Hey Sweetie,
Had a terrible night sleep. Went to bed a bit early, around 10:00, asleep by 10:30, then awake at 2:00 and didn't get back to sleep except a quick doze around 6:00 with my alarm going off at 6:30. Needless to say, I felt tired all day, and ran on adrenaline because I had so much to do. Met Jo over at Yvette's house, she helped me move some furniture to make room for the Buick. When I partially closed the window yesterday, I realized later that I might not be able to reach the hood lever, and that would make jump starting problematic, but fortunately that fear was unfounded, I had no trouble getting the hood open, or jump starting it. Once we got the power window down, Jo crawled in and cranked it up while I jumped it, and thankfully, it ran a lot better today. It only took about five minutes for it to be able to be shifted into gear without stalling, and the engine was running a lot smoother, so I'm hopefully the rough running is mostly about bad gas, but I won't know for sure until I get back next season and start to work on it in earnest. Still, it had that fabulous Panther Purr going, which was so good to hear! We got it all done, along with several boxes of stuff moved, in only about an hour. Got back to camp and unhooked, then got busy with other things, like moving the generator and one big bag into the small horse trailer, pulling out the tarp to dry, doing a bit of housekeeping, and generally heading in the "packing up" direction. Then I got a call from my friend Sandy that they were passing through the Ocala neighborhood and wanted to stop by, so I (thankfully!) was able to take about an hour break to have a nice, albeit short, visit with them. I had a very hard-to-get appointment for Lola this afternoon, and we just couldn't miss it, so we went our separate ways and I ran down to Dunnellon and took care of that vet appointment. A quick stop to fill up with the cheapest diesel in town (at Murphy), a few things picked up at Walmart and Tractor Supply, then a run back over to Dave's Auto World in Inglis for them to recheck my brakes and to check for a leak in my power steering box (the one I had replaced last summer). Dave put some dye in it the other day, and he found a very tiny leak, so he just said to keep an eye on it for now. Fair enough! He and his family came down here from Watkins Glen, NY, so they're upstaters like me, and we chatted for a bit before I headed home. Stopped at HQ to pick up a couple of things that were found after the Taste of Goethe that belonged to me, then back to camp, shortly after fed the horses, had a lovely dinner of garlic shrimp burrito and a couple of drinks, then nodded off while watching TV before 7:30, a clear indication of just how tired I am! Heading for shower and bed soon! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Up bright and early and on the road by 8:00, though I had to spend some time on the phone with the Sunpass people to get my toll transponder activated. I had to use my trailer tag, they wouldn't transfer my truck tag over because it's still listed under my other brother's account, so I had to stop at one of the service plazas on the turnpike to get that straightened out, but managed to get it done. I figured since I would be traveling up north, and specifically New York and New Jersey this summer, it would be worthwhile to get the pass that covers the most states, including Kentucky, so that when I pass over that bridge into Indiana, that's covered, too. Arrived just about on schedule at noon, though I was a couple of minutes late because I got stuck behind some slow truck for miles, but I was only a few minutes late. I spent the next hour and a half, by myself, getting my car running (which thankfully I was able to get started with my little jump starter), loading up the three boxes and my Honda generator into the back of the truck and in the car, and finally loading the car up onto the trailer, after letting it run for about 15 minutes, which is what it takes to get it to not stall out when I put it in gear. I put in some Stabil before I started it, and I think that helped, it wasn't running anywhere near as rough by the time I got it on the trailer. I finally pulled out about 1:45, ran into rain on the way, not to mention getting caught in the Orlando rush hour because it took so long to get everything done, so it was 7:00 by the time I got home. I was very happy that the trailer worked perfectly, no issues whatsoever. Not really looking forward to having to drive another 450 miles again on Friday, but it's the only day I have to do it, since my reservation in South Carolina on Tuesday for an event I'm helping to plan is already paid for, and I have had to jam pack everything else I need to do to prepare into my remaining few days here to accommodate a second trip south, so I'll be running around nonstop like the proverbial chicken with my head cut off until I finally head north. Looking forward to moving on, though, ready for a change of scene! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Felt a little better today, still not 100 percent, but spent the entire day sitting around Dave's Auto World getting my truck ready for the road. Had to jump start my truck this morning, though, evidently the brake controller was shorting out and drawing on the battery again, so that's another problem that needs fixing. Very happy that they did NOT find any problems with my ball joints, which is what I was worried about after being told in Michigan last summer that they were not good (pays to get a second opinion), but that my brakes were not good. Considering the passenger side was replaced last year (because of a poor installation) and the driver side the year before that, it was a little surprising, but since brakes are probably the second most important thing on my truck after the motor, I went ahead and got them all replaced to the tune of $2500. He put on extra heavy duty ones since I told him I was a bit overloaded with my towing, so I'm hoping these will last a bit longer than the measly couple of thousand miles these have gone. Still cheaper than a new truck! Anyway, once that was finally done, I headed to Dunnellon, got a few things from Ace Hardware and a Sunpass from CVS, fueled up at Murphy (finally down to about $3.77 for diesel, though I got 20 gallons at ten cents off), stopped at the forest HQ for a hand winch, just in case I need it to load my car up, got back to camp and went to work on the flatbed trailer. I had to nail down some of the loose boards and get it hooked up, but didn't have time to mess with the brake controller, just unplugged it and hoping for the best tomorrow. Spent too much time trying to open a Sunpass account online, and called just as the offices were closing, so I guess I'll worry about that tomorrow. Hopefully, I'm ready to go in the morning. Not really looking forward to making two trips down there, but it seems like my only option at this point. Had a quick dinner, watched one Northern Exposure, and soon to shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Slept well again, worked a bit on my shoulder again, and after chores and breakfast went out to meet Yvette, who has a 16' flatbed trailer and needs a tractor, and has plenty of storage on her new property for all my stuff, so we reached a deal, but it still needs a few logistical adjustments. After I left there, I stopped at the Forest HQ to pick up the odds and ends that were put in a couple of boxes after the Taste of Goethe, only to discover those boxes still haven't made it into the volunteer closet, nor were they in any of the trucks in the compound, so I'm going to have to track all that stuff down next week. Headed down to the Rural King down in Crystal River because when I called them earlier this week they told me they had six bags of Balance, only to discover they only had one! Very disappointing! I had a bunch of stuff I could have bought there, but decided not to, just because I was a bit miffed at them at that point. Then I went to the Walmart in, I think, Inverness, and got what was supposed to be a few groceries but ended up costing a lot more (price of everything is up these days!) and finally back to camp. Still working on trying to find a way to make a single trip to get my stuff, hoping Jo's husband's friend might have a solution. Finally settled down to a beautiful evening, and since it was still relatively early, decided to watch the two Road House movies back to back. Not surprisingly, the original was better, with deeper characters and numerous subplots, where the new one just had more violence, blood, guts, gore and special effects, shallow characters and without much of a plot or underlying romance like the original. Oh, well. Enjoyed a couple of weekend bourbons, won't be long out of bed and beyond! Good night, my sweet! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had another good night sleep, worked on my shoulder for a short time, and now I'm convinced that the shift yesterday will be one of (if not THE) last, as I'm not feeling any violin string-like sensations like I've been for the last few weeks. Really think I might have it fixed now! Just need to let it settle for a few days and see what happens. I got out in plenty of time to take the horses over to the Ocala Equine Hospital where they did a fantastic job of taking care of the horses. I was surprised when they asked me if I needed my Coggins by later today, apparently they have a lab right on the premises! I said I wasn't in that much of a hurry, so they said Monday, which still seemed like a rush job to me, but I'll take it! Their prices were also extremely reasonable, so now we're all set with inoculations and Coggins for another year, and a health certificate for six months. Stopped at the hay place on the way back, my usual guy was out of town so I had his wife and two young grandkids there to help. I stocked up enough to fill my trailer and have enough to last until I leave. Just managed to get some of it stored under the gooseneck when Jo texted me to meet her for lunch, so I met her at Willards and enjoyed a nice meal with her. She came back to camp, helped me put the rest of my hay away in the trailer, I piled all of the ribbons I've collected in her truck, and we visited for awhile before she went off to do errands in Williston. I fed the horses and settled down for the evening, satisfied with another productive day! Be in bed shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Well, despite all the napping during the day, I still managed to get a full night's sleep, and woke up feeling pretty refreshed, thank goodness. Spent some time working on my shoulder, and I swear I had a major shift, so I'm curious how that works out in the next few days. Did my chores, soaked Lola's foot, got all the little extra stuff done, then made some headway on trying to find a trailer so I can move my stuff up here, worked on a survey for the Taste of Goethe Facebook group, and generally did some computer work that will benefit me later, like appointments to have the truck inspected and to get the horses' Coggins and annuals. Had a few campers come in, so I'm not on my own tonight. Finished the day by hooking up the small horse trailer for our trip to the Equine hospital tomorrow, then settled down to a movie, and soon, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
I went to be achy last night, and woke up achy this morning. It took awhile to muster the energy to get up to feed the horses and have breakfast, then I promptly crawled back into bed where I spent almost the entire day reading and napping. I didn't want to take any pain killers, so this was the best way to recover. By the end of the day, I did feel a lot better. We had a Taste of Goethe recap meeting to figure out what we can do better next year, as well as what went better this year. It was a productive meeting. It rained all day, had a short break just about feeding time in the evening, and by the end of the meeting, had started up again, so I'm looking forward to more rain overnight. Nothing like a rainy day to make you feel lazy, which is exactly the kind of day I needed today! Even with all the rest today, I'm looking forward to a good night sleep, and by tomorrow, should be "right as rain," as they say. Love you, sweetheart! Good night!

Hey Sweetie,
Took my time packing up this morning, but still managed to get out of camp by 10:30, arriving at Goethe just before noon. It took me about an hour to get hooked up and get the horses back on their highline, and just a few minutes more before I got out the patio rug and chairs. I'm not going to bother with the screen room, I was way too tired for that! I kept on moving for awhile (a body in motion, staying in motion), because I knew the minute I sat down, I wouldn't have the energy to move much after that. I swept the floor and shook out the rugs, because it's going so bad I couldn't stand it (and that's saying something!), and even re-stapled the rug in front of the recliner, which had worked itself loose. Once I got settled, I spent some time going through all the ribbons and getting them all straightened out, which took awhile, but I managed to get that all done. As my adrenaline started to fade, my eyes were getting that gritty feeling, and my face started to feel numb from the exhaustion, so made a few essential phone calls, had dinner a bit early, watched a movie and a couple of Northern Exposures, got the horses fed, soaked Lola's foot, and am most definitely heading to bed early. It's a warm night, but there's rain moving in overnight, so I'm looking forward to day of doing absolutely nothing tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Woke up too early, read for a bit before I got moving, but was out on the trail by 10:15. First trail I did was red, and I carefully looked at every marker to see where some folks got confused, and honestly, every ribbon was exactly where it was supposed to be. Yes, a couple of the paper arrows came down, but to my mind, those are secondary confidence marker, it's the ribbons, that tell the story. Nearest I can figure, despite the intersections clearly not indicating turns (i.e. they should carry on straight across the power line), it seems some folks didn't stay straight, they just turned willy nilly. The markers were right, they just didn't follow them correctly. Oh, well, no accounting for that. Anyway, we did the 10 miles of red, stopped at camp for a minute, then went out and did another 10 miles of blue. Once again, the one person that got "lost" on blue was clearly just not paying attention, as there were two signs and five ribbons at the intersection she missed. Sigh... Anyway, we were back in camp by 4:00, made very reasonable time. It was nearly an hour before Linda K. came along, she had volunteered to help so I sent her out to do the white trail, which she had no problem following, and had a good day with her horse Sonny, who is still learning to behave on his own, and did very well today! Very grateful for her help! I spent some time sorting the ribbons, though I didn't get through it by any means, but the pace is thankfully slowing down a little, and I'm feeling a bit more relaxed. All I have left tomorrow is the 15 mile pink, which is a very pretty ride, so I should have plenty of time to run into town for a few errands and to fuel up my tank so I can head straight out Tuesday morning. Enjoyed another pasta dinner with a side salad, a Northern Exposure, and a British geriatric romance, though I'm tired of this genre always ending with someone dying. Why can't geriatrics live "happily ever after," too? May be a short "ever after, but at least it's not a depressing death at the end. Oh, well. Anyway, time for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!