Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - "Challenging" Self-Inflicted Disaster Day, Travel to Cane Brake

Got off to a little later start than we thought, the atomic alarm clock reset itself to the wrong time, so was 20 minutes off. Otherwise, we got out okay, stopped for gas in Powhatan and breakfast in Farmville, and a quick stop at a Lazyboy gallery to check out a loveseat I had found online. Can’t really decide on comfy furniture unless you actually sit in it, which we did, and found the one we want. Actually a sectional rather than a loveseat, but it has extra storage between the seats that we like. Hopefully we can get that worked out. Carried on toward the Uhwarrie, and made our second to last stop of the day for fuel at a Wilco in Asheboro. That’s when the trouble began. The main sign clearly posted had regular prices in red and diesel prices in green. When I pulled onto the pump, I automatically picked up the green nozzle, because that usually signifies diesel. Unfortunately, at this station, that was not the case. The diesel was actually all by itself in the back (no signage that I could see), but I didn’t notice it until the tank was full. I was just about to get going when Hubby raced out of the store and informed me that I had just filled up with gas, which he had learned from going inside to clear his credit card off. The girl behind the counter explained to him there was no diesel on the aisle where I was. Anyway, what a mess! I wasn’t sure what to do, whether the engine would run on a 2:1 mix (I had about 1/3 of a tank of diesel when I pulled in), but rather than take any chances, I got on my new smartphone and called the nearest GM dealer, which happened to be a GMC/Buick dealer about a mile up the road. After speaking to the service guys I was SO glad I didn’t try to crank it up, because they said if I had, the whole system would have to be cleaned out, but as it stood, if we got it towed, they could drop the tank to drain it, then refill it with diesel and it should be fine. They called us a tow truck, which wasn’t big enough for the job, then while we were waiting for another one, we disconnected the truck from the trailer and pulled it out of the way, then moved the trailer to the back of the gas station, where fortunately there was plenty of room. It wasn’t long before the flatbed showed up, which was still barely big enough to pull the truck onto, with the dually wheels almost hanging off the back end. The full load of hay didn’t help much, either. Finally we headed out, Hubby to run a couple of errands, and me to the dealer to get the job going. The service manager tried to tell me that the job couldn’t be done today, and that we should start making arrangements to spend the night. I, on the other hand, was determined to get it done, and explained to him that I believed in miracles, and would work toward that end. After some discussion with the shop guys, it seems they didn’t have a lift big enough for my truck anyway, so they wouldn’t be able to drop the tank, so it was decided they would try to pump it out with a little hand pump they had but had never used. They gathered a bunch of gas containers and started siphoning, but it took 10 minutes to fill the first tank. As the mechanic went to empty the container, I started pumping instead of just siphoning, and speeded the process up immensely, filling the next tank in just a few minutes. After I filled the next tank, one of the guys took over and started pumping as well, so things started happening a lot faster. Before long, the tank was nearly empty and one of the guys ran out to get diesel to refill the tank. Twenty gallons later, we cranked up the truck, and it seemed to run okay. We let it run while I paid the bill ($200, half for fuel and half for labor, not to mention the $100+ that went down the drain and the $80 for the tow...), but at least we didn’t have any engine damage. Apparently if I had tried to run it, we would have had to completely flush the engine and many be even put in new injectors for $2600 or something. Glad I had the sense to call first! Anyway, by the time that was done, we knew we didn’t have enough time to shop if we wanted to get to camp before pitch dark, so we hurried down to the horse camp at Cane Brake, a place we had come once before but had never ridden in because it rained for three straight days. The camphost put us in a double site that was open until Saturday morning, and we quickly got the horses highlined and us settled in, though the sun was down before we started, so most of it was during twilight. Finally got done around 8:00 before we were able to finish dinner and relax for the rest of the night. At least the truck seemed to run okay on the way down!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - Cold and Damp, Rain Diminishing

Wet and foggy this morning, more rain overnight than we’d had yet, a repeat of yesterday mostly. Despite the storm, UPS managed to deliver our package from Valley Vet with Hubby’s new horse boots. Considering the cable failure of the Boas, Hubby decided to try a pair of Cavallos like mine. These have worked incredibly well for me, and despite my initial worry that they were held on with "only Velcro," I’ve never had any trouble with them despite some challenging terrain. Now’s he’s looking forward to seeing how Clio likes them. Not sure when that will be, hopefully later this week.

Monday, October 29, 2012 - Rain and Wind and Little Else

More off and on rain and some wind today. Nothing too bad here, the worst of it stayed east of Richmond before heading north, never getting this far west. Another day on the computer, not much else to do.

Sunday, October 28, 2012 - Unspectacular Entrance of Hurricane Sally

With morning there came little sign of the approaching hurricane, with just a few gusts of wind. In fact the day started out quite sunny, clouding up later in the day as we tried to rest from our busy schedule the last few days. The wind and rain came in a bit later, nothing serious, just a little bit of a blow here, though it seems the NYC area is likely to get hit pretty bad. Relaxed most of the day, not a good day to be outside, but Hubby had managed to set up the satellite in such a way it was protected between the van and the RV, so we didn’t lose our signal. We took one side trip over to the horses’ pasture to put on their rain sheets, for when the horses came out of the shelter to eat grass, which they were doing when we arrived. Not much else to do when we got back but curl up with a warm computer in my lap and look to solve impending challenges, which lately has become the solution to our trailer swap. We’ve been looking at new trailer units since July, including communicating with several custom builders in an effort to get a floorplan we really like. It’s been a very slow process, with long delays between emails and difficulties in trying to get what want, so painstaking it’s starting to take its toll. Somewhat productive today, however, we feel a breakthrough coming soon, hopefully. Otherwise an uneventful night, which is just what we needed.

Saturday, October 27, 2012 - Move to Belmead, Spaghetti Dinner and Astronomy Night

In keeping with our constantly changing schedule, we packed up and headed out to Belmead, to a large area known as the loading zone, but which was the area the club members used to camp. There was one water spigot, so we filled up our tanks, and quickly settled in. The club was having a spaghetti dinner and invited us to join them, so we did. Afterward we learned about a local astronomy club meeting at the mansion, though it was a cloudy night so we wouldn’t be doing any stargazing. Two lectures were presented, one by a local amateur astronomer, whose favorite thing is to find anomalies on the surface of the moon, which we pretty interesting, and the second by a professor from Howard University who normally would talk about the stars the group would be seeing, but since that wasn’t going to happen, he spent a great deal of time discussing and Powerpointing all the various phases of the moon, for us a very basic lesson reminiscent of elementary school, middle school at best. I found myself reverting to just the kind of student I was when I was in school, always with the answer, until the teacher had to start to ignore me just to include other students in the conversation, while the other students kept looking to me for the answers... :-). Old habits die hard. Anyway, as a finish to the evening, I offered for Hubby to do a little scene from his one man show, a particularly apt scene when Galileo first discovers that the moon is not "a perfect sphere as Aristotle had said she was, but an orb of irregular terrain, just like our Earth." It was well received by the other attendees, who seemed to enjoy it. Afterward, we made our way back to the campground, where the wind was just starting the pick up a bit in front of the hurricane. We tucked in for the night, waiting for Sandy to arrive.

Friday, October 26, 2012 - Runaround, Doctor, Nice Dinner, Postponement of Job

Started the morning by heading out to a nearby ENT as a followup to the exam I had at the clinic in Rhode Island back in September. My hearing is somewhat improved, but still a long way from normal, so I made an appointment to have it looked at again. Not a very helpful visit in the end, they did an exam and a hearing test, couldn’t seem to find anything in particular except that my hearing wasn’t 100%, which we already knew! The only thing the doctor recommended was a choice between doing nothing and taking a two week course of steroid pills to reduce what MIGHT be inflammation in the inner ear. I usually don’t like to take medications unless I have to, but we were on the outer limit of time according to the doctor, if we didn’t take them soon we’d beyond the 8 week window when it might be effective, so I decided to give it a go. We picked up the prescription on the way back to the house. Meanwhile, I got a call from the guy in charge of the job we have scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, and after much deliberation, the company had decided to postpone it because of the threat of an incoming hurricane, Sandy, which was stirring up a lot of concern. The best laid plans! After a few more errands, we arrived back at the house, where we had a fantastic meal that Toni prepared, along with the company of their neighbors, another very pleasant evening (and why we like to visit them so much!) Stayed up later than we probably should have, but we didn’t need to be anywhere early, as we had already made arrangements to just go back to Belmead and camp out there for the weekend. What a whirlwind week!

Thursday, October 25, 2012 - Move to Richmond Area

Up early, headed out to our newest digs, Belmead Stables in Powhatan, just west of Richmond, which turned out to be a gorgeous old plantation from the 1850s. Several thousand acres owned by the Catholic Church, which is leased for various reasons, mostly of which is for the Riding Club and Stables. The folks there had set aside a very nice pasture for my two kids, and we got them quickly settled in before moving onto our next stop, to drop off the RV in the parking lot of the hotel where we will be checking in on Saturday. Then we grabbed some lunch at a Thai-Vietnamese restaurant in mid-afternoon, a very nice meal that would tide us over for the rest of the day. Afterward, we headed over to our friends, Don and Toni, where we will be staying for the next two night. They both had events to attend for dinner, so Hubby and I were on our own for a while, then we spent a few hours with them when they returned. A very enjoyable evening.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - Found the Boot!

After breakfast I decided to take a drive down to the boat launch and walk the River Trail with the dogs. We were pretty convinced that was where we had lost the boot, since it was the first place we had cantered (and whenever one of us loses a boot, it seems to be either on a canter of knee-deep mud), so I took a very slow careful walk, looking through the high grass along each edge. I finally found it, a mere 60 yards from where we turned around to look for it! It was right on a corner that we had cantered around, which was obviously where the stress occurred, and in fact, it turned out to be a Boa boot failure. The wire cable that is used to tighten the boot had broken. It was good to know, as it was one of the concerns we had when we got the Boas. It seems the more moving parts, the more likely the failure. Anyway, the dogs and I had a good time on the hike, spending a little quality time together for a change. Mostly worked on the computer, and in departure preparations for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - Ride Day at Last!

Finally, a beautiful day when everyone is feeling fine and raring to go! Saddled up around midday and headed out a trail we hadn’t been on before, which turned out to be quite nice. It meandered through the woods behind the campground, crossed over the park road near the ranger station, headed up over the mountain before coming back down to the boat launch where we picked up a trail we enjoyed on another trip, the River Trail, which had a few good grassy stretches for a canter. Just when we were less than a mile from home, I suddenly noticed the Hubby’s horse had lost one of her boots. We started to backtrack looking for it, and kept going and going and going until we had gone so far we were committed to going back the entire length of the trail that we had come, over 5 miles! We never should have bothered, but we wanted to know what had happened to the boot, particularly if it was a failure rather than just that it slipped off. These were fairly new Boas with the dial front design, and we wanted to compare them to the Cavallos I just started using. Anyway, it did make it a nice, nearly 11 mile ride, a bit more than we bargained for, but nice nevertheless. Got everyone fed, watered, blanketed and settled in for the night before relaxing for the evening.

Monday, October 22, 2012 - Repairs Take Priority over a Ride Day

Did, in fact, have a decent night sleep, woke up to a very cool morning which looked like it had been frosty but had turned to heavy dew. Once the sun came out and started to dry out, Hubby decided it would be worthwhile to put new bolts in the rest of the slide brackets, simply because if one went, the rest might be a bit strained as well. He didn’t figure it would take too long, but I’ve learned to always double the time he thinks it will take, and be happy if it doesn’t take as long (though it usually does :-). He did manage to get the job done, but was feeling ill by the time he finished. He tends to get nauseous whenever he has to be upside down for any length of time time, and because the site wasn’t entirely level, the room underneath the trailer was very cramped, which made his job quite difficult and stressful. So rather than risk a ride, we decided it was better that he rest for the rest of the day, so we settled in early, with me doing some computer work until our usual evening routine.

Sunday, October 21, 2012 - Mechanical Problems, Then Back to James River

Got up fairly early so that we could get back to James River and still leave me time to run into Lynchburg to do some shopping, especially for generator gas, of which we’re almost out. We got everything packed, the horses loaded, and just about ready to go, when I went to pull in the kitchen slide on the RV, only one end started to come in. Hubby immediately went to work, knowing it would require replacing a bolt in the shaft in the underbelly of the unit, though fortunately he had spares that he had bought when this had happened another time. It’s a pain, but we managed to get it done in just under an hour. Meanwhile, Dawn, the owner of Robbins Nest, arrived home (she had gone to an organized ride in Belmont for the weekend), and we had a chance to chat for a few minutes. Finally got on the road about 2:30, figuring we still had time to complete our day as scheduled. Arrived at the park around 3:00, but it took nearly 20 minutes to get signed in and paid. Whatever happened to simply paying what’s owed? Four nights @ $X, here’s my money and off we go? Now we have to practically give up every piece of private information to a government organization just to simply stay in a park! It’s ridiculous. Anyway, we finally got down to the campsite area at 3:20, only to discover that the previous campers hadn’t left yet! Check out is supposed to be about 1:00, though the hard stop is 3:00, but there they were, every site full. Fortunately, though, they were just about packed up, so they left within 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, to save time, we moved the RV over to the water spigot and spent the time filling the tank. Just about the time that was done, everyone had left, and we moved back into our previous spot and got things set up as quickly as possible so that I could get out of there to do shopping. I was on the road right at 4:00, made stops at the ABC store, Tractor Supply, Walmart, Sheetz for gas, and the Post Office to drop off a letter in the box, hoping to get back to camp before dark, and just made it! The sun had gone down, but civil twilight was still in full force, and I saw that Hubby had managed to get the highline up by himself, as well as getting hay and water out as well, meaning he had brought out the long length of hose. Obviously he was a busy beaver while I was gone! He was surprised I got back so fast, but it was a pretty straight-forward route, even if it was more than 45 minutes each way. We quickly got the horses put up for the night with their warm winter blankets on, then settled in for the short evening, hoping for a quiet night and a good sleep!

Saturday, October 20, 2012 - Ride Day at Robbins Nest Farm

 After doing some computer work during the morning, we finally saddled up the horses for a quick ride around the property. Headed out along the back fence, and worked our way over the railroad tracks (Clio was a bit reluctant, but wasn’t about to be left behind, so she eventually followed her boy), and then down to the river, where we found the lovely spot the owner had told us about earlier, several hitching posts and picnic tables right by the wide and shallow James River. Looks like a great spot to hang out in the summer. Horses took a drink from the river, and we proceeded to circle a wide fallow field, getting in several canters along the way, enjoying the perfect weather and the gorgeous fall foliage. A nice 90 minute ride, just the ticket for a relaxing day. Tomorrow, we move again!

Friday, October 19, 2012 - Move Over to Robbins’s Nest Farm "Resort"

 Finished packing up, just about to leave at 10:30 on schedule, when I tried to start the truck and it wouldn’t go. The battery was dead! We got out the generator to see if we could use a new adapter we had bought to charge the battery enough to start it, but that took too long, so we eventually jump started it from the van. Meanwhile, we were trying to figure out why the battery was dead, when I remembered that shortly after we arrived Wednesday, Hubby had closed my truck windows for me, but had left the key on, which I only noticed after it got dark and my automatic lights came on. It was then I discovered the key was still on, but it didn’t occur to me to check the strength of the battery at that time, which I should have done. In any event, we eventually got going, and headed out about a half hour later. The gravel road was wide and open, but the twist, turns and steepness of the grade made it occasionally heart-pounding. Arrived, met by David who directed us to our "campsite," which was nothing more than a gravel parking area with several electric and water hookups in an open area. The "resort" was actually just a typical farm, all open spaces, pastures, ringed by some woods. We had gotten the impression there would be an old-world farmhouse/plantation kind of structure as the centerpiece, but instead there was a typical, even small, modern ranch style house. There were several large out-buildings like a modern metal barn and stables, but nothing that exuded anything remotely close to "resort." The guest house was a small brick structure that may have been the original house, but we don’t know that for sure. It looked older than the other structures, though. In any event, Dave was welcoming, indicated he had stalls waiting for us but we asked if we could put them in one of the pastures, which he quickly arranged for us. The pasture was mostly weeds, so we threw some hay in there for our guys. We got set up quickly, satellite dish and all, and we settled in for the evening, feeling exhausted as much from the aggravation factor of having to move as the actual physical exertion.

Thursday, October 18, 2012 - Hay Day and Disturbing News

Managed to find a hay provider from craigslist (I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!!!), who was only about 20 minutes away, so I headed down with the horse trailer to pick up a load. The owner wasn’t there, but he arranged with a neighbor and a helper to meet me, and we loaded 26 bales, three more than the pickup would normally carry, but I figured we would use those before we left next week, so we’d still have a full load when we left. Nice heavy bales for $6 each, though not as green as the last bunch, for a first cutting they were in nice shape. On the way back, I stopped at the ranger station to pay for our stay, and soon learned that there was a big fall festival scheduled at the park and that every campsite had been reserved! In other words, we would have to leave tomorrow! No matter what suggestion I made, it was no, no, no. There is actually a lot of room next to the officials sites in the primitive horse camping area, but they were insistent that only the official sites could be used. They were unmoved, their hands tied by the main office in Richmond (or so they said), so we had no choice. I had to scramble all day trying to solve the problem, debating whether we should just move on to Richmond early, which meant, essentially, being in someone’s back yard for a week, a less than satisfying prospect, or to find someplace locally to move to for Friday and Saturday nights, then come back to James River for the rest of the week. Adding two days of moves to our already short week was not a happy thought, it really cut into our relaxation and preparation time before our next job in Richmond, but it seemed the better option. Eventually I found a place called Robbins’ Nest Farm, which was only 3 miles as the crow flies, but 50 minutes drive as the road goes (I later found a back route over gravel roads that cit that down to about 30), but it was pretty expensive relatively speaking, but I figured saving on fuel would help offset the cost, plus they had water and electric so at least I’d be able to get my laundry done faster. What a pain, though, having to spend the day solving problems rather than riding or relaxing. The description of the place on their website made it seem really nice, with words like "resort" and "spa" and "guest cabin." We spent the rest of the day transferring the hay to the pickup, which we had to cover carefully as they’re calling for rain tonight, and putting away everything we could in preparation for leaving tomorrow. Had a nice chat with some folks who moved into the overflow tenting area, who came here to work the festival (musicians), and who rescued my Apollo when he managed somehow to get loose from his anchor and was heading down to the river. Nice folks, we had several chats before we left James River, and were sorry they’d be gone by the time we got back. Off to bed, to get ready for the unexpectedly busy day tomorrow was going to be!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - Travel Day to James River State Park

Headed out early, picked up breakfast at BK (DD’s driveway was too small for me!), and had an easy drive almost entirely on freeway, with stops for gas, propane and groceries. Google maps put the Southern States in the wrong place, so we had a little side step along the way, but they did, in fact, quickly recertify our tank and fill it up, so that was a worthwhile achievement. One last stop and Walmart for groceries and sundries, and we headed out to cross-country to James River State Park. We were a bit worried about getting there before the office closed, ostensibly at 4:00, but, in fact, they were closed all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so there wasn’t anyone around when we arrived anyway. We had originally planned to stay in an electric site at the Horseshoe Campground, but there wasn’t anyplace to highline the horses. Apparently they’re required to be in the covered stalls, which was an addition $9 per horse per night, plus there was no grass for the horses to graze on, and, frankly, it was not a very attractive campground, so we opted to go down to the primitive horse camping area at Canoe Landing by the river. That area was empty, so we picked a spot, put the horses out on the anchors so they could graze, and proceeded to get set up. Easy satellite find here, and the cell phone signal was even good enough to use the internet, a fabulous improvement over the last time we were here! Looking forward to a nice, quiet week of relaxation and riding. First order of business, though, is to find some hay, as we’re down to two bales!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - Van Repair Day

Woke up during the night and had a hard time getting back to sleep, finally did, then slept through past 9:30. After breakfast, Hubby went out and worked on the van to find the problem, and concluded it was the alternator. I was a bit concerned that it might be too late to find a shop that could do the job so late, but we were planning on leaving tomorrow so we didn’t really have much of a choice. I jumped in the van and headed down to Shippensburg, the nearest town, about 10 miles away. Once I got there, and had a great signal, I googled auto repair and got a long list. The first review was for a Gulf station, and the reviews were excellent, so I headed there, less than a mile away. Pulled in, asked if they had a mechanic on duty, rec’d the response YES, and I headed in to talk with him. What a fantastic place! Really clean, very nice, and they had an open bay so in it went! I headed into the waiting room and started taking care of business, and before I knew it, the van was parked outside the window in front of me! It took barely an hour to get the job done, and was very reasonably priced as well. Had a nice chat with the other woman in the waiting room, then I ended up hanging around another 30-45 minutes just to get more work done. Finally headed back to the camp, arriving about 3:30, much earlier than either of us had expected, but thrilled that we could leave on schedule tomorrow. Started putting stuff away, cleaned up the yard where the horses have been grazing, and generally tidied up in preparation for our departure. Need to get out early early tomorrow, a long day with several stops along the way, including a place to get our propane tanks recertified. Though the guy at Agway had said it would take two weeks for a fee (so why don’t you buy a new tank from us...?), the woman at Augusta Petroleum in Staunton said they could do it immediately and for free! Looking forward to finding out if that’s true! Relaxed for the evening, ready to get up early.

Monday, October 15, 2012 - Ride Day at Gettysburg Military Park

The weather forecast is calling for intermittent rain and warm temps today, then a cold front coming in overnight, so our choice for riding at Gettsyburg is warm and wet or cold and sunny, so we decided warm and wet (hey, that’s what slickers are for!), so we set the alarm for a bit earlier, but it didn’t go off on schedule. We decided to skip breakfast here, discovering that with the new propane regular it switches tanks automatically, so we have no idea when one tank is empty, and realized both tanks were empty this morning anyway. We packed them up in the van with us, got the horses loaded in and headed down to Gettysburg. Didn’t find a fast food place before 10:30, so we ended up going to Friendlys for a quick breakfast and to get online to find a propane dealer, a grocery store and a gas station, as well as the best route to the McMillan Woods Horse Trailer Parking lot where the Gettysburg trailhead was. From there we headed to the Agway for propane, but could only get one tank filled because the other one was out of date and apparently needs to be re-certified, another item on our list of things to do. By 12:50 we were saddled and booted up and ready to go. There were two other horse trailers there, apparently a concessionaire who was hoping for some business, but it had drizzled a few times already, so their chances where probably slim. I asked about footing and one of the ladies suggested boots on front because of some gravel-ly areas, and another woman warned us a "storm" was coming in, but I told her "That’s what slickers are for :-)." We prepared as best we could be, then headed up the road to the trailhead. The trails were wide and well-groomed, and were mostly grass, dirt and fine gravel, with just a few spots that had larger gravel fill. The trail (or rather, bridle path) weaved along stone and continental-style split rail fences, following the edges of fields at times, other time through dense forest. The trail mostly followed Confederate Ave.,where there were many monuments from which to read and learn, though after awhile it became a bit too depressing, thinking of all the waste involved with the whole battle. The path wound past many of the farms that were integrally involved during the famous battle, including one that served as a sort of make-shift hospital. Anyway, the trip was about just over 8 miles, and it was very easy, no real grades or hills to speak of, though the horses were good, they weren’t in the mood to do a lot of cantering, probably still tired from all the climbing and the rough trail from yesterday. Though it rained for most of the first half of the ride, by 3:00 it had stopped raining, and by 3:30 the sun was moving in nicely, making it a beautiful day in the end. We had a nice chat with a couple by the Longstreet Memorial, then arrived back at the parking lot by 4:30, out the lot with a full tank of water by 5:00. Headed to the Giant Supermarket for a few grocery items and to get gas, then back up the mountain to the Forest. On the way, I noticed the battery light blinking on the van, and the gauge indicated the batteries were discharging, so chalk another item on Hubby’s list of things to do tomorrow! We’re hoping it will turn out to be just a loose wire somewhere in the system, but the van is 10 years old, so it wouldn’t surprise us if it was the alternator. Got the horses blanketed, fed and settled in before dark, and soon the same for the dogs and us!

Sunday, October 14, 2012 - Ride Day at Michaux State Forest, PA

Nice weather today, so we headed out for a ride today, following the map and a rough GPS trail I made with imperfect information, so I wasn’t expecting much, particularly since the second half was on a dirt and gravel forest road. We started out fine, hitting the first intersection marker with no problem, but from there it dramatically changed. According to the map, at the first intersection, you could turn right to follow the utility line, or keep straight for a nice loop we planned to take. Too bad that wasn’t true. NOT on the map was that the trail that went straight ahead was NOT the trail that went to the loop, it was a completely different trail that went down the mountain straight to Route 233! What the map apparently MEANT to indicate was that you had to follow the trail to the utility line, THEN go straight across the clearing to pick up the trail, or turn right to stay on the utility line. So we ended up going all the way down the mountain, looking for the right turn that would keep us on the loop we planned, backtracking twice from the main road, since the map clearly showed we weren’t supposed to cross the road. Eventually, we decided we’d rather go forward than back, so we crossed the road and climbed a hill on the other side until we met up with a forest road. After analyzing the forest map again, we headed right down the road, hoping it would loop back around to 233 again, with a trail that would eventually take us back to camp. We ran into a couple of guys in a truck passing by, and they confirmed the road we were on was right, but to make sure we turned right at the first intersection and that would take us back to 233. We did so, downhill once again until we hit the road, and fortunately, there was a nice looking multi-use trail straight across. There was a dirt-biker who headed straight up the trail ahead, so we turned into a camping area off to the right, hoping to find another way to reach the horse trail. My trusty horse Apollo found a skinny little trail that went straight uphill for five or six strides, then connected with what looked like an official trail, so we made a right and headed uphill and northwest, estimating that would take us in the right direction. We climbed fairly steep and rocky trails, with my Apollo getting a bit frustrated with the footing as he tends to do, but we finally reached the top of the mountain, and finally arrived back at the utility line! We crossed the clearing and momentarily arrived back at Intersection Marker 1 again, when we realized, at last, just how far off the map was, and therefore we were. It seems our return route was the route we had planned to go out on. Once again, a state forest with lousy maps and lousy trail markers! It’s hard to believe that this is such a widespread problem, but the inefficiencies at this level are remarkable. Kind of makes you wonder if bureacracies are this sloppy at this level, can we really expect they are any better at the higher levels of government? I doubt it... Anyway, although we hated the fact we got lost and didn’t know where we were most of the time, at least we were riding, and that’s always a good thing!

Saturday, October 13, 2012 - Rest Day

Bad weather prevented us from riding today, so we took the opportunity to rest a little, particularly since I can’t get much work done with a cell signal. Did some writing on the blog, to be uploaded at our first opportunity.

Friday, October 12, 2012 - Cell Phone Signal Search

With no cell phone signal, and lots of work piling up, I set out to find a cell phone signal good enough to connect with the internet using my aircard. My first attempt was to go down to another camping area that one of the rangers had mentioned might have a signal and was another option to where we could camp with the horses. Unfortunately, it was another 10 miles north, and through many windy, twisty roads, and lower in elevation than we were, and, unfortunately, there was no more of a cell signal there either. Then I headed back toward camp, bypassing it to go a little higher, thinking higher altitude might help, once I crested the mountain. That didn’t help, and then the road back downhill kept going further and further into the valley, with no place to turn around, so I went miles MORE out of the way in vain. Finally found a place to turn around, headed back to camp to drop off the horse trailer so I didn’t get caught not being able to turn around again, then headed off AGAIN, this time south to the main highway, finally getting a signal just before reaching Route 30. I ducked into the state park parking lot and spent more than an hour working, emailing, etc. before finally heading back to camp, feeling like most of the day was wasted driving around. At least I got done what needed to be done!

Thursday, October 11, 2012 - Travel Day to Michaux State Forest

Got up in the dark, got everything packed up and ready to go and were pulling out just as the sun was starting to light up the tree tops, under a beautiful clear blue sky. Temps were chilly as expected, but warmed up a bit with the sun. Found a Dunkin Donuts on the way for breakfast, stopped once for fuel and again for water at a Walmart near the forest, then headed up the mountain to the forest. Had a nice chat with Pat in the office and one of the rangers about the best place to camp, and headed out to the Flat Rock parking area, a nice wide open area that was about half gravel and half grass with a nice copse of trees in the middle perfect for highlining the horses. We got them out and onto the grass immediately, they really appreciated that. We were fully set up in no time, including the satellite dish, by 5:00, and settled in for the evening. Bad news, there’s no cell phone signal at all here, so I may check out another camping area tomorrow to see if it’s any better there.

Wednesday, October 10, 2011 - Rain Day, No Ride!

Woke up to a changed forecast, now 70% rain, which it started to do as we were getting up. It didn’t start to let up until nearly 2:00, and the sun didn’t come out until 3:00, so it was too late to go for a ride, though I did take the horses for a little walk and let them graze on some fresh grass for awhile. We decided a rest day was a good idea anyway, as we have a very long drive tomorrow and need to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - Runaround Day in Carmel, NY

Since we didn’t have a cell phone or internet signal here, and I had to run into town to the post office and grocery store anyway, I found a wi-fi signal at Friendly’s and did some computer work. Unfortunately, what started out as an effort to get a few simple confirmations of my planned route turned into a nightmare. Everywhere I called it was No, No, No! Even publicly designated Pa Game Land prohibited overnight camping of any kind! I never heard of such a thing! Anyway, I ended up spending hours there trying to solve the problem, and in the end, didn’t really solve it, except to find one tiny spot along the side of a highway that didn’t have any trails. Time to rethink the whole thing, so I came back to camp frustrated that it was now too late to ride, and we had more logistics problems than we had before I went to town. After considerable discussion, and a slew of alternatives, we finally settled on driving straight through to the Michaux State Forest (if it could be confirmed, though all indications are they welcome horse camping-I even had previously downloaded a brochure about it), which is just a little west of Gettysburg. There are no fees, though no facilities, but knowing that, we can arrive prepared. Too late to ride, so we just settled in, though I had several conversations with the two hunters that keep coming back, Nick and Dominic. Dominic even brought a couple of ladies who live nearby and have horses to visit with us, so we had a nice chat for a while. He also gave us some apples, a loaf of hefty bread, which we discovered later with soup was a nic sun-dried tomato bread, and a bag of nice Italian rolls, very thoughtful of them. Forecast calls for just a 20-30 percent chance of rain for tomorrow, hope it doesn’t, I’d sure like to get at least ONE ride in while we’re here!

Monday, October 8, 2012 - Travel Day to Ninham Mountain near Carmel, NY

 After many phone calls and inquiries in the last 10 days, I managed to find a nice ranger from the DEC at Ninham Mountain, who, although they don’t really have camping here, was will to let us park in their parking lot for a few days. It was a fairly short drive, but we made several stops along the way, including dumping at a rest area in CT, one of the few states that provides RV dumps in their rest areas, thank goodness. We arrived around 3:00, discovering that the parking lot is pretty small, but suitable enough for us to set up and still leave plenty of room for the day users, of which it turned out to be many. A fairly regular stream of mountain bikers, joggers and a couple of hunters kept us in constant contact with the outside world. We were also right by the side of the road, with just a little buffer of trees and brush, but we found two trees for a highline, and that’s all we needed. We also scoped out an area further up the hill where the maintenance buildings are, but I couldn’t remember if the ranger said we could go up there or not, and we were deterred by several stern No Trespassing signs posted around the place. Didn’t take long to set up, impossible to get a satellite signal again, so we’re out of luck there. Good thing we recorded a bunch of movies last time we had electricity in New Hampshire! Had a nice chat with the hunters, then settled in for the night. Bad news, practically no cell phone signal here at all! Surprised at that, the Verizon map seemed to indicate there was coverage all through here, and being only 60 miles our of NYC, I thought it just might be true.

Sunday, October 7, 2012 - Rest and Planning Day

As predicted, it rained much of the day today, and we started the day with housekeeping and chores, then reading and me working on the computer making plans. Got most everything packed away as we prepare for our departure tomorrow.

Saturday, October 6, 2012 - Second Ride Day at Silvermine

 Set the alarm to get up an hour earlier than usual so that we could beat the rain, and it was a gorgeous morning! Temps got up to the upper 70’s by the end of our ride. Another fabulous ride, this time going out the way we came in yesterday, and then weaving around as best we could based on the information we had. Obviously, there are a lot more trails out here than those marked on the map, so this one goes on the list to return to when we get back in the area. And did I mention, it’s FREE?? Finally saw two other riders on the trail, though they turned away from us at an intersection so we never spoke to them. They weren’t back in camp when we arrived either, so they must have parked somewhere else. The leaves were falling down fast and furious today, lots of yellows, but there are still plenty of greens left to go. We just hope we don’t regret staying so far north for so long! There’s a cold front forecast for tomorrow, with more rain, but then clear and colder on Monday, good for traveling! While we were having our ice cream lunch, a young ranger came by and chatted with us for awhile, first to ask us whether a new camper that was setting up on the other side of the campground was with us, which he said wasn’t allowed if he didn’t have horses (it’s nice that that is enforced, since there are so many other camping areas here where horses AREN’T allowed. We’ve been in several places where non-equestrians were in equestrian campgrounds, to the point of equestrians not having a place to camp!), and later to talk about his goals and ambitions. We chatted for quite a while before he moved on (my ice cream had mostly melted, but that’s okay, I like it that way : -). Spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on the blog, sewing a torn strap on the horses’ rain sheets, and generally relaxing.

Friday, October 5, 2012 - Post Office and First Ride Day at Nautchaug State Forest

 Called the local post office and learned my package was there, so I ran down to pick it up and ran right back again, because the weather was picture perfect and we were determined to get a ride in while it was! Managed to get saddled up and out before 1:00, with a 10 mile trip planned on the GPS. We headed out to Kingsbury Road first, heading north to a trailhead near the ranger station, not following a particular trail other than the combination of trails I had strung together to make a couple of loops. The first part of the trail was nice, a bit rocky but wide and easy up to a lean-to camping area. The map seemed to indicate the trail came out the other side of the camp area, but we couldn’t find it. Instead we headed up a trail that was marked "To Parking", which indeed is where it led us, parking where the old homestead of General Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union General to be killed in the War Between the States. All that’s left are some stone walls and an incredible stone fireplace that had a hearth on every one of it’s four sides. Incredible workmanship that it’s still standing. As interesting as that was, we still couldn’t find the trail out of there, so we headed back up to the lean-to and finally discovered a trail leading off the trail we were on, which then promptly split. Only one side was marked with blue blazes, but we understood that that meant foot traffic only. In some places, foot traffic means hikers and in others it means hikers AND horses. We weren’t sure about here, and in any event, the left fork seemed to be going in the direction I had planned with my GPS, we headed west along a much narrow and less-traveled trail. It got quite steep going downhill in several places, and it was definitely more of a footpath than a horse trail, but we kept going, until it finally ended up on the road that led to where we picked up the trailhead. So we actually were in the right place all along, it just felt a bit off because the trail was so narrow. We headed back south on the road until we picked up the trail that follows the gas line, and we took that up a ways until we came to an intersection that, again, didn’t seem to be on the map. We opted to go right, and before long we realized we were on a trail that was taking us straight back to camp, which was DEFINITELY not on the map. By that time we had gone nearly five miles, so we decided to call it a day. I had checked the forecast on my smartphone, and it seemed to indicate that the rain due tomorrow wouldn’t arrive until mid- to late afternoon, so we decided to get up early and ride again tomorrow instead. Got another nice long canter in as we headed back to camp, a very enjoyable day all around!

Thursday, October 4, 2012 - Runaround Day

Hubby discovered the regulator for our propane tanks is about to give up the ghost, so I took a drive into town to go to an RV place I found that had a replacement. I also stopped at the post office on the off chance my packaged had arrived, but it didn’t, and I also went to a Verizon store to buy a car charge for my new smart phone (it really is an energy pig) and to adjust my plan. I’ve decided to keep my USB aircard for the time being, it really proved to me over the last few weeks that it is better for getting online than the built-in hotspot on my phone, and considering how much time we spend in fringe areas, I need to keep it for now. The sales guy tried to talk me into a jetpack, but no one there could say for sure if it worked in an extended network area, so I passed. Finished running errands and headed back to camp, stopping once more at the Walmart to buy an earbud for my smartphone so I could listen to radio on it. Despite forecasts to the contrary, it hardly rained at all today, though it was cloudy and threatening most of the day. Got back to camp and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - Rainy Day

Rained all day, everything soggy, but the trees are starting to turn gorgeous colors. Spent the day working on the computer and making phone calls, trying to settle on a floorplan and manufacturer of our next RV. Couldn’t do much else, a really wet day out there!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - Horrible Encounter with Ranger, Moved to Silvermine

After a fitful night sleep, still trying to relax after yesterday’s debacle, we were in the middle of breakfast when a old ranger showed up. He proceed to walk around the vehicles, taking down information, before he finally managed to find our patio door, which I opened. He said in a miserable tone, good morning, and I responded, "not necessarily." The next words out of his mouth were, "Well, if you don’t like it here, you should just leave." Just like that. I guess he had had a conversation with the young man I had railed at last night, and he came loaded for bear. So I opened the patio door, and Hubby said, "What’s going on?" And I said, "We’re leaving." His jaw dropped, but he knew better than to question me when I use "that tone," so he just stood and listened awhile. The ranger then said, fine, that will be $24. I had Hubby get the cash while I just stood there shaking my head. Finally I said, "You know, if you were a private business and I walked in the door unhappy, the manager would do their best to find out what was wrong in order to help me. Obviously you’re not the least bit interested in trying to make your customers happy." I tried to explain about the misinformation, and he wasn’t interested. He claimed he didn’t know what I was talking about, but a minute later he said he had heard the several messages I had left on the answering machine the afternoon before (they closed at 4:00), so I knew he was lying. He kept asking me for my name so he could put it on the receipt, but I refused to give it to him. He didn’t deserve to know who we were, because he obviously didn’t give one whit about us, so to hell with him. We finally exchanged cash for receipt and he left, instructing us that "checkout time was at noon." We couldn’t get out of that placed fast enough. We packed up faster than I think we have ever done, and in about 45 minutes, we were rolling out the gate. Funny, we had noticed yesterday in our search for water that there was very little evidence that the campground had had any horses in it for a long time, and now we could certainly understand why. We’d had bad vibes since we got there, and they were confirmed every step of the way. What a waste! But, like so many things that happen to us, it all worked out for the best. We had clear skies, gradually getting more cloudy, as we traveled the hour to the next camp, the Lost Silvermine Horse Camp in Nautchaug State Forest. When we arrived at the ranger station there, we were warmly greeted by a ranger there (glad to know not everyone in CT is a jerk like the last guy), who let us top off our tanks with their easily accessible outside spigot, gave us a bunch of maps and directions to the horse camp, just a mile up an excellent gravel and dirt road. We arrived shortly thereafter, pulling into a completely wooded area, no landscaped grass, just lots of woods, with lots of privacy between sites, a CENTRAL water pump (which we already knew was a pump, so we came prepared), and just a gorgeous selection of sites. Hubby picked one nearest the pump, and, knowing we couldn’t get a satellite signal because of the woods, got set up fairly quickly, just in time before the rain hit. If we had left Frog Hollow any later, we would have really gotten caught in the rain, so, once again, everything worked out for the best. This is MUCH more to our liking, and the best part, it’s FREE!! We decided we’d stay here until next Monday, so I called the Post Office at home and arranged to have my mail forwarded to General Delivery at the nearest local branch. It then proceed to rain all day, and because it was going to get cold tonight, we bundled the horses in their winter blankets on a nice long highline, had an extra brandy (or two) to settle our jangled nerves, and proceeded to try to unwind from all the recent aggravation! Good news! I have a GREAT cell phone signal here, 2-3 bars, so all around, this is going to be a MUCH better place to stay!

Monday, October 1, 2012 - Travel Day to Frog Hollow Horse Camp-WORST PLACE EVER!!

Still cloudy when we headed out, a little later than usual to miss the rain, and, thankfully, the rain held off, and it became progressively more clear as we headed south. Found a hay stop on craigslist, FABULOUS smelling hay the horses are going to LOVE! The bales were kind of light for $6, but they were worth it. Grateful for the clearing skies, kept the hay dry! Made several stops along the way, which delayed us longer than we hoped, but after several stops to confirm with maps and GPS that we were on the right track, (there were no signs on the road to the horse camp at all!), we finally arrived at Frog Hollow Horse Camp in the Pauchaug State Forest. There are two choices of horse camps in Connecticut, this one and the Lost Silvermine Camp in Nautchaug State Forest about 20 miles away. We chose Frog Hollow because we thought they would have more amenities, as they charge $24/night for out-of-staters ($14 for residents), while Silvermine was free. Normally, I like free better, but we were pretty tired from all the rain and chores we had done over the weekend, and thought the amenities would make it nicer. So, after having spoken with them on the phone about water, checked their website, and listened to their answering machine state over and over again that each campsite had a fire ring, a picnic table, and access to spigot water, we arrived at the horse camp (having had to get directions from a neighbor again) which had quite a narrow gate, which opened up into a fairly open loop. The inside of the circle was meticulous lawn, and the outside were the campsites. We spent 15 minutes walking around the camping area looking for "spigot" water, and finally, at the edge of Site 1 we found an old handpump! Apparently that was their idea of a spigot!! Well, we were pissed. For $24 a night we figured on a bit more than that! No corrals, no highline posts, no amenities for the horses whatsover. The pump wasn’t even centrally located, which meant if anyone parked in Site 1, it blocked the pump from everyone else in the campground! (not that there was anyone, but if there were). Anyway, since we had been told there was a spigot, we hadn’t filled up the RV either, so we had no water at all. After some discussion, we finally decided I should run back out with the trailer and try to find a spigot and fill up the RV and the 55 gallon drum we have for the horses, which usually gets us through 3 days. Because the gate was so narrow and the angle was so bad, I scraped the side of my truck on the metal post, the first boo-boo I’ve caused in the two years I’ve had my truck : -( , which did NOT improve my already pissed off mood. I headed down to where the map said there was a ranger station, and when I turned in to a poorly marked driveway, it seemed it was only a tiny parking area with a kiosk. I didn’t the nearly invisible sign that apparently indicated the ranger station was further down the road, but I don’t like going down roads I’m not sure I can turn around on, so I VERY slowly and carefully maneuvered around the tiny parking area and turned around, heading back up the road again, thinking I’d missed it, or maybe I would find someplace else I could fill up. No luck. I finally reached the road back to the horse camp, and had to turn around and try again. This time, I finally saw the tiny sign for the ranger station on the same road I had turned into before, so I bravely headed forth hoping I’d find it. Eventually I did, but naturally, by the time I got there, it was closed. I started looking around for an outdoor spigot I could use, but no luck there either. Just before I was really ready to go ballistic, a young man arrived, and after a few questions, learned he worked there, but had already quit for the day, and was about to go running. I pleaded with him to let me fill my tanks, and after a bit of reluctance, he finally opened up the garage and ran a hose out. Naturally, the water was a trickle, and took an eternity to fill up, so much so that when it came to the horse barrel, I only filled it about 2/3, because at the rate I was going it was going to be dark by the time I got back to the campground. All during that time I was trying to explain to the young man why I was so upset, that I had been lied to repeatedly about the water, that all of the information said it was a spigot, and that there were amenities. He tried to tell me that a pump was a spigot. He also tried to tell me the reason the signs for the ranger station were so hard to see is because they wanted to keep it looking "natural." He also tried to tell me a bunch of other crap, until I finally had to just put up my hand and explain that CT was our 39th state of horse camping, and that this was the worse case of misinformation that I could remember, and he might as well just give up trying to convince me that they were right and I was wrong. Finally I headed back out to the campground, where Hubby had put up the highline and set things up as best he could. I quickly put the trailer back in place, and he managed to get a satellite signal just before dark. Bad news, there was no cell phone signal here at all, not enough to make a call or get online. Not happy campers here at all today! Why do they lie? If they had just told us the truth, we could have done all of this before we got here and things would have been fine! Grrrrr!