Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - Problem Solving Day

After checking out Clio’s limp and seeing it hadn’t improved too much, we decided not to ride today as we had originally planned, so I spent the day on the computer solving logistics problems for our upcoming weeks. Still can’t hear very well, though it seems incrementally better, so rest today would probably be the best thing anyway.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - FINALLY! A Ride Day in Massachusetts

Still can’t hear very well, but feel better otherwise, so we decided we’d run out of time and just had to ride today. Saddled the horses up and headed out on one of the trailheads from the campground, though it wasn’t marked on any of the maps we had download from the internet or picked up at the office. The trail was mostly sand and dirt footing, which was nice, and the trees were mostly scrub pines, typical of areas near the beach, but the trail was quite narrow, and there were lots of very thick shrubbery and short trees crowding the trail, so the horses kept getting poked in the belly and their legs kept getting brushed by the shrubs, so it wasn’t an entirely comfortable ride. But we were happy to be out, and the horses seemed glad to be on the trail again, too. Apollo barreled along without hesitation, intent on getting through the brush, and to my addled mind, seemed to be walking faster and seemed taller than I remembered. That’s what comes from not riding for a month! Finally, we came out onto a sandy stretch that I identified as the gas line, which we discovered was also technically considered the bridle path. We crossed over it to a dirt road, which was a long straightaway, and started to trot and canter for a bit. Suddenly Hubby pulled up and said he thought Clio was limping, so we did a few test trots, and sure enough, she was favoring her back left leg. We decided not to press our luck, so based on my GPS, we took the most direct line back to the campground, which meant cutting through another camping area, then following the road. Fortunately, we had made a big loop, so we were only about a half mile away from the campground, and Clio seemed fine at the walk, so we just took our time getting back. Once there, Hubby put liniment all along her leg, and some wound salve on what seemed to be a little abrasion above her back heel. We weren’t sure what the cause was, so we were trying to cover all our bases! She also looked like she might have a bruise on her thigh, as if she had been kicked by a horse with shoes, which was highly possible at the horse farm, but only time will tell. Anyway, at least we got our ride in, and we can check Massachusetts off our list!

Monday, September 10, 2012 - Walk around the Campground Loop

Having made the decision to stay a few more days, I once again had to drive six miles back to the ranger station to get new tags and pay for a few more days, wasting an hour of time and more gas and energy than practical. Such silly rules! Considering the campground is empty, it hardly seemed necessary, but again, they were insistent. Once I got back, we decided that after being out on the highline for two days, the horses really needed some exercise, so Hubby and I mustered the energy to "walk" the horses around the campground loop a couple of times on their leads, to stretch their legs and for me to get some fresh air and test my hearing and balance. I felt pretty good, not as tired as I thought I would be, so I’m hoping by tomorrow morning we’ll be up for a ride, at long last!

Sunday, September 9, 2012 - Same

Repeat of yesterday, feeling like my hearing is slightly better, but still a long way to go. Still don’t feel well enough to ride, so it looks like we’ll be staying a few more days, to recuperate some more before we ride.

Saturday, September 8, 2012 - Still Under the Weather

Woke up a few times during the night, but stayed in bed late to make up for it. Still can’t hear very well, and yesterday’s trip might have been a bit of a recovery setback, but we still felt like we had to move. Spent the day mostly resting and trying to continue recuperating.

Friday, September 7, 2012 - Travel Day over to Myles Standish Forest, MA

Marina making herself at home

Got out at a reasonable hour, stopped at the local sewer authority for a much needed dump, another quick stop at a Walmart before arriving at the Myles Standish Forest near Plymouth, MA. The office parking lot was too small and didn’t have a turnaround, so I had to back up to get out of it. Paid through Monday, not sure how long we’re planning on staying. Once we arrived at the campground we had to wait for a few minutes while another trailer was getting set up and were blocking the road in the meantime. Everyone in their group was dressed in desert fatigues and the side of the truck said something about Mass. Militia. Not sure what that was all about... Finally got past them, and headed toward the spot we had picked. The rangers in the office wouldn’t let us just pick a spot and call them, they insisted we select a site, sight unseen, and if we changed our mind we had to come back to the office to get new passes (6 miles of rough and potholed roads). Well, naturally, we found a site we thought would be better, so I immediately called to change the site, but they still insisted we come back for new vehicle tags. Once we got set up, I took the arduous trip back to pick up the new tags. What a waste of time and energy, but what can you do? The area where the horses were highlined had a lot of pine roots sticking up, and someone had gone around and painted them all blue, I guess to help people avoid tripping over them, which wasn’t easy even with the paint! Anyway, we finally got settled in, Hubby managed to get a satellite signal, and we had a quiet evening after a longer than expected day.

Thursday, September 6, 2012 - More Rest

Finally got the energy to unpack our big bag and hang everything back up in the van (our second closet). Did some preparation for our departure tomorrow, we just can’t put it off any longer, we’ve got to get back on the road, no matter how we feel, or we’re never going to get to all the places we want to get to before the end of the season.