Pix to come!

Hiya Babe!
It was 11:30 by the time the mechanic finished up last night, so even with a quick shower, it was after midnight before I was finally got to bed, even later when I got to sleep. Woke up even before my alarm, before 6:00, do I didn't even get much more than five hours of sleep. Packed up and was on the way out of the rest area by 7:15, and had a much welcome uneventful drive to South Branch, stopping once for fuel (diesel down to $4.83 at Marathon), and arriving around 11:00. I was very glad that I looked back at my diary from 2013, because I was able to pinpoint exactly which site we stayed in, and why. I even mentioned the site number, #7, and we stayed there because there's a pump house right across the street, even though it only has a stupid spring spigot with no threads, so essentially useless without major modifications. Thank goodness I've learned a few tricks since then! Later on I took a look behind the well and found another spigot with threads, but it needs a special key, which I actually have somewhere, but I searched high and low and never could find it. Discovered I can buy one at the local hardware store, so I'll be making a trip down there before long! Meanwhile, I put the horses on anchors and got all set up, later putting up a fenced paddock for when I can't keep an eye on them. Right next to me I ran into another MTRA gal that I met on the Shore to Shore ride a few years ago, and she was camping with another two gals (no horses this trip), and in the evening, we ended up playing some euchre together, which I thoroughly enjoyed! Haven't played cards with other humans in a long time! My partner said she hadn't played in years, but it came back to her in spades, because we ended up winning both games against the other gals. I ordered a new tire to be delivered to a shop in Tawas, put up my portable rain barrel and caught a little rain when some showers came through (very little, though) made arrangements for trail clearing with Brian tomorrow and possible trail marking on Thursday and Friday, and generally spent the afternoon keeping busy, though I probably should have taken a nap. One thing for sure, I'll sleep tonight! Temps are going down to the low 50's, just perfect for a good night sleep! Not to mention, finally cold enough to enjoy a hot cup of Sleepytime tea! Tried to watch an episode of House, but the cell signal is pretty weak, so I only got halfway through it before quit, so off to shower and bed! Another early morning (though not quite as early!) and a busy day ahead! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
What a day, and not in a good way. Woke up bright and early after a decent night sleep, managed to get packed up and even out of the RV dump by 8:30, ahead of schedule. Was very happy that it looked like I was going to arrive by 3:00 or so, which would give me plenty of time to scope out a good site. I deliberately avoid I-94, since that is the worst interstate I've ever been on, and was doing quite well until I was just south of Lansing, when I heard a tire explode. After all that trouble to get new tires a few months ago, I was sure I wouldn't have any tire problems for a good couple of years, so you can imagine my disappointment. I had just passed an exit, so I pulled off of the acceleration lane, which was as far off the road as I could get. When I went out to look at it, imagine my astonishment when I realized that not only did I have a flat tire in the front on the passenger side, but the back wheel was completely gone! All eight lug nuts had snapped, and the brake hub as sitting on the ground, with no wheel in sight. It was no wonder the other tire shredded, since it would have been impossible to carry that much weight on one tire. Grrrr! I tried to call my insurance company for road service and got some woman who could barely speak English and kept asking the same stupid questions, who couldn't send me a text to confirm my location, and on and on. I finally gave up and just started calling around myself. By then, the state troopers arrived and gave me the name of a towing company right at the exit I just passed, and they sound out a gal who thought she was only changing a tire with a spare (which I would have done by the time she got there, if that was the only thing), and she ended up calling her boss, who came out and saw the rest of the problem. We did change the spare out, and managed to limp to a rest area that was just over half a mile farther, thank goodness. Then I had to call around and find someone who could change the hub, or a least put in new lugs, and to get a new wheel and tire. I also go on Facebook and asked for help in case I needed to get the horses safe, but it turned out the rest area had a lot of nice grass and was edged by woods, so as the day dragged on, I decided to just stay here rather than transport the horses somewhere else. I had lots of response to my request, though, nice to know how many horse folks are out there willing to help! I managed to find all that I needed, but not everything was a perfect replacement. The tire guy said he had an aluminum wheel, but turned out he didn't, so now I have on steel wheel (I'll make it my spare once I replace the other tire), and last guy took a long time to find all the stuff he needed. He thought he had the right hub, but didn't, then thought he could change the lugs out, but ended up running around finding the right ones. He didn't get back to the trailer until about 9:30 this evening, and is still working on it as I write this. Fingers crossed he's able to complete the job and I'll be able to get out of here, though I'm already late for my shower and bed, which will make getting up at the crack of dawn (which I did this morning) all that much harder. But at least I'll be able to make it to South Branch tomorrow, hopefully, though I hate to go that far without a spare. I'll need to order one to match the original ones, and have it sent to someplace near South Branch, though I'll still have one odd brand out. Can't be helped. Anyway, it's been a long, exhausting day, can't wait to take my shower, put in my earplugs, and go to bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
Finally had a wonderful night sleep! Maybe because after the rain it cooled down nicely, maybe because I gave Lola a gabapentin, I don't know, but I went to bed early (though I had to get up once because I heard water running below me, turned out my neighbors used the water spigot very late last night and turn of the valve but not the spigot, and my valves were open, so I was overflowing), but fell asleep pretty thoroughly, even without earplugs! Was up early, since our start time this morning was 9:00, and I was on my way up to the start before 8:45. We started and 9:01 and was finished a little after 10:30, a bit longer than yesterday (we had trouble locating one plate), but still ended up in first place. I decided to join CMO so that I could earn the points, just in case I decide to do some more. They are rather fun, and it was an excellent socializing event for Flash, who was even better behaved today, changing from last to mid-pack to first several times during the ride. He was less frantic and more cooperative, finally figuring out he didn't need to outrun everyone, because we were going to stop and hang out occasionally. And he really enjoyed going fast in the woods! So it was a lot of fun. Meanwhile, I managed to get two loads of laundry done, some housekeeping, I pressure washed the truck's water tank (since water at South Branch may be problematic, I still haven't discovered if there is a spigot or hand pump there, only that I can't get into the group area until Thursday), filled all my tanks (not that I want to drag an extra half ton or water with me, I just don't know what the water situation is!), did most of my packing and got the truck hooked up, so I should be ready to go pretty early tomorrow, which I'll need since it's over 325 miles of driving tomorrow. Wore myself out today, though, so another early night, and hopefully another good night sleep, and seven hours of driving is going to feel like a day off! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Had a terrible night's sleep, Lola was restless the whole night, and even putting in earplugs didn't help. Then the AC kicked on a few times, and it was generally just a bad night, only got a few fitful hours at best. After chores and breakfast, walked up to the rider's meeting, was assigned to a team of three ladies I met yesterday, Pam, Becky and Stacy, otherwise knows as the Stay Calm, Ride On team, walked back and saddled up Flash and was back down and ready to go by the time they finished tacking up. Got our maps and headed out. These gals like to move out and Flash was raring to go! I started out in the back, then moved up to third in the line because Flash was going faster than Pam at the back. We found every plate, and during the last mile or so, Flash took the lead and we made some great time back to camp! We came crossed the finish line in 1:29:05, having found all 10 paper plates, and took first place once all the teams came in. Flash really enjoyed moving out with the other horses, and he was a tiny bit calmer today than yesterday, so I think he's starting to figure it out and is going along with it. At the very end of the trail, I ran into two ladies I met at Kankakee, so as soon as I was done checking in, I circled back and chatted with them for a bit. Finally got back to camp, hosed Flash down, and relaxed in my recliner, tried to read but ended up falling asleep. No surprise there. Eventually watch some TV while a tremendous rainstorm came through, a delicious cool front that's going to make temps down in the low 60's overnight! Yay! Linda had bought me some eggs, which I picked up on my way back to the camper, and started making deviled eggs, as promised. Headed up to the pot luck just before six, sat next to Cathy Weeks, another Florida full-time horse camper that I'm sure I'll hook up with again somewhere along the line. Got back around 7:30, fed the horses, took Lola for a walk, watched one more House episode and am ready for bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Finally had a decent night sleep, Lola was quiet all night, and I woke up refreshed and raring to go! Had my usual morning routine, then Linda came by and offered to let me be on her team, so after walking Lola, I saddled up Flash and headed down to her trailer, got signed in and registered, and off we went! We each received a map with a series of circles with numbers on it on one side, and a list of clues for each number, which led us to a certain landmark. Once there, we took compass readings to determine which direction to look for a paper plate with a number on it, and a couple of words with letters underlined. We recorded the letters at each station, then headed off to the next one! There were ten plates in all, and we found them all, but Linda's youngster misread one of the plates and we got the wrong letters, so we only got credit for nine plates. Still, it was a good first experience! Flash did get a bit competitive and crazy, doing his silly collected canter and trying to go sideways, but we made good time between plates, and he would quiet down once we got to the circled area and we had to stand for a bit. It was a good exercise for him, and I'm glad to know we could never be accused of slowing down a team! I mostly observed, but I did manage to find a couple of the plates, and I learned a bit of strategy when we passed another woman, who had left much earlier than us, struggling to find a marker. I don't know how we placed in the end, I need to ask that tomorrow. We left at 12:15 and were back by 2:00, so the hours suit me just fine! Much better than getting up at the crack of dawn like at the endurance rides! They're having another one at Tippecanoe in a couple of weeks, but I have no intention of coming back south for that, not after already having spend two weeks there sweating my butt off. I plan to stay farther north as long as I can. Got back to camp, rinsed off a sweaty Flash, did a load of laundry and settled down for the afternoon. Lots more people came in during the afternoon, and we had a nice little rainstorm come through that cleared up the smoke that's been hanging around for the last couple of days, not to mention making it a tiny bit cooler. Looking forward to another early night, and another competition tomorrow! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Pix to come!

Hey Darlin',
No alarm this morning, since my trip today was less than 100 miles, so I let myself sort of sleep in before getting up and finishing the packing. Was leaving camp by 10:30 and arriving by 12:30 after an uneventful trip. When I reached the campsite, it was a bit challenging because there were quite a few obstacles on both sides of the road, but I managed to swing in on my first try, a really fabulous attempt, especially since there was a car with a family in it right behind me. No pressure! Surprised myself with how straight I got in, but when I started looking for the electrical box, I was dismayed to see it was a very long way away, so far away that even with my extension cord I wouldn't be able to reach it. So I had to redo it, pull out and back in again, which, fortunately, I was able to do fairly quickly. Turns out the family had a couple of kids that really wanted to see the horses, so I accommodated, bringing them out so they could pet them and give them treats. Once they were satisfied, I finished my setup, which was a fence around their silly hitching rail, filled my tanks, and was all in by about 2:00 or so. Settled down, watched some TV, took Lola for a couple of walks, had dinner and settled down for the evening. Just another day on the road! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Didn't sleep very well last night, not sure why, but I'm suspecting maybe too much aspartame, too many diet drinks, or maybe just too much food. Regardless, I was up with the early alarm, got chores done, skipped breakfast since I ate so much yesterday and still didn't feel hungry, walked Lola, then finally reported to work around 8:15. Today's job was pulse timer, and I found out later, out timer as well. No big deal, the number of riders was much smaller, so it was easy to stay on top of, and I had already created a cheat sheet for the hold times, so it was simple enough. It was al over, including the breakdown, before 2:00. I had the farrier trim Apollo's feet, which were overdue, and drove down to pay for another night of camping since my borrowed reservation only went through today, then finally settled down for the rest of the afternoon and evening, doing my usual day before packing, walking Lola and bingeing on my latest series. Also managed to get in three loads of laundry, so I won't even have to worry about that tomorrow. Once again, I'm driving less than 100 miles, so it won't take me long, no hurry about getting up in the morning. I'm not going to go to the dump here because my notes (and memory) from last time is the dump is very difficult to get to with a camper my size, and I don't really need it yet anyway, not to mention that my next stop, Potato Creek, had an excellent and easily accessible dump, so I have no reason not to wait for that. Most folks left today, but there is still a good number of campers in the horse camp, which I'm glad to see! Anyway, day is done, shower and bed next! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
After getting another good rainstorm overnight, I got up with the alarm, did chores and breakfast, and spent the day at the vet check area helping to scribe and to train some new scribers. I have to give this ride it's due, it is investing a lot of time and energy into bringing in new recruits to the sport, something it desperately needs. They held an all-day clinic yesterday for new people, some young, some not so young, and it was great to see! Although I spent the day at the vetting area, it wasn't a terribly taxing day. Barely a moment of sprinkles, but the day was cloudy so although it was humid, it didn't get too terribly hot, which was a relief, considering I had to spend the day outdoors. Ate too much at the potluck dinner, of course, but am finally relaxing back in my air-conditioned camper, trying to watch an episode of House (the signal here is quite intermittent, no doubt slowing down because of the number of folks in camp), and will soon be showered and off to bed. Sunny day called for tomorrow, so likely to be hotter. Just have to deal with it! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Another good night sleep, no alarm this morning since I didn't have anything particular to do today. After chores, breakfast and walking Lola, I decided to fix my closed up pierced ear, and went at that with a straight pin until I could put a real earring in, something I've been trying to do for months now but haven't managed it. Finally had success! Then I spent some time doing bookkeeping, my new effort to try to do it monthly rather than occasionally so that it piles up too much. Filled up the tanks, including the truck tank, so that I wouldn't have to keep running the hose just to fill up the horses' buckets. Met up with ride manager Noelle a little after 2:00, but she didn't have anything for me to do yet, so I headed back to the trailer to do some computer work. Went back over at 7:00 when they were having a meet and greet for some newbies that are here for a beginners clinic that they've put together, a great idea for growing the sport, I thought. Came back to feed the horses and walk Lola, then was asked by a trio of young newbies to help them put up a highline. I had mentioned during the M&G that I thought hitching rails were a death trap and spoke of the virtues of the highline, so it's not surprising they came to me for help. My pleasure! We ran it from one of the rail posts to the hay loft bracket, and it worked just fine. They had three horses, and they were all a bit crowded on the hitch rail. Finished our walk and settled down for the evening. Work starts at 9:00 tomorrow, so I'll be in bed shortly! Good night, my sweet! Love you!