Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010 - Travel Day to Austin

Set the alarm for 7:30, on the road by 9:30. Two quick stops, one at Tractor Supply and the other at Wal-mart, arrived at our new, temporary home at Onion Creek Ranch just south of Austin, very near the airport we’ll be flying out of Tuesday. A very compact ranch, every inch utilized for something "horsey", run by Lin Sutherland, a horsewoman and, coincidentally, a writer. We got the horses and the RV settled in, then went out for a nice Thai dinner. Early to bed!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Saturday, February 27, 2010- Great long ride in Davy Crockett NF

Set out to follow the Orange Trail today, expecting to ride out for two hours then ride back. After about the first hour, though, we came across a section where it was like a swamp for more than a quarter mile, knee deep with no way around. Hubby tried to get around one section and ended up up to his knees in mud as his mare sank into the mire. He managed to get her back on the trail, and we almost turned around at that point, but finally we broke through to higher ground, and had quite a few miles that were dry or almost dry. We decided we didn’t want to go back that way, so we were committed to doing the entire Orange Trail, a loop that was more than 18 miles long. At least it was mostly flat, which made it a lot easier than Kisatchie’s 20 miles last Saturday, so the horses (and we) didn’t get nearly as tired. I’m certain that with a few weeks of dry weather, this would be a truly magnificent trail ride. Arrived back about 5:30, washed off the mud, gave the horses a good portion of oats and hay, then finally crashed for the evening. A fantastic day!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010 - Work Day

Spent the day working on updating our business home page, and a little bit of bookkeeping, while resting up for another big ride tomorrow. We took some time to look at the map here as well, and have decided the trail lengths are only for the part of the colored trail that’s marked on it’s own, and not the parts that overlap, which means that to take the blue trail (11.65 miles) from the Piney Creek horse camp, you need to add another mile, and to take the green trail (5.56 miles), you need to add another 10 miles just to get to it. There is another horse camp/trailhead by the green trail, but it doesn’t have water for the RV. Haven’t decided which one to do yet, depends on what time we get out tomorrow, and what the weather’s like. Have to wait and see!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010 - Ride Day at Davy Crockett NF, TX

After Hubby ran into town to fill up the generator gas cans and a quick lunch, we saddled up and headed out. We found the trailhead, and began on the orange trail (see pic). This forest is a much wilder, more natural forest than the more managed ones we’d been to earlier (though Kisatchie last week was pretty natural in some spots, too), and the trails were mostly dirt, pine needles and leaves. There was a lot of water on the trails from all the rain and snow they’ve had here recently, but overall the footing was pretty good. The mud was more of a nuisance than an obstacle, whereas at Kisatchie the mud was treacherous in some places. Very easy trails, almost completely flat, but pretty well-marked. My only question on the trail map was whether the distances were just that trail, or did it include the trail that led to the trail as well? In reality, some trails were marked two colors (like blue and orange, and later, blue and white), but on the map there was no overlap. Guess we’ll find out more on Saturday when we ride again. The only down side besides all the water was that this forest is more of a patchwork than one solid piece of real estate. The trails all manage to stay on Forest land, but cross several roads and border many pieces of private property. Traffic is a bit more active on those roads than one would expect, so the "escape to the wilderness" effect just isn’t quite there. The camground is quiet enough, though the local sheriff drove around it last night, and we had a nice chat. A bit pricier than some of the other camps we’ve been in ($10 for the 1st vehicle, $3 for the second per day), but that seems to be the case in all of the Texas Forests, and the State Parks are even more expensive. We’ll just have to make up for it by staying longer in the $3 parks! Good cell phone signal here, though!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - Drive to Davy Crockett NF, TX

Woke up to the alarm at 7:00 am, was packed up and on the road by just after 9:30. The drive was a straight shot across country, due west, on some of the worst roads we’ve ever seen until we hit the Texas border. A patchwork of asphalt patches and potholes kept us bouncing around for the first half of the trip. Went to an RV place in Lufkin to 1) buy propane, which they didn’t have, 2) look for a new door handle for our patio sliding door, which they didn’t have, and 3) dump, which, by now we were so discouraged we forgot to ask. The man there did give us directions to the nearest propane place a few miles up the road, and we filled up for just $18/tank, the cheapest we’ve found since we left home. Then we found a gas station (though we forgot to fill the spare tanks for the generator :-( , and a Subway for lunch. We dumped at the regular campground at the forest, then traveled out to the horse camp, only to discover a sign on the kiosk saying "No water, sorry for the inconvience (sic)." I’d been on the phone with these folks trying to get answers to several questions for several days, and had yet to get those answers, except for the one about "Is there water?", to which they had definitively answered "Yes." I immediately called the District Office, and to which they responded, yes, they have water, it’s just been turned off because of the cold weather (two snowstorms in three weeks, apparently unprecedented for the area.) They thought a burst line had been fixed, and would send someone out to turn the water on. Sure enough, within 30 minutes, two women arrived to do just that, and we were in business. Meanwhile, we got the horses highlined, waited until we were sure we had water before we opened up the RV, and were all settled in by 5:00 or so. Of course, the pic is our new back yard!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - Rest and Paperwork Day

Spent the day doing paperwork and resting up a bit, we have such a busy few weeks ahead we thought we’d try to store up on some rest. Read a Clive Cussler adventure for most of the afternoon before starting our evening early, watching a movie and some Olympics. Started raining late in the afternoon, and the forecast was for the temps to go below freezing, so just before bed we put the horses in the trailer for warmth. We also decided that since the next two days were going to be sunny, and rain was forecast for Friday, that we’d go ahead and leave in the morning, so that we could ride in a new, warmer, place on Thursday. Love it when plans can be this flexible!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Monday, February 22, 2010 - Short Ride Day

Spent a little more time nailing down where we plan on keeping the horses in Austin, now the decision is between just two places, then took a short, two-hour ride on the southern loop of the Sandstone Trail, just enough to loosen everyone up a bit. Weather getting progressively colder, forecast is for rain/snow mix and lows in the 30’s. Hooked up the trailer just in case we decided to put the horses in later. Also spend some time working with Hubby on some script changes he wanted to make for an upcoming performance. Looking forward to a quiet, relaxing evening, maybe watching some Olympics.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday, February 21, 2010 - Aches and Shopping

Both of us woke up stiff this morning (not surprisingly), but I made pancakes and eggs to comfort our aches. It was decided that we needed to go shopping, having made the decision to stay until Thursday, so I hopped into the truck and ran into Natchitoches, LA, found the Wal-Mart, and stocked up on everything, including gas for the generator and a new tarp to cover the hay. Now I fully intend to relax the rest of the day!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Saturday, February 20, 2010 - The Day of the Long Ride

In addition to Tom and Gloria arriving last night, more folks arrived early this morning, and most were out on the trail by just after 10:00. We followed suit by about 10:30, and headed out on the Sandstone Trail. We decided to take the shorter loop (15 miles, according to the lady at the ranger station), going counter clockwise, with a brief stop in the middle. What a GREAT ride! Trails were a bit muddy in some spots, and really torn up by the ATVer’s (who are supposed to be banned at the moment, but that doesn’t seem to be working), but the variation in terrain, with some sandy flats, some mountain climbing and descending, lots of different kinds of trees, by far the most interesting trail we’ve been on in a long time. Trails are well marked, too, and they even have mile markers every mile, though not necessary in the direction we were going. It seems the trail is a little more than 15 miles, and the trail from the campground to the cutaway trail is another 4+ miles, so in the end, we figured we did almost twenty miles in the end. The horses did great, though they were obviously tired the last few miles, as were we. They got a great oats reward when we got back at 5:30, with a half hour of light left to get everyone settled. Then I walked over the Tom and Gloria’s site to return a bottle of wine (which we thought we’d be back in time to share, but it was a bit late now), and had a can of beer with them instead. Meanwhile, Hubby befriended the other campers that arrived in the morning, Greg and Lorilee. Greg is from England, too (as is Hubby), so they chatted about the state of things in the world. Finally got back, made a meal, then crashed into bed, with muscles that knew they’d had a workout! A fabulous day!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday, February 19, 2010 - Work Day

Ran out to the quail area for a few hours to work online and make phone calls getting information about our next stops in forests and the stables in Austin. When I got back, Hubby was still working on the horse trailer lights, so I gave him a hand with that for a while, until he finally managed to get it fixed. Just some corroded connections and loose wires in the end. After some discussion about what I found out about our next stops, we decided that rather than put two more stops in, we’d stay here until probably Thursday, then head out to Davy Crockett National Forest in Texas, where they have a horse camp with central water and campsites suitable for Rvs. Later in the day, a couple that had arrived last night, Tom and Gloria, stopped by on their way back from a ride, and we invited them over for cocktail hour later in the day, which they did, and we had a lovely chat over a few glasses of wine. He’s a semi-retired arborist, and they have dreams of horse camping full time in a few years. Very enjoyable evening. Going to be a busy time after next week, so we need to get in all the recreation we can before that happens!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Thursday, February 18, 2010 - Got it right today!


Ran up to the quail area for a bit of work, sent a bunch of emails trying to find a place in Austin where we can board the horses while we fly to DC, and answering some other emails and phone calls. Got back by noon, grabbed some lunch, saddled up and had a FABULOUS ride. The trails were a bit rough in spots (there had obviously been some ATV traffic, despite the current ban on it as they try to restore the trail), but most of it was very nice. More hills than we’ve seen in a while, gave the horses a good workout. The forest trails are true trails, and the roads here are mostly hard-packed sand with some chattahoochee-type gravel, so it was great footing. We only hit one spot toward the end that someone had put down a bunch of really large obnoxious gravel, but it didn’t last long, fortunately, and it was a shortcut anyway, so we’ll avoid it in the future if possible. Coming up to a road crossing from a trail, we saw the cutest little stop sign at the edge of the road, and they even had a "stop ahead" sign before that! Very cute, never saw that before! Also, there were a number of bridges across some streams that added a bit of variety as well. The main trail has two loops, one is 15 miles and the other about 30, but both have lots of forest roads cutting in and out, so you can create your own path. Really nice mixed woods, with pines and deciduous, and even a ring of bamboo around the camp (why they call it Cane Camp, Hubby thinks). Great day!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - The Best Laid Plans...

Our new back yard. Was determined to work in the morning and ride in the afternoon, as the temps were expected to get near 60 today, but I had to find a cell phone signal, plus we needed to get our gas tanks for the generator filled, so I drove to the nearest town, about 15 miles away and got gas. I looked for a cell phone signal the whole way, and couldn’t find anything good enough for broadband, so I ended up back at the campsite without finding anything. I decided to head in the other direction (the way we came in) because I knew I had a signal before we arrived, and fortunately found a good spot off the road, at the quail area, where I could get some work done. I then spent HOURS trying to get everything done I needed to get done, watching the time slip away in frustration, until I concluded we weren’t going to have time to ride today, so I better just finish up everything I could and ride tomorrow. At least our got our travel plans confirmed for a flight to DC in a few weeks. Aaargh! Got back frustrated, by Hubby and spent the time productively, fixing a light on the trailer and doing some much needed spring cleaning like the windows. It was a beautiful day weatherwise, but fortunately, the forecast calls for more sunny and warmer days. Yeah!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - Cold Day at Cane Camp

Pretty frosty, though sunny today, though we decided it was to cold to go riding. Had a hard time getting a cell phone signal, which always make life a little more complicated. Did some housekeeping and bookkeeping, otherwise laid low today.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Monday, February 15, 2010 - Travel Day to Cane Camp, LA

Managed to struggle our way out of Brushy Creek, though by now the vehicles are covered with mud with all the potholes splashing and a few soft spots my wheels started spinning in. Scary! Glad to get out of there, crossing that one off the list!
Had a peaceful drive to Cane Camp, though I had several different sets of directions that didn’t seem to correlate with each other. Fortunately we ran into a large horse trailer at a stop sign, and I yelled out the window, "Which way to the horse camp", and he pointed up a road that I hadn’t planned on turning on, so more confusion reigned. I turned where he said, then traveled for miles, sure we were going to far. I finally stopped and pulled out my computer and looked at a map I had downloaded before, found where we were and confirmed we were headed in the right direction. At last we reached it. What a lovely place! A nice loop, numerous campsites, every one has a water spigot and posts for a highline or a picket line, flush toilets, a nice grassy area all around, even a clear shot for a satellite signal, and best of all, no one else was here! All for 3 bucks a day, or in our case, with Hubby’s Golden Age Passport, $1.50! Quite a few horse and multi-use trails around, it seems, over 600,000 acres in the Kisatchie National Forest. I think we’ll be staying here for quite a while! Will get a picture of our new back yard tomorrow!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010 - Valentine's Day Drive

Packed up and headed out to our next stop, Brushy Creek in Homochitto National Forest, Mississippi. We had enjoyed Big Foot, I’m sure we’ll be back to that one, it’s so close to I-10, it’s very convenient. Cut cross country to Brushy Creek, had some trouble finding water in the town nearby, ended up poaching some from a local lumberyard that was closed. As we reached the turnoff, Hubby and I became very concerned. The road was steep, curvey and looked muddy, and neither of us liked the look of it, but it was 4:00 and we didn’t really have a Plan "B", so we decided he should go first and scout it out with the pickup truck before I tried to get in with the big rig. Once he hit the top of the hill, he radioed back that he thought I could make it, but to take a run at it just in case (very reassuring!) So I did, and managed to make it. The road was narrow, barely one lane with very soft shoulders in some places, and it got worse the further we got back. Potholes big enough to swallow up a St. Bernard. We finally reached the "campground." To call is "primitive" is generous. It’s not even a campground. There are a few turnouts, but you have to go into a ditch or up a slope to get to any of them. A few have a very narrow entries, but it’s almost impossible to navigate. Whatever you do, don’t go past the "no horse trailers" sign, that becomes the trail down to the creek, which is much farther away than any camper would want to lug water from, or even walk your horse to, unless you’re heading out on the trail. The worst thing was, there was no loop, no place for a big rig to turn around. After much discussion, we finally settled on trying to back into one spot far enough to turn around, but when we tried it, we couldn’t quite get far enough up the slope before the wheels started spinning. We opted for another spot where I could drive forward over the hump, then back up to turn around. We had just enough room to do that, but came very close to hitting bottom. All the while, we had a man who was spending the night in his truck nearby trying to "help". Once we got turned around, we found a semi-graveled area by the side of the road that had been occupied by a horse trailer when we arrived, but the owners had ridden by while we were discussing our options, so we took that spot once they left. At least now we were headed in the right direction. We quickly made the decision not to stay more than the night, it was just too ugly and unmanaged. Naturally, after dark it started to rain, then started to pour, and since we knew the forecast was calling for below freezing temps, I ran out and put the horses in the trailer, getting soaked in the process. It stopped a bit later, but since the horses were wet at this point as well, I left them in to stay warm. A really crummy place. I don’t know what the trails were like (other than wet, of course), but frankly, I wasn’t really interested after seeing the sad shape of the campground. It’s a pity, too, because it wouldn’t take much to fix it up nicely, a few truckloads of gravel and a little TLC. Very disappointing...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Saturday, February 13, 2010 - Ride Day at Big Foot


At last, we have a chance to ride. At first we thought it would be too cold, but the sun started warming up things pretty nicely, and we decided that we’d dress extra warm, wear our parkas and take a chance. Our original plan was to take the yellow trail to the red trail to the blue trail, which is a long loop, then back again. Before we got to the blue trail, however, we ran into high water, and a one-lane bridge with a sign that said "Impassable with high water." It wasn’t kidding. We were horse-chest high in water and we still had 5 or 6 yards to the bridge. We couldn’t even tell what the bridge was costructed with, and were very concerned that the horses might get freaked out when the surface changed under their hooves, so we decided caution was in order and we retreated back up the red trail. We went for option B, which was the yellow trail to the green trail in a figure 8, before heading back to the campground, We did run into a few more water hazards, but nothing more than knee-high, which my horse barreled through (once he got started :-). Truly nice trails, though, very well-marked, several picnic tables and hitching rails to stop for lunch along the way, good footing except for a few muddy spots (understandable with all the rain), mostly pine needles and sand, no need for shoes or boots. Was out about 4 hours in the end. A lovely day!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Friday, February 12, 2010 - A Snow Day at Big Foot

Rained most of the night, particularly hard around 4 am, then at about 9 am it started to snow big fat wet flakes for about ten minutes. Naturally, nothing stuck, but it was so cold we made it a snow day instead of a ride day. Spent the day on the computer revamping my business website and getting caught up on paperwork. Even on the road with horses, regular life must go on!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 - A Day at Big Foot Horse Camp, MS

Here's our new back yard today. I always like it best when we can see horses right outside our door! Here at Big Foot, there are a couple of folks in tents and cars, unfortunately they're camped in the area where the horse stalls and tie-ups are, so the only way to stay private (which is always our desire :-) is to be parked in an area where there are no pipe stalls. Frankly, that's fine with me, as a high-line gives the horses a lot more freedom to move around, even lay down when they want. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the no-fee areas attact that sort, though there are other campgrounds nearby they could stay for free without interfering with the horse campers use of the area.

Way too cold to ride today, though a group came in this morning with four horses and riders who went out. I got the impression it was to check out a new saddle, there was a lot of fussing going on with one horse before they left. They weren't gone long, not much more than an hour, if that. They either took the shortest trail, or they turned around and came back. A couple of them had no gloves on, which is insanity in this cold and damp weather. The forecast is calling for rain/sleet/snow from this afternoon through tomorrow afternoon, so it looks like we won't be riding anytime soon. Very unusual weather for south Mississippi. The lady at the hay barn yesterday was saying how she used to work at a florist shop, and it was always so hot around Valentine's Day they had trouble keeping the flowers looking fresh! She couldn't believe they were forecasting snow. Strange winter this year!

Hubby went up to the nearby town of Wiggins to shop at the Wal-mart, also picked up a few other things we needed, and managed to track down a Forest Service office with a trail map. Seems they're hard to come by! I'll be scanning it and keeping it for posterity should anyone need it. Just email me at horsecampers@gmail.com, for this and any other trail map of the places we've been, I've been saving them all.

Will probably put the horses in the trailer tonight, it's too cold and wet for them to be comfortable outside. Did some bookkeeping today while Hubby was gone, but he's back now, so cocktails, dinner and a movie are next!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - Hay and Travel Day

Whew! Another busy day. Packed up and left Coldwater by about 9:30, a bit later than usual, but we didn't feel a huge hurry because our trip was just a little over three hours, with a stop for hay along the way... at least that's what we THOUGHT was going to happen. That's what we get for thinking! Made our way to the place where I had scheduled to pick up some hay, only to be sorely disappointed in the quality. Frankly, it was the worst hay I had ever seen short of something I might use to mulch my garden. Yuck! So I quickly got on the phone and called another man who had returned my call the night before, and asked if we could arrange to get hay from him. He managed to swing it so that I could go to his mother-in-law's where the hay was kept and pick it up ourselves and pay her. Fortunately, this was much better hay (though no quite as good as the hay we got in Blackstone, VA, but that was EXCEPTIONAL). Apparently, he's a vet who's taken over his father-in-law's farm, so he did all the soil testing, fertilizing and nutritional testing to prove it's worthy of being horse hay. Glad he was able to work us in, we're set now for another three weeks.
It was nearly 3:00 by the time we finished, WAY behind schedule, and then, because all my maps were from the south, and we were now coming from the north, and Gracie (my Verizon GPS) couldn't get a bead on the address, so I had to program her for the nearest town (Saucier, MS). We ended up getting lost a few times anyway, till we got close enough for her to find the road we were looking for. Then I missed the turn for the road to the horse camp, and ended up at the Airey Tower Forest station, which was just as well, we filled up with water while we were there. Got into the campground just as the sun was setting, set up during twilight, and was just finishing as it got dark. But we made it!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - Ride Day!


Woke up around 4:00 am thinking it was near dawn, discovered that there are many security lights throughout the campground. For those who like all the bells and whistles, with stables and paddocks and water and electricity at every site, this is a perfectly fine place. For those like us, that prefer to feel like we're in a true wilderness, like trailblazers of old, it's a bit too commercial for us. That said, we did have a ride today. The reason I awoke early was because the rain had come in, but it cleared out by 10:00 or so, though remained cloudy the rest of the day. Then the temperature started dropping, so Hubby and I decided to get out quick while the getting was good. After a morning on craigslist and the phone arranging a hay pickup for tomorrow morning, we saddled up and were on the trail by 12:20. We intended to go out the blue trail and come back on the red, the trailhead where we began was wrong, so we ended up on the red trail. NOTE: The red trail, and red/blue combined trail start just behind the kiosk. The BLUE trail starts closer to the entrance by about 100 feet.

While this is part of the Black River State Forest, this area should really be called a forest in development. Almost all of the forest is young, lots of baby trees, lots of evidence of "forest management" (i.e. cleared tree areas), and lots of prescribed burn areas, but that does leave for wide open skies in many places. There are a few areas that are older, like near the campground, but most of the trails (which are more trail than road, thankfully) are among newer trees. The pic above shows one of the more mature areas of the forest.
Trails are well-marked, no problem finding them, and there's a good area to stop about halfway around the most popular route, with a picnic table, which is where we stopped to have a quick sandwich and give the horses a much-deserved apple. The temperature soon started dropping, and on the way back we were heading into the cold north wind, so we were quite happy to get back around 4:00. Cocktails, dinner and a Dish PVR movie and we're set for the night!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Monday, February 8, 2010 - Travel Day to Coldwater SRA


Here's our new back yard! (Notice the handle of the RV on the left!)
Up at 7:00, out by 8:45, long drive to Blackwater River State Forest north of Milton, FL just east of Pensacola, to the Coldwater Recreation Area, where there is a very well-appointed horse camp. Lots of RV room, water and electric hookups, your choice of covered stalls, covered paddocks and open paddocks. Very helpful volunteer camp hosts. Hoping the weather will be suitable for riding tomorrow, calling for rain overnight and in the morning, clearing out by noon, but temps dropping after that. Will let you know about the trails tomorrow, hopefully! Love to change our backyard! Yesterday a forest of tall pine trees and scrub palms, today, right next to a beautiful river!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sunday, February 7, 2010 - Super Bowl Sunday!

Spent all day on computer looking for more horse camps, in between did mega loads of laundry in preparation for our departure tomorrow. And, of course, watched the Super Bowl. :-( Sorry Peyton... Congrats, Saints, well done.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Saturday, February 6, 2010 - Movie Day

Spent pretty much all of the day watching movies. For some reason, we both felt tired today, like we've been going non-stop and just crashed today. A nice change. Did spend a little time trying to get a better signal on the satellite dish in advance of the Super Bowl tomorrow. Other than that, a nice restful day off.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Friday, February 5, 2010 - Another lovely ride in Cary State Forest

As there was a huge storm forecast to reach us early this afternoon, Hubby and I got up and out early, taking another lovely two-hour ride through the forest. It's wonderful to be able to change your route every time, and the way the roads criss cross here, it's so easy to do. And even better, the roads aren't all straight as an arrow for miles they way they were at Osceola, these have just enough curves to keep you guessing about what will be around the next corner. The pines are tall and the scrub palms are plentiful. Some areas have much older growth, so there some dense bushes as well. Really can't say enough good things about this spot, a perfect accommodation. The only things that's missing is an RV dump, but we'll take care of that on the way out Monday.

Arrived back just about noon, left the horses out long enough to let them get a quick shower, then put them in the trailer before the really heavy stuff got started. That lasted less than an hour, so they were out again by late afternoon. By sunset the sky was beginning to clear and there was a beautiful gold sky. By nine, when we gave the horses their last ration of hay for the night, the stars were out, bright and clear, promising a beautiful day tomorrow!

Considering they're having record a record snowfall in the Mid-Atlantic states, I was delighted to be sitting around in shorts this afternoon! SO glad we headed south when we did! Living the dream!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010 - A day at the office

Spent the whole day working on my computer, doing business and making phone calls. All business, all the time. Hubby took a ride into Macclenny to do some shopping, other than that a blessedly uneventful day.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - Work and play

Today was the kind of day I hope we repeat a lot. Paperwork and phone calls in the morning, lunch, then a ride in the afternoon. Nice sunny day, though the wind was still a little cool. Just rode for about two hours, got in a few nice trots and a lovely canter. Did't follow any particular trail today, just took the map and away we went! This is by far the best map and best marked roads we've seen yet. Virtually every intersection has a road sign on it, just like in a managed neighborhood. The roads are all hard sand, sometime on grass, just a bit of gravel in one or two places, and only one shallow, hard surface water hazard that is clearly marked. The blue trail is more of a trail between roads, but we haven't gone on it because with all the rain, it's way too sloppy.

Decided to stay here till Monday morning. Hubby wants to watch the Superbowl on Sunday, and to rest a few days before we head west. I'm a little concerned about waiting so long, but we do still have nearly 3 weeks to get to Austin, so I guess it will be all right. Looking forward to going west, but it takes us on a slightly more northern track, so we're not in a hurry to get back into the cold!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - Stuck in the mud

Whew! What a day! Yesterday we worked with a client who flew in from California to meet us in Jacksonville, had an excellent session, she made many breakthroughs! (I love it when that happens!) Set the alarm for 7:45 am, had a good night sleep with the sound of rain regularly pattering on the roof. Once the coffee was made, we packed up, loaded up the horses and were ready to roll by just after 9:00. Problem was, I could only move forward about 3 feet when my wheels started spinning. Apparently, they had had a LOT of rain lately, and no one mentioned we were in a slippery spot. It was practically flat, and we had a good grass and sand base, so it never occurred to us that we would have a problem! First, we tried putting the Z-chains on the van tires, but that didn't help (they work great in ice and snow, however). Then we unloaded the horses, dropped the horse trailer and tried to pull it out using the pickup with the Z-chains on it. That didn't work either. Eventually we concluded we needed a wrecker, so we called around and found one. A few minutes after we called, the horse farm's owner's husband arrived with a dually diesel pickup, so we unhooked the RV, drove the van out, then used his dually to pull the RV out, and that finally worked! Cancelled the wrecker service, hooked up everything, loaded the horses again, and finally, muddy, wet (it had rained again during this event) and tired, we left about two hours late, at 11:00.

Meanwhile, we had an appointment at Miracle Motors for the work on the RV trailer. It was decided we needed new brakes and bearings all around. It was supposed to be at 10:00, we let them know we'd be late, and they said they could still take us, even through we couldn't arrive before noon, which we did. We left the RV and took the rest of the family, first to Waffle House for breakfast (you can imagine how starved we were by this point!), then to a convenient Wal-Mart for shopping. Arrived back at the shop about 3:15, and the RV was parked out front waiting for us. Turns out, despite the fact the RV is six years old and Hubby's never packed the bearings, they were like new, so they weren't replaced. The brakes were another matter, apparently they were down to the barest nub, not working hardly at all, a disaster waiting to happen. I had mentioned to Hubby a few months ago that I thought the brakes needed adjusting, but apparently there isn't an adjustment, they just need to be looked at periodically for wear and then replaced. Surprisingly, the drums were fine, too, which was a surprise to everyone, we all expected they might need turning, but evidently all was well there. So the bill was high, but nowhere near as high as it could have been, and all the work that needed doing was done. Considering the brakes are about the only mechanical device on the trailer, I figured it was well worth it. If you're ever near Jacksonville (Macclenny, FL) and you need mechanical work done, these are the guys!

Made it back by 4:00, but we were so tired by this point we did the bare minimum, got the horses and dogs settled and fed, started cocktail hour, threw a load of laundry in, got ourselves a plate of crackers and cheese and vegged out in front of a movie. In bed by 9:00, lights out by 9:15!