Friday, August 9, 2024 – Rainy Movie Day, Dinner with Patsy’s Family

Hiya Darlin',
Well, the remnants of hurricane Debby came in with a bang, we had rain pretty much all night. I put my earplugs in and enjoyed a lovely sleep. Took my time getting up, waiting for a break in the rain long enough to feed my horses. Didn't exactly stop, but it did slow down enough for awhile. Later in the day, it quit raining, the storm having moved to the west of us, until late afternoon when the tail curled back around. I spent the day watching a couple of movies, including the latest Mission Impossible, and didn't do much else. We left about 4:30 to go have dinner and spend the evening with Patsy and Larry's relatives, who have a couple of mobile homes on the north end of the lake, making for a nice finish to the day. Just after we got there, the electric went out, but we managed dinner anyway, and just after dinner, the electric came back on. Unfortunately, it hadn't come back on up at Patsy's yet, we passed a tree that was laying over a power line on the way back, and had no power when we arrived. No worries for me though, I have half a tank of water and a fully charged bank of batteries, so I'm good to go! The only thing lack of power affects me is that their wifi doesn't work without it, but they put a little generator on when we got home, so we even had that for the evening. No worries, I'm going to bed very shortly, will read for the evening. Good night, babe! Love you!

Thursday, August 8, 2024 – Floor Fixed, Water Tank Cleaned, Generator Oil Changed

Hey Babe,
Had another good night sleep, and once again woke up before the alarm. I still didn't know what time the repairman was coming, but after morning chores and breakfast, I went to work in the bathroom, clearing it out of everything, and then tried to take out the old toilet. The nuts were totally useless, one was rusted so bad it literally disintegrated, the other wasn't far behind, but I couldn't get that one off, so I left it. I cleaned up all the edges, hoping that we might be able to get the floor down, but that didn't happen. I started draining the oil out of the generator after warming it up a bit, the pressure washed the water tank in the truck to clear out all the algae. The repairman arrived around noon and got busy taking out the toilet. Once he did, and cut through some of the flooring, he called me in to show the damage. What a mess! But he said it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, and most of it was salvageable. He then went on to rebuild the worst section, did a nice job of providing extra support and getting it really level. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything about the floor, because the surrounding wood needed to be dried out before I should attempt to put the floor down. He was done by about 2:30, and I was happy with the job and I thought he charged me a fair rate. I had finished the tank cleaning as well as the generator oil change by then, so it was a productive day. It was right around then that the remnants of hurricane Debby started to show up, so the timing was perfect. Went on to have a nice dinner with Patsy and Larry, although today we ate inside rather than on the porch because it had gotten cold as well as rainy. Settled down for my usual evening! Heading for shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Tuesday, August 6, 2024 – Not Much Done Today

Hey Darlin',
Well, the plan was to ride at 10:00 this morning, but it was very cloudy and sprinkled a couple of times, with a promise in the forecast for more rain this afternoon, plus it was a bit on the chilly side, so in the end, we decided we weren't in the mood. Even though the repair guy said he wouldn't be here until afternoon, I didn't want to take any chances, either. As it turned out, it didn't rain more in the afternoon, and the repairman didn't show up at all. When I finally texted him at 5:15, he said he wasn't coming today, but would definitely be here on Thursday. Sigh... So I didn't do much today except a load of laundry, but one remarkable thing that happened, I FINALLY found proper instructions on how to adjust the thermostat on my electric fireplace!! This has plagued me ever since I bought this trailer. I never had a remote for it (not sure it even had one, can't find that little infrared eye you usually see with a remote), and I could never find out what make it was, or find a manual for it, or any information at all. I even took pictures on my phone of the model number, and still couldn't find anything, for years! Finally today, on a whim, I asked the generic question again, and lo and behold, a Youtube video popped up showing the exact same front panel as mine, and specific instructions on how to control EVERYTHING!! FINALLY!!! I was able to adjust the temperature down a bit, which is all I wanted. It had been set at 72, which would normally be okay, but up in the bedroom above the gooseneck, it would get to about 85 degrees before it shut off, since the thermostat was so far away. Now I set it at 69 to see how that goes, and I now know how to change it if that doesn't work out. Wow! I love it when a long overdue issue is finally resolved!! Yippee! Had another Larry-prepared dinner of spaghetti and sausage with garlic bread, took another walk with the dogs, spent the evening chatting with Patsy, and planning a busy day tomorrow, as it may be the only good day for riding we're going to get. A hurricane named Debby has passed over Florida, hitting the center of the state again, and is creeping up the east coast, arriving here Thursday night, and calling for heavy rain all day Friday and Saturday, apparently. Since the repairman will be here on Thursday (fingers crossed!), that leaves only tomorrow, which is also the Farmers Market we want to go to, and running into town to pick up some flooring material, which I figure I'll need for the bathroom once the woods replaced, and horse feed. So a busy day tomorrow! Which is why I'm having my tea and heading to shower and bed soon! Good night, baby! Love you!

Monday, August 5, 2024 – Travel Day To My Friend’s Place Near Brant Lake

Hi Babe,
Woke up to the alarm, got packed up and ready to go, stopped at the dump after dumping a couple of buckets of soapy gray water down the toilet, and hit the southern route to Patsy's place on the east side of the Adirondacks. So glad I asked her which was the best route, because several go through the middle of the mountain range, which would have been a nightmare! It was fairly easy, until I lost signal completely, made a wrong turn and had to turn around in the parking lot of some business in a little hamlet, but managed to get to the Stewart's Shops where Patsy came to get me to show me the back way to get to her place. They were paving the road and it went down to one lane traffic, which would have been fine except several cars still somehow managed to be coming at us! Lots of driveways along there. Anyway, it all worked out fine. Arrived maybe around 1:00, though there were a couple of short steep hills, but apparently much better than the usual Google-mapped way. She lives on the top of a hill with a great view, not quite what we had in Tennessee, but lovely. We got the horses out, then had to turn around, which was a bit tight but doable. Finally got all settled in with water, 30 amp electric and great wifi through Starlink! The horses have a lovely big pasture and ran around like lunatics for a bit before settling down to graze, and Lola was beside herself with all the room to roam out here! No leashes needed for her here! She made friends with Patsy's little dog Tucker, and they got along just great, even playing a bit! I started a load of laundry, then visited with her and her hubby Larry for awhile, did more laundry, then had dinner with them, chicken skewers with a special sauce from Binghamton, NY and a gorgeous squash casserole. Nice to eat someone else's cooking for a change! After dinner, we went on a short walk with the dogs, fed the horses, then I was ready to call it a night. I was relieved that my RV repair guy reached out today and said he'd be here tomorrow afternoon to look at what he needed, then would be back Thursday to do it. Whew! Getting worried there for a bit! All of this will no doubt lead to a worry-free night of sleep, so that's where I'm headed. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Saturday, August 3, 2024 – Frustrating Wasted Day

Hey Darlin',
Late night getting to bed and sleep, let morning getting up, but there was a bunch of stuff I needed to do on the computer which I've been putting off in lieu of riding, so I tried to tackle that today. Unfortunately, I didn't end up getting much done because the internet was SO SLOW! Even though I had two bars and my booster was on, it took me forever to get anything done. Things that should have taken five minutes took me an hour, and things that should have taken me thirty minutes, for the most part, didn't get done. Very frustrating! Couldn't even get a good enough signal to watch any TV tonight. I imagine it's because there are a lot of people in camp trying to use the same cell phone tower, and there's just not enough bandwidth. It was not a very productive day. I was also frustrated because the RV repairman I had lined up for next week hasn't answered three texts and his voicemail is full, so I have this horrible feeling I won't get my repair done next week, which means months before I can probably get it fixed. Since it's all but unusable at the moment, life is going to be much harder for awhile. I hope I'm wrong and he comes through, but I'm starting to be really worried about it. Most RV repair is months out in the scheduling, so I'm not hopeful for finding a replacement. So that was my frustrating day. Glad I've had so much saddle time this past two weeks, at least that makes up for this dismal day. Enough of the rant! Good night, babe! Love you!

Sunday, July 29, 2024 – Quiet Laundry Day

Hiya Darlin',
Love how quiet it is here at night! Another good night sleep. It was a relaxing day today, I just did a couple of loads of laundry and vacuumed, and very little else. Reached out to a couple more of my old friends to see if we can get together, pending. Otherwise, a beautiful day of quiet! Not much else to say! Good night, babe! Love you!

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 – Stormy Day

Hiya Sweetie!
Had a good night sleep, though I didn't end up getting to bed as early as I hoped (what else is new?), but woke up refreshed. We had a little rain in the morning, then some good thunderstorms come through later in the day. I tightened the screws on the exterior panel, I had noticed a few seemed to not be flush, and a lot needed it. I spent a good part of the day going through mail and sending notices to several groups with my change of address. I was saddened to get a letter from the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska, informing me that Luna, the muskox we adopted when we were in Alaska all those years ago, had passed away earlier this month. She lived to be 22, with is about seven years longer than the typical lifespan, so she did well! They took good care of her. I've asked them about adopting another one, in memory of you, my love, and we're in discussions about that. I also requested an absentee ballot (not going to miss THIS election!), and a few other things online. Had a good storm come through late in the afternoon, then there wasn't a cloud in the sky for awhile, which is when I fed the horses and chatted with my neighbors for a few minutes, but now I hear some good thunder, so I'm expecting another batch of rain to come through in a bit. I'm enjoying it, though, I haven't been through too much rain this summer, and up here, a good rainstorm really cools things down, so it will be lovely sleeping weather tonight! Which is where I'm headed shortly! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Monday, July 22, 2024 – Travel Day to Otter Creek, NY

Hiya Babe!
Didn't rush to get out of bed this morning, but still managed to get on the road by 10:00. The issue with Brookfield is that it's at higher elevation, and there doesn't seem to be any road that doesn't have some serious grade on it, so there were a few places that were a bit nerve-wracking, like coming down a steep hill on the Skaneateles Turnpike and having a stop sign at the bottom. We made it, okay, though, except for at the very end, when Google told me the entrance was beyond where the entrance really was, so I passed it, then had to turn around using a narrow driveway, which took me several tries to back up onto the road without hitting anything. Thank goodness no traffic came by when I was trying to do that! Managed it, though, that's the important thing! Arrived in camp just after noon, walked around to find the best spot, there was only a couple of other campers here, so I had a lot of choices. I ended up in Parking Loop 2, closest to the manure bin, which had the longest site and, I think, will have the most sun for my solar panel, while still having the trailer almost entire in the shade. Perfect spot! I was delighted to discover that the adapter I used at Sugar Hill also fit the spigot here, so I was able to fill up the trailer and horse tub with no problem, yay! Once I got the horses settled in their standing stalls, I did a few more odd chores that needed doing, like changing the filter in my water hose, shaking out the carpet and mopping the floor. I also brought out the grill for the first time in a long time, and put up the screen room, since there were quite a few flies around. I was all settled in by about 3:00 (I wasn't exactly rushing my setup), happy to be in a new place! It wasn't long before another camper came in and parked two spots away from me, so campfire smoke was coming my way by evening. Cooked a white hot on the grill, watched a movie, had a short rain shower somewhat ahead of schedule (it's supposed to rain most of the night) and I'm ready for my shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Sunday, July 21, 2024 – Busy Day of Odds and Ends Repairs and Packing

Hi Sweetie!
Another good night sleep, after my usual morning routine, I started my usual Sunday routine, doing laundry and housework (well, I vacuumed, did a little cleaning in the shower, not much else today). I filled up the horses' water tub, then finished filling up the trailer until I couldn't get any more out of the tank (only about ten gallons left, if that!) but it was enough to do my two loads of laundry and still have half a tank left for my dishes and shower tonight, and a little left over, which is exactly how I wanted to travel tomorrow. So glad I didn't have to go pump water from the spigot up at the assembly area! I know Otter Creek has a lot easier access to a spigot, and I want to see if I can clean out my truck tank a bit more, though I'm not going to pull down my pressure washer to do it. Maybe when I'm at Patsy's and I have electric. I started doing a bunch of little repairs that have been piling up. I tore off the silver duct tape on the front of the trailer, it managed to get all torn up in the past few weeks, so it wasn't doing the job of keeping out the rain like I had hoped. I put several layers of white duct tape on, though I'm thinking about getting some thin flashing and just screwing it in, maybe even try to put a gutter around it. Gotta think on that a bit. Re-taped that little cable under the gooseneck that unlocks the hitch, that's been coming off and starting to get in the way. Fixed my phone with some better Velcro so it will hopefully stay in the little cradle on the dashboard. Started packing a few things away, though since my next leg is only 75 miles, I'm not too worried about getting an early start. Of course, I had to hang up and take down my laundry. The front plastic bumper cover on the truck was hanging down on one side, so I found a nut, bolt and washer and fixed that. Lots of little things that kept me busy all day. Sheila and her crew pulled out today, she stopped to say good-bye. The final campers left about 3:00, so I let Apollo and Flash out to graze. They ran around like a couple of mad horses for a few minutes before settling down to graze. Unfortunately, Apollo got caught up in the solar panel and one of the legs snapped, so that will be a future repair, hopefully epoxy will do that. Final settled down for my usual evening, bought some white hots in the store the other day, not Zweigles, but still, feels nostalgic to eat white hots again! Looking forward to heading out tomorrow, though it has been a very nice stay here. I'll definitely be back whenever I come back to NYS, met some nice folks here. Did some last minute packing at dusk, now I've got eyes on shower and bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Saturday, July 20, 2024 – Welder and Hay Day

Hiya Darlin'!
Had a great night sleep, got my chores done, then started more downloading of RRR pix while I waited for the welder. He wasn't able to pinpoint a time, but finally around noon said he'd be at least three hours, so I made arrangements to go pick up hay. No sooner had I done that when the welder said another job had been pushed back and he was coming right then, so I changed my appointment with the hay folks and waited for the welder (whose name appropriately is Steele, believe it or not!) He arrived and got to work. He was at it for quite a while, but did a nice job in the end, though he hadn't originally put a hole for the spigot, but once I pointed it out to him, he whipped it out in no time. It now has one solid fairly thick piece instead of several paper thin aluminum pieces, so hopefully that's an improvement. While he was working, another camper came by and asked him to do a small job for her, and another camper came and got his card, so he got more work out of it, which he said he'd discount me for. Anyway, I was happy with the work and the price was reasonable. After he left, I headed out for hay. Google maps totally screwed me up and took me to some completely different place, but I finally found it. It was nice hay so I got the full eight bale load, as I still have half a bale, which should last through tomorrow. Took a longer way home looking for the best road to leave here on Monday. There are a lot of roads out of here, but some are really steep and hilly, so I wanted to check out my options. Finally figured out the best way is Skaneateles Turnpike to 8 to 12, at least I hope it is. Finally got back to camp, exerted some energy putting the hay away, made dinner, then finally went over to visit with Sheila, Skip and Judy for a bit over their campfire for a short bit, since it was so late. Just need to finish my usual evening routine and get to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!