Hey Darlin’!
Had a hard time getting to sleep, read till the wee hours, not sure why it is on the days I get up early and work a lot I still have trouble sleeping! Whatever. After chores and breakfast, I planned a route to reconnoiter the latest revision to the 25 mile loop, as well as check out another trail as a possible way to shorten part of the green trail. Since I have now decided to do the run next Saturday, I took a fast pace in order to give Flash a little conditioning, and we did over 14 miles at an average 5-6 miles an hour, really good, all things considered! He was brilliant again! We ran into several armadillos along the way and he barely paid any attention to them, and I saw a nice deer, but I’m not sure Flash saw it. In any event, it was a wonderful ride, and we really were moving out most of the way, with only an occasional break to walk for a bit before kicking back up again. I really enjoyed it, and Flash is in so much better shape this year than last, when we had taken nearly the whole summer off and had only had a few rides before getting down here. With all the riding, hill-climbing and rocky trails, he’s loving long, level stretches of sand and grass! And I think he may be remembering the ride last year, which he really loved, and understands that that’s what we’re preparing for. Last year he didn’t get it because we’d never done an endurance ride before, but this year, I really think he gets it, and is working harder than ever. Anyway, it was a fantastic ride! When we got back, I got out my stethoscope to check his heartbeat, which I had done before we left, and even though we came in pretty fast except the last 100 yards or so, his heart rate was all the way back down to 60 beats per minute, which is brilliant! I’ve never actually been able to hear his heart before, though I’ve tried, but today I heard it loud and clear, though before the ride, it was going so slow I couldn’t even figure out how to count it! After the ride it was right on a beat per second, exactly where it needs to be at the vet check. I’m learning! After doing some map work and sitting around the campfire with the gang for a bit, I headed back in and settled in for the evening, watching a crazy movie with Meryl Streep called Prom, which was a musical, believe it or not. The first part made me laugh out loud because it seemed like these celebrity Broadway stars were actually making fun of themselves as activists, and I thought that they might learn some lessons in small town Indiana where the story takes place, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way. I just don’t understand why the people that scream the most about intolerance can’t see that THEY’RE being intolerant of viewpoints they don’t agree with! It would be funny if it weren’t so absurdly hypocritical! Well, enough of that rant. I’m not sure I could have gotten you to watch that movie, but I sure would have loved to hear your take on it! Late now, and I have to get up early, so good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
I had a good night sleep, then when I woke up it felt like my knee was locked in a bad place, so I spent an hour stretching and using the hand massager to work on all my sore bits, and by the time I got out of bed, my knee, as well as my shoulder and back, felt fantastic! After breakfast I saddled up Flash and took him for a fabulous 8-mile ride. He behaved beautifully, though I was worried that having not been ridden in so long he would be a bit frisky, but he was brilliant! He did shy at one burnt log that was by the side of the road, but I hung on, then made him stand and look at it for awhile until he settled down again. Another time something bothered him, but this time he just planted his feet and froze, which, to my mind, is exactly the right thing to do! We did a lot of walking, and my knee held up great, and eventually we did a nice mile at his mid-speed cordo of about 8.5 miles an hour, and we did another long stretch at a lovely canter on the way back to the ranch. It was wonderful! We got back in barely 1½ hours, and I had no trouble with my knee at all when I got off, just one or two steps and everything was back to normal. So grateful for that! This is the first day in a while that I actually felt like doing anything, that I had any energy at all. I can only think that maybe I’ve been fighting off a bug or something, after having a sore throat earlier in the week, but it seems to have finally disappeared, and I’m starting to feel normal again. Or it could just be the crash after weeks of what seemed like almost non-stop activity. Anyway, I felt good enough to give Flash a nice bath, I even spent some time getting all the tangles out of his mane and tail, and he looked great for about 30 seconds, then I put him in the paddock and the first thing he did was roll, of course, so he was covered in sand almost immediately. Bathing animals has got to be the biggest waste of time, ever! Well, at least the deep down dirt is gone for the moment. I did some mending, then read for a few hours, then it started to sprinkle at around 4:00 (the forecast said the rain was coming in at 9:00, sigh), so I fed the horses early, putting their rain blankets on, then grilled myself a little steak on the grill that I had put up earlier, then settled down for the evening. I finished watching the depressing mini-series I started yesterday, then looked for a light comedy and ended up with another fairly depressing movie. I really dislike most modern films these days. I am not interested in gratuitous violence, foul language, overt and meaningless sex scenes and rampant drug use. I just don’t see how living through someone else’s angst is the least bit entertaining! I guess that’s why I liked that Hallmark series, even though it was simplistic. Better than the alternative! Well, enough of a rant. I did some laundry and have fresh sheets, so I’m off to shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Another good night sleep, another lazy morning figuring out where I’m going to ride today. Mike took me on a little tour in his truck to show me the trails to the north that will get me up to the Black Prong trails that I’ll be helping to mark in due time, but in the end, I decided to head south, creating a route from a map that Connie was nice enough to have Mike give me. I wanted something easy with no road crossings, since I wanted to take Lola and I wanted to test how my knee would hold up. It was much better this morning, thank goodness, but I didn’t know how it would do on horseback. I saddled up Apollo since I wanted a no fuss ride, and we headed out on what was literally a fire road, and they were actually doing a prescribed burn right along it. It was still smoking when we went by, but that didn’t bother Apollo. Something else bothered him a couple of times, probably the scent of pigs, as there was a lot of pig sign along the trail, where they had obviously been rooting though the sand. Unfortunately, I got dumped twice because of that! It’s funny, with Flash I can always tell when he’s about to do something stupid, he gets all bunched up and I usually have time to react and settle him down. With Apollo, we can just be going along as easy as can be, and one second he’s under me and the next he isn’t! He hasn’t done that to me in a very long time, and today he did it to me twice. Grrr! Fortunately it’s all sand here, so no harm done, but I didn’t really need that extra excitement today. Anyway, other than that it was a nice ride. They’ve really done a lot of clear cutting in this section of the forest though, so most of it wasn’t very pretty. There are a lot of trails out here, and I intend to explore some more, there’s no reason to get back up to Black Prong on trails I’ve already done until it’s actually time to mark them for the endurance ride, which isn’t for several weeks. Beautiful day, though, low 70’s, sunny, just a perfect Florida day. Got back after a couple of hours, then settled down for the rest of the day. My knee was in a bit more pain than when I left, but not too bad. Hopefully another good night sleep will keep it improving tomorrow. Now it’s evening and I’m ready for my usual shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe!
I had a little trouble sleeping, my knee was aching and Lola was very restless. I ended up having to put earplugs in so I couldn’t hear her moving around so much. She’s not getting enough exercise, but I planned to change that today! After breakfast and chores and a little more trail planning, mostly because I discovered a new map on Mingo’s Facebook page that indicated a couple of trails that were on the old map were now closed, but unfortunately the new map didn’t line up very well, so it took a bit of finagling to get something viable to download onto my GPS. We finally headed out, I got about 100 feet and realized I’d forgotten my hel-hat so I had to go back. Meanwhile, Lola was so excited she was running around in a big circle around the trailer like a mad dog, you know how she gets. Anyway, finally back on the trail, and Flash was ready to move! This is the first place that wasn’t rocky and required boots in a long time, and the footing here is essentially sand, so he really wanted to fly. Unfortunately, though my knee felt somewhat better on the ground this morning, it got a lot worse in the saddle, especially since I was trying to keep him slow, and he wasn’t liking it too much, and I was fighting him a lot of the way. I just didn’t feel secure enough with my sore knee to go faster, so it was a bit of a struggle. It was still an enjoyable ride, though, this place has a lot of interesting sections to it. Some trails are really sandy roads, while others are close and narrow enough to feel like you’re riding through a tunnel of green. There’s also some cultivated pine stands, perfectly straight lines of young evergreens, with all the accompanying sweet smells and soft footing. Though it’s sandy like Florida, there are a few hills here, so that makes for an occasionally interesting change. If I had been more fit, I would have loved to let Flash just go at whatever speed he wanted, but I just didn’t dare today. Near the beginning of the ride we came across a pond, and two mallard ducks went quacking from the shoreline out to the lake, that really got Lola’s attention. Then further along I saw a big wading bird and took a picture, but it never moved as Lola got closer, until I realized it was just a plastic replica! Too funny! We only passed a few other riders, which was amazing considering how many people are here. When I arrived here earlier this week there was only the camp host and a couple of permanent trailers, and as you can see from the pix I took today, the place is PACKED this weekend! So we ended up doing almost 10.5 miles, which pretty much cleared out all the trails here, but I wanted to get it done in case something stopped me from riding Apollo tomorrow, though that’s still the plan. I had to keep my GPS in my hand the whole time, though, because I was weaving in and out of trails like crazy, and I didn’t find that the color of the trails on the map corresponded very well with the markings on the trail. So what else is new? We finally got back to camp in only about 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is pretty good for that distance, and considering I was holding him back so much. I gave him a nice rinse off, than ran out to the Dollar store in Toomsboro because I was running low on dog food, then Jeff and Beth came by to get the grand tour of the trailer and to buy a book. They also helped me get my spare tire back in position, but I had to let most of the air out of it to make it fit. I’ll get out my compressor and fill it up as much as I can tomorrow. After they left, I headed over to the clubhouse to get some leftovers for dinner and to pick up my utensils and containers, which someone had kindly washed. I left the macaroni salad, unfortunately it was in with the deserts and the cover was on tight, so there’s still a lot of it left. I’m moved it to the other refrigeration, hoping that it will be seen more, and maybe someone will take some, otherwise Lola and I will be eating macaroni salad for a week! I heated up dinner and settled down for the evening. Ready for shower and bed now though! And Lola’s been quiet all evening, I hope she stays that way! Good night, darln’! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Lola was restless again last night, and by morning she’d completely ripped the seam of her bed, again. Sigh. I don’t know what gets into her, I thought having taken a ride yesterday she would sleep through the night, but not so! Anyway, I did some work on the computer in the morning, then saddled up Flash for our final ride here. I decided to take the trail to the lake, which turned out to be a lot closer than I thought, and there were a couple of guys there that were literally draining the lake. Not sure what that’s about, but we did manage to find a way around it, then followed the trail to the cabins, which is now the group camping area but originally were housing for the CCC workers that built the place. Once in there, though I tried to find a trail, ended up on a utility line and then a gravel road, but knew I was getting way off the reservation so I had to turn back and retrace my steps. Turned out the only way out was down the road, so I headed that way. I ran into three other women riding, and we ended up chatting for a while in the road. I finally headed back out, cutting back into the woods and taking a different route home. There’s not a huge number of trails here, so I knew my way around (well, almost, I headed the wrong way on one trail), and ended up catching up to a group from the stables so I had to hang back for a bit, then took a bypass trail around the barn and back to the driveway and back to camp. The ladies came back a bit later and we ended up chatting some more. It was a lovely ride, a nice day, once again perfect weather, and Flash behaved beautifully, with lots of energy on the trail but quiet when we were stopped. He’s really becoming a fine trail horse, I couldn’t ask for more. Settled down for the evening with a movie and a new series, now I’m headed to shower, bed and book! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Slept the whole night through again (yay!), got up around 8:00, did chores and breakfast, and eventually went out to do some repairs. The spigot on the side of the trailer had come loose while it was at the trailer shop when I was out west, and today I set out to fix it for good. Of course, it’s never as simple a job as you think it’s going to be. I knew that sometimes there was a water drip from behind the spigot, but even though it was intermittent, I decided to fix it right before I secured it. It had one of those permanent type clamps on it and I couldn’t get it off, so I cut the hose short and had a heck of a time trying to get the clamp off the spigot, but eventually, with the help of a grapefruit knife, I was able to cut the hose back enough to slip it off. Then I had to use a regular water hose clamp to fix it, and that didn’t fit through the hole, so I had to put it all in place behind the metal frame, where I couldn’t see it, had to do everything by feel, so that was a challenge. One of those jobs where you really needed three hands. Eventually I managed it, though, and got it all put back together and secured it really well, so hopefully this is the last time I’ll have a problem with it. Then I tried to fix the one panel that’s bulging and put the trim back on, but it was impossible. Not sure if that’s ever anything that can be fixed without putting a whole new panel on it, but I struggled for a while before seeing it was futile. I also fixed one of the bars that separates the horses’ mangers, that’s been flopping around for awhile. I also noticed that one of my tires has a wide slash in the sidewall. Sigh. These tires have so much tread on them, and I have no idea why they keep getting sidewall slashes. I’m going to have to keep an eye on it, but I really don’t want to put the spare on if I can help it, because it’s a different brand of tire, and it’s totally a different size, even though the numbers match. This could become a big problem on the road, particularly since it’s on the driver’s side and changing it by the side of the road will be hazardous, I’m just not sure what to do with it, I’ll have to look at it again and decide if I should change it before I leave here. Problem is, it’s not just a short drive next time, like I’ve been doing lately, it’s the longest drive I’ve taken in awhile, though it won’t be on the freeway, I’ve got a route for mostly U.S. Highways. I’ll think about it tomorrow. Anyway, after all that, I took a short break, then saddled up Apollo and went out to finish all the rest of the trails on the map, except the Bridal Trail (yes, it’s Bridal, not Bridle), because I keep hearing that no one has cleared it in years and it’s impossible to follow, so I don’t need to invite that kind of annoyance into my life. The trails we took today were actually quite nice, not too rocky, not too hard to follow (with the help of my GPS, otherwise I would have gotten lost), but it’s small enough here where you wouldn’t stay lost for long anyway. The trails are covered in leaves now, not much left on the trees, but with the temps in the 70’s today, it was perfect, exactly what I keep trying to find! Lola and Apollo both seemed to enjoy themselves. I kept coming across these charming little structures attached to trees, and at first I thought they were bird houses or bat houses until I came to a mailbox with the flag up. Curiousity ruled, and I opened the mailbox and discovered it was a geocache station! Turns out all the structures were! There was even one intersection that had one shaped like a little jail! So cute! I read the instructions there, but decided not to join in today, though I already thought about seeing if there’s any horseback orienteering events in Florida, thought I might try to participate in one. Anyway, when I got back to camp there was a truck and horse trailer there, a day rider, who didn’t get back until about 5:00. I met him when I came out to feed the horses and we chatted for a bit. He has a dozen Paso Finos at home, plus the one he was riding today, so it was all about horses. Eventually he left, I got the horses fed, then settled down for the evening, as usual. Watched a good movie, Molly’s Game, now I’m heading to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Finally, a good night sleep! Well, I woke up early, because Lola was fussing and worrying on something, so I finished my book, then slept until nearly 9:00, haven’t done that in a long time! Morning chores, a few odd jobs, then I saddled up Flash and headed out to do the “Cowboy Trail.” The trailhead leaves out of the stable area opposite where the trail rides leave from, and it took me a minute to find the beginning of it, but once I got on it, it was marked fairly well. It reminded me of McClennan, narrow trail with quite a bit of rocks, well and truly covered with leaves so it was a bit hard to see, but I managed most of the way, with quite a few creek crossings at one part, and a number of tenters way out in the middle of nowhere. Then we reached the same overlook as yesterday, and from there, the trail markings all but disappeared. There was an occasional marker at an intersection, but only saying it’s a horse trail, not the color of the trail, so following the map was impossible. There were no confidence markers whatsoever. I had downloaded my route onto my GPS, and I still missed a turn somewhere and could never find it. I followed some other trails that seemed a bit more used and ended up right back on the trail to the stable we used yesterday, which was not my intention, but I never could get back on the trail that I wanted. Once I downloaded the GPS file of where I went, though, I could see about where I went wrong, so it should be easy enough to track it by going out a different way, the way I had intended to come back on. Anyway, it was a nice ride. Flash was full of pep, and I don’t think he was too fond of the footing, so he kept trying to faster to get out of it, but maybe it was just because it’s been quite a while since we’ve been on our own, where he could do his own pace and not be slowed down by anyone else. He certainly took advantage of it! We went just about seven miles and it only took us two hours, so he was definitely on his quick pace today, which is always fun! Lola enjoyed herself, too, and hopefully the exercise will help her sleep tonight, she was so restless last night, or rather, this morning. Anyway, it’s another cold morning tomorrow, but then it’s warming up here, will be 20 degrees warmer by the end of the week. I’ve found some hay in nearby LaGrange, so I’m doing my shopping tomorrow, filling propane tanks as well, since I’ve been using a lot of it lately to keep warm. Just another fun day on the road! I had another nice, quiet evening, and now I’m headed off for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Well, it isn’t often that I go for a ride on that old slug Apollo and NOT be the slowest horse in the pack! But that was certainly the case today! After a better night sleep (though I read for a lot longer than usual before finally turning the light off), I did my usual morning chores, had breakfast, then saddled up Apollo at 9:30 and arrived at the stable just before 10:00 for their “two hour ride.” Of course, first they had to finish tacking up the horses and doing an orientation and getting everybody mounted up, so we ended up leaving the barn about 10:30. As we followed the trail I stayed in the back out of the way, but Apollo, despite his sluggish ways, kept catching up to the two slowpokes just in front of me, a buckskin and a palomino mare who kept laying her ears back and kicking every time we got too close, so I had to keep pulling Apollo back to avoid that. Imagine, pulling Apollo back to slow down! Crazy! Anyway, we rode out for a little over two miles, stopping to let the slowpokes catch up a couple of times. The trails were pretty rocky in some places, and we had a serious switchback that was fun and reminded me of the Grand Canyon, then reached a beautiful overlook that spread a lovely landscape before us. It was right on the road, so several cars stopped to take pictures, and of course, there was one little girl who wanted to pet the horses so I took Apollo to her. We hung around there for, I swear, over 35 minutes, before heading back on a slightly different, less steep trail. Toward the end, we actually got an opportunity to trot (at which point I jumped to the front of the pack, since there was no way I was going to stay behind a bunch of slowpoke amateurs), and before I knew it we were back at the stables. A total of about four miles, that was their two hour ride. But it was about what I expected, and it gave me a chance to get a little bit of the lay of the land, and I’ve already planned my ride on Flash (with Lola) tomorrow, though it’s going to be pretty chilly in the morning. Frost warnings for tonight, would you believe! I’m not far enough south yet!! Been using a lot of propane with the furnace, no doubt I’ll have to run out to the nearest Tractor Supply soon to make sure I don’t run out. I baked myself some chicken for dinner, with rice and vegetables, the first real meal I’ve had in ages that wasn’t soup or cereal or eggs. A nice change. So now I’m headed off for an early shower, have to wash my hair tonight and don’t want to go to bed with a wet head. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Woke up before 4:00 am and couldn’t get back to sleep hardly at all, read for a long time hoping to doze off, and only did for a couple of minutes. Got up and fed everybody, had breakfast, then Bobby showed up to ride, but we waited for Stephanie, who I thought was coming early, but turns out that she didn’t make it until after 1:00 because she thought we were going for a morning ride, which I didn’t know. Anyway, we finally got out on the trail, then Lola started getting all funny for some reason. She was so nervous about being behind the horses that at one point she actually headed back to camp, I had to return and bring her back. Fortunately we weren’t too far along at that point. I’m not sure what’s up with that, she was fine at McClennan with three horses, but today it made her nervous. She finally managed to get out front, and she was much better after that. I guess it’s just being behind the horses that’s bothering here. Anyway, we had a nice 5+ mile ride today, with leaves dropping all around us as we rode though the late peak woods. We were only out about two hours, but Apollo managed to keep up with me and Bobby’s Tennessee Walker Legend, doing some jogging to keep up. I let them out on the grass when we got back (after I filled up the truck water tank), then Steph made us all some dinner, which was a nice change for me. Afterwards I had to get the horses in, and they weren’t very forthcoming so I had to meet them halfway out in the field to persuade them to come in. Then we sat around the campfire for a bit, I did Snowy River for them, then we broke up for the evening and I headed back to the trailer. Had my usual ice cream with Sleepytime tea (no wine today, though), which I’m hoping will help me get a good night sleep. I only managed to put a few things away, but the next place is only just over an hour south of here, so there’s no reason to rush out in the morning. I watched a couple of shows, now I’m ready for shower and bed, so I’ll say good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
A slightly better night sleep, woke up just once and managed to get back to sleep fairly quickly. Was up at dawn though, about 7:00, to a lot of thick fog. I read a little, then got up and fed the horses, then drove into Carrollton, the nearest town, to get the propane tanks refilled. It was cold last night and I had to run the furnace a bit, and it’s going to get worse over the next few days, so I didn’t want to run short. I also ran into Kroger for some things I haven’t been able to get at Walmart, then got back to camp by 10:00. Stephanie and her daughter are coming today, they were supposed to get here fairly early but got delayed so they didn’t get here until after 3:00. I did some work in the meantime on the trail analysis I’m doing for Camp McClellan until they arrived. I had already saddled up both horses, while her daughter brought her own, and we took a short ride, just about an hour or so was all we could get in before it was too close to dark. I let the horses wander in the field for a bit before their dinner, they were slow coming in when I called but got there eventually. Stephanie’s delay prevented her from staying here overnight, but she’s planning on trying again tomorrow, hopefully she’ll get here early enough. They left just as it was getting dark, so I just got some leftovers together and settled in for the evening. Watched the worst Mel Gibson movie I’ve ever seen, then another episode of a charming British series about a couple of old folks that dated when they were teenagers, then lost track of each other, then got back together sixty years later and discovered they were still in love. Sound familiar? Reminds me of Charles Davis. Anyway, time for a quick shower and a long sleep, having had my sleepytime tea again. Good night, my love!