Hi Sweetheart,
Had a good night sleep, but had set my alarm early to make sure I was ready to go when Sandy got here. We had agreed between 9 and 10:00, though I had emphasized that earlier was better, so I was all set and ready to go by just after 9:00. By 10:00 I had Flash all saddled and ready to go. By 10:25, still no sign of Sandy, and since I don’t have any cell service, I didn’t know if that meant she was late or not coming at all, I set out on my own. You know how much patience I developed with you over the years, how much waiting I had to do with you just with everyday living and I know you won’t begrudge me saying that since you’ve been gone, I’ve let that slip a bit. I’m sorry (not really), but life is too short, and I’m really not interested in wasting any more of it waiting for other people who don’t respect MY time. So Flash and I set off to find what I believed (and later found out I was wrong) the Shore-to-Shore trail. We went out the same way as yesterday, but turned on the first trail (well, really a sandy road) and headed west. It was wide and sandy, and it wasn’t long before we started running into ATV’s, dirt bikes and side-by-sides (who didn’t know about yielding to horses, so I had to educate a few people today). Eventually I saw that this was primarily designated for those machines, but I still thought it was a multi-use trail. Eventually, I got bored with it, though, and finally found a side trail that I realized was actually considered a forest road. Double track, but mostly grass and not very much used, actually quite nice. By now, because of the late start, my plan for a 15-mile ride was out the window, and frankly, this forest is rather boring, I headed back to camp, and because Flash was pretty randy today, we did a couple miles of galloping, cantering and fast-gaiting, arriving at about 12:30 and at 9.66 miles. Sandy was there riding her horse around the campground, she said she arrived around 10:30, so she obviously just missed me. Probably good that she had a chance to ride on her own, though, her mare is still pretty inconsistent with her gait and we haven’t really found a happy medium that’s comfortable for us both yet. I still wanted to make the 1:00 demonstration at the Lumbermen’s Memorial (my agenda today was to ride in the morning and spend the afternoon there), so I grabbed a sandwich and headed out. I didn’t want to rush Sandy, but she managed to be ready by the time I left, and we arrived just as the demonstration was starting. It lasted about 40 minutes, with ax-throwing, log carving, and log rolling, among other things, after which Sandy left and Lola and I proceeded to walk the grounds. There’s a Discovery Trail through the forest that was nice, and another trail along the cliff overlooking the AuSable River that was lovely. Several outbuildings were very educational, and there’s a beautiful bronze statue of a typical logging crew. That took us up to the 3:00 demonstration, so Lola and I went to see it again just for fun. There was a smaller crowd so they cut it down to just 30 minutes. Then I spent a few minutes on my computer since I had a signal there and then headed back to camp, changed my pants, then headed down to Sandy and Bill’s for a nice rib dinner with them and another couple of friends. It was a great meal and we had lively conversation, then I left a bit after 8:00, knowing I had horses to feed before it got dark. Accomplished that, but it took till almost 9:30, very little time to “settle down” for the evening, just enough time to write in my diary, take a shower and go to bed! Whew! What a day! And another busy one scheduled for tomorrow! Good night, darlin’! Love you!
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