Hey Darlin',
Had a pretty good night sleep, laid in for awhile waiting for the sun to warm up things a bit. Despite having the electric fireplace on all night, when it got into the 20's, it couldn't quite keep up, so in the morning, I ran the furnace for a bit, just to warm it up a bit. Spent most of the day on the computer, working on Taste of Goethe stuff. Chelle is having to help her Mom look after her ill dad, so she delegated some of her usual work to me, so I had to try to get up to speed on that today, which I managed to do to some degree. Still a bit of a learning curve ahead, though! Meanwhile, I revisited the signage to update that from last year. Jo has agreed to make signs again this year, as well as let us borrow her trail markers. We seem to be on track, though I'm not involved with the food portion of it. Anyway, I was hoping to attend the meeting, scheduled for Meg's house, via Zoom so I wouldn't have to go out in the cold, but Dina asked for a ride, so I braved the chilly temps and made do. My Alaska parka is getting a lot of use this week! Meeting was about what you'd expect, progressed a few things a little bit, got assigned more stuff to do, so it will be a busier couple of weeks. Got back around 9:30, tea/shower/bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Slept late, but still felt tired most of the day, not surprising after all the energy spent over the weekend. Got involved with a bunch of stuff happening at the campground. One camper and his wife, regulars here at BP, came over to chat, while in the meantime, a very large family of apparently homeless people were being moved out by the FWC, the law enforcement end of the Forest Service. Apparently, they have been camping here over three weeks, well past the 14 day limit, and haven't been paying. According to the camping couple, they were in their spot when they arrived last Wednesday and they had to wait quite awhile for them to move out to another site. It took hours for them to move out, with two FWC cars waiting for them to move. They drove off with their slide-out still open, apparently it didn't work. While I have some sympathy for their situation, there must be services that can help, especially since there were two young kids and a teenager in the group. Apparently they've been making a mess in the bathroom every day according to the ranger, and before FWC arrived there was a screaming match at the bathroom door. Not to rehash old news, but I can't help but think these kinds of problems would have been avoided if they had a camp host here. Anyway, Art came by and took Lola for a walk, then he went into town and tried to get the elbow joint I needed to make the spigot repair, but the Ace person gave him the wrong size, so later in the day, we went back to exchange it, as well as to pick up Art's truck from the repair shop, before heading back to Canada in his car. It was supper time by the time this was all over, so I didn't quite get the restful day I was looking for, but I did relax in the evening, so hopefully after another good night sleep, I'll be thoroughly rested and ready to tackle a busy week! As predicted, far from having to put on the AC tonight, I've had the fireplace on for the last few hours (and will keep it on all night), and put the winter blankets on the horses, since the forecast says it going down below freezing tonight. Glad I have electric! Looking forward to getting into my flannel sheets, though! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Not the best night sleep, but I was in no hurry to leave this morning, so I took my time doing everything. Ended up taking so much time I left later than I had originally planned! Always the way. Still, I was leaving camp at 11:00 and arrived at the Cracker Horse property where the ride is being held at 12:30, which was good timing. There were a few trailers here before me, but not many. The gentleman coordinating the parking managed to find me an electric spot (yay!), so that was a good sign. Unfortunately, despite all the grass around, it was soft sand underneath, so despite being told that all the ground here was solid, I ended up getting stuck trying to back my trailer into site 19, where I had been assigned. There was just enough of a little dip to slow me down, and that got me stuck. I was far enough out of the way, though, so I just unhooked to make it easier. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to get me out of the hole at that point, so my new neighbor Maris was kind enough to bring her truck over and pull me out of the rut. I'll have to hook back up at a 90 degree angle to get out again, hopefully. I noticed a big tractor in the pavilion, though, which I imagine will be put into service on Sunday when folks (and me!) are leaving! Hopefully it won't come to that, but at least they're prepared. My vet friend Art had
perfect timing, and remarkably was pulling into the road that leads to this place right behind me, though he let me settle in before making his way over to me. After I finished getting set up, with a highline on posts that were provided (though I have plenty of room to set up a fence if I like, just not sure it's worth the trouble for just three days,) starting a load of laundry, and confirming there wasn't much for us to do yet, the two of us decided to go to a lovely Indian restaurant for which I had seen a billboard on the way in, and it was a delightful dinner, with lots of leftovers! Our task after that was to stop at Publix and pick up some pre-ordered fried chicken (200 pieces, most of which was leftover after dinner, but will undoubtedly be munched on throughout the weekend, though I understand there's another event that it may be going to), and got back just in time for dinner at 6:00. We stayed through the ride meeting, and then I got my assignment for tomorrow, taking down the markers on the lime/yellow trail, and part of the blue. That will take Flash and I all day, as the distance is over 13 miles each way! He's certainly fit enough, and the weather will be great, albeit a bit on the warm side (the way I like it!) We'll head out around 9:00 and hopefully be back before dinnertime. I've done most of these trails before here on the Greenway, though we came in from the west side heading east, instead of east to west like we'll be doing tomorrow. Love this kind of volunteer trail work! So back to the trailer by 7:30, managed to get in an hour of TV (my new binge is a very compelling series called Departure, which follows the equivalent of NTSB investigations of transportation crashes), and manages to leave every episode with a cliff-hanger. Good stories, good cast, really enjoying it. Anyway, tea, shower and bed for me! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Cooler than it was supposed to be, but what else is new? Took my time getting out of bed and doing chores, then got online to wire the funds for my vacation. Took a quick trip into Lakeland to pick up a few items at Walmart, fill up two propane tanks at Tractor Supply (I've been going through a lot with all this cold weather!), and a final stop for fuel just to top off my tank. Then got a notice that my wire couldn't be sent from one account (after I had transferred it from another!), managed to transfer it back, tried to wire it again, only this time the problem was on the receiving end! Didn't think it would be this complicated, but I'll be trying again tomorrow. Settled in for the evening, finished the first season of All Creatures and started another series called Departure, about a plane getting lost over the Atlantic. Probably not the best show to watch prior to flying to Africa! Anyway, it was a quiet evening, only two other campers here now, so I've been letting Lola wander a bit, which is making her a much happier camper. Ready for tea, shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Woke up to another chilly morning with no real plans today, being a holiday. About the only thing I did today was chat with my neighbors Jim and Sherry from Michigan before that packed up and left, read, and watched a few more episodes of my TV binge. Too cold to do much else today! It's getting nicer later this week, though, so I'm looking forward to that. Rest of the evening, the usual repeat! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a hard time getting to sleep last night, so when I finally did, I ended up sleeping late, which was no problem, the horses didn't even whinny for their breakfast this morning! Finally did get up and do my chores, but I skipped breakfast because I was meeting our old friends from Richer Farms over in Dade City. I met them at a little restaurant, had a lovely breakfast and then spent the afternoon over at their farm, with nonstop conversation, as always, and the time just flew by! Great to see them again! On my way out, I almost got plowed into by a car with Virginia plates that pulled right out in front of me. I was barely able to swerve out of the way, and my back four tires undoubtedly left some rubber on the road, I slammed on my brakes so hard. I pressed my horn the entire time, and carried on, but I noticed he pulled over half a block away. I just went past him, but I hope I scared the hell out of him, as he certainly do the same to me! That's the second time a car from Virginia has almost got me in an accident. Coming through Lakeland on Thursday, another one pulled out right in front of me when I had the trailer behind me, and if she had accelerated, it would probably have been alright, but instead she crawled out of the driveway and slowed down! Again, I had to hit my brakes hard, and I knew the horses were getting tossed around in back, but there was nothing I could do. If I had had the trailer today, there's no way I could have stopped in time, it would have been a real mess! Anyway, after that, I stopped at the small Walmart for a couple of things I needed, and managed to get back to camp by about 5:30. It was over 70 this morning, then a cold front blew through and the temps dropped about 20 degrees, with lows close to freezing predicted by morning, so I put blankets on the horses and called it a night. Finally finished off all twelve seasons of Bones tonight, and started on another, All Creatures Great and Small, though only the first season is free. A busy day with a quiet evening, just the way I like it! Tea, shower and bed forthwith! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Managed to stay pretty warm last night, despite temps that went several degrees below freezing! I think I've finally mastered the mindset of actually using my utilities to be comfortable, rather than suffer because I'm too cheap to pay for a little bit more propane! Still spent most of the day inside, since it barely got into the 50's today, though I'm happy to say it will be warmer tomorrow. Finalized most of my plans for my Serengeti trip, just need to make the money transfer and pay for my flights. I have a hotel picked out, but I'm waiting a bit to make my reservation with them. Ended the day with a two hour Zoom meetings with the TOG committee, seems like everything is on track. Ending the day with my usual mug of Sleepytime tea and a shower, then off to my nice warm flannel sheets! Love you, darlin'! Good night!

Hi Darlin'!
Woke up to a chillier morning, but nothing like it's going to be over the next few days. Got everything packed up and ready to go, made a trip to the dump, and was leaving out of camp by about 10:30. The route took me through a lot of city driving, which is no my favorite, as well as some back roads with a lot of railroad tracks. Nearly scraped bottom on one of them! Arrived at the Hampton Tract just about noon, had to figure out which gate to go in and to find the campground. For some reason, I thought it was right by the road, but instead it was about a half mile farther, which suited me just fine! I thought it would be very quiet and was hoping to have the place to myself so Lola could run around, and was surprised to discover half a dozen other campers back here, though none with horses. With a little help from my new neighbor Jim, I was backed up and set up in short order. I was pleasantly surprised to discover there were water spigots throughout the camp, and ended up fairly close to one, so watering the horses or refilling my tanks will be easy. I had actually filled up both my truck tank and my RV tank with potable water before I left the other camp, thinking the water here would be less convenient, so now I have more water than I need! At least the chlorinated water in my truck tank might clean up some of the algae that's in there, if I'm lucky. Spent most of the afternoon working on transferring funds and finalizing my now confirmed trip to Tanzania, can't believe they were able to find me a spot! In fact, the company that had told me they were full is the same outfitter that I'm ending up going with, apparently the broker, a British company called In The Saddle, managed to get me in. So the process is started! Lots to do to get ready, vaccinations, visas and so forth, but I'm on it! Settled down for the evening after feeding and putting the winter blankets on the horses (it's supposed to get down to about freezing tonight!), and have confirmed the proper setting for my furnace thermostat, which has been working flawlessly since it's been fixed. Tea, then shower, then bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Since I have water and electric here, and won't have for the next 10 days at least, I spent the day doing lots of laundry and working on the planning of my potential trip to Africa. Still not confirmed, and several of the companies I contacted are already fully booked, but I may have found one that still has a possible opening. Meanwhile, I did coordinate which flights I will need to take. Some of them are terrible connections, one with a nine hour layover after a twelve hour flight, so I will clearly be exhausted by the time I get there. I'm planning an extra day to recover, though, so hopefully that will be enough. Fingers crossed it all works out, though it's too early to tell. Of course, I did some packing, as we're heading out tomorrow. There's some seriously cold weather coming in, and I keep checking to see if there are any cancellations here so I can stay here, but nothing has opened up yet. No worries, it's still cheaper to camp free and use propane to heat the trailer than it is to pay the very reasonable $25 per night charge here, so either way. Anyway, time for tea and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe!
A good night sleep, and was reading and doing my PT exercises when my old friend from WNGS 92.1 radio (long since defunct) called to say he was on his way. I thought he was coming at noon, but this was before 9:00, so I had to quickly get up and get my chores done and sweep out the trailer, and was just getting started on my breakfast when he arrived. We ended up chatting literally all day, not surprising when we had 40 years to get caught up on! We finally went out for a meal around 3:00, and I finally got back to camp just after 5:30, and it was already getting dark because of some cloud cover, so I quickly fed the horses, covered up my hay with a tarp because there's rain coming in, and finally settled down for the evening. Spent some time on the computer because I've suddenly become interested in possibly doing an African safari on horseback in the Serengeti. Crazy, I know, but I have to get some more stuff on and then crossed off of my bucket list while I still can, and I've been on five of the seven continents (and I have NO interest in going to Antarctica!), so that leaves Africa. This time of year lots of animals are migrating, so it's apparently quite the experience. Don't know if I can pull it all together in time, but we'll see! Only had time for one Bones, and I'm already running late for the evening, but it was a delightful day getting caught up, and a rare opportunity to reminisce, something I rarely do. Tea, shower and bed are next! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!