Hiya Darlin',
Nice and quiet here last night, no one else in camp, and there used to be an observatory here, so nice and dark, the way I like it! Seems like the length of the day just goes on forever! Wide open here, so it gets really hot in the afternoon, thank goodness for my AC! Decided it was way past time to take Apollo out for a ride, so I saddled him up, put on Lola's orange vest, and away we went! We didn't get very far on the main trail before we ran into a blockage and had to turn around. If I had been on Flash, I would have gone around it, but it was steep up and steep down, and I didn't want to risk it on the old guy, he was dragging his feet as it was! We went back and turned down another trail until it, too, started a pretty steep descent, and knowing that what goes up must come down, I decided not to push it. So we headed back toward camp on a wide easement, then Apollo made the choice to turn up a trail to the left, which, of course, was the most direct way back to camp, sneaky guy! He's always had a great sense of direction. Anywayw, the whole ride was less than an hour and less than two miles, but it was still pretty hot out, and Lola was panting, so I figured it was enough for a start. I'd like to build them both up to be able to go a bit farther, but that might be a bridge too far for these old critters. Got back to camp, let them graze in the big field most of the afternoon while I once again tried to solve my lack of data problem. Crazy that I have full bars of cell service and barely any data service! I reported it to Verizon, which, of course, meant being on the phone for nearly an hour going through all their hoops, but I guess it's been reported to the right tech people now, maybe they'll find a simple switch to fix it or something. So I spent the day mostly reading. Then I discovered water dripping out of one of my light fixtures, a sure sign that I have a leak up there somewhere. I climbed up on the roof and put a couple of towels around the base of the AC to stop the flow, and tried to find where the problem was. I didn't see anything obvious, but I'm thinking it might be the one section of sealant I didn't replace, around the refrigerator. It's on my list of repairs, but I have to get more lap sealant to do it, as well as a couple of days of dry weather. Meanwhile, I'll just keep stemming the tide with towels, since I have a way to spin and dry them! Once the sun was almost down and I had put the horses away, I noticed a screw sticking out of the exterior panel, so I got out my square driver and screwed it back in, and decided it was good maintenance to check them all, which I have to do periodically, so I did that today. Not much else going on today, again, too hot to do much outside! Shower and bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Tuesday, June 24, 2025 – Chores in Camp at Two Mile Run
Hi Sweetie,
Being that it's still a bit too hot to ride, I decided to spend the day getting caught up on some much needed organizing, beginning with the storage compartments under the mangers. I still hadn't found my grounding posts for my electric fence, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. I pulled everything, wiped everything down, threw away a lot of junk and did get everything organized so I can easily reach everything now. I did NOT find the grounding posts, however, that's still a mystery. I managed to just barely keep ahead of the sun as it moved down the trailer, but I mostly stayed in the shade. My plan was to spend the afternoon in the AC watching the next season of Earth Final Conflict, but it turned out that Amazon wasn't streaming the last two seasons, and I'm not about to sit through commercials to watch a show I wasn't that enamored with anyway. I started looking at other options, and for some strange reason, I just couldn't seem to get any video streams! I have probably the best signal I've ever had in a horse camp, a whopping 4-5 bars, and yet I can't seem to stream anything! I tried for way too long before I finally gave up and returned to reading. I had a visitor, a volunteer who lives nearby to check up on me, and she expressed her worry that if it rained as much as the forecast was predicting, I'd have a hard time getting out of the spot I was in and suggested I try to move to a different spot. I called the office and there really wasn't anything better, and frankly, I didn't really want to move anyway, and Luke in the office assured me that if I had a problem getting out, they would have someone come out and give me a hand. And of course, one never knows how much the weather forecast might be off anyway! I spent some time trying to clear out the blockage in my water tank overflow, and finally managed to clear it using my vacuum and a tube, so now that's fixed. Did some more odds and ends, attempted to once again watch TV and still had no success. Last night I tried out my new "AC" fan, and I must say, it did a great job! After turning off the AC, it kept it nice and cool for the night. I don't think it would do that if the bedroom area weren't already cool, though, I don't think it could handle cooling it down, but it served the purpose. Only thing I didn't like, though, is that when you put on the misting selection, which is the one that really cools, it lights up! Not fully, which is another option, but enough to act as a night light, which I really didn't want or need, so I'm going to have to figure out a way to lessen the effects of that. Anyway, I'll use it again tonight, though it's cooling down tomorrow so I may not need it for the rest of the week. Ready for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!
Monday, June 23, 2025 – Travel Day to Two Mile Run near Franklin, PA
Hiya Babe,
Did not have a very good night sleep, too hot, so I when I got up a half hour before my alarm, I started out tired. Got everything packed up and was out of camp before 8:30, and I was already sweating from the heat! Stopped once at a Walmart in Alliance to pick up a couple of things, like another pair of sunglasses to replace the ones I lost, some juice, and a portable "air conditioner" which is a fan with a little spray mister. I've read about these, and I thought it might come in handy. Even with AC, I typically turn it off at night because it's so noisy, but if I open the windows it gets warm again very fast, and if I leave them closed, by about 3:00 it's so stuffy it wakes me up and I have to open the windows anyway. I thought this little AC unit might help with that 4-5 hour period between when I turn the trailer AC off and when it actually cools down enough outside. Figure it can't hurt! After that quick stop, I had to play around a bit with Google maps to make sure I was going to the right place. You can't just put in Two Mile Run County Park, you have to add "Horse Camp" because they're in two completely different places. I managed to get it right, fortunately. The last stretch into camp was a very rough road, though, lots of potholes. Just needs some grading and it would be fine! We arrived in camp after 12:30, but it took me a long time to get set up. I was glad to see the ground was dry enough for me to get situated, but if we have a lot of rain before I leave, it's going to be a challenge, because it's on grass and there a slight uphill grade. Fingers crossed! First thing I did was get out my electric plug and get the AC in the trailer going! I was surprised to see another trailer, and a day rider already here, thought I'd have the place to myself. No worries. I put up my electric fence for a change, since there's enough room and a lot of nice grass, and even though they have highlines, their cables hang a bit low and I'm afraid if I put up my highline above it, they'll be tangles. We'll see if anyone says anything about it. The horses appreciated having some grass to roll around in! I couldn't find my grounding posts for my fence, so I had to use something else. I can't believe that I left them behind, but I've asked Rick to check on that for me. Meanwhile, I pulled out practically everything in my storage compartments, so I figured tomorrow I would do some cleaning and sorting in there, a long overdue job. I was sorry to see that there was no water spigots nearby, so I had to go fill up the truck tank twice, and I did two loads of laundry. I also discovered I have a blockage in my overflow again, so it takes forever to fill up because it keeps backing up because air isn't getting through very well. I spent some time trying to snake it, blow air in it, force water into it, and even tried to suck out the blockage, but it still hasn't cleared. I put some bleach down there, figuring it might just be algae and I can kill it off. Last resort, I can pull the clamp off where it's clogged, clean it out and re-clamp it. Always a way! Very glad I have AC tonight, though, it would be tough to sleep in this heat again! I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Sunday, June 22, 2025 – Final Ride at Fork
Hi Darlin'!
Woke up in the middle of the night with sounds of hooves in camp, evidently somebody had a loose horse for a bit. I ignored it, since I know my are safe, since whoever was left would have been whinnying up a storm if the other one was missing! Didn't sleep too well after that, but eventually nodded off. Still got up earlier than usual since the temps are supposed to be in the mid-90's today, and I wanted to get on the trail before it got too bad. Said my good-byes to my new friends before heading on the trail, including some nice sweaty hugs (only in a horse camp!).
Although Flash didn't fight me saddling up, he was a slug on the trail once we got going. Can't say I blame him, this last week was probably a shock to his system, so many tough miles of hills and slippery mud. Today's ride was the Blue Trail, which was the shortest and only rated moderate, so I thought it would be a good finish, but I think Flash would have been happy if we had finished yesterday! About halfway through I stopped at a picnic table for about twenty minutes to let him rest, which helped, but he was still sluggish until the last two miles or so, when his excellent sense of time and space clued him in that we were heading back to camp, and he picked up a little speed. Glad to get it done, and he'll get a couple of days off after this. Once we got back to camp, I ponyed Apollo around the yard a bit, just so he could stretch his legs, then I put him on the anchor for the rest of the afternoon. A lot of people left, except my non-horse neighbors and the Mennonite Clan that's been camping in the pavilion all weekend. I got most of my stuff packed, though I left a few things for tomorrow. It's not a long drive, so I'm not too worried about it. I ran the AC for about an hour, it was just ridiculously hot in the trailer, but I managed to get it down to the mid-80's at least, and a bit cooler in the bedroom, but the low tonight is only about 73, so it's not going to be very comfortable no matter what. I'm happy with the decision to go someplace with electric tomorrow! Had a shrimp salad for dinner, watched a bunch of Earth episodes trying to knock off the third season, will be taking a cool shower soon before going to bed, hopefully early. This has been a great place to ride, and if it wasn't for the heat I would stay, but early spring or fall will be a great time to come back. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Saturday, June 21, 2025 – And Again! Another Fabulous But Tougher Ride at Salt Fork
Hiya Sweetie!
Woke up to the sound of my non-horse camper's truck next door starting up and leaving around 5:00 this morning. Grrr... Some other folks were up pretty early, too, and someone started a generator well before the 7:00 quiet hours limit. Oh, well! I still laid in bed and read for awhile, but still got up earlier than usual. Did some busy work in the morning, then saddled up Flash to tackle the White trail today. This is the toughest trail out here. Two loops, we did both, which ended up being about 14 miles, lots of ups and downs, without the benefit of that many switchbacks, so a lot were STRAIGHT up and down, and much of it was still wet, so it was doubly tough by being so slippery. Flash came through it all with much aplomb, though, but I could tell he was still feeling it a bit from yesterday's ride. Not many opportunities to go fast, the terrain just wouldn't allow it, but I'm not sure he was ready to go much faster anyway. Still, it was a beautiful ride, once again weaving around the lake, where there was every kind of watercraft you can imagine, except under sail. Very busy, not surprising being such a warm day. Camp was busy, too, though most folks got out earlier than I did, so I was probably about the last back in camp. We were out more than four hours. Gave Flash a bath and put him away, then grabbed my chair and went and sat with Barb and Bill until dinner, which was a potluck they invited me to. Since I didn't have a dish to bring, I provided a little entertainment, doing my rendition of Snowy River, which was well received by this Midwestern and more professional crowd. Made some friends, and may even have finally found a way to get my horse's feet wet in the last of the five Great Lakes, Lake Erie! I've already done the other four, Erie's the only one left. Maybe next year! There are still some places in Ohio I'd like to visit, and I would do it this year if the temps weren't going to be so high from getting such a late start this year. After dinner, we chatted as a group for a bit, then I came back and fed the horses and walked Lola, then chatted with two separate groups for awhile, ending up with Barb and Bill until well after 9:30. Won't be long out of bed tonight! Still have my shower, and can't wait to get into bed. It was tough on my knee today, thank goodness for ibuprofen! Good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, June 20, 2025 – Another Fabulous Ride at Salt Fork!
Hey Babe!
Woke up to an actually chilly morning, had to pull my heavy quilt over me during the night! Warmed up quickly, though, and even though there was a little rain in the forecast, it never materialized. Saddled up Flash and headed out on the Purple trail today, though it was a bit confusing because blue trails signs kept popping up, even though the blue trail was nowhere near us, which concerned me, but my GPS showed me on the right trail, and it all worked out. Flash was once again his brilliant self, climbing and slipping and sliding but always sure-footed. What a good trail horse he's turned out to be! For a horse who used to go in a straight line even when the trail turned, these days, he follows the trail and finds his own footing on a completely loose rein. Good boy! The trails were a bit more challenging, which I expected because it was rated a higher difficulty, but it really wasn't that much different than the moderate trail we did the other day. We didn't make quite as good a time because there weren't as many good areas to canter, but we still did when we could. Just under 12 miles which we did in about 3:15. A beautiful day and a lovely ride! Couldn't have asked for more! Chatted with my neighbors for a bit again, but there were a few more dogs in the mix and one went after Lola, which upset her and made her a bit more aggressive, so I didn't stay long. Had a non-horse camper decide to park next to me, and they sprawled across one of the few level areas, which was big enough to park to horse trailers, but they had a tent and a pavilion and a boat trailer and a truck and they just spread themselves out without any consideration. They asked to take my fire pit, which I wasn't going to use anyway, so I let them. It just bothers me that this horse camp, which is packed in tight, has to give up spaces for campers who can go anywhere else. Grrr! Anyway, I'm trying not to let it bother me. Had a bowl of cereal for dinner (I've lost a few pounds this week and am trying to keep that trend going!) and settled down to a couple of Earth: Final Conflicts. It just had a popup telling me that Season 3 will be leaving Prime in 11 days, and if the same is true with the next two seasons, I'm going to be hard-pressed to watch it all before it's removed. Of course, if it's 95 degrees outside in PA next week, I may just bingewatch and stay in the AC for a couple of days anyway! Had a little ice cream, ready for shower and bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, June 19, 2025 – Rest and Recovery Day
Hiya Darlin',
It rained off and on during the night and most of the day again today. Before getting out of bed I had a cramp in my leg, than as I was getting out of bed, I suffered a terrible back spasm. Not sure what that was about, but I drank a bunch of water figuring it was partially because I was dehydrated. Took some acetaminophen, got my chores done, then sat in my recliner to read and ended up falling asleep. I had another spasm, so I crawled back into bed and read and dozed some more. A very lazy day! A lot more trailers came in today, not surprisingly, and I had a nice chat with a couple across the road from me, Barb and Bill, before settling down for the evening. It finally cleared up this afternoon and turned into a beautiful evening, and it's supposed to get down to 58 degrees tonight, which I'll certainly appreciate, considering the forecast is for the 90's by the end of the weekend. Hoping I'll feel well enough for another good ride tomorrow, sure want to take advantage of nice trails and a nice day! Heading to bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 – Gorgeous First Ride at Salt Fork
Hi Sweetie!
Woke up to a much prettier morning, though we still had a couple of showers before I was able to saddle up Flash and hit the trail. I decided the orange trail, which was about 12.25 miles, would be a good introduction. It's considered "moderate" but it was a bit more slippery that normal, which made it a bit more challenging, but we had such a good time! The forest is thick, the trails are mostly single track with occasional sections of double track, mostly dirt with only some areas of round glacial stones, so I didn't even have to put boots on him, which was a good thing with all the mud around. I took all the bypasses around the gorge and two canyons this time, though I definitely would like to come back and do them when it's a little drier. Once he got warmed up, Flash was raring to go! We did a lot of gaiting and cantering whenever he had the chance, even through the forest at times, and definitely along the lake. What beautiful terrain! This place had it all, fairly steep grades, stretches right down to the lake, couldn't have asked for a more beautiful ride! Got back to camp in exactly three hours, so we were moving along pretty well! I just managed to get him untacked, rinsed off and put away when yet another little rain shower came in, but I managed to get everything away just as it was starting. Then it cleared up beautifully again, though as I write this, there's a strong line of thunderstorms heading our way, due in the next couple of hours, so I've folded up the chairs and brought the awning partway in to protect them. Just have my shower left before going to bed! A fabulous day! Good night, baby! Love you!
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 – Frustrating End to an Otherwise Productive Day
Hiya Babe,
Lots of rain off and on today, but I let the horses rest today. They're under a pretty good copse of trees, so I don't think they got that wet, and they were happy with standing around. I headed down to the nearby city of Cambridge to pick up feed at the Tractor Supply and do a little shopping at Walmart, then headed up to pick up hay from a haymaker at Kimbolton. Beautiful first cutting, actually, nice and green, the horses are going to love it after all this coastal. One thing I love about northern hay, green and cheap! Five dollars a bale! Had to put the tarp on it, though, to avoid any stray raindrops, and was happy when I got back to camp and the sun was shining just long enough for me to get it all put away, both the hay and the groceries. Then I discovered that the bank transfer I started on Sunday was on some kind of ridiculous, potentially ten day hold, and my IRS payment had been bounced, and my upcoming autopay for my airfares for my trip to Yellowstone is in jeopardy. I spent the next four hours "chatting" with the people at Discover to try to remedy the situation, but got nowhere. I've been using the same accounts to transfer money around for YEARS and I've never had more than a one or two day hold, and now, all of a sudden, they're saying they can hold it for ten days! So now I'm royally screwed if I can't money transferred sooner. So frustrating! Anyway, it's a bad end to an otherwise perfectly fine day. I ended up just having a bowl of cereal because I couldn't get away long enough to cook anything, much less watch any TV. I guess there's a diet in there somewhere, skip meals by contacting your bank with a problem and "chat" with them for a few hours. Anyway, the horses were happy to get some of that new hay, though I mixed it with the old as is my habit. to prevent such a major change from causing any digestive problems. Had a couple of glasses of wine, which I guess helped. For the first time, I didn't have any pain pills today, and I still managed to get through the day, even walking around Walmart, so I guess I'm on the mend. Heading to shower and bed, hoping to ride tomorrow, there are a lot of trails out here to explore, not sure I'm going to get them all in! May have to come back again, or stay an extra week if my next event doesn't come through. Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Monday, June 16, 2025 – Travel Day to Salt Fork, OH
Hey Darlin'!
Had a rough start to the day, though the packing and getting ready to leave worked out. The way their dump was situated (on the wrong side) made it easier for me to just back up to it from where I was, a good 80 yards, and when I did the dump, it almost immediately overflowed, so it was all over the place anyway. I rinsed it down the best I could. I had to do another maneuver to be headed out of camp. Lonzo led the way, knowing I was worried about making that 350 degree corner, and I was right to worry. I almost made it, thought I had, but the rise in the corner was too great, and I got stuck on the tarmac. I went too far and couldn't back up either. Lonzo tried to pull me out, but his tires were spinning, too, but then the other guy, the deputy, came up behind and managed to pull me back off it. Of course the steps are mangled again, so I'll need a sledgehammer to straighten that out, if it's even possible. I managed to do it the second time, though I momentarily got stuck on the gravel (which is why I didn't swing wide enough the first time, I was trying to reach the tarmac and not get stuck on the gravel) so I needed another pull off the gravel. Thank goodness those guys were there or I would have been in a world of hurt! Anyway, that was the only drama of the day, the rest of the trip was uneventful, U.S. 23 was a fantastic road up to I-64, then I-77 until I finally reached Salt Fork, which is only a few miles off the highway. GPS brought me straight to the horse camp, even though the signs didn't always indicate that. This place surprises me, though, a lot of people have said wonderful things about it, and yes, it quite manicured, especially for a primitive campground (typical state park), but almost none of the area is level. I was hoping for a shaded site with enough sun for my solar panel, but all the shade was down in a hollow, so I found about the only level spot big enough for me, and even then I didn't push too far back because I didn't want to get too far off the gravel, especially since they're calling for a lot of rain this week. Other than a single day rider, there wasn't anyone in camp at first, so I put Apollo on his anchor and let him and Flash graze on the nice manicured lawn. Thank goodness there's a decent cell signal here, I won't have any trouble communicating or live streaming. I had six voice mails waiting for me, not sure why they didn't go through when I was on wi-fi before, but I got them now! I got set up, having already filled both the RV and the tank in the truck with water from the wash rack, and finally settled down for the evening. Sorry to say another camper showed up, so I had to collect the horses and Lola and put them all in restraints. Was kind of hoping for a couple of days of freedom, but not to be! Dinner and a movie are done, just shower and bed remain! Good night, sweetie! Love you!