Hey Hon,
A good night sleep, a beautiful morning, then I got busy. Filled up the water tank in the truck, did some research on the internet, the went to work on the awning. I was using baling twine wrapped around the awning arm and a hook on the front of the truck to try to get the arm close enough together to put some zip ties on it, but wasn’t getting close enough. Then a guy drove by in a Jeep and stopped to asked if he could help. He was exactly what I needed at that moment! With his extra hands, it only took a minute to get the arms locked down, and then he ended up staying and helping through the whole process of rewiring the motor. My goal today was to verify that the problem is, in fact, the motor, and with the help of my new multi-meter, we determined that we had full voltage all the way to the motor connection, so now I at least know it’s not the switch or anything else in between, so I guess I’m getting a new motor for it. Found one on Amazon for just over $300. Between that, the truck repair, which I’m hoping will get done tomorrow, and new front tires, it’s going to be another expensive month! Oh, well, it’s an early birthday gift, I guess! My new friend’s name is Tim, and he’s the official sawyer/lumberjack for the trail club, he was out checking the trails today. We ended up chatting well into mid-afternoon after we finished our awning trials. Then, I saw my friend Sheila, whom I stayed with on my way out of Florida this past spring, walking down to the pay kiosk! She came over and we chatted for awhile longer. Tim finally left, I cleaned up, did some more research on the computer, then had dinner, fed the horses, and walked down to where Sheila and her two girlfriends were camped, and we chatted until dusk, finally came back to home. It was a beautiful day, but it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow, perfect for getting the truck done, then that’s all the rain in the forecast for the foreseeable future. Going to be a great weekend! Finishing off the evening with some Sleepytime tea, a Spanish lesson, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Was in bed really early last night, because the rain made it get dark early, got lots of rest. Woke up early, did chores and breakfast, then took the truck over an hour early for my appointment at Quality Truck. Turned out that wasn’t the best decision. They charged me $50 for each thing I asked them to look at. One thing was my cigarette lighter, and they discovered it was a fuse. A simple fuse. I had already changed the one marked “cig lighter”, but apparently the second one was under some other obscure name, probably took them all of two minutes to find it, and they still charged me $50. They discovered it wasn’t the power steering pump that was leaking (which I was relieved to hear, since I’d replaced that once already a couple of years ago), but the steering box that was gone. Rather then order the part and repair it, they informed me they couldn’t do it until Thursday, which is not what I had bargained for. The other $50 was to get the passenger side mirror extended, apparently the motor isn’t working, but at least they left it extended like I asked. Then they presented me with a list of half a dozen other high ticket items they claimed needed fixing, practically my entire undercarriage. I decided to get a second opinion, and called a friend of Alayna’s, and he stopped by in the afternoon. He confirmed it was the steering box, called to get pricing on the parts (which was much more reasonable that Quality, more like what I could get it for online), and we arranged to do it later this week. And he’s just up the road, two minutes away! Should have gone there in the first place, I guess. Finally, Alayne brought Apollo back, yay! When I put him on the highline, he and Flash put their noses together for a long time, then Apollo squealed like a mare a couple of times! It was hilarious! Flash didn’t flinch anywhere near as much as he usually does when Apollo gets pushy, I think maybe absence has made their hearts grow fonder. I hope so, anyway, Apollo can be a bully when he wants. Once they settled down, he got real quiet. I guess it will take a few days to get back to normal, he’s been getting so spoiled by Alayna’s grandma! Not to mention being in a pasture rather than on a highline. He’ll be fine, I’m sure. Meanwhile, had dinner late, now I’m more than ready for shower and bed. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up before the alarm and got moving fairly early because there was rain predicted. Finished packing up and was out of camp by 9:00, stopped at a state park to dump but they wouldn’t let me do it for free like the last place, so I skipped it. Didn’t really need it anyway, and I’ll be staying at a place with a dump in a couple of weeks anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Arrived at Hungerford just after 11:00, scouted it it for the best spot again, hoping that the site at the top of the hill was reopened, but it wasn’t. I ended up in that same spot where we came to 10 years ago, down by the water house. They’ve improved the cell phone signal here, so that was a factor. Didn’t really want to be that close to the road, but there were more pros than cons, so that’s where I am! Managed to get Flash up on the highline and was just starting to get the awning down when it started to rain. For once the weatherman was right! When I looked at the radar, it could hardly have been mis-forecast, it was a huge storm that ended up lasting all day and still raining at bedtime. I was supposed to have a mobile RV guy show up at 2:00, but when he still hadn’t arrived at 2:30, I called and cancelled it. I’m pretty sure I can solve the problem myself, even if I have to replace the motor. I got a new multi-meter the other day, I’m going to do some checking with that to see if I can track down the problem, and if nothing else, the new motor can be here in two days, so I have time. Figured I didn’t need to spend $150 on a service call for something I can do myself. I’m just going to wait for a nice day! it rained all afternoon, so I ended up just watching a movie with Meryl Streep and an all star cast, lots of fun, just had a nice bowl of NE clam chowder for dinner, now a shower and to bed early. I have an appointment to take the truck in tomorrow for the power steering problem. I managed to get the radio working yesterday, and one of the cigarette lighters, but I’m having them look at the other one, I really need two. Anyway, I’m off to shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
Slept a bit late today (probably had something to do with the bourbon I indulged in last nigh!), but got busy doing a load of laundry and packing throughout the day. It wasn’t supposed to rain, but we did have a little sprinkle, so I had to leave my laundry out on the line longer than usual. Managed to get pretty much everything put away so I should be able to get out plenty early tomorrow. I have an appointment with an RV repair guy at 2:00, so I want to be settled in by then, but it’s less than 100 miles so it won’t take long. Not much else to report, just a typical “day before moving” day! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
A lot of folks left this morning, almost everybody except a few folks down at the other end, and host Gale right next to me. I spent the morning working on my computer, taking the GPS files that I made during the Shore to Shore and updating them so I can give the files to the MTRA to post on the website. It’s a tool that would have helped me a lot, so I volunteered to get it done. I had to make some corrections for when I went a little wayward, and I remembered at the last minute to add Hopkins Creek to Schecks, but, of course, I don’t have the bandwidth to send it, so I’m going to have to wait until next week when I can get on a good ground-based wifi. Gale had the generator all packed up before I realized it, so we had to run an electric cord to it while it was sitting on the back of his motor home and fill my tank that way. The rest of the day was just computer work until dinner, then settling down for the evening. A quick shower and off to bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Today was a day off for Flash, I wanted him to get a good rest before our twenty mile ride from Hopkins Creek to here tomorrow, so the only activity today was a load of laundry and some housekeeping. We took another float down the Boardman River with the kids (which was much faster without the big duck, which had too much of a draft for this shallow creek, I think), and that was a lot of fun. I’m very happy my inflatable kayak is hold up despite the bumps and scratches of submerged logs and trailing limbs in the water, it seems to be pretty tough! Clint, whom I met with his wife Nance down at Hopkins Creek, delivered eight nice bales of hay, with a lot of alfalfa content, which I find hard to resist at $7 a bale, but I figure it will be okay for Flash for a few days, then I’ll get some grass hay down at Big Rapids and mix it in with it, especially once I get Apollo back, and it will be fine. It’ll be good before the ride tomorrow as well, give him some extra energy tonight. They had an ice cream social for everyone at 7:00 which was fun, though we got into some lively discussions about how the MTRA needs to do more outreach to attract more riders, though some members of the old board just want to keep it the way it is, an unfortunate but typical attitude of most organizations. Anyway, I’m going to bed early, so I can get up early, we’re leaving at 8:00 tomorrow morning. I already had my shower, and even washed my hair which was so refreshing with almost no hair left! At least it felt that way! So heading to bed here very shortly. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Woke up around 4:30 this morning, then couldn’t get back to sleep until dawn, ended up sleeping past 10:00! Finally got up and moving, and after chores and breakfast, headed into the nearby town of Williamsburg, first to Tractor Supply to get propane (and fortunately, this one was willing to fill my tanks full, rather than stop at 4.2 gallons, yay!), then to Meijer for groceries. While in their parking lot, I had a great signal, so I loaded up my book to the printer. Did my shopping out to some rain (forecast was clear for the next four days, go figure!), went by the post office to see if my packages had arrived, but it seems UPS doesn’t get the specific delivery instructions I gave to Amazon, the ones that explained the building didn’t open until 12:45. UPS arrived at 11:24, so obviously they couldn’t deliver it, darn it! Hoping they’ll try a bit later tomorrow. Got back to camp, put all the groceries away, saw that another horse camper had arrived so I walked down to say hello, found them down by the creek and we ended up chatting for quite some time. I’m hoping to tag along with them tomorrow on a ride, since once again, there is not map of any of the trails at this place. Got an email from the printer, they discovered there was a font error in my book, weird because I’d never knowingly change fonts, but somehow it did on a chart I added. Anyway, I changed that and resent it this evening, so hopefully it’s correct now. Had a nice dinner, watched a couple of Big Valleys, now I’m just about ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Though I had a bunch of plans to do other things today, they never got done, because I was determined to finish updating the book and getting it to the printer. Of course, it took MUCH LONGER than I expected. I thought I was almost finished, but one thing led to another, led to another, and I didn’t get it fully the way I wanted it until past 5:30, but decided not to upload it tonight, rather take one more good long look at it in the morning to make sure everything is right before sending it off. I really need to do some shopping, so I’m thinking I’ll take my computer and find a wifi somewhere so it won’t take too long to upload it. Anyway, that was my entire day, that and waiting for a phone call from a mobile RV guy, who never called me back. Another job I have to do in the morning, find another RV guy! Hope I get time to do some riding out here! After dinner I took Lola down to the creek and played fetch with a stick for a while, just to get her some exercise. Settled down for the evening, looking forward to another great night sleep! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hiya Babe,
Had a great night sleep, ended up sleeping until nearly 8:30, so I woke up refreshed and ready. Of course, as always, whenever I think, oh, well, a short day today, lots of time to spare, those are the days when things happen that take up that time! I finished packing up outside, leaving Flash to graze while I got the whole highline area cleaned up before breakfast, and just as I was eating breakfast, I heard him heading up the ramp into the trailer on his own. Only went halfway, but I went out and got him in the rest of the way, since there wasn’t much left to do. Well, one of the last things to do was to get the awning in, and wouldn’t you know, it wouldn’t come it. I figured maybe low voltage in the batteries, so I turned the generator on and let it run for a bit, then it cut out after a few minutes. Not enough to make the awning work, so I tried starting it again. After several attempts, where it would start then cut off, I thought maybe it was the low oil cutoff switch, so I put some oil into it. It didn’t look low, but it never does, it takes awhile for it to trickle down. In the end, though, that wasn’t the problem. I didn’t think it was low on propane, it seemed like I just changed the tanks over, but then I remembered that the last time I filled up, the girl stopped at 4.2 instead of the usual 4.7 (because some folks complained about them being to full, so I complained about them not being full enough!), so I’ve been going through tanks faster than usual. Anyway, that solved the generator problem, but not the awning problem. I’ve also been really worried about making that 1.7 mile single lane sandy road trip out of the campground, but amazingly, a couple of young DNR folks came in with mowers to do the lawn, and I was able to get their help. After several efforts, we finally managed to get the awning in by hand and I held it in with bungees, so I could at least move on. Then they did me a second favor, by driving out the road and blocking it off so no one could come in, so I could safely make my way down the road. Still a white knuckle ride with all the patches of deep sand, though, but I made it! Thanks to Fawn and Jack!! I had originally figured I’d be at Schecks by noon, but by the time I arrived it was nearly 2:00. I took the long way around again, so I missed the four miles of rough Brown Bridge Rd., was surprised to see a lot of campers with no horses (and none with, except me), pulled up to the well and filled my tanks with my now working generator (and this one had laminated instructions on how to use it, including the hidden switch!), and found the perfect spot right next to the Trail Boss site, which had a couple of non-horse folks parked in it. Apparently they moved in without noticing the sign, and when I explained what it was about, they moved over one, even though I told them no one would be coming till the end of the week. A nice young couple, we had a nice chat later. So now I’m all settled in, solar panel included, without an awning (I’ll open it once I confirm that someone can come out and look at it soon, there are numerous mobile RV services around), I put the fence up around the unmowed area around the highline so Flash has some room to roam and grass to mow and fertilize. The charger isn’t working, but I’ve ordered a new one that’s supposed to arrive in a few days, though Flash isn’t likely to escape, he respects that fence too much! So glad to have a better cell signal here, no trouble watching a movie or doing stuff online today, researching the awning problem. Anyway, it’s getting late, I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Didn’t feel very rested when I woke up this morning, but had a lot of work to do. Once I managed to get myself going, it seemed everything I did led to something else having to be done. I needed to move a few bales of hay from under the gooseneck into the front stall, and found that the bracket that holds the door open had lost a screw, so I fixed that. Inside, I noticed the cover over the air conditioner had two screws that weren’t holding and had dropped down, so I found a couple of anchors and fixed that. I did one load of laundry, did some dusting and vacuuming while the generator was on, finally took a break around noon. During the day I put some stuff away, cleaned out the back, discovered my cell phone booster power cord wasn’t working, tried to jury rig that, unsuccessfully. I either need a new cord or a new booster, spent a little time searching for that. Got the back cleared out and ready for Flash. Met the woman who posted the original endurance ride map for this place, which became the foundation of the trail map I made and posted on the Facebook group. She rides a big thoroughbred, 17 hands, handsome. After dinner I put the chairs and grill away, and pretty much everything else that I could. Not that I’ll be in a hurry to get out of here in the morning, considering Schecks is only about 45 minutes away! Hope I get a better night sleep, though. I’m having Sleepytime tea tonight instead of bourbon, maybe that will help! Anyway, a mostly busy day, I’ll be ready for bed soon! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!