Hi Sweetie,
Didn't do much today except finish off my housekeeping by wiping down all the wood more thoroughly than yesterday. I put the horses out on their anchors for the afternoon so they could much on fresh grass and move around a bit, but otherwise has a pretty lazy reading day. Flash is definitely favoring his right hind leg, so I'm going to just let him rest for awhile, since there's not much in the way of trails here anyway. The generator cut out once again today, not sure why, but it feels really hot, so I guess the heat is getting to it. Need to do some research on that. Trying to sort out my schedule for the winter, now that my usual wintering place has decided not to have a camp host anymore, which frees me up for other things I want to do, which is a good thing. Other than that, a pretty lazy day! Didn't get the rain yet, so it's still pretty warm, though I did put up the front panel of my screen room to keep the direct sunlight off the trailer, which helped, as did the bit of cloudiness we had. Hoping for rain overnight to cool things off! Heading to bed shortly! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
A good night sleep, so happy I'm back on track since all my back pain has disappeared! Had a busy day doing laundry and a lot of serious housekeeping, long overdue! I brought out Lola's swimming pool because it's been really hot the last couple of days, and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter before a cold front brings in some rain, if you want to believe the weatherman. I also extended my reservation for another week, so I brought out my hoses to see if they would be long enough to reach the spigot, and was very pleased to see that they do, at least to the trailer. I need to confirm it will reach the horses' buckets tomorrow, but I think a still have another section of hose I can use if I need to. I had a little problem with the generator, though, it ran fine for my first load of laundry, then a few minutes into my second load it quit. I checked all the usual suspects, put some oil in, turned on a new propane cylinder, but it kept doing it, running for a few minutes, then quitting. Of course, I looked it up online and most responses had to do with the coils, but I noticed that some oil had spilled, so I cleaned everything up, including some of the wiring connections, and I managed to keep it running long enough to finish my second load. It also came on fine when I needed it for the microwave, so I may have solved the problem for now, I hope. Settled down for the my usual evening, ready for bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Woke up to another foggy morning, but it cleared out pretty well by the time I was on the road just after 9:30. I was a bit surprised to see a bear near Deer Park on my way out of the Biltmore this morning! So cool! I stopped at a truck stop just south of Asheville and was thrilled to pay a mere $3.16 a gallon for diesel! I was down to nearly an eighth of a tank and it still only cost $100 to fill up! Whoo hoo! Love it when my biggest expense gets so much more reasonable! Arrived safe and sound at the Sedalia campground. This is my first time here, and it didn't take me very long to get set up. A little tricky getting into my site, but it's perfect for what I need. The trailer is mostly in the shade, but I have a clear shot for my solar panel most of the afternoon, I have trees that are perfect for the highline and a laundry line, and I'm next to the treeline so cleanup is a breeze. The one water spigot has threads, so I was able to fill my truck tank, and I might even be close enough for my hoses to reach, but it's just as easy to fill my truck tank anyway. It was paved all the way here, too, so very easy to reach, and the cell phone signal, though weak, is good enough for live streaming on Prime, so I'm thinking about extending my stay for another week. Good to be back on the road again! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin'!
Generators and activities started early in camp this morning, as expected, so I woke up early, but laid in bed for awhile before getting up. After all my morning chores, I got my marching orders for the day. I drove over to the main bridge, met up with Steph and Ann, and they guided me to the top of the hill in the vineyard (with a beautiful view), with instructions to warn the approaching riders of a particularly rambunctious young Great Pyrenees sheepdog and his partner that went a bit over the top doing their job. They would bark and lunge at every horse that went by, and it was decided that for safety's sake, the riders needed a special warning, which I was happy to provide! From 10:00 to about 4:00, I diligently did my job, taking Lola for the ocassional walk, and mostly read a book or Facebooked on the phone in between. A storm came up just as the gals came by to tell me I was done for the day, surprisingly early, but we waited a few minutes until it quit raining before we took down the shelter and headed out. I took the opportunity to pick up my chucker from Meg's truck, and just as I was pulling in next to her semi, spotted a gal wearing the same Moonshine Run t-shirt that I had on, and realized it was Jenny, whom I met at that ride. I had just messaged her a few minutes earlier to try to locate her and hadn't heard back yet, and there she was! We ended up chatting for an hour, getting caught up, then I headed back to my trailer, where Cam and Steve were hanging out. It wasn't long before Steph and Ann showed up needing help to put some glowsticks together, apparently an odd oversight that it hadn't been done earlier, considering they have 75-milers on this ride. Anyway, we threw those together as quickly as we could, then Steve and the gals raced off to put those up. They weren't back by dark, so I'm not sure how much help they'll be for some of those riders, but apparently there is one particularly slow person that I guess will benefit. Cam and I tried to watch an ISS flyover, but there was too much fog. We said our good-nights, and I'll soon be off to shower and bed! A fulfilling day! Good night, my sweet! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had another good night sleep, got my chores done, but when it came time to saddle up Flash, he just wasn't moving right. I had given him bute last night and this morning, but there was a little puffiness on his right rear fetlock, so I decided not to risk further injury. Fortunately, the trail we were supposed to do today was shared a lot by the trail we did on Tuesday, and Steph had run around most of the same trail with the FEI folks, so she was okay with me not finishing it off today, thank goodness. So it turned into a pretty lazy day, beautiful weather, read and did some research, finally deciding on going to Sedalia Horse Camp in SC on Monday, someplace new and easy to get to. Shared dinner with Steve and Cam, visiting with them until dark, then managed to watch an hour of TV. Something really weird is going on with the cell phone signal here. Typically it's pretty bad here, though I was hoping that after all the destruction from the hurricane last year, they might have upgraded the towers. Well, it's mostly still bad, except when my phone is inside the trailer (usually it works better OUTSIDE the trailer), when it suddenly pops into roaming mode and jumps to four bars! No idea why that's happening! Glad, though, because it's a lot easier to get stuff done when I have a good internet connection, which I did. Then around 8:30, it suddenly started raining, an isolated storm that was not predicted in the forecast even as it was happening! So everything's wet again. Anyway, tea's on, shower next, off to bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Up at 7:00, and on my way by 9:00, though it would have been a bit earlier if I hadn't gotten involved in a conversation with my host. Nice guy, Dave, we had a nice chat. He and his wife are immigrants from England, so it was nice to hear that lovely accent again. I've missed hearing it from you! Anyway, the trip to Biltmore was uneventful, thank goodness, and I was really surprised to see that things haven't seemed to change much in Asheville, despite all the damage from the hurricane last year. I'm told the trails are going to be a bit different, so I'm curious about that. There were two day rider trailers here when I arrived, but they left shortly after I arrived, so I had my pick of where I wanted to park. I chose about the same place as last fall, by the washrack, so I could easily reach the spigot to refill both my trailer and the horses' buckets. Arrived just after 2:30 and was fully setup by 4:00, solar panel and all, and just as some rained moved it, down to the minute! Couldn't have asked for better timing! The horses are happily munching on the fresh grass in the portable paddock, and Flash was quick to lie down as soon as he was in there. So looking forward to my first ride since I've been back tomorrow! I expect Flash is ready, too! Lola's been enjoying rolling in the long grass as well, after she walked around a bit, she came back soaking wet! No happy when a thunderstorm rolled in a few hours later, though, she really hates those! Anyway, I'm happily ensconced here for the week, looking forward to seeing some of my endurance friends! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
As I've said many times before, one reason I hate to travel on Sundays is because it's harder to get services, so naturally, today I needed services. I woke up before my alarm, had breakfast, got everything packed, dumped my black water, said my good-byes, and was on the road before 8:45 this morning. I neglected to double-check my route on Truckrouter.com and regretted it. The first clue came when it tried to make me turn down a road with a 10'1" overhead clearance (not a chance!) so I kept going straight, and it looked like a pretty good route that led me straight to I-78, but two miles before that interchange, I had to go down a hill so steep and curvy that my truck brakes were literally smoking by the time I reached the bottom, even with fully functional trailer brakes (and I used the emergency switch on those a couple of times.) At the bottom was a one lane bridge with a 10 ton limit, but I've been over those before. I had to sit through a couple of those, though, to let my brakes cool off, because they were just about gone by the time I got to the bottom. I managed to make it over the bridge and to the highway, where things smoothed out a bit, until I blew a tire in Maryland. Grrr. Good thing I had my trusty impact wrench and Jiffy Jack ready to go, I managed to switch out the spare in less than twenty minutes. Got back on the road, but I wasn't real comfortable with the condition of my spare, so I called around and managed to find a place near my destination that had a tire the right size, though it was a bit expensive. I didn't want to take the chance of traveling another 300 miles tomorrow without a spare. I was particularly disappointed when I saw the tire that blew was only about 14 months old! I arrived at the tire place just after 4:00, and got that job started (I did most of the work, except for mounting the new tire on the rim), but they charged with nearly $400! And he claimed to give me $50 off when I pointed out the tire was already four years old, despite the fact he was selling it as "new." He also charged me a half hour of labor $72.50, rather than a mounting fee. So suffice to way, while I was grateful I was able to get a tire on a Sunday, I paid dearly for the privilege. The same tire on Simple Tire, my usual tire source, was $184, so yeah, not that happy a camper. I finally arrived at Lazy Acres in Lexington, VA just after 5:00, met my host David, got the horses tucked away in a nice paddock, and settled in for the night. I didn't need stalls or electric, so the charge was "only" $70, which I guess is the going rate, but seems a lot when compared to most of the types of campgrounds where I usually stay. Can't be helped though, I had to split the travel into two days, especially considering the circumstances! Tired, hot and ready for my shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Babe,
A pretty good night sleep, then I spent the day putting stuff away and packing and generally getting ready to head out tomorrow. Took down the portable electric fence and moved the boys over to a paddock for the night. I had to show them how to get water out of the waterer they have here, Flash was scared by it the last time we were here because it made a loud and sudden noise, but this time he figured it out. I bush hogged the area where they've been staying, tidying it up as best I could, plus a little extra along the fence-line just for good measure. Did a few loads of laundry as well, while I had the chance. The truck is all in place, I just have to drop it the rest of the way in the morning, and everything else I can do, I've done. I paced myself through the day, and was finished about 3:30, so I indulged in a little afternoon movie and popcorn just for fun. I think the horses are as ready to move on as I am, they're meeting me at the gate every time I walk over! I think Lola will miss the freedom here, though, she's been spending a lot of time wandering around the property, and seems to be good friend's with Meg's dog Sirabi. She won't get that at Biltmore, I'm sorry to say! But it's time to get back on the road, and I'm looking forward to it, as well as getting back in the saddle on my own horses! Too long in one place! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up to discover that Meg's mare has finally had her knobby foal! Cute, fuzzy little thing! Spent the day first going to chiropractic for my last session before I leave, a stop at Tractor Supply for feed and wormer, then spent most of the afternoon on the tractor mowing the paddocks. Finished up around 5:00, then settled down for the evening. Tomorrow is dedicated to getting ready to move out on Sunday. I don't like driving on Sundays because if anything goes wrong, services are hard to get, but I don't really have a choice this time. Fingers crossed it all goes well! Sorry to leave all the modern conveniences for primitive camping, but I couldn't ask for better weather right now. Anyway, shower and bed are not far off! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!