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!

Hi Sweetheart,
Well, despite the sleepytime tea and the melatonin, I still woke up in the middle of the night and had to read awhile before getting back to sleep, darn it. Then I slept through till practically 9:00, so I guess I made up for most of it. I did a couple of loads of laundry, though this time I hung them up to dry since it was an absolutely gorgeous day here. I saddled up Apollo and took off around noon, doing the trails on the east side of the park, of which there were only about 4 miles worth, so we were back by 1:45. I actually got him to do a bit of jogging, which helped our time. The trails are quite lovely here, though at times they’re a bit hard to follow because newer tracks have been created when the older tracks got too worn down. Some of these trails look very old, and not surprisingly, this is a very famous historical spot as there’s a shoals right here, which was originally a crossing point for a number of trails that met here. Lots of Indian and pioneer stories from around here, very interesting. Anyway, it was a nice ride again, though still a bit slippery, but not bad. Apollo seemed to enjoy himself once we got out there and he discovered it wasn’t all rocky and really steep. A bit reluctant at first, understandably, considering the trails I made him go on last week. Once I got him put back on the highline I took my laundry down, then I had some visitors. A guy I met at the last camp had a friend, Stephanie, who lives near here that wanted to meet me and chat, so she and two guys from her barn came out a spent a couple of hours picking my brain about traveling and other things. After they left I drove up to the entrance gate to pay for my extra days (which I forgot to do yesterday), and Stephanie was up there asking about camping, so it looks like she might be coming back tomorrow and staying over tomorrow night. The guy that introduced us is probably coming on Sunday as well, so I guess I’ll be surrounded by folks the rest of the weekend. Seems I’m making an impression on folks in my “community,” which is rather nice. I’ve met a lot of people lately who are quite envious of my trailer and my whole lifestyle, and I can’t say I blame them, I’m so fortunate to be able to do what I’m doing, grateful every day! After they left, I let the horses out in the field, and my neighbors saw me and did the same, so the horses frisked around with each other for awhile. They did end up wandering quite a ways away, this time in the other direction (away from the many campers who came in during the day, fortunately), and we both had to holler for them before they came back at dinner time, but the eventually made their way back. I put their blankets on tonight, since it’s supposed to get down in the low 40’s tonight, I’m still hopeful I can prevent them from growing too heavy a winter coat, though their necks are starting to get some thick fur. Something else, I discovered Lola is missing some teeth, almost all the little ones between her big canines on the top. At first I thought maybe it was from using a hard frisbee (which I only did for about 5 minutes, so not likely), but then I thought that it must have happened when that horse kicked her up a Circle E last month. I don’t remember her bleeding, or even having difficulty eating, but she must have had some problems and I didn’t notice. Anyway, she’s eating fine now, but she’s lost her perfect smile, which is sad. But she did get too close the back of a bunch of horses, and she’s learned the lesson the hard way, and now she’s stays away from other horses, and mostly stays in front as well, so I guess she’ll be all right. I took my shower early so my hair would dry, and now I’m off to bed early, too, since I don’t know what time things are starting to happen tomorrow. And tomorrow is the big day for the folks at McClellan, I hope everything goes all right for them! They were forecasting rain for tomorrow almost all week, but finally the forecast is for sunny and in the 70’s, so it will be perfect for their ride. Hope it goes okay! Anyway, off to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Couldn’t get to sleep yesterday, probably too much rest during the day! So I read late, and woke up at the usual time, so not really enough sleep. It was foggy and cloudy and wet, so I decided to do my laundry and use the dryer rather than hang things on the line, since water next week is going to be at least as much of a problem at the next place as it is here. I had to transfer water from the truck tank as it was, which required me dropping the front end down to the bottom of the jacks and raising the truck height by pulling it onto the Jiffy Jack. I used more propane than I would have liked, but I had three full tanks, and only had to switch over about halfway through the second wash, so I’m not worried. I’ve decided not to sweat using propane, after all, it’s a lot cheaper than paying for the electric in a house! Meanwhile, I worked on my computer for quite a bit, putting together some mapping ideas for McClellan like I promised. It finally cleared up around 1:30 and turned into a beautiful afternoon, so I decided I still had time to take Flash for a ride. It’s been awhile since he’s been ridden, and he was full of beans, which was compounded by the fact that the trail I took essentially looped a mile around the field across from the campsite, so Apollo was whinnying the whole time, and Flash was answering, and dancing like he wanted to go back, but eventually we got out of range once we got in the woods and started climbing. I had a map, and I’d made a GPS route and downloaded it, thank goodness, because there isn’t a single trail marker out here! Not at the trailhead, or intersections or anywhere! How crazy is that? I managed to find my way around, but I’m sure I missed a couple of corners, and if I didn’t have my GPS route programmed, I’m sure it would have been much worse. Anyway, we managed to cover about two-thirds of the trails out here, seven plus miles so far, which we did in barely two hours. I’m thinking I’ll take Apollo tomorrow, since there’s only about four miles left. Lola enjoyed herself, and so did Flash and I, it was great to be back on the trail again! Very little stone, thank goodness, but with all the rain, it was a bit muddy in a few spots, and Flash slipped on the wet leaves a few time, but nothing serious. When I had come out to saddle him, I discovered I had a neighbor move in a few sites down, a woman names Marin, and (I guess) her husband. They took a ride after I left, and got back before I did. They had put up a portable fence for their horses. I stopped by to say hello and we chatted a bit. I told her my reasons for not putting up my fence (Apollo, the escape artist, would have no problem pulling out fenceposts in the soft ground here), and she asked me if I ever thought about putting them on the field. Turns out, she’s the one the ranger was talking about that lets her horses out, so we agreed to give it a try together. She said hers don’t go that far, and I figured they wouldn’t get too far apart from each other, what with horses being a herding animal, so after I unsaddled Flash I let them both loose. A few minutes later, she let hers out and they came galloping across the field straight for my two, and they all did a little friendly dance together for a few minutes, then settled down to graze in their original pairs, about fifty feet separating them. They all looked great together! About an hour later, she called hers in for dinner, and all four of them came into my site. I grabbed my two and hooked them to their highline, and her two went off to her camp, just like all good little horses should! Like a bunch of big, well-behaved dogs! So I fed them, then settled down for the evening as the sun set over the river. A lovely day, with another one scheduled for tomorrow. Good to be someplace quiet and away from a busy road! But now it’s bedtime, so I’m off to the shower. Tonight I drank some sleepytime tea, so I’m hoping to sleep through the night for a change. Good night, babe! Love you!