Hi Babe,
Got to bed kind of late, so got up a little late, but I had every intention of going riding this morning, but as soon as I was getting hay for the horses, one of the campers came by to tell me that the water in the shower house wasn’t working, so I ended up going over there and looking it over. At first, I couldn’t find anything wrong, it seemed like an electrical problem rather than a water problem, so I closed it all up and put signs on it to use the other bathhouse. Then I took another look at it, and eventually found that the GFI on one of the electrical outlets out in the pump area had clicked off, so I reset it and that seemed to solve the problem.By the time I did that and had breakfast, it was getting too hot to ride, so once again, I ditched it, and spent the afternoon reading, on the computer and binge-watching TV. Figured I’ll get busy again tomorrow. Supposed to go shopping with James for trail-marking supplies, so I should be out on the trails by Tuesday morning doing that. There’s a cool front coming in tomorrow afternoon, so Tuesday it should be really nice, perfect for riding and marking. If I can get yellow and white mostly done Tuesday, the rest shouldn’t take too long, they’re mostly in better shape. But I’m going to have to take better note of where we want to put posts and arrows where they are really needed, until we can get the better intersection markers approved. Anyway, getting past my bedtime, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Got up pretty early this morning, I had a busy morning shopping. I discovered the Ace Hardware in Indiantown sold hay, so in an effort to save myself a trip to Okeechobee, I went in and checked it out. It wasn’t too bad, though the bales were pretty small, so I bought ten for now. Then I went to the Tractor Supply because I had completely run out of Flash’s food last night, they didn’t even get any breakfast except hay this morning, and also to pick up the Balance that I had ordered, only to discover that the manager had trouble finding it so he hadn’t ordered it. I waited for him to get back from running an errand and helped him walk through finding the right stuff, and he says he’s going to order it on Monday so hopefully I’ll get it before I run out of the one bag I have left. After that I went to the IGA to do some grocery shopping. Even though things are a bit more expensive there, it saves me all those miles, so I figure at over $5.00 a gallon for diesel, I’m spending less in the long run. By the time I got back it was getting too hot to do much else, so I ended up hibernating in my air conditioning and binge-watching Friday Night Lights, did a few rounds through the day, had to straighten out one young guy who had hooked up his hose to a shared spigot and was washing his RV. I explained that there were no hookups, and that considering we haven’t had rain in three months and are in a drought, it wasn’t a good idea to waste water on vehicle washing, very diplomatically, of course. Had a couple of conversations with some of the horse folks, but other than that, it was a pretty quiet, even boring day. You see, I’m getting ready to move on, because you know how I hate boring! Anyway, just got back from my 10:00 gate walk, time for shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Didn’t do very much today, except have a meeting with James discussing various things about the trails and the camp and my hosting and so on. The rest of the day was mostly checking folks in, since it’s Easter weekend and there’s a hog hunt going on, though there were still a lot of empty spaces despite the fact that all the permits were out. Once again, lots of people make reservations and then don’t show up or cancel them. Nevertheless, there were quite a few folks here, so I had to keep making rounds. Did my bookkeeping and put some things away, that was pretty much my big activity for the day. I’m starting to hanker for a road trip, starting to get in a bit of a rut here, even though I’m doing a lot of good. I promised James I’d stay through at least when the mowers come in early May, and I’m also waiting to find out when my Vegas job gets rescheduled, was hoping it would be before mid-May so I can leave my critters with my brother while I’m gone, but it’s going to be getting really hot down here by then, so we’ll see. So it’s been a mundane day, and you know easily I get bored when I have too many of those, which is why I’m starting to plan my trip north. Meanwhile, shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
While I had great plans to get a bunch of little stuff done and go for a ride, in the end, I just didn’t feel like doing anything, so I just lazed around all day. Other than greeting some campers, I pretty much just binge-watched TV and ate today. Not much else to report! A nice change, though! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Well, the day you always dreaded has come and gone! You know how focused I have to be on taxes, and I’m sorry that sometimes made me grumpy, but I got it done today! Been hanging over my head, but glad it’s over. I even managed to do a couple of loads of laundry as well, nice to have electric so I can use my dryer and not have to run my generator, so a productive day. Getting myself a routine here at camp, so I can check on everyone a couple of times a day, then before I go to bed, check the front gate. Haven’t gotten to that yet, but I will. Settled down for some more Friday Night Lights, my current binge, feeling a lot more relaxed than I have in awhile. I might even take a ride tomorrow, one without an agenda! Won’t that be nice! Meanwhile, just enjoying a beautiful evening, won’t be long out of bed. Good night, my love!

Hi Sweetie,
Another morning of sleeping in, a lot later than I had planned, but I was up in time to say good-bye to Steve as he finished packing and headed up to Hickory Hammock. I started breaking down, though I mostly just piled stuff up to be moved later. After Steve left, James and the new Land Manager Andrew came by and we had a very productive meeting about the map and the future of the trails. After they left, I headed into Indiantown with my little horse trailer and my propane tanks, since I found it was the valve stem that was leaking so I went to the tire store and got that fixed. Amazingly, they didn’t charge me a thing, even though they put on a nice metal valve stem! Surprised me there. But they also pointed out that the other tire on the same driver’s side is looking like it’s ready to shred, so I’m going to have to have that replaced, though I figure I’ll wait until I need it next season, since it’s just going to be parked for the summer back at Jeff’s anyway. Then I went to the Tractor Supply, only to learn no one has yet been trained on how to dispense propane (it was only a “soft” opening, they didn’t have everything up and running yet), so I had to go to Suburban where I got one of the three tanks filled. Now that I’m going to be on a full hookup, I won’t be using much propane anyway, but I didn’t want to be left with only one tank. I had to wait for someone to fill it, but at least they didn’t tell me I had to drop it off and pick it up later! Then a quick stop at the post office to send off a package, then back to camp. I dropped off the little horse trailer next to the shed where James had suggested, then hooked up the big trailer and moved it into the Camp Host spot. I am WAY too long for this spot! Even parked as close as I could to the carport (too close, actually, because I can’t open my back doors all the way, but enough for my purpose), my front stanchions are way in front of the concrete slab, and my screen room is hanging over the fence. I put out my carpet but it’s in the wrong place because someone put this weird eyehook sunken in the concrete, evidently it’s supposed to be used to hook straps onto to keep a trailer from flying off in a hurricane or something. It’s right next to the door, so I have to be careful not to trip over it! So not the most ideal setup, but at least I have 50 amp service, which helps. I finally finished that setup, then moved all my hay over and tucked that back under the gooseneck, so all is back to how it was before. Then I took a walk around (my rounds, I guess!) and checked in with everyone that was here. I made up a sheet for the week so I could keep track of when folks are leaving which helped. The plumber came today, and was supposed to be working on leaky faucets in the newer showerhouse, which have been leaking, and lo and behold, they were still leaking! I had to close up two of the showers and turn off the water to them, again. Finally, I moved the horses from the paddock they’ve been in to another one a little closer, and that had some grass in it. The old one is well and truly fertilized, so I’m betting it will have some GREAT grass in there by the end of the rainy season! Got them fed, then made myself some dinner and settled down for the evening. I’m going to take one last walk out to make sure the gate is closed, a good suggestion made by Steve, since it seems a lot of people don’t lock the gate behind them very well, then I’m heading for my shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Had a great night sleep, nice and cool, only woke up once and had to read myself back to sleep for a bit, but ended up getting about 10 much needed hours. Woke up refreshed and ready to go! Didn’t want to overdo it though, thought I would maybe take the day off, but you know me, I can’t sit still very long, so I decided to change the oil in the generator. Did it in stages, though, letting it warm up, then waiting to drain it for awhile before finishing it off. Really glad I bought a special little oil filter wrench, one that fits on a ratchet and spins three “fingers” around the base, got it out with no problem. It was much easier than last time when I had “help,” before I discovered there’s a little drain cock that simplified things. Didn’t take too long, but did stretch it out over a few hours. Steve gave me the keys to everything and we walked around a bit to some of the new campers so I can get a feel for being a campground host. Will probably move over tomorrow afternoon after I run some errands in the morning, or maybe wait until Tuesday, since it’s staying on the cooler side and I don’t need AC yet, though I will be later in the week. Looks like I’ll barely fit in that host spot! I think I’ll move the horses over into a shadier paddock as well, just to be closer, and to give their paddock a chance to recover. Finished up making the last .kml files for James, so he should have everything he needs now to finish the map, though we need to discuss how it will finally look. I also am going to see if I can put some safety suggestions on the back, I learned a lot about what will help First Responders find a lost rider, and I’d like to share those on the map. Otherwise a fairly quiet day, gorgeous day really, having gotten down into the 40’s last night and only up to the low 70’s with a nice breeze today. Finally settled down for dinner, only to have Steve interrupt me so I can check someone in, since he’s already mentally checked out. Can’t blame him! I’m sure I won’t be quite as fastidious as Steve, but I’ll do my best to get the job done. Anyway, time for shower and bed, so good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Had a better night sleep, though it was hotter than ever when I went to bed, still over 80 in my bedroom! But I pointed a fan practically right at me, so it kept me cool enough. I ended up sleeping until 7:30, so a good night sleep. Felt more rested, but it was 100% humidity, which tires you out fast! Did my chores, had breakfast, mopped the floor because Miss Lola got her feet wet and dirty before traipsing around the trailer, finally settled down on my computer. James was due to come by, so I didn’t want to start on my taxes again, that’s going to take a full day of sequestering, so I’m going to wait until next week after Steve is gone and I’m on my own here. When James did finally make it by, the three of us ended up working on the bathhouse for awhile, though in the end we did a temporary fix by putting shutoff valves in the two showers that were leaking, so at least we could stop the water from constantly running while still leaving the rest of the bathhouse open. Exchanged a few more nasty emails with the NETA committee, who think I’m bluffing about charging a PITA assessment every three days until my request is paid (they don’t know me very well!). It’s not about the money any more, it’s about the principal. I was proud to be a servant to what I thought was a good cause, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let them make me become their slave! I also had a conversation with Anita about it, who’s the only one who has shown me any support at all against this ungrateful group. Finally settled down to a couple more episodes of my latest binge-watch, happy that even though we didn’t get any rain from it, there’s a cool front passing by so the temps have dropped somewhat, supposed to be going down into the low sixties tonight, yay! Think I’ll finish off the last trail tomorrow, which is the eastern side of the FTA hiking trail, so I’ll have to trailer down to the Cypress Boardwalk to make it reasonable. That will take a good part of the day, but I’m ready. I haven’t ridden since Sunday, though it feels longer, so I’m looking forward to that! Anyway, time for shower and bed, and hopefully, a cooler night sleep! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Could not get to sleep last night, too hot and muggy, I guess, took hours, but still woke up before 7:30, so not enough to feel that rested. Tried to start on my taxes, spent a couple of hours straightening out all my books from last year, but didn’t have the energy to keep going. Did some other computer work, had Steve show me the ropes on how to turn all the various water sources off and where to put in chlorine and salt, and discovered it seemed to be much lower than it should be considering how few people are camping, so we did a little investigation and found that three out of the four showers in the newer shower house were leaking through their showerheads, you just couldn’t turn them off enough to stop a steady dribble, and one of the toilets in the old bathroom was constantly running, so that explains the thousand gallons of water that’s gone through there is a few days, and why the supplies were low. We decided to shut off the water and lock up the shower house for now, and Steve fixed the toilet with a new valve, but then broke the handle, so it’s usable with ingenuity. I settled down for the evening, started bingeing another old series on Netflix, Friday Night Lights, I remember hearing it was pretty good, so I watched a few episodes. I’ve got every fan in the house running trying to cool it down, but the outside temps aren’t coming down very much so naturally the inside temps are just as bad. Supposed to be a cool front coming in tomorrow, can’t wait! So I’m hoping that by the time I shower and get into bed that I’ll sleep better tonight, but I’m not counting on it. I’ve confirmed with James that once Steve moves on Monday that I can take over his spot, which will give me 50 amp electric so I can run my AC, looking forward to that happening! So this should be the last night of discomfort, fingers crossed! I’m headed off now, so good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
A frustrating and depressing day today. Ever since the OTL, I’ve been trying to get reimbursed for some of the fuel expense, to my mind, a perfectly natural request. Most non-profit organizations I work for practically force money on me for fuel and meals with the volunteers, etc., but this one? NETA? They never offered anything. Finally I sent them in invoice covering about half of my fuel costs, and for a “dinner meeting” that no one but Anita and I showed up for. The way I see it, if they call a meeting in a restaurant, it’s not unfair for me to believe that the organization was going to pay for it. Not to mention I drove nearly 50 miles round trip to get there. They don’t see it that way. So all I’ve been getting back from them are excuses and excuses and more excuses. I’ve wasted so much time with this it’s ridiculous. Today I actually went back through all of my diary and estimated how many hours I spent working on the OTL (conservatively), no less than 240. I also estimated how many miles I drove while working on the OTL (conservatively), no less than 631.5. It took me over four hours just to figure all that out. With all the work I did, I can’t believe they’re giving me a hard time over a couple of tanks of fuel. If they went to the store and bought cases of water for the riders, they got reimbursed. They had to buy parts to make one of the shuttles serviceable, they got reimbursed. Why is all the fuel I used to get to all the trailheads, not to mention the three days of running around as the ER vehicle, why is that not considered in the same way? I was so disgusted with this organization by the end of the day, I could hardly stomach it. That’s it, I’m done, I’m never working with this group again. After all my hard work, they’re trying to make me feel like I’m a bad person because I believe they should reimburse me for some fuel. Anyway, I fortunately had the distraction of going to a Florida Horsemen’s club meeting along with James, where I saw a stellar example of how a meeting SHOULD be run, unlike anything I’ve ever seen NETA run. Jamie ran a tight ship, starting quickly and ending after just an hour, perfectly run with Roberts Rules of Orders, the reading of the previous minutes, the treasurer’s report, the President’s report, all ticked through quickly and efficiently. It was an astonishingly stark contrast to the last OTL meeting, where it was never called to order, there was no treasurer’s report, no order, not votes, no agenda, period. It was pitiful and when I questioned it, all I got was shrugged shoulders. I don’t know how they keep their Non-profit status, seriously. Anyway, the club’s meeting was efficient, so we were out of there shortly after 8:00. James asked me to deliver some salt and chlorine out here for the water system to save him a trip in the morning, which I was glad to do. Got back about 9:00, had a little ice cream, now I’m ready for shower and bed. It’s really hot tonight, it’s still 80 degrees in the trailer, even after 11:00. Not sure how well I’ll be sleeping, but I’m off to try. Love you, darlin’! Good night!