Hey Darlin',
Managed to get a few hours of sleep, got up and showered, which marginally brought me back to life, and made it to our meeting at the school with the principal, Melissa and her head custodian. After an extensive sign in security process, we ended up taking a fabulous tour of the school, for nearly 90 minutes. What a blast from the past! Some areas of the school were exactly the same, others wildly different. Steve was telling a bunch of stories of all the pranks they pulled in school, from fireworks and water balloons off the balcony to climbing through ceiling tiles to get up to the catwalks in the theatre to holding a class in the inaccessible courtyard by everyone climbing out the window, all of which made Melissa somewhat aghast! No more food fights, no more straws wrappers stuck to the ceiling with mashed potatoes, some would say, no more fun! It was a wonderful tour, and we left with permission to essentially have access to almost every corner of the building. Afterward, Steve and I went to a little diner in a strip mall called Steve's Original Diner and had a nice breakfast, then back to Tom's, where we both managed to get a couple of hours worth of napping. Then we headed out at 6:00 to the Canal Lamp Inn for our first official event, and they had a party tent out back and a nice spread of munchies and a wine and beer open bar, and we had a fabulous time chatting and getting reacquainted with lot of old classmates and their spouses. It was a beautiful evening, with perfect weather. I didn't even need a jacket, which I thought I would. I wore my flag and fringe western shirt and jeans, so I certainly looked the part of a bicentennial cowgirl, as intended! We hung around until 10:00 (an hour after it was supposed to end), and decided not to go to Thirsty's, which had been the original plan, but headed home, had a shower and was in bed just after midnight. Despite pulling practically an all-nighter and only getting a short nap, I think I did surprisingly well today, though I thought my wrinkles were a lot more pronounced than usual, but that couldn't be helped. So far, so good! The only bad news was when I called Cummins in Indy and learned the repairs on my generator will be over $10,000. Grrr! But I can't live without my generator! Now I just have to figure out when and where I'll have time to get it done. But that's a job for another day! Right now I need my sleep! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a rough night, woke up at 4:30, tossed for a couple of hours until I finally fell asleep, waking up at 9:00! Spent the day doing laundry and packing for the weekend, getting Lola's stuff ready for her to stay in Joyce's kennel. I know she'll get a lot of attention here, so I'm hoping she doesn't get too destructive from her separation anxiety. Warm and muggy until a storm front came through, hoping the night will be cooler! Heading to bed early, since it will be an early morning tomorrow. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had a decent night sleep, then after chores (which are much reduced by not having to do manure cleanup!), headed out to Murphy's to get fuel (back up to $5.49/gal), then a haircut at Supercuts, then lunch at the Spice Club (fantastic Indian food!), then Walmart, then Tractor Supply, then back to Joyce's. Whew! Turns out it's Joyce's birthday today, so some of her boarders through her a party, so despite being stuffed from lunch, I forced myself (yeah, right!) to have a cupcake and a cookie, homemade by one of the girls in her crew. Can't remember the last time I had a cupcake that was so light and fluffy! Great frosting delivery device for sure! Did some of the laundry I'm taking on my trip this weekend, including my walking shoes, though they didn't look like they got any cleaner, but they don't recommend putting them in the washer, so I guess it's the best I can do. Settled down for the evening, started a new series call Leverage, an interesting premise, and I ended the evening with an episode about race horses, so it has my attention. Got a busy day tomorrow, so heading to bed early! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Glad to report I had an excellent night sleep last night, so I woke up to my alarm feeling rarin' to go! Finished packing everything up and was leaving my site before 9:00, a quick stop at the dump, so I was on my way out of the park by 9:15. Had an uneventful drive to my friend Joyce's (been seeing a lot of her lately!), and arrived before 2:00. Was surprised I didn't need to get fuel along the way, must have had a tailwind. Saw some ridiculous prices, some truck stops were at $6.09/gallon for diesel! Hoping that will come down in the next few days, it seems that it's fluctuating from minute to minute these days. Got the horses out the pasture right away, and got set up pretty quickly as well. Received on of my packages already, though it wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow, and have another one coming tomorrow. Scheduled a haircut for tomorrow, plan on having a nice lunch to celebrate my belated birthday (you know us, never did have much interest in holidays!), have some other errands to run, but today, I just relaxed for the rest of the day. Finished off the short-lived Canadian series, Sight Unseen, not terribly intriguing so I understand why in only lasted one season. Ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had another night of tossing and turning, so woke up pretty tired this morning. Did my usual chores plus packed a couple of items before joining Cathy for our last ride here together. Flash's ankle is still causing him grief, so I elected to take Apollo on our planned six mile ride. That makes about 27 miles I've asked him to do in the last ten days! Remarkable! He was a bit slow starting off again, but was better after he warmed up. He doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear, though, I'm happy to say! We took the north loop of the park, which is particularly pretty, so I'm glad we finished off with that one. They'll both undoubtedly be happy to have the next week off! Spent the remainder of the day slowly packing up, watched (and mostly slept through) some TV, and I'm definitely getting to be early tonight, just as soon as I finish my Sleepytime tea and a shower! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Still not the best night, but a little better. Got my morning chores done, asked Cathy to help me rinse down Flash's ankle again, not feeling very confident about it, so I decided to take Apollo today, since my wheel-falling-off savior Holli was coming over to ride today. She had never been to Ft. Custer and I was the perfect excuse for her to come, and she was riding her mule Floyd, and they were both very patient with Apollo's slow pace. I was amazed, though, that he didn't seem to have any trouble with going nearly ten miles! Granted it was slow, but it was steady, so I think the gradual increase in his mileage during the last two weeks was helpful, and he absolutely has firmed up his hindquarters, which had been getting noticeably atrophied the last couple of months. Very happy with his performance today! And he didn't seem to have any ill effects once we got back to camp, either, so job well done! Amazing! It was a wonderful ride, Holli was great company, and I was very appreciative of her laissez-fair attitude toward our slow pace. Just before we got back to camp, we had a slight misty rain, and as she was loading up Floyd, we heard some thunder, so she left almost immediately. Later she said she rain into some heavy rain, but it missed us as camp, even though we needed it so badly. We only had that slight misty rain for a few minutes before it dissipated. Settled down for the afternoon for a Hallmark movie and an episode of a new series, then went over to Cathy's and played a variety of games during the evening before coming back to the camper to finish off the day. A fabulous day, great weather, great company, truly another great day on the road! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
Still had a hard time going to sleep last night, still don't know why! Anyway, I was up with my alarm and was just saddling up when Cathy came over 15 minutes early (darn it, I was hoping to ready and waiting for her for a change!), and we were off! Flash didn't seem very bothered by his ankle once we got going, just a little stiff when we started off, which didn't surprise me. We had a fabulous ride, from one end of the park to the other, got in some lovely gaits (Whisky even got a little amped up, gaiting for longer stretches than he's apparently ever done before!), and even had a couple of nice canters in! The horses are well matched, though I think Cathy may not be used to such a fast pace! It was a gorgeous day again, and we had a fabulous time. After we got back, I headed out to pick up some hay, five bales for me and five for Cathy, an nice alfalfa/grass mix, though they weren't as green as I had hoped, but they smelled good, and the horses tucked into it as soon as I put it out for them, so they obviously don't mind that it's a little bleached out. She had to take Whisky into a vet, so she partially packed up and headed out at the same time. He's apparently mostly blind in one eye, and it's been getting worse, so it looks like they're going to have to remove it. They're going to treat it for ten days first though. Poor guy! But Cathy doesn't seem too bothered, better to remove it than have it keep getting infected. I got back long before she did, so I watched the last few episodes of House (8 seasons done!), with the final episode a Swan Song behind the scenes show, and I was, quite frankly, shocked to discover the actor who played House was English! I have a pretty good ear for English accents, considering I was married to one for over 30 years, and this guy never slipped in all that time. I never would have guessed. Amazing acting skill right there! Anyway, once Cathy got back and we both cleaned up and fed our respective horses (she's been kind enough to haul my manure in her sled behind her side-by-side to the manure pit all the way over on the other side of the parking lot. Yeah, it's a Michigan thing!), and then we played an hour of Uno just for fun before calling it a night. Trying my Sleepytime tea tonight, hoping that will make the difference! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetheart!
Got off to a slow start this morning, but finally got my act together when Cathy came around at 11:00. I still hadn't decided which horse to ride, but decided on Apollo when Flash still seemed to be a bit tender on his ankle. Headed for a nice loop that would give us an opportunity to come back to came early, and Cathy to keep going, just in case it was too much for him. Once he got going, though, he did a great job! The trails here are quite nice, the weather was perfect, the footing had the occasional bit of rock but not too much, so it was very enjoyable. We actually missed a turn and ended up going for over six miles, the longest Apollo has done in a long time, almost double what we did on our last ride! He seemed to loosen up quite nicely, didn't stumble nearly as much, and seemed to really enjoy himself. This is the third time in a week he's been ridden, and I think it's doing him a lot of good. His hindquarters were getting a little hollow, but now they're firming up again. You'd never know this old guy is 30 now! Way to go Apollo! A very pleasant ride. Cathy's horse Whiskey didn't seem to mind the slow pace, and that last stretch home was the fastest. There were a lot more trees down on the trail than I would have expected in a state park, but nothing we couldn't get around with a little effort. Got back to camp to find Flash had hardly touched his hay, and that's the same bag as I put up last night, so I was a bit worried about him. Later, though, Cathy helped me rinse down his ankle, and he made a good pile of manure, which I was very glad about because it didn't look like he'd been doing much of that, and then he finally started munching down on his hay, so I guess he's on the mend. Apollo had no ill effects from his ride, so it turned out to be a good day all around! Later I visited with Cathy for awhile, then I helped her fill up her water tank in the back of her golf cart, and she helped me drag my manure in her sled to the manure pile, which is WAY over on the other side of the parking area. We waited until nearly 8:00 to do that, so that everyone had left, but the DNR guys showed up just as we were finishing. Technically, she's not supposed to have a golf cart here, but seriously? It's not like she's running around the park, she's just going from her stall to the manure pile, and now to the water pump. They told her she could get a permit for it for her stay, something the folks in the front office apparently neglected to tell her when she checked in. They also said Lola needed to be on a leash, even though there was no one else around (state law), and we were only walking from the manure pit back to Cathy's site. Anyway, finally got back home and settled down for the night, with plans to ride in the morning and pick up hay in the afternoon. Another lovely day on the road! Good night, my love!

Hiya Darlin',
Woke up to my alarm and got busy with breakfast, morning chores and final packing. I was expecting the folks that loaned me a generator (thanks so much for that!) around 9:00, but they were delayed, so it was after 10:00 before they arrived and loaded up. I was out of camp around 10:15, had a thankfully uneventful drive to Fort Custer, about 2+ miles south. Stopped at their dump to unload black water and take on fresh water, got to the horse camp and got set up on a couple of high line posts, started a couple of loads of laundry, and settled down for the evening. Happy to have electric here, yay! Visited with my new friend Cathy Weeks, another full-timer, who decided to come at the same time as me, hopefully we'll get a chance to ride together. Flash was much better today, the travel didn't seem to bother him at all, so fingers crosses, he'll be well enough to ride this week. I discovered that the well pump wasn't really a hand pump as I had been told, but a frost free spigot with no spigot, similar to Sugar Hill in NY, so I was able to apply my spigot and long host to it, and refill easily as a result. Happy about that discovery! I was going to put out my water barrel for the expected rain tonight, but now that I know I can easily reach and use the water pump here, that's not necessary. Settled down for the evening, rain is just starting to come in, so it's time for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Last night, as I was getting ready for my shower and bed, I heard a small moaning sound, and when I followed it, I found Flash on the ground with his lead rope around one of his rear fetlocks. Apparently I had tied it too loosely and I'm guessing he tried to scratch his ear like a dog (which he is prone to do), it got caught. I hadn't heard him whinnying or in distress, so I was surprised to see him like that. I managed to get his foot out of the rope and release the rope from his halter, and he just lay there while I tightened the highline, which had dropped down from all the weight. Once that was done, I put the lead rope back on him, untangled his legs from the post, and got him standing, though he was lifting that foot clear off the ground. I settled him down, treated the abrasion with the usual sprays and wound gels, and checked for anything else, but fortunately, it seems like the rope burn is the only injury. Phew! I gave him some bute tabs and stayed with him until he stopped quivering and finally went to his hay bag, settling down for the night. Guess I won't be doing much riding at my next stop! At least, not on Flash. By morning, though, he was doing much better, able to put his full weight on that leg, so I treated him again with topicals and bute, and he continued to improve throughout the day. I, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep until about 2:30 a.m., and was up with my alarm at 7:30. In the morning, I had a visit from my friend Alayna for about an hour, then headed into town to get a few things from Tractor Supply, including filling up my propane tanks, and to do a good shopping at Walmart, since it's a lot closer to camp here than at my next stop. I ran my generator again this morning, it went for over 45 minutes, until I actually stopped it, so the batteries got a good charge. I picked up some fuel for the truck (at the ridiculous price of $5.33/gal!), though it stopped at $100 and I left it at that, and a small tank of regular gas to fill up the borrowed generator, which I also ran later in the day for a short while just to top off my batteries for the evening. Put most of my stuff away in anticipation of our departure tomorrow, and finally settled down for the evening, more than ready to get to bed, hopefully to recapture some of those hours I didn't get last night! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!