all. Of course, they overindulged a bit (they deserved it!), so we were a bit late starting this morning, and several folks that had said they were going to come riding with us ended up not being fit enough, but Pistol was determined, so I started saddling up in time to leave around 11:00. One of their friends, a guy named Mike, decided to come along, so I put him on Apollo and saddled up Flash. Pistol and Doc were riding stock horses, so the three of them did fine together, but of course, Flash was in the mood to go, go, go, as usual. In fact, it was him running willy nilly around the pasture this morning that woke me up! He was jumping and leaping over piles of limbs, having himself a good old time! He was mostly okay on the trail today, we got slowed down a lot because there was a lot of water on the trail. Apparently it’s typically swampy out there, and with last week’s big rain, it was especially swampy, so lots of wading today! We only went for less than six miles, but it was a nice ride, so good to be back in the saddle again! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I’ve been riding! But then, I’ve been really busy. Once we got back from the ride, I started working on the jobs that I still haven’t accomplished. I took the wheel off the trailer, hoping to try to get past the drum to see what shape the brake shoes were in, but only got so far. Then I started working on the tailgate, banging away at it, when Cowboy came out and gave me a hand. He was brilliant! It took a couple of hours, but by the time we got done, I got a fully functional tailgate that opens and closes just fine! It’s got a few bends and dents in it, but hey, I’m all about function, not form! It works! That’s all the matters. Sorry to say it looks like I won’t get my steps welded in, but I’ve already spoken to the hostess at my next stop, and she seems to think she’s got someone there who can help. I loaded the old tire on the truck, and, surprise, surprise, FedEx finally let me know that my tire won’t be coming today, but it will come tomorrow. Cowboy also helped me diagnose my brakes, there’s no way I’m taking them all apart just to look at them, but he told me what to look and listen for when I adjust them that will clue me in on how good or bad the shoes are, so I guess I’m good on that at the moment. So all I have to do tomorrow is get the new tired mounted and put back on the trailer, and a trip to Tractor Supply and Walmart for supplies, and I’ll be out of here, probably on Tuesday if all goes well! I’ve enjoyed my stay, but I’m looking forward to being at a trailhead and doing a lot more riding again! So I’m off to shower and bed, my love! Good night!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up to another misty morning! Every morning here has had either thick fog or a good mist, must be something about the river (which is the Chattahoochee, by the way) and the geography around here. It didn’t last as long this morning, so after chores and breakfast, I got Flash saddled up and we were out riding by 11:00. There is a huge event here tomorrow, and they had already started putting markers out in the field, but I cut across it early to take the trailhead out that way so I could come back via the river, out of the way when I figured it would be busier. It was a lovely ride, we took our time, got back around 1:00. There aren’t a lot of miles here, but they are pleasant enough. I was worried that eventually the organizer of the big event would come down and ask me to move, but they never did. I’m so far out of the way, I couldn’t imagine it would be a problem, but who knows? Anyway, I expect a lot of activity very early in the morning, so I’m trying to get to bed early tonight. I got the two Amazon packages, but still haven’t got my window, according to FedEx it’s still in Arizona, but they are still saying I’m supposed to get it today, though now it’s showing in red on the tracking information, so I think they’ve figured out that if it was in Arizona this morning (and apparently this afternoon as well), that it’s not going to make it for a GA dellivery today. I’m worried it won’t get here by Sunday now, in which case it will be a disaster, because according to the people I bought it from, FedEx won’t let them change the delivery address a second time, though considering it’s FedEx’s fault, I can’t believe that would be true. We’ll see, anything is possible with FedEx, they never fail to disappoint! Apparently they, like everyone else, is having a staffing problem. Everywhere I look there are hiring signs. I’d have no trouble getting a job if I ever wanted one, that’s for sure! Anyway, it was a quiet afternoon of mostly reading, though now I have another chore, the carbon monoxide detector is on the fritz, and I can’t seem to reset it. I took it apart, too, but nothing I did seems to work, so I’m just going to have to order a new one. I pulled the fuse so it wouldn’t keep chirping, but now my kitchen counter light doesn’t work either, so I can’t delay it. Always something! Well, that’s enough to report today, time for shower and early bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
I was up before the crack of dawn this morning, had breakfast and fed the horses and left them with extra hay, and drove out of camp with Lola before 6:30 as the sun was just coming up. The reason was because Kari had invited me along with a group of her friends to go riding in the wilderness, but the logistics of taking Flash was just too complicated, so Kari offered to let me ride her horse Velvet, while she rode a younger horse named Bliss. I arrived right on schedule, got my saddle on Velvet and drove out to who knows where to meet up with her friends, who all arrived at the same time as we did. These were all world class gaited horses, and I was looking forward to seeing what a true, uncompromising gaited trail ride was like. We headed out in short order, but it quickly became clear that there were so many horses that Lola got confused (I didn’t realize the group would be so big), so we ended up having to leave her in the trailer as we rode off, which was the right choice, I had enough to worry about without adding keeping an eye on her to the mix. I can’t say that I’ve ever gotten introduced to a horse doing 20 mph, but that’s about what happened. We all lit off down a road to get to a trailhead, and everyone was going at racking pace, and I had to keep up. Velvet was full of energy, and was trying to make it a race, so it was a little while before I figured out how to get along with her. It’s a totally different feel than Flash, of course, but I managed to hang on long enough to get the hang of it. Lost my sunglasses though, I hadn’t battened everything down well enough because it was a bit more bouncy than I’m used to. Anyway, once we settled down a bit, it was more comfortable, and I was pretty pleased with the way it went. The trails in this part of the forest are unmarked and not very well maintained, so there were lots of times we had to go around or over trees. With this group, though, at every opportunity they were moving along pretty fast, so I had my hands full keeping up, though my horse was entirely capable, I just needed to learn to handle it! Whipping through trees on a narrow trail can be a bit harrowing! We did over 13 miles, left after 8:00 and were back just after 11:00, so we made good time! It’s a beautiful raw forest, with a lot of challenging sections, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Special thanks to Kari for the invite and the transport! We got back, rinsed down the horses and sent them out to pasture, then I headed into town to trade in another tank of propane. I thought I still had two full ones, but it seems I only had one, and since I need to do laundry tomorrow I didn’t want to take any chances on running. Unfortunately, the Tractor Supply doesn’t fill propane at this location, and the Coop is too dang expensive, so I ended up just swapping out a tank at Walmart again, though this time I made sure I got a brand new, unrefurbished tank. The last one wasn’t new, although it was freshly painted and the dates are good on it, but it wasn’t quite new. Doesn’t matter, really, just a little sentimental about trading in the last original tanks on the trailer. Silly. Anyway, got back to camp, there were lots of dayriders’ trailers, and they were all starting to come back and leave around the time I got here. Had a relaxing afternoon, heading to bed early, tomorrow is a busy day of laundry and packing up. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Well, all of my planning and network finally paid off, with Kari picking me, Flash and Lola up at 8:30 and running us all over to the trailhead on the west side of the forest so that we could ride the Pine Torch loop. Pam, whom I met the other day, joined us there, and we gaited off on a perfectly lovely trail, with lots of waterfalls and ferns and beautiful trees, very, very nice! Surprisingly, the footing wasn’t too bad, all the rain drained off pretty well (as evidenced by the full creeks and falls), we took turns leading and following, which was really good for Flash, it was just a very nice, fun ride. We ran into a few other riders on the trail as well, as it was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky, temps never got too hot, just perfect. I was worried Lola would be tired after fifteen miles yesterday, but she kept up just fine, with her leading the way while Kari’s Aussie trailed in back, so it was just perfect. Got back to camp by 2:00, leaving the afternoon to relax a bit, I let the horses graze for awhile, but more folks came into camp so eventually I had to put them back on the highline. Other than filling the truck water tank and doing some prep for my ride tomorrow, it was a pretty low-key rest of the day. I’m heading to bed extra early, which I’ll tell you all about tomorrow. Anyway, a great day, the kind that make me adore living on the road at a trailhead! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
After days of endless rain, at last the rain finally stopped! Though the forecast had said it would rain overnight, it never did, but the skies were still pretty gray this morning, but at least there was no rain! Got up early, did my usual chores and then some, and before I even had my breakfast, my riding buddies, Laurie and Dean, showed up, an hour early! Well, we managed to fill the time with me eating and us chatting, partly because I wanted to make sure Flash had a good breakfast. Nevertheless, I was saddled up and ready to go by 9:45, fifteen minutes ahead of our scheduled time. We had decided to just do a road ride today because it was still so wet in the woods, and we were all pretty sure the trails would be messy and probably trees had come down, so even though it may not have been as interesting, at least we didn’t have to contend with mud and cobwebs! Lola came along, too, since most of the road was just forest road, but there was one section I had to put my lead rope from my McCarty on her because she wouldn’t stay off the busy asphalt road. I put Flash’s boots on, but he lost one the first time we started to do a good speed, so I ended up taking them off. It seems his feet have gotten pretty hard so it didn’t seem to bother him, and the roads here don’t have too much gravel on them, so he seemed okay. In all, we went about 15 miles, some of it through the forest, some of it not. It was a nice ride, and we had a good time chatting. They’re taking a trip to Florida in February, they were asking me about places to stop along the way, something we’ll talk more about later. When we got back, another trailer had come in, with a buggy on it, then later another came in, so I’ve got company again. Because the horses have been standing in mud and their feet were soft, I took the time to trim the front hooves on both of them. I also filled the trailer water tank, and I once again had to put the trailer on the truck and readjust the leveling, because the other side had sunk in about six inches and when I opened the door this morning I almost couldn’t get it open because it was butting up against the steps. Thank goodness there’s a pile of gravel here! I finally got all that done, then had some dinner and settled down for the evening. Already had my shower, will be off to bed soon after my Sleepytime and Ginger tea and my French lesson. Got another early morning tomorrow, Kari is coming to get me so that we can finally do the Pine Torch loop on the west side of the Forest. Good night, my darling! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Well, my network paid off big-time today! Although we didn’t go exactly where we planned… Kari arrived and said she had spoken with a couple of friends who were already planning on riding out of my campground today, and would it be okay if we joined them and rode Pine Torch later in the week? Of course I said yes, and it turned out to be a great ride! Pam and Laurie really knew the renegade trails here, and we had a lovely, nearly 13 mile ride, some of it at a fabulous Walker-gait pace, which was no problem for Flash to keep up with. We switched between leaders and being in back throughout the ride with very few problems, though Flash did get kicked once because he kept sticking his nose in the tail of the horse in front, so he got what he deserved! Not being a “beer ride,” we did a lot less stopping, though we did take a couple of breaks, but there are several nice picnic areas set up along the trails, so we had no problem finding a place to stop. Flash did very well, as always, though he lost one of his boots a couple of times, and the final time I just left it off since we were almost back to camp. They took me to several out of the way places, including a great cave with a waterfall they call the “shelter.” Apparently there are a lot more of them than are visible from the orange trail. We also did some fast gaiting along the road a few times, also wonderful! Anyway, it was a fabulous day of riding, a little warm but much cooler in the woods, a bit humid because there’s a front moving in that’s bringing rain and hopefully slightly cooler temperatures tomorrow. You know me, I never mind a rainy Sunday, makes me relax, though there is some housekeeping I want to do, just a bunch of stuff that needs to be put away. So I’m spending the evening reading and watching TV, and it won’t be long before I’m off to shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Had a fabulous night sleep last night, woke up nice and refreshed, did my chores, and it wasn’t long before I was saddling up Flash for his first ride here. Last time when we were here together, we did the orange loop twice, going in opposite directions, which is a little over eight miles long. Today I wanted to add the smaller blue loop in the middle, which the maps says is only about 2.5 miles long, so I figured about 10-12 miles with the added terrain. Turns out that it’s more than 15.5 miles long, so it was a much longer ride than I had anticipated. Still, it was a very good ride, and Flash did an excellent job. I met some other day riders resting down at that nice picnic area by the bridge, but only stay for a moment to adjust a stirrup, then I was off on the blue loop trail. A really nice ride, though. It reminds me of Big South Fork or Hocking Hills, without the mud and the long stretches of slippery rock, though there were a couple of short instances of both here. I had forgotten how nice this forest is in places, with lots of caves and little waterfalls, though most of the trail is well-built so that it traverses along the middle of hills as they curve around, rather than trying to go up and down them all the time. Still some nice grades, though. I ran into a local woman out riding, too, on a pretty paint horse with one blue eye. We chatted a bit, but I never got her name. Anyway, it took longer than I had planned, so by the time I got back to camp, I didn’t have time to go do the shopping like I had hoped I would be able to do, so that chore is now pushed off to tomorrow. It’s probably better anyway, it was a long day, I’ll need to recover tomorrow! Oh, my neighbor from the last two days left this morning, we chatted briefly, and when I got back to camp, all the day rider trailers were gone, so I was hoping to have the place to myself tonight, but another camper came in, though he doesn’t have a horse, and then long after dark, yet another trailer came in, too dark to see who it is, though. Guess it will be next week before we finally get the place to ourselves, though I did let the horses graze free for awhile before the first camper got here. Settled down with a movie with dinner, one more French lesson, now I’m ready for shower and bed! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hi Babe,
What a fantastic and rare ride I had today! The group that have been my neighbors had invited me to join them on a linear ride from Deam Lake back to camp, and since they had room for me and Flash in one of their trailers, I decided to go, since I felt this chance might never come again. The morning started out auspiciously, with rain moving in right around 7:00, which was about the time everyone was getting up and getting ready, but it was over within an hour. It did delay our departure somewhat, but by the time we loaded up and drove the short trip to the Deam Lake Day Use Parking, the rain was gone, and other than a few remnants of fog, which eventually cleared up, and soon it was a gorgeous, albeit cool day. Not surprisingly, it didn’t take long to figure out that the best place for me and Flash was in front with a spidey stick, otherwise I’d be fighting him all day. Most of the horses were stock, with one Rocky Mountain and one sometimes Tennessee Walker (he rarely gaited), so Flash and I left them behind for the most part, stopping and waiting for them regularly. The trip was nearly 19 miles, but it took over 6 ½ hours because of all the stops and breaks. I’ve come to realize that when it comes to these special opportunities, I just have to suck it up, even though Flash and I would have been quite happy to keep going, in which case the trip would have been more like about four hours for just us. But when you’re with a group that is drinking a case of beer along the way, the need for pit stops is apparent, so we just had to go with the flow. Still, it was a great trip, through some beautiful forest trails, though there were quite a few stretches on tarmac and gravel roads as well. Got back to camp earlier than they had expected (I think the other horses were trying somewhat to keep up with Flash, or at least not to get too far behind), but at the last stop at a place the locals call Table Top, all the other horses were dead tired, and Flash was still hopping around because he knew how close we were to camp and wanted to get on with it. He kept turning in circles, and was very glad when the rest of the group finally mounted up and we got on the last stretch home. Most of the trail was pretty easy, but then we hit the steeps hills at the end, so I can see the advantage of doing it in reverse, getting the hills out of the way while the horses were still fresh. They were pretty tired on the home stretch, and to start doing these steep hills, particularly when they were so slick from the recent rain, was a bit dicey. But everyone made it back safe, with only one upset when someone’s saddle slid too far forward going down a hill, but nothing serious. After putting the horses away, we all sat around the campfire and had a nice meal fixed by those who stayed in camp. Eventually, I left the circle to call it a night, put the heavy blankets on the horses again since it’s supposed to be in the upper 40’s again tonight, and came in and settled in for a brief evening. Now I’m off to shower and bed. Lola didn’t come with me today, but she played hard with the group, so she’s off in bed already, too. So good night, my darling! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Another excellent night sleep, though I had to close all the windows and run the furnace for a few minutes to warm it up before going to bed, and even though I had the thermostat turned down really low, it came on this morning for a bit, so I knew it got cold out last night! Somewhere in the upper 40’s! Was glad I put the winter blankets on the horses last night! Did a little computer work this morning, then saddled up Flash for our first ride. Meanwhile, I acquired a neighbor, a man named Art, we chatted a few minutes before I set off. I had mapped out a ride on my GPS, and managed to follow it for the most part, though there were a couple of intersections with renegade trails that weren’t marked, and I guessed wrong on one, but quickly turned back when I realized I was clearly going off the reservation! The trails are surprisingly steep for Indiana, considering the rest of the state is so flat, but we had some real climbs which were complicated by all the rain. Lots of mud, not stones or gravel, thank goodness, but from the looks of the piles of gravel being brought in, it kind of looks like someone’s planning on laying a LOT of gravel on the trail. The blue trail closest to the campground has been completely bulldozed, and as you know, trail by bulldozer is NOT my favorite. It just made the muddy area wider and worse, in my opinion. Once I got on to the more distant trails, though, it improved because it hadn’t been bulldozed. The green loop was pretty nice, though steep in some places, and my favorite trail is actually one that is marked closed because they’re expecting to start logging soon, but haven’t yet, which is why I took it now. That was really a lovely trail, more gentle slopes and very pretty. At one point, I ran into Art, who evidently thought I might get myself lost so he came out to find me, but of course, I wasn’t lost. He came back part of the way with me, but Flash just kept outrunning his quarterhorse, and eventually, after a long climb, he said he needed to rest his horse, so I went on without him. I had no trouble finding my way back camp, and took a long route whereas he took a shortcut, but I still got back to camp just before him. Flash was wonderful, though I could tell he didn’t really like all the slipping and sliding, but he still stayed pretty calm most of the time. He didn’t like slowing down to wait for Art, though, which is why I eventually just had to keep going. It was a cool day, but I wore lots of layers so it was fine. It’s supposed to be warming up in the next few days. Art says that he has a group of friends coming in, and they’re planning an all day ride starting down at Deam Lake and riding all the way back up here. It’s less than ten miles as the crow flies, but I imagine it’s close to twice that on the trails. I might join them, not sure yet. Anyway, settled down for the evening, another trailer came in who are part of the group, but I stayed home tonight, figure I’ll socialize tomorrow when more of the group comes in. Meanwhile, it’s time for a shower, I need to wash my hair and to get it somewhat dry before I go to bed, considering it’s supposed to be even colder tonight. I’ve been wearing my wool hat to bed, though, so it’s fine! Good night, babe! Love you!