Hi Darlin'!
Well, when I went to bed last night, I put housekeeping on my agenda for tomorrow, and boy, did I get the bug in spades today! It was one of those days when one things leads to another and another, until I was using an old toothbrush to scrub the tiny corners in the shower. I hand dusted everything, washed every bit of bedding right down to the mattress cover, took out the rugs, mopped the floor, and on and on and on. I was at it for over five hours, plus I'm still doing laundry well into the evening just to try to get everything done. Naturally, it looks and smells a lot better (not that it was that bad), which I figure is a good way to bring in the New Year! Only took a couple of short game breaks, then I went right back at it. It was busy here today, lots of day riders, plus a bunch of cars for some other non-horse group, not sure if they were hiking or biking, but a lot of traffic. It only got up to about 60 degrees, but it was pretty sunny, so not bad. Anyway, I'm pretty tired, looking forward to a nice hot, clean shower and a good night sleep! Good night, baby! Love you!
Saturday, January 6, 2024 – Quiet Day In Camp
Hiya Babe,
Slept great except for getting woken up during the night with heavy rain, then laid in bed reading for awhile until it fully stopped before finally crawling out of bed after 9:30. First did some computer work on the trail system here, but got stymied by a few basic questions I need to ask of the management, then spent a long time on the phone with my friend Heide from Michigan, she was struggling with trying to update her Big Oaks map. She's not too terribly technically savvy, so it took awhile to walk her through the process, but in the end she got what she needed. It turned into a beautiful day, but it was pretty wet out, with a big puddle in the driveway, so I stayed in and stayed dry. Did a little online shopping for some essentials that I needed. Settled down for the evening to dinner and a movie, won't be long out of bed, trying to get myself to bed earlier so I can get up earlier these days. So far, it's not working out, but hope still prevails! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Friday, January 5, 2024 – Tidewater Purple Trail Ride
Hey Sweetie!
Spent the morning do my usual chores, a little computer work, and finally getting Flash into the little trailer for a ride down at Tidewater. Today we were going to do the purple and blue trails, not hugely long, but I took along about a dozen purple stickers for the trail markers and ended up using them all long before I even hit two miles! There are an awful lot of markers out here that need refreshing! Once we got down to the south end of the forest, we ran into a prescribed burn they were doing, and I ended up having to take a shortcut off the purple trail to avoid the worst of it. Unfortunately, a long section of that trail had been torn up by a bulldozer, so what I imagine were lovely trails last week are a mess this week! Hopefully we'll have some rain to tamp it down, but I'm also going to see if they can run over it with a tractor to flatten it out before the next ride in three weeks. I remember they did that for us a year or two ago when one of the trails had been tilled up as a firebreak, maybe they can do that again. Otherwise, it was mostly a lovely trail, typical Florida, not too exciting, but a beautiful day! Jo had mentioned there's a stretch that goes right along the road and wondered if there was a way to reroute it to avoid that, and at a quick glance, I can't see any reason why not, but I'll have to go back and do a bit more exploring to make sure. We got back to the trailhead and got him loaded up, though he was a bear getting out earlier. For some reason he's decided he can't back out of the small trailer, something he's never had a problem with before, and keeps insisting on turning around. We worked on it for a bit, and managed to make a little progress, and when we got back home, he did manage to back out, though I could only make him do it when one back door was closed. But at least he managed! After I got him settled, I went ahead and emptied my black water into the portable tank and rolled it down to the restroom with the newly established access to the sewer line, very glad I can do that now! So much easier! Finally settled down for the evening, watched a Nicholas Cage movie, now I'm ready to finish the evening with Spanish, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, January 4, 2024 – Post Pickup Day
Hiya Darlin',
Glad to have another good night sleep, up with the alarm, fed the animals and did my morning chores, and just after breakfast, met up with Ranger Rick and a few of the Forest crew as they switched out vehicles so that we could have a truck with a dump bed for today's chore. We had just a single volunteer show up, which, considering the short notice, I was very grateful for. Turned out to be perfect with the three of us, pulling posts and loading them up into the dump bed, switching off drivers as we moved north along the road. We managed to pick up more than 75 posts, most of which were still in the ground, a good start towards our goal. It only took us a bit over an hour to get them all collected and dumped into the trailhead. Our volunteer Dwight headed out at about 11:00, then Rick and I went down to the HQ to look for some signs and other sundry items, then stopped for lunch at Willards, then headed up to Watermelon Pond and Bailey's Mine, two more remote areas of the forest that I had never seen. Some interesting possibilities at both places, with their only drawback of not have much in the way of horse trails, but with some great possibilities not yet realized. Got back to camp, where Rick had managed to find the port for the sewer tank, so I strung some hose so that now my gray water will go directly into the sewer field, thank goodness. Even better, we got down my portable sewer tank from my "attic", so now I can empty my blackwater tank, and I don't have to freeze my butt off going into the public restroom anymore, since I now have a way to contain my sewer output! Yeah! Small things that make my life so much easier! Progress was made on many fronts today, so I'm a happy camper today! Had a good dinner, watched a great movie "Bank of Dave", now I'm ready for shower and bed! Great day! Good night, babe! Love you!
Wednesday, January 3, 2024 – First Ride at Tidewater
Hey Babe,
Sleeping very well again these days, woke up around 7:30 but stayed in bed to read while it warmed up outside. Another chilly morning in the upper 30' this morning. Got the horses fed, did some work on planning my ride today, and was just getting ready to go when Ranger Rick came by and we chatted for awhile, talking about a slightly difference approach to the map-making that we had discussed, and also about making this campground a bit more horse trailer friendly. The sites have room, but they've built big tent pads and locked down picnic tables in areas that are so small a trailer can't get in comfortable. He seemed open to the idea, and doesn't think it will take much to accomplish, so I'm hopeful about that. Eventually I got the little trailer hooked up, filled a tire that evidently has a slow leak in it, saddled and loaded up Flash, and headed down to Tidewater to start looking after those trails. There were a couple of other day riders parked there, but I didn't see anyone. Today we took the yellow trail, the long loop that's just under 15 miles. I'm not as enamored with this side of the forest, a lot of it was more like a tree farm, there were only a couple of short sections that seemed to have live oak or cypress, there rest is just straight pine. We saw a couple of pigs (thank goodness Flash isn't bothered by them!) and made good time going around the loop. Typical Florida riding, though, nothing too exciting, but mostly flat and straightforward, with a few stretches of water. I found several stray yellow ribbons from the ride that I picked up, and let Kelsey know I had them. When I left camp this afternoon, the forecast said rain at 6:00, but naturally, just as I was arriving back at the Tidewater trailhead just after 4:00, it started to rain! Quick packed Flash in and drove back to Black Prong, got him settled, fed both horses, then settled down for the evening. It's supposed to rain most of the night off and on, but be gone by morning. Not quite as cold, mid-40's, I put on Flash's blanket by Apollo made it clear he wasn't interested in his, so I let him have his way. Fireplace is on and I'm just about warm enough to take my shower and go to bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Tuesday, January 2, 2024 – Dentist Appt and Computer Work
Hiya Sweetheart,
Another good night sleep, some computer work, then off to the dentist to have a cavity filled, something they didn't have time for last time I was there. For once, it was the only stop we had in town! Got back and spent/wasted two hours with Quicken Support trying to figure out why one of my accounts simply refuses to download, but they had no solution and ended up saying it was the credit card company's fault, only to discover hours later that I actually had TWO accounts that weren't updating, so now I'm more convinced than ever that it's a problem with Quicken, so that's going to be yet another exercise, though probably not tomorrow. That chat lasted until dusk, so I was feeding the horses as it was getting dark, so dinner was late as well. Sigh... Finally sort of settled down for the evening, though I don't feel at all relaxed after dealing with all that stuff. Anyway, day is done, time for Spanish, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Monday, January 1, 2024 – Quiet Day In Camp
Hi Darlin',
Finally had a really good night sleep, and felt better this morning, but still not as energetic as I would like, so I decided to just take it easy today. Puttered a little bit, putting a few things away, making satin balls for Lola and a few odds and ends like that. I spent some time putting together my time sheet for the volunteer work I've been doing, did some reading and computer games, swept the public restrooms, finally settled down to a lovely dinner of grilled lamb chops, asparagus and some leftover stuffing. First time I've used the grill since I've been here, even though I set it up as soon as I got here! Can't believe another year has gone by so quickly. I don't have much planned for this year, other than the Red Rock Ride in June (finishing on our 35th anniversary!), so I'm wide open to whatever comes my way. Meanwhile, I'll keep living the trailrider's dream, with you in my heart always! Love you, babe! Good night!
Sunday, December 31, 2023 – Visiting Friends
Hey Babe,
Woke up tired this morning, I guess all the activity, or more likely being out in the cold for so long, has worn me down a bit. I felt like going back to bed after feeding the horses, but instead I forced myself to get a few things done. Started a couple of loads of laundry and did some computer work until it was time to take my shower (which I had skipped the last two nights, so I was ready!), before getting dressed and heading out. First to Jo's to finally drop off the ribbons from her ride, and so Lola could run around with her pups for a bit, then to George and Margarita's around the corner, they had invited me over for a mid-afternoon dinner, and we had a great time catching up. We never lack for conversation between us! Got back to camp right at dusk, got the horses fed and settled down for the evening. Been having a little trouble with my internet for streaming, so it was start/stop for awhile. I gave up on the movie I was watching because of it, but I'm too tired to worry about it tonight. Just have to make the bed, then I'll be in sleepy land, hopefully! Heading that way soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Saturday, December 30, 2023 – Day Two of the Goethe Gallivant
Hiya Sweetie,
Had another day at the Goethe Gallivant, not too busy but had a lot of catching up to do from the morning activities before I got there. I finally started to get a handle on the process by about midday, something that would have been much quicker with a little training, but everyone pitched in to help get to the end goal. Made some good contacts for upcoming events, though, and to which might lead to bigger and brighter things in the future. I was very glad that I brought a couple of space heaters, it was very cold again today and having those at my feet made all the difference between being comfortable and being miserable! I added several layers, including long johns, and it was better, but it was still a cool day until the sun came out, but it's so wooded there, it only lasted for a short time. Anyway, it was a fulfilling day, the horses and Lola were glad to see my return, which was 8:00, a bit later than I had expected, but got everyone settled in, then did the same for myself. Eggnog with bourbon (with ice cream) was the order of the evening! Heading to bed very soon. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Friday, December 29, 2023 – Day One of the Goethe Gallivant
Hey Darlin',
Woke up to a chilly morning, in the upper 40's, but it's going to be another ten degrees colder tomorrow morning, supposedly, so I can't complain! Wrapped up in a turtleneck, several layers and my Alaskan parka, I got the horses fed, did my morning chores, then drove down to Tidewater to help out. First thing I did was help Jo crew her horse, the plastic shoes she puts on had a few loose fasteners (they glue on little fingers that grip the outside of the hoof), then she was off. Didn't have too much to do until the afternoon when folks started registering for tomorrow. Handled a bunch of little problems, like having to drag out Cheryl's printer to copy more Waivers because we out, and I had to make up a lot of the ride cards because they hadn't been prepared in advance. Folks came to collect their prizes in the afternoon, so there wasn't much of an awards ceremony (none, actually), and the ride meeting was short and sweet, though probably not real helpful for all but the most experienced riders. Oh, well. Not the way I would do things, but it's not my system. That said, I don't have plans to go in to register at 6:30 in the morning tomorrow, either, they'll just have to handle it without me, like they did this morning. Most folks got checked in, but there were still a few missing when I left tonight. Anyway, not quite so busy today, and there was a cold wind that had me keeping all my layers on, including my moose ear muffs and my Alaska parka, and even then I felt cold with the wind chill. Tomorrow I'm wearing long johns, huge gloves, and a wool cap! Brrrr! Anyway, got home around 7:00, fed and blanketed the horses, watched a one hour, skipped my shower, and am heading to bed shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!