Hi Darlin’,
Another excellent night sleep, though I had to close all the windows and run the furnace for a few minutes to warm it up before going to bed, and even though I had the thermostat turned down really low, it came on this morning for a bit, so I knew it got cold out last night! Somewhere in the upper 40’s! Was glad I put the winter blankets on the horses last night! Did a little computer work this morning, then saddled up Flash for our first ride. Meanwhile, I acquired a neighbor, a man named Art, we chatted a few minutes before I set off. I had mapped out a ride on my GPS, and managed to follow it for the most part, though there were a couple of intersections with renegade trails that weren’t marked, and I guessed wrong on one, but quickly turned back when I realized I was clearly going off the reservation! The trails are surprisingly steep for Indiana, considering the rest of the state is so flat, but we had some real climbs which were complicated by all the rain. Lots of mud, not stones or gravel, thank goodness, but from the looks of the piles of gravel being brought in, it kind of looks like someone’s planning on laying a LOT of gravel on the trail. The blue trail closest to the campground has been completely bulldozed, and as you know, trail by bulldozer is NOT my favorite. It just made the muddy area wider and worse, in my opinion. Once I got on to the more distant trails, though, it improved because it hadn’t been bulldozed. The green loop was pretty nice, though steep in some places, and my favorite trail is actually one that is marked closed because they’re expecting to start logging soon, but haven’t yet, which is why I took it now. That was really a lovely trail, more gentle slopes and very pretty. At one point, I ran into Art, who evidently thought I might get myself lost so he came out to find me, but of course, I wasn’t lost. He came back part of the way with me, but Flash just kept outrunning his quarterhorse, and eventually, after a long climb, he said he needed to rest his horse, so I went on without him. I had no trouble finding my way back camp, and took a long route whereas he took a shortcut, but I still got back to camp just before him. Flash was wonderful, though I could tell he didn’t really like all the slipping and sliding, but he still stayed pretty calm most of the time. He didn’t like slowing down to wait for Art, though, which is why I eventually just had to keep going. It was a cool day, but I wore lots of layers so it was fine. It’s supposed to be warming up in the next few days. Art says that he has a group of friends coming in, and they’re planning an all day ride starting down at Deam Lake and riding all the way back up here. It’s less than ten miles as the crow flies, but I imagine it’s close to twice that on the trails. I might join them, not sure yet. Anyway, settled down for the evening, another trailer came in who are part of the group, but I stayed home tonight, figure I’ll socialize tomorrow when more of the group comes in. Meanwhile, it’s time for a shower, I need to wash my hair and to get it somewhat dry before I go to bed, considering it’s supposed to be even colder tonight. I’ve been wearing my wool hat to bed, though, so it’s fine! Good night, babe! Love you!
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