Hi Sweetie!
A great night sleep, slept late, really felt rested today. After morning chores and breakfast I headed into Cleveland to do some shopping. Picked up a bag of feed and a new manure rake at Tractor Supply, dropped off that package to Amazon that had the wrong component in it, had a much needed haircut, was surprised to find a place that sold frozen custard, so I had to stop in and get a cone. Been looking for custard places up north all summer, who'd of thunk I would find one in rural Tennessee? It was delicious! Filled up with fuel for just $3.15/gal., cheapest I've paid in ages, and finally finished off at Walmart for just a few items I needed, though, of course, I bought more than what I went in for, as usual. Got back to the farm and spent the rest of the afternoon working on trail maps at the Biltmore for my trail checking next week. They're using quite a few different trails than in the Spring ride, so it should be a lot of fun! I managed to create a .gpx file for every trail except one, which was overlooked in the packet of maps that were sent to me, but finally got it late in the evening and was able to finish off that prep work. Settled down for the evening after I gave the horses a couple of apples (I'm trying to get them in the habit of coming down to the gate, but they can't seem to hear me across this big pasture!), soon ready for shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Pix to come.

Hi Darlin'!
A good night sleep, a fairly easy final pack up, and other than taking down the paddock fence and cleaning up that area, everything went smoothly. Got out a bit after 9:00. I was a bit worried the park guys might come along and ask what I was still doing there, since the entire area is completely barren except for the porta-potties, but one drove by and didn't stop, so it was all good. Most the google maps directions had me going cross country, and it was definitely shorter mileage-wise, but I wasn't about to go over those hills with this trailer at the moment, so we stuck to the freeways, going west on I-40 and south on I-75, which actually got me there at just about the same time, right at 12:30. I'm spending the week with my friend Linda, who always takes such good care of me when I camp down at Lost Corral, but she invited me to stay at her place, which is probably easier for her than picking me up down there, and definitely nice for me and the whole family. I get electrice and water, my horses get a huge green pasture, and Lola gets to be free and has other dogs to keep her company. Got in position next to the barn very easily, and got hooked up with everything in no time. Linda and I sat and chatted for awhile, then I got busy doing housework and laundry, since I'd let it all go during the ride week. Did some computer work, finally settled down for the evening to dinner, and was finally able to watch an hour of TV! The signal isn't great here, but it's certainly better than what I've had the last couple of weeks, and good enough for live streaming, so I'm a happy camper! I might even be able to load up some of the pictures I haven't been able to get up before! Anyway, I've got an early morning, so I'm heading to shower and bed nice and early, too. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Pix to come

Hiya Darlin',
Another terrible night sleep, don't know what's up with that! Tossed and turned and finally slept for a few hours, waking up to an early alarm, was at the main tent before 7:00 where I helped a little with breakfast. Did a few odds and ends but it was really a mostly slow day, and it dragged on and on. Helped a bit with lunch, ate too much, sat around too much, finally got busy when the pork roasts arrived, got everything set up for dinner, until the pork finally cooled down enough to pull. There was an assembly line set up to package it all up, and it was just completed right at 6:00. Ate too much again, sat around for the riders meeting and part of the awards assembly, then started to do some cleanup until I finally left about 7:45. Fed the horses, took Lola for a walk, brought back a bunch of pork fat from the roasts that we collected, finally got back to the trailer with all evening chores done around 8:30. I haven't run the generator at all since I've been here, except for about five minutes, so I finally had to get that going. I've been pretty impressed with the fact that I've had my electric fence on through the inverter since I've been here, and it doesn't seem to be using hardly any juice. Of course, during the day it's getting solar, but I'm not sure the battery is doing much of the work. I did try unplugging it yesterday, and it seemed to run off the battery for awhile, but by evening it was off again and I had to put the electric back on to make it work. I was hoping my battery problem was solved, but it may take a bit more charging, or more likely, I need a new battery. Hopefully I'll work out which before I leave here. I'm making a double dose of Sleepytime tea, I'm determined to get a good night sleep tonight! I don't usually sleep that well on a full stomach, but I'm hoping my body will recognize it's siesta time and give me a break! Anyway, almost done with my evening, shower and bed next! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had a better night sleep, thank goodness, and a relaxed morning. I had to send a letter out and order a few things online, so after chores I drove over to the visitor center where they have wifi, and one of the folks there offered to take my letter to HQ, as they didn't have a mailbox here. I ordered what I needed and did a few other things, and made it back to camp by 11:00. I spent the rest of the day doing odd jobs, helping to set up tents, doing some food prep for dinner, etc., attended the ride meeting, did my evening chores, watched a Farside, now I'm ready for shower and bed! Have another early morning tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Got up just after 7:00 and finished the packing. There wasn't much, but I had a lot of cleanup in the stalls, and then I stopped at the dump to clear my black and gray water tanks, so it was after 9:15 before we finally hit the road. It was less than 270 miles, so I figured about 5+ hours, but I guess I didn't take into account how much of it was on twisty, windy roads that were very low speed limits, so by the time I got to Jamestown, TN, it was 3:30 already. I had to stop at Tractor Supply for horse feed and Walmart for groceries, it was well after 5:00 by the time I got to camp. Weird thing is, although we're technically on Central Time, the ride and the park work on Eastern time, so the hour I thought I would gain isn't really going to happen. Other than being long and twisty and windy, the drive wasn't too bad. Organizer Ken met me at the site to make sure I got in the right place, since everyone coming in after me will line up the same way. I put up a good sized paddock for the boys, but didn't take them out of the trailer until after I went and got water, which is fortunately not, too far away, but I didn't have enough in my trailer tank, and I haven't put any in my truck tank since I pressure washed it. I got their tubs filled with water and the trailer as well, then finally brought them out. A long day in the trailer for them! They didn't seem any worse for the wear, though, just thirsty. Of course they rolled, then settled down to munching. I met the co-managers of the ride, and then the trail gal came along as well, so with all the chatting, I ended up being very late with their dinner. I was a bit worried about the fence charger, it didn't seem to be working, I thought maybe the battery needed charging, then I couldn't find the charger. I looked EVERYWHERE before I finally found it in the dog drawer. Don't know why I put it there, but it was clearly marked "fence charger", so I plugged it in. Funny thing was, the green light stayed on, which I'm assuming means it's fully charged, but when I take it off the electric charger, it doesn't work. I checked everything I could, so the only thing left is either the battery really is dead, or it got damaged when the horses ran over the fence the other morning. I've decided to leave the inverter on all night to see if that charges the battery, although I checked it with my multi-meter and their does seem to be some charge in it, maybe just not enough. I may need a new battery. We'll see in the morning! Good news! Kathy told me Sue's missing dog Pete has been spotted, so she's heading back down to get him. Hope he's okay! Meanwhile, I'm taking a shower and heading to bed asap, April wants to start putting up ribbons at 8:00E/7:00C, so I have to get up before the crack of dawn! Already looking forward to a nap tomorrow afternoon! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie ,
Well, despite dreams that Pete would come back to Sue, there was no sign of him this morning, sorry to say. I was awakened early with a knock on my door informing me that my horses had escaped, so I got up and dressed quickly and went looking. Someone had spotted them down at the end of the road beyond the camp by the barn that had a bit Trump banner across it, and I walked down there and saw them. They decided to go on walkabout, and headed away from me, so I had to come back and get their feed bags, and once I did, I was able to catch them and bring them back. I put them both in stalls and proceed to take down the corral, which had been practically dismantled by their escape. I know the fence electric was on last night, but I'm guessing Apollo pulled up the posts, then someone's foot got caught in a wire and dragged it for a bit, because there were several posts down and one of the power connectors on the solar charger was completely pulled apart. Then I walked down to say good-bye to Kathy, but they left early, so I didn't get a chance. Had breakfast and then proceeded to start packing and doing laundry, my usual "day before I leave" routine, minus the housework, since I did that a couple of days ago. Spent most of the day reading or playing computer games, not much else to do when I'm not riding. Did work out the best route to get where I'm going tomorrow, had a long talk with owner Jill, paid my bill, finished the packing I could do and settled down for the evening. Ready to move on to the next adventure! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hiya Sweetie,
It was another scorching hot day today, so I spent a lot of it inside in the AC, mostly doing much needed housekeeping. Kathy and her friend arrived before noon, though I didn't see them until they came over after noon when they saw me walk by with trash for the dumpster. Despite numerous assurances by management that they were going to park around me in the middle of this open area, they ended up in a nice little corner with shade and a highline they're not even using! So here I am, in a spot that I would never have normally accepted because it's wide open, hotter than blazes, and my horses are also almost entirely in the wide open, except one tiny stall that I didn't even want to have to use (and if I had been in the shade, with them on a highline as I originally requested), and now I wasn't even next to my friends. At least they're not very far, but still, this is not the place I would ever choose for myself. I figured my only saving grace was that I had ordered that booster, and hopefully I would be able to use my computer from inside my trailer instead of having to sit outside, or in the office, to get wifi. Well, the mail was delivered and the owner, the guy I had the discussion with about gravel, delivered my package to me without a word (it seems he's remarkably sensitive about his gravel and I'm in the doghouse because I said I wasn't a fan of it), and when I opened it, was disheartened to find that Amazon had sent me the wrong thing! I think that's the first time that's happened to me. They send some kind of switch for hooking up multiple ethernet hard-lines, not even close to what I ordered! So I had to walk over to where I could get wifi and notify them of the error, but the soonest they could get me a replacement would be Sunday, and frankly, I didn't think it was worth it. So now I have to find a UPS store to send it back sometime in the next month, and I won't be at an address long enough to get another one. Probably won't have that much of a need for it anyway. Sigh... Anyway, I spent a good part of the afternoon, and again after dinner, visiting with Kathy and her friends and family, and we arranged to go riding in the morning before the afternoon rain comes in. Looks like it will be somewhat cooler tomorrow, thank goodness! Well, I've had my shower, now I'm off to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Well, I made it safe and sound to Elkins Creek Horse Camp. I left Rocky Top around 9:00, anxious about coming off the mountain. It would be the longest, steepest part of the trip from what I could tell, and I had visions of the ride down Black Mountain that I had taken earlier this year, which I did when my brakes were a lot newer, and I thought I had a little bit of brakes on my trailer, but I've since realized I don't have any brakes on the trailer to speak of, and I've been traveling around mountains all summer, so I've probably used some of my brake pads by now. As it turned out, I had no problem! Once I hit the top of the hill on I-68, which was just three miles from Rocky Top, I started nice and slow, then as I approached 45 mph, I hit the brakes once and Einstein (my truck) immediately downshifted jake brake style and held for a long time. When we finally started increasing speed again, one more tap on the brakes and another downshift. I only used my brakes three times in all, and the grade, according to the sign, was only 5% and about four miles, so it turned out to be much ado about nothing. I-79 turned out to be a good road, rough terrain around us but they did a nice job of keeping fairly level as it curved around mountains. I stopped once for fuel, first going into a Pilot, but they had zero room in there car area for me, and their truck area didn't have a small diesel nozzle, so I ended up going to a Go-Mart, where it was forty cents a gallon cheaper anyway. Didn't realize they had a separate truck entrance, so I went into the car area and had to back out onto the road to get out, but there wasn't too much traffic, so no problem. The rest of the trip was fairly easy, but the last 20-30 miles was on pretty narrow, windy, country roads, and the last few miles were the worst. I had not idea this place was so far out into the boonies. We worked out where I would park and set up my portable paddock for the horses, and Jill threw in a stall so the horses would have some shade. It's hotter than blazes, and there's no shade whatsoever available, so I upgraded from a primitive to an electric site, no way I'm suffering through 97 degrees for the next few days! It's only 30 amp, but I'll just have to manage it. I'm right next to the wash rack so I was able to fill up with water easily enough, plugged into electric and got the AC going first thing, then eventually got the horses squared away after putting up the fence. There is absolutely NO cell phone service here, and to use their wi-fi, I have to be in the building or right next to it. Even though I'm only about 20 yards away, it still won't reach me in the trailer, and just barely in my chair outside, not enough to really work. I decided to order a wi-fi booster from Amazon that will arrive on Friday, hopefully that will help some. I can always send it back if it doesn't work. Not sure how often I'll need to use it, but I supposed if it helps, I've find a use for it. It will be worth it if it makes getting on the internet easier just over this weekend! Took me a long time trying to work on getting a signal, and I almost had it, by putting my laptop outside, where it could connect to their wifi, then using my computer's hotspot to project that to the TV, but it kept stopping, and I finally gave up. Guess I'll be doing a lot of reading this weekend, or at least until I can get the booster working! Had a light dinner, got my Spanish lesson done early, now I'm ready for shower and bed, though I'm going to have to leave my AC on. It's nearly 10:00 and it's still registering as 89 degrees in the back of the trailer! Funny thing, that. The sensor wasn't working, so I ordered another one (supposed to arrive on Friday, too,) but after I parked and looked at the old one, it started working again! Oh, well! Anyway, Day is Done! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Didn't sleep as well as I had hoped, got up before the alarm, and was out the driveway by 8:45. Thankfully, the trip was uneventful, though I-68 was pretty hilly, and I'm hoping the final downhill slope I have to take tomorrow won't be as bad as I've been fearing. The truck has been doing really well so far holding it's speed, just one more big downhill slope and the rest will be comparatively easy! Arrived at Rocky Top at 2:45, though there were a couple of moments of concern. The first was when I turned up the one and only road to the stable and was met with a sign that said "Road Not Suitable for Large Trucks." That gave me pause. I managed to climb up okay, until I reached the only sharp turn on the narrow road, only to be met by a parked school bus right on the corner, preventing me from turning. I stopped and got out because I wanted to make sure I was in the right place, though the bus driver didn't have a clue, but there was a car behind with two gals in it that were on their way there, so they confirmed my directions. The bus driver pulled up as far as he could, but I still took a small dip into a culvert at the narrowest part of the turn (I was on the inside of the turn, which didn't help), but only scraped a little, no apparent damage. Made it the rest of the way with no problem. They got me set up next to a big round pen, got the horses out, Debbie brought over several loads of water which they drank happily, it being a hot day, but not until after they rolled in the sand, of course! As I was opening the slide, I realized that one thing I forgot to do this morning was to take my horse pictures down. One was still hanging, the other one had dropped, and after some searching, I finally found it jammed on the outside of the slide. Just one small scratch on the frame which I can probably fix with white-out or something. It was over 90 degrees on the drive here, hoping it will cool down a bit more tonight, but not counting on it. Cool shower tonight for sure! Lola took a swim in a little pond next to us, she really enjoyed that! And she was even up to playing a little fetch tonight as well. finally settled down for dinner and a movie, the sequel to the movie I watched last night. Interesting, but nowhere near as good as the first one, with a very unsatisfactory ending. Set it up for another sequel which I'm guessing never happened, since that one was made in 2017. Anyway, time for my cool shower and an early night, hoping to get a better night sleep tonight! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Had a better night sleep, then got busy doing lots of loads of laundry, packing up some stuff, filling up the tires with air, which was a little bit of a struggle. For some reason, the nozzle wasn't working very well, I had to push it just so, then angle it, to get it to work, but I finally managed it. I was beginning to worry that this big compressor I bought had bit the dust already! Did a few minor repairs as well, as usual. A fairly relaxed day overall. I had a big breakfast and still wasn't too hungry at dinner, so I just had a salad. Watched a couple of Farscapes, then a fascinating movie written by Jerome Bixby (a great sci-fi writer who wrote some of the best Star Trek and Twilight Zone stories) called The Man From Earth, about a guy who claims to be 14,000 years old amongst a group of collegiate scholars. It would make a fantastic play! Really had some great, thought-provoking dialog. Ready for an early night, have a pretty long drive tomorrow! Good night, darlin'! Love you!