What a very nice ride at Lake Louisa today! We got up a little early to try to beat the heat, but still didn't manage to get out until 11:00 (we got so lazy hanging around in one place all winter! 🙂 Over the weekend I had taken the trail map and marked off two routes that would allow us to cover as many of the park trails as possible, and downloaded Day One into the GPS to make sure, which ran just under 9 miles, saving the longer 12+ mile one for later in the week. We headed south through the youth camp, down to Dude's Loop, then north for a bit to the link to the east side of the park, which let us cross over a creek where the dogs had a great time splashing around, even little Billy took a voluntary swim across the creek to cool off, even though there's a bridge! Went north over the Sandhill Loop, then came back over the bridge where we rested a few minutes at the picnic table and hitching rail there, then did a sort of figure 8 along a bunch more trails that ended up taking us to the loop around the north side of Bear Lake and south back into the campground, all told, just over 3 hours. The weather was pretty hot (in the mid-upper 80's) but not too humid, cloudy enough to keep it from getting too bad, there was a tiny breeze occasionally that helped, and at one point, a few drops came out of a cloud, just enough to subdue the increasing heat. Hubby had a lot of great canters, as his mare Clio was walking slower than usual, and he had to keep up. She's starting to get a bit of arthritis in one of her knees, so we'll have to keep an eye on that, though he's been spraying it with Absorbine everyday. But a gorgeous day all around! The trails were marked brilliantly, and the map corresponded perfectly (a rare combination!), and we never felt lost, making the day even more enjoyable! Looking forward to our next ride here, probably Wednesday. A great start to our re-kindled journey!

For some time now, we've known about the nearby Loxahatchee Slough, but have only ever reached it's trailhead after a long ride from brother Jeff's house, so we had never actually been on those trails. At Dupuis a few months ago, I met a woman named Valerie who was kind enough to invite me to ride with her today, so we packed up the horses early and headed over to another one of her friend's house named Nancy. From there we quickly saddled up and headed west along the canal at a nice easy walk so the horses could get used to each other and the surroundings, and of course they had issues with a pig in someone's back yard, but it wasn't long before we all settled down. Just as we reached the trailhead we were joined by another rider, Bob, who decided to tag along with us. We took a very nice loop of about 4 miles, part of which went along one of the big canals, and there was one stretch that had standing water we had to wade through for a bit. Otherwise it was a lovely day, a very nice trail and a very nice ride, and we all took turns chatting amongst ourselves. We mostly walked and jogged, though Hubby got in a couple of canters catching up several times, as our pace was a bit quicker than normal for us (their horses are younger :-). We passed one property that had a rather emaciated looking horse in the yard, I took note and looked it up later, passing the address and owner along to Val in case she wanted to report it. With us leaving in a few days, it doesn't make sense for us to get involved, hopefully the ladies here will follow up on it. In any event, it was a lovely ride, about 7.3 miles all told, just over two hours, just right for the busy day we all still had left in front of us. Hubby and I expressed our thanks and goodbyes, made short stop at Publix for a few things before heading back to the "ranch," did some chores before settling down for the evening.

After a week of regular life, then a few days down in Key West with our client/friends who were renting a condo for the month (where we did some work and some play, including a snorkeling trip out to the reef), we arrived home Thursday, rested Friday, and finally had a beautiful day to go riding! It's been either too hot or too wet for weeks, or work has gotten in the way, so we were relieved to finally have a perfect weather day, so we packed up the horses and drove out to Dupuis WMA, where a group was having a poker run. We didn't participate in the run, but the campground was busy, busy, busy!! We did take a quiet trail away from the madding crowd for a fairly short 2-hour ride. Apollo was his usually antsy self for the first half hour, responding to every waving palm frond and unseen noise on the trail, but he finally settled down for a very nice ride. He always gets like that when he's been laid off for a few weeks. Hubby's horse Clio was perfect, of course, but she is starting to get arthritis in her knees, so we've added some additional joint supplements to her diet, and we'll be doing liniment more often to help her out. A gorgeous day, just a little wind and not hot at all for a change. Saw a beautiful cactus in full bloom with perfect yellow flowers, a wild turkey, and a bit of pig sign, but no pigs. Chatted with some friends, new and old, and learned of a few more places to ride locally, but chances are we won't have more than maybe one more chance to ride this season, as we'll be busy all next week getting ready to depart in 10-11 days. Can't wait to get back on the road again! Though we're glad we didn't leave earlier, as they're having snow across the midwest this week! Brrrr!

Still not sure whether our gray water tank repair is completely finished because Hubby thought he had closed the valve to hold water in, but it was still dripping a little so the tank hasn't been filling up. He closed it off this morning, yesterday morning, so hopefully we'll know for sure in a couple more days, after more showers and laundry! Other than more mundane activities this week, Brother Jeff and I decided to take a ride down at Riverbend, so we headed out around 1:00. There was rain in the forecast starting after 2:00, but was likely to be hit or miss, so we weren't too worried. Besides, we had slickers and ponchos if we needed them. There were half a dozen other trailers in the equestrian area when we arrived, and by the time we were saddled up, most of them had come off the trail. We headed out behind the pavilion and worked our way all the way out to the golf course loop and back. Since Jeff isn't as used to riding, and because he likes to drink his beer along the way, we stopped to take breaks three times, which made it for a long afternoon. We did see a lot of wading birds, a cute squirrel sunning himself in a bush, and even an alligator swimming slowly along the river by the golf course. The sun was hot, but it was cloudy for a good part of the afternoon, and there was a decent breeze that kept it from getting too hot. Just as we got back to the trailer, we felt a few drops of rain and a dark cloud coming in, but we were on our way before it started raining. We stopped at Publix to pick up a few things, and the parking lot was soaked, with lots of puddles, so obviously it had rained heavily there for a few minutes, at least. Hubby called and said it was pouring at the house, but by the time we came out of the store, it had all pretty much passed, so we missed in entirely. The yard was wet again, but just a bit, we had not trouble getting the horses out and the trailer parked, and relaxed for the rest of the evening, which was, of course, an hour longer because of going into Daylight Savings Time last night.

After a day of mostly getting caught up on book orders, as well as doing a few odd jobs, my brother and I decided to take a quick ride out to the gazebo in Hungryland, which is just under 5 miles. We took along both my dogs, and his little fluffy dog Armani. Last time we rode with Armani was August last year in upstate New York, and then he put him up on the saddle where he rode like a little prince. This time, I suggested he just let Armani be a trail dog, despite his diminutive size, and keep up with us along with Billy and Lola. He was a little concerned that Armani was following Clio a little close, and that she might kick, but after my assurances, he decided to let Armani tag along on the ground, which turned out just fine. He and my little Billy hung out for a while, but then Billy jumped up front with Lola for a while too. We headed out the usual route along the first canal, then down to the new land bridge over to Hungryland. We met a group of locals with tourists, which we later learned were Italian (they got a kick out of the name Armani), and passed a vehicle along the way as well, while we made our way to the gazebo and then a bit further west, just for a little extra mileage. Today I decided to put Apollo in his bitless bridle, just to see how he would behave, and other than shying a bit once on a windy scrub palm, and rodeo-ing on his transition from a trot to a canter (which he hasn't done in a while, so I was surprised), he was fine. Not sure if I'll try again or not, though today's test didn't prove whether he'd behave better or not. Anyway, it was a nice ride, the dogs were great, the horses were fine, and we got back just as the sun was setting, when got everyone settled in for the evening.

With all the rain they've had this year in Florida, many areas that are normally dry have been underwater, and Dupuis has been no exception. But with three days of sunshine and breeze, and a forecast for low 70's today, this was the PERFECT opportunity to ride in Dupuis, and as it happens, there was a charity ride scheduled today, for breast cancer, so we decided to go and participate. That required getting up earlier than usual (by Hubby's standards, who loves to sleep late 🙂 ) and arriving between 8:30 and 9:00, which we did. After signing up, and donating a book to their raffle, we headed out following the big pink hoof signs that were well placed. They had two trails marked, one for horses and one for dogs and their walkers. This was so wonderful to see, as Dupuis, for years, didn't allow dogs, even in the campground, but they recently loosened the restriction to dogs on a leash (yeah!), something that many of us have been fighting for a long time. The camp host had dogs, but the rest of us weren't allowed... Go figure. Anyway, the trail took us all along the western side of the park, which has some beautiful areas. They had marked three loops for horses, 4 miles, 6+ miles, and 8+ miles. Well, 8 miles sounded just about right to us, so we stayed on that track. There was still much more water on some parts of the trail than we've ever seen, which kept it interesting. Lots of areas were just damp or a little muddy, but some had some long stretches of water completely covering the trail. Nowhere near as bad as the cattle drive, though, and the horses trooped through with no problems. In fact, the horses were brilliant today, no drama, great jogs and a lot of nice canters as well. Despite the mostly good trail markers, we still managed to get lost (well, not lost, just not on the designated trail), and we ended up coming back on the road for the final few miles. Turns out that was fine, as the designated trail was back the way we came, and Hubby and I HATE to go back on the same trail if there are loop options! Anyway, we got back into camp around noon, then sat around and chatted with some ladies, one who lives very nearby, and another lives in Chicago and (smartly) winters here, who said she was looking for a place in Jupiter for next year. Both ended up buying a book! Flying off the shelf, they are! Hubby put the horses away while I was chatting, and finally we left about 1:30, heading first to Ranch Feed to pick up enough feed for the horses to last for several weeks, and then to a fabulous little Thai Restaurant in Palm City, where we enjoyed a delightful meal in this quaint place. Got back to the "ranch" by 5:00, discovered a bunch more books online book sales had come in, then settled down for the evening to a very good movie and a very poor Republican debate... But don't get me started on politics!

What a busy week! So many book orders have come it (thank you!!) and the weather's been quite cool, so riding has not been in the cards until today. While the neighborhood here is all very nice, we were ready for a change (especially after seeing so MUCH change during the Cattle Drive), we decided to trailer the horses the very short trip up to Riverbend Park. This is a lovely little park that has something for everyone, canoe and kayak rentals, hiking, biking, picnic areas, and, of course, equestrian trails! We parked in the dedicated equestrian field and had the horses saddled up in no time, then hit the trails. There's only really a few choices here, a long loop and shorter loop, with just a couple of options for cutting between them, but they are lovely trails. We did the longest trail we could, and even so it was only 6.5 miles, but it was lovely! We saw a lot of young deer along the backside of the golf course, and had a chance for some nice canters. A gorgeous day, with just a bit of a cool wind which we only noticed when we were heading into it, but it warmed up during the ride beautifully. A great change of venue, for us and the horses!

Had a wonderful night sleep in our nice and dry tent, only had a little transpiration on the wall of the tent when we got up. Didn't take long to get packed up and ready to leave, finally found a way to get up at 5:00 and be ready by 8:00 (kick Hubby out of the tent as early as possible), and after standing around for a while, we finally set out to the arena. Although less than two miles away, we did a lot of stopping along the way, taking until almost noon to get there. Further, we stood around a long time while the cows were herded around the arena, then finally each group had a half turn around the arena to the waiting crowd of about 700, we heard later. After we left the arena, we went directly to our van, where Hubby took care of the horses and I grabbed a box of books and headed to the registration RV where I set up shop. Thanks to a gentleman who helped me carry a box of books! Several hours and 25 book sales later, we finally packed it in. Hubby had nearly succeeded in getting out of the mud, but in the end he had to have a bulldozer help him out. We headed to Okeechobee where we picked up horse feed and grab a to go dinner from a Vietnamese restaurant along the way, arriving back at Brother Jeff's just about 7:00 as it was getting dark. Horses jumped out of the trailer and started grazing, and Hubby and I crashed into our recliners, where we intend to stay until we are fully recovered!

After another night of warm rain, it finally started to clear out this morning, though not until after we had packed up everything wet. The good news is, we have another short day of riding today, and the camp where we'll be arriving early will be our camp for the next two days. The forecast is for clear and sunny weather, so we're all excited about getting things dried out. More cold hard scrambled eggs for breakfast, more traipsing through wet and soggy swamp before reaching our new camp, which is the ranch of one of the wranglers. It's a beautiful place, and for once, each area is designated for each group, which makes it much more comfortable. Each group has it's own set of corrals, so we didn't have to fight over them. I kept getting different reports as to when the rain would stop, so we sat around under the awning of our circle boss' trailer again, hoping for a long enough break to get our tent up dry. Unfortunately, that never really happened, and though we had some very entertaining discussions with some of the other members of our group (at last, social activity within the group!), it was late when I set up the tent, so it was still pretty wet. I can't remember ever going to be with wet hair, on a wet pillow, in a wet tent, just wet all around. We had another dinner, though this one was actually pretty hot for a change, before heading to bed. The routine has become that, routine. Hard, but routine.

Well, rain came in overnight, but fortunately we slept through most of it. We set the alarm for 4:30 this morning, determined to be on time for the 8:00 muster. I ran down in the rain to the dining hall, only to discover they didn't have any cereal out, and they were out of coffee, so Hubby and I went out without breakfast. I managed to grab a couple of OJ's, but that was it! We broke down the tent and equipment in the rain, but just as we were heading out of camp, it quit raining for awhile, thank goodness. Of course, we have our slickers and hats, so we stayed relatively dry, and the warmer temps made it almost pleasant. Hubby is still suffering from shortness of breath, though, a remnant of both the cold air and the incredibly salty food, which always has an effect on him. It was another relatively easy day, despite the rain and the sloppy trails. Clio is still taking swipes at horses that run up on her fast, but otherwise is behaving well. Apollo has gotten used to the crowds, and only pins his ears back on occasion when someone gets too close. This has been really good for them, particularly if we decide to go on more organized trail rides in order to promote the book. Because of the weather, it was decided that we wouldn't stop for lunch, which was scheduled to be just a mile away, but rather head straight for camp and have lunch there instead, so off we went, arriving by about 1:00. Unfortunately, there was a shortage of corrals, and people were racing around, just like in musical chairs, to try to secure their spot. Apparently a bunch of the "workers" had reserved theirs by leaving hats and halters around, which I didn't think they could do, but somehow we managed to get one right on the end, which was a great relief. Some folks had to wait more than an hour for more panels to be set up! This was a small camping area, and the corrals were actually set up inside the cow pasture, so the cows were doing a good job of stealing hay from the horses. Obviously, we couldn't camp near the corrals tonight, so I quickly located a spot between two larger tents, halfway under a tree, and held that spot until we could find our luggage, which, miraculously, was in the trailer right next to us! It began to rain again just as we were setting up, but I still managed to keep most everything reasonably dry, for the moment. Lunch was a small sloppy Joe and a bag of chips (again). I was right in my suspicions about diminishing portions, every meal has been getting smaller. After not getting breakfast (because they didn't bother to put out cereal), we were starving, but sloppy Joe's was not a good choice considering the lack of water (which has been a problem, but has finally been resolved by a truck with full tanks that now shows up at every meal), and the need to wash up afterward. Another silly thing about this caterer, the only napkins they provide is in a cutlery packet, so if you need a second one, you have to open an entire cutlery packet to get it! What a waste! Anyway, after inhaling lunch, I managed to get the tent set up in a light rain. Hubby was feeling so poorly by now, so short of breath, that he is all but helpless. I made him sit in the dining tent while I did all the work. Eventually, everything was set up, but it was starting to get harder to stay dry. We hung around at our circle boss's trailer for awhile, staying dry under the awning, and it was our first chance to actually talk to anyone in our group for more than a passing comment, then dinner and to bed, all still in the rain. Also, my video camera somehow didn't turn off when it was supposed to, so now my battery is dead, and I'll only have my very poor quality phone for photos from here on out. Fortunately, I'll be able to recharge my phone, several people have adapters that fit my phone, and access to car batteries or generators to keep the juice up!