Hey Darlin',
After the long reconnaissance ride yesterday, I felt I'd seen all I needed to see in this trail system to finally make some headway on the trail plan. The difficulty here is that you have to choose between crossing a paved road multiple times, riding through swamp, riding about a mile on a limestone rock road, riding in deep sand or repeating trails. None are great options, but the choice must be made. I spent several hours trying to accommodate all of that, but in the end, I called Jo, the ride manager, to try to pin down which complaints she was willing to deal with, since there really isn't any route that will make everyone happy all of the time. In the end we adjusted the route a few different ways, finally opting for using the limestone road but cutting it down to the bare minimum of about a mile. It starts at a water stop, so we figured if someone wants to put boots on, it's a good place to do it anyway. Only one mile out of 50, it's the best we could do. Glad to have that finalized, though, it's been bugging me! Still have a bit of recon to do in the south loop, so I have another day of riding this week, though not likely tomorrow. I have errands in the morning and it's going to be a chilly day, so Thursday, most likely. Finally settled down for the evening, enjoyed a funny movie with Woody Harrelson coaching a team of "intellectually challenged" teens to the Special Olympics championship, and now it's time for shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
What a day! Set my alarm for 6:15, had breakfast and got the horses and Lola fed, and managed to leave around 7:20. Without stops the trip was just over 3 1/2 hours, so I arrived at exactly 11:00. First thing I did was try to start the Buick, but the battery was dead flat, so I put the truck jumpers on and let it charge for awhile. One of the tires (brand new) was flat for some reason, so I got the compressor going and got that one up, plus topped off the other three. Let my sister-in-law know I was there, and she was thoughtful enough to have saved a couple of T-bone steak bones for Lola! They were in a bag not quite big enough for them, so they were sticking out a bit, and would you believe, I put them right on the console in the truck and she never touched them, even though she was alone with them for a long time! What a good girl! Then I went and checked on the little horse trailer, I took out a tractor tire that was in the back, not sure exactly why that was in there, but if it's useable it should stay with the tractor there anyway, and if it's not useable, I sure don't need to be carrying it around! Of course, the trailer is all moldy again, not surprisingly, so washing that will be on the agenda sometime this week. I checked the tires on that and found one that was about 40 lbs. too low, but the others were acceptable without a load. By then, I figured the Buick was charged enough, and sure enough, I was able to start it, albeit reluctantly. It ran, but it stalls out when you take your foot off the gas, just like before, so it will have to warm up for 10-15 minutes before it will run in gear. I did roll it a bit to get it off the same flat spot in the tires, it moved in neutral easily enough. Finally, I hooked up the trailer and headed down the road, but something didn't feel right. I pulled over, and realized I had forgotten the block for putting the jack on, so I ran back (I was only a mile away), and when I got there I jacked up the trailer off the hitch and realized it was only a 2" hitch, too small. So then I went through a whole series of exercises trying to swap out the 2" hitch with my other 2 3/8" hitch, just about killing myself in the process. I got literally no help from my brother, other than him lending me a pipe wrench and suggesting I go to Tractor Supply and buy a new receiver. Well I didn't have time for that, so I finally pulled out another receiver that I had, and that ball came off immediately. Then the light bulb went off in my head. The original configuration of the truck to trailer was a 4" drop with a 2 3/8" ball, but I had changed it to a 2" ball when I used his trailer to move my tractor to his place. That didn't work, though, because his trailer was too low to reach the hitch, so I went to Tractor Supply and bought a 6" drop, which evidently only came with the ball already on it, which explains why I couldn't get the damn thing off, because it had been put together in the factory. So finally I remembered the series of events, got out my 4" drop, and that 2" ball came right off with the first twist, and I was finally able to get a working hitch, which was exactly what the original configuration had been. Whew! I worked up such a sweat, and wasted so much time, it was 1:20 by the time I finally pulled out of there. That would make it a VERY close call to arriving back at camp before dark, which was my goal, though originally I thought I'd be there long before 4:00 if I had been able to stay on schedule. I took one quick stop to top off my fuel tank, just because I didn't want any more stress about it getting low, and another quick stop at a Publix to get a couple of cartons of grapefruit juice, the one commodity I was low on, but that only took about seven minutes. As it turned out, I arrived back just before sunset, so I had plenty of dusk light to get the horses fed. I was exhausted by then! Had just enough energy to finish off my homemade chicken soup (which was lovely but I'm glad it's done, I'm ready for a change), and settled down for the evening. I finally gave Lola the first of her bones, which she thoroughly enjoyed! Unfortunately I chose an excruciatingly boring movie that I fell asleep to, but now I'm more that ready for my shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Another good night sleep, lazy morning, then met Jo for lunch at Willards just to go over what we've doing in preparation for the ride. Got back in time for my chair delivery. I had pulled the old chair out to the porch so it had a nice open space, and the two guys had no trouble getting it in. I put the cover in the wash and subsequently hung it out to dry, covered the old chair with a sheet to protect it. It was weird, though, when I sat in the chair it didn't feel anything like when I sat in it at the store, not nearly as comfortable as I remember it. In fact, it didn't seem even as comfortable as the chair I'm replacing! Maybe it just needs to be broken in or something, I don't know. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if this is normal for a new chair, but after so much research and checking every chair in the store last week, I was sure I'd found the right one, but this just doesn't feel the same. Anyway, I relaxed in my usual evening way, ready for shower and bed. Good night, darlin', love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, though even with the fireplace on all night, it was still pretty chilly inside the trailer. Not as bad as outside, though, it did get down into the low 30's last night. Even though it was a beautiful, sunny day, it was so cold I decided not to try to ride today, so I mostly did housework and a load of laundry, did some work on the trail planning for both Black Prong and Tidewater, which we've now decided will be our trail cleanup focus on Dec. 9. I found some dead bugs this morning, leftover from the bug bombs I used yesterday, mostly stink bugs. I'm hoping I made a dent in that infestation, but I'm not holding my breath. Don't know if they die off in cold weather, that might help if they do. Supposed to be in the mid-30's again overnight tonight, so I probably won't be riding in the morning, as I'm meeting Jo for lunch and expecting my chair delivery after 2:00. Can't wait for that!! Anyway, glad to get the abode cleaned up, looking forward to a snuggly night in bed shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Had a good long night sleep after going to bed early, woke up to the alarm, got the morning chores done, started a load of laundry, then met with Scotty, who handed over trail markers to me. Then I headed out to Dunnellon, stopping first at the Women's Club, where I'm told they might have a euchre game, or at least the interest to possibly start one, then on to my doctor's appointment, which went well, lovely folks there. Next stop was Walmart for some general shopping, then Publix where I picked up Egg Nog Ice Cream and bourbon, which is my favorite combination. Liquor store not only had my favorite bourbon, they had it on sale, so I bought two! Headed back home just in time to run into Scotty again, he had made a key for the utility room so that if I break the circuit, I can reset it, as well as restock the bathroom as necessary. Was delighted to learn that the circuit is 30 amp rather than 20, that gives me much more piece of mind! I bug-bombed the trailer before I left, so I had to open that up for a bit to air it out, found a few bugs, not as many as I feared, mostly stink bugs that I picked up in Tennessee when I stopped there, and just a few others. It's supposed to get close to freezing overnight, so hopefully I won't gather any more bugs for awhile. Another ranger, Rick, stopped by, he was supposed to turn the water off because of the freeze warning, but decided, with my encouragement, that it really wasn't necessary (seriously, the forecast was for 31 degrees for a very short time), and it was nice to meet him, since he'll be taking over for Scotty, who's leaving next week, sorry to say. Settled down for the evening to homemade soup and bourbon (with Publix Egg Nog ice cream, my favorite treat!), watched a great movie, now I'm ready for shower and bed. Last night was the first night I had the campground to myself, lovely being so quiet! Looking forward to more nights like this! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had rain most of the day today, which was just as well because my back is still hurting me and another day of rest will probably do me some good. Other than cleaning the oven again, I pretty much spent the day reading and watching TV. It's taking this pulled muscle longer to heal than I had hoped, and my plan was to ride Tuesday, though the current forecast is really cold that day, so we'll see. The forecasts haven't exactly been very accurate, it seems, so maybe, maybe not. Anyway, not much else going on today. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had a good night sleep, did my chores, a little mending and my Egoscue stretching routine as best I could, but the pulled muscle in my back is still bothering me. I tried both heat and ice on it today, not sure if either helped that much, but I didn't want to take any more ibuprofen today. Despite all the warnings I've had about riding in the forest during dog hunting season, there were half a dozen day rider trailers that came in throughout the day. It's probably safe enough, but I am trying to recover from these pains, so I figured I was better off being more sedentary today. Unfortunately, this old recliner is feeling more and more uncomfortable, and I think it's contributing to my backache. Can't wait for my new chair to arrive next week! Anyway, had a relaxing day and evening, will be finishing off the evening shortly! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up to some rain and a bit of chilly weather, so the plans I had made with Jo to go to the World Equestrian Center this afternoon got bumped up to this morning, so I got the chores done quickly, putting light blankets on the horses to make sure the weather didn't bother them too much, then headed over to Jo's house to arrive by 9:00. After a trip to her bank, we got to WEC and wandered around for a few hours, watched a bit of an Arabian show, looked around for a barrel racing arena we could never find (it's not on their map yet, apparently), had a quick lunch at a little Italian takeout where we were able to sit with Lola on the patio (excellent crust on their Sicilian pizza!) and generally just enjoyed the Christmas decorations. A final stop at T&T Tack store just up the road where I bought a slow feeding hay net in the hopes to keep Apollo busy longer at his hay, and Jo bought a wheelbarrow she had her eye on, after I negotiated a 10% discount for her. Got back to camp a bit after 3:00 and relaxed the rest of the day. Heading to shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin'!
Had a very relaxing day, spent most of the morning in bed after chores just to give my pulled back muscle a good chance to heal. Took enough ibuprofen not to notice it, anyway. Headed over to Jo and hubby Jeff's house for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. When I arrived Jo was working on the feet of her horse Peaches, putting on some glue-on shoes to help her soles grow a bit, apparently they tend to run thin. It was an interesting process! Lola had a great play date with their three dogs Zeke, Lucy and Pickle, so she's worn out now, thank goodness! Had a lovely evening, then just before I was ready to leave, Jo put me in this incredible massage recliner that she has, it was amazing! Sixteen minutes of pure massage bliss, looking forward to seeing how I feel in the morning! I may have to invite ourselves over for a massage and canine play date a couple of times a week while I'm here! 🙂 Had a thoroughly enjoyable day with friends, and, like every day of this fantastic life, lived it with a grateful heart! Miss you, babe, and will love you forever! Good night!

Hey Babe,
I've been voluminous research about recliners the last few weeks, because I've decided that Lazyboy Vale that I bought used in Michigan just isn't cutting it. I thought I had one picked out at Badcocks, but they couldn't put a swivel base on it, and I really wanted one, so they recommended I go straight to the Lazyboy Gallery in Ocala, so that's what I did. I had a model called the Holland picked out, but of course, it was a different name at Lazyboy, like the Morrison or something, but since they had so many other recliners there, I did the whole sit-in-every-chair to find the right one, like we did when we bought those IMG recliners that eventually wore out. Lo and behold, I found an even more comfortable one, and a little smaller, that was manual rather than power (preferred when I'm boondocking so I don't have to put the inverter on just to get my chair up and down), in fact, very much like the IMG's we had before, including the color leather, and a lot less expensive that the current IMG prices! Anyway, I made the decision on the Pinnacle, and paid extra to have it delivered and set up, it will be coming next Thursday. That should give me plenty of time to sell the Vale once it arrives here. Glad to have finally made that decision, I headed back to camp, with a stop at United Hay Store, which was right on the way, and picked up 10 bales of coastal, which should last for a few weeks. The hunters were out in full force force this morning, it's gun dog season, so I won't be riding until it's over next Monday. No worries, I have plenty of planning to do before that! Settled down for the evening, more leftover chicken, though this time I made up my batch of dirty rice as a side dish, with vegetables. My back still hurts, but the heating pad is helping, looking forward to some pain free days! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!