Hi Babe!
Well, I was wrong about it being dark here. Despite being out in the middle of nowhere, they have it lit up like a Walmart parking lot, all the way from the entrance to the back of the barn! Thank goodness I have blackout drapes, or it would have been like daylight all night. Really spoiled the beautiful, full, strawberry moon last night, it couldn't begin to compete with all the lights. Oh, well. But it was quiet, and I had a good night sleep. After chores and breakfast, I saddled up Flash to do a little exploring. Apparently there is no official trail map here, and the only one I've been able to find is for the entire river area, and only shows a couple of linear trails, which I think are actually roads, so it's a mystery. Lonzo pointed out the start of the trail near the entrance, and that was about 500 feet straight up a hill, so that got Flash's heart pumping quick! That rail had some horse trail signs on it, and we managed to follow them around a short loop, then we swung west and found the road which took me a long a little river for a ways. I think I knew about where we were, but it was really hard to tell for sure. We only went about five miles today, a short ride, but I figured after his workout on Monday and the long swinging drive in the trailer yesterday had earned him a break. Got back around 1:00, then I got busy with a bunch of little repairs. My left stirrup had lost the backing of it's Chicago screw, and I managed to find a longer screw that fit, which it needed, then I repaired the strap on the gel pad, then I spent the most amount of time sewing up my lamb's wool saddle cover. It needed a lot more repair than I thought. I really should get another one, but they're a lot more expensive these days, though I seem to remember we paid a lot (relatively) back when we bought them 20+ years ago, so I have to say I got my money's worth. Plus I still have the black one on Apollo's saddle, which I'm sure is in much better shape, so I may just switch those out for awhile, and take that one to Yellowstone. Meanwhile, those repairs took all afternoon, so it was 5:00 by the time I finished. I managed to get the TV to pick up the wifi well enough to watch a movie with dinner, so it was back my to my usual routine after that. The farther north I go, the longer the evenings get, it's well after 9:00 and still not dark yet! Anyway, it was a nice day, beautiful weather, and a little ride is always a good thing. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
I've said it before and I'll say it again. A ride with my friend Linda isn't just a ride, it's an adventure! I got up bright and early, even before my alarm, had breakfast, caught and saddled Flash in time to load him up in Linda's trailer just after 8:30, and off we went, plus Holly, fifty one miles to a trailhead (sort of, but actually the side of a road) near Jellico Plains. We got out our clippers and started climbing and clipping, clearing the trail for a club event they're having here in a few weeks. Flash only had one problem, same as before, where he doesn't like going over a log that's too high and too close to a drop-off (I can't blame him, he's much smaller than the two walkers with us) so we had to do a little extra clearing to get him around the top of the tree, but it wasn't very much and didn't take long. The rest of the way was gorgeous with only the usual overgrowth. We essentially climbed up a mountain, then rode along the ridge for awhile, which I later discovered was actually the border between TN and NC when I overlaid it on Google Earth, then back down the mountain. A great 9+ mile loop! There were a few slippery spots, but for a flatlander, I thought Flash did a magnificent job. Of course, he kept trying to get in front, and we finally had an opportunity and he took off, though he didn't go as far or as fast as I thought he might, probably because he's somewhat out of condition with all the sitting around he's been doing during my recovery. But he certainly enjoyed being in the lead for awhile! Holly's horse took a fall on some rocks and nearly went over the edge of an embankment, but she managed to step off and he managed to fall with his front feet under him, so he was able to right himself, thank goodness. Apparently, another time they rode out here, one of their group slipped in almost the same spot and plunged downhill a ways, and it was quite the production to get him back up to the trail. Her horse had a bit of a scrape on it's leg, so we stopped and bandaged it up. Fortunately, I had grabbed my first aid kit this morning, so I had some gauze pads and she had some vet wrap, so we took care of it in short order. No limping, and the bleeding stopped by the time we got back to the trailer. We loaded up and headed toward home, stopping at a Mexican restaurant for some lunch and a daiquiri, which was wonderful. Just as we were going through the nearest town to Linda's, she turned up a steep road and suddenly, her truck stalled. Apparently she let the fuel get too low and on the hill, all the fuel ran to the back of the tank and just quit. We were nearly blocking the road, so while I directed traffic, Holly hitched a ride to a nearby gas station, bought a two gallon tank and was brought back, and we managed to be back on the road in less than half an hour. Of course, halfway through that adventure, it started raining, including lightning, just the kind of thing you want to have happen when you're directing traffic and pouring fuel into a tank! At least it was diesel! I was afraid two gallons wouldn't be enough, and that it would have to be primed, but fortunately, it all worked out and we managed to get it started and to the gas station, all the time the rain getting harder and harder. We finally made it back to the farm just as the rain was starting to let up a bit. We got out the horses, checked on Holly's horse's leg and found it was in pretty good shape, so they treated it and let it go out in the pasture. I waited until the rain stopped before borrowing the four-wheeler to carry my saddle and stuff to the trailer and put it away. I was going to hook up the truck tonight, but I'm on such a hill that my front end would have been too high for the night, so I decided to wait until morning. It's not like I have a lot of stuff to pack up, and no horse containment to put away, so it should be easy to get out, as long as the ground doesn't get so soft that I get stuck in the morning. Another band of rain came through, so that's a distinct possibility! I closed up the barnyard and kept the horses down here so I wouldn't have to try to chase them in the big pasture in the morning, that should speed things up as well. Anyway, it was a wonderful, adventurous day in an absolutely gorgeous forest, the Cherokee National Forest, with exactly the kind of riding I love, though I wouldn't mind doing it without having to clear it for a change! That's okay, I'll take it! I filled up my ice machine and am icing my leg down well tonight, I'm pretty sure it had a good workout going up and down those steep mountains today, though I took enough ibuprofen this morning not to notice, yet. 🙂 Looking forward to a hopefully uneventful drive to Kentucky tomorrow! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey there, Sweetie!
Another good night sleep, had breakfast before feeding the horses so I could hang onto Apollo. Today is finally his day for a ride! It feels like such a long time since that's happened! I put Flash in the big pasture where they were last time, then saddled up Apollo, put on Lola's orange vest and away we went! It wasn't a very long ride, but that was what was necessary for both Apollo and Lola. They did great! It took a little while for us all to work out the stiffness, but once we were warmed up, it was fabulous! It was a bit wet after the rain last night, but it felt good as it was heating up. We did less than three miles, took us a bit over an hour, which was perfect. No one got too worn out, and we all got some exercise. I felt better for getting it done! Then I spent most of the afternoon trying to solidify my travel plans, eliminating some places and opening up to others. At least I now know where I'll be going next week and the week after, the rest it still up in the air until I find out which rides want my help. Just floating along, searching for 70 degrees as usual! Not finding it yet, though, it was pretty hot today until a band of thunderstorms went through. Much better now, so I'm hoping for an even better night sleep, though that hasn't been too much of a problem lately. I like that Lola can wander around here and the horses, until today, have also been hanging around the trailer and the barn when they weren't grazing. I even got Flash to come across the pasture for a mint this evening, though Apollo didn't bother. Anyway, a good day, though I'll be ready for some new trails by next week! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Though I didn't get a very good night sleep last night, I had a wonderful day! I am SO back into my happy place! After chores and breakfast, I saddled Flash and we were off on what was supposed to be just a pleasure ride, with the one job of retrieving the rope that was borrowed to give the photographer something to grab onto as she climbed down to a tree next to the river to get pictures of everyone crossing the river. Not long into the ride, though, I started seeing step-in fence posts with arrows on them, so I made a mental note to pick those up on the way back. Shortly before I reached the river, however, I started seeing ribbon markers, so I started to collect those, thinking they would just be a few that were missed. We reached the rope and I managed to get that put away, then Flash and I crossed the Etowah River, which was moving pretty fast and was a bit deep! If I hadn't know of all the other horses that had crossed it, I might have thought twice about doing it. My feet even got a little wet, even though I pulled them up pretty high. Very exciting, though, and Flash was very proud of himself when we reached the other side! Good boy! We then turned west and almost immediately began running into more ribbons, so I kept picking those up. Managed to get quite a few! We took the blue trail all the way to the second road, but I didn't want to take that south to camp, it was too stony, so we doubled back until we reached the yellow trail, which took us on a direct route back to the river crossing, where we got to do it again! A few more turns and we were back at the sign posts, so I managed to pull those out, though that was not easy! Got back to camp after an absolutely fabulous ride, perfect weather, couldn't have asked for a better day. Definitely back in my happy place! Flash was perfect, and I'm happy to report that even though he was doing his silly antics with Apollo on Sunday morning, the bitey-face and rump rubbing and making Apollo squeal, since I started riding him on Sunday, that has all stopped. Just boredom, I knew it! So happy! Fed the horses, got the truck mostly hooked up and most stuff put away so it will be an easy departure tomorrow morning. Not sure where we're headed after Linda's, I have some planning to do. Footloose and fancy free! Love you, darlin'! Good night!