Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - Work Day

Spent the day facilitating Day One of our workshop. Had a Chinese restuarant deliver food so we could rest as much as possible, also had a hot bath to ease my back.

Monday, February 27, 2012 - Rest Day

Slept late, ordered a room service breakfast so we wouldn’t have to go anywhere (it was excellent, first time I ever had room service eggs over easy that were cooked to perfection and even still hot!) Spent the day between the bed and a hot bath, until we finally had to go down and get the meeting room ready for tomorrow. Then we got a call from our friends Don and Toni, who had driven down from Melbourne Beach just to spend the first day at our workshop, and we met them for drinks and a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant, before retiring by 9:00 for a good night’s sleep.

Sunday, February 26, 2012 - OTL Trail Ride and Travel Day

   Well, today’s the day! Since last year we’ve wanted to do the Ocean to Lake Trail Ride (though in reality, it goes from near the lake to near the ocean, but who’s counting?), and though our original plan was to do both Friday and Sunday, it’s probably working out for the best that we only do Sunday, as we have an extremely busy schedule this week and we’re already tired from all the work on vehicle repairs that we’ve had to do, not to mention the pain we were both in from our respective back problems. A quick stop at the McDonalds to pick up breakfast, and off we go to Jupiter Farms Park for the start of the ride. We saddled up in our usual way, then at 8:30, following some last minute instructions from one of the organizers, we headed out the road. Before stayed toward the back, as our horses aren’t used to all those horses and people around, but they’re so calm they fell into step almost immediately. Everything would have been fine except some guy on horseback came rushing up behind us, with a poncho flapping behind him, and my horse, usually oblivious to such things, was so startled he started rodeo-ing on me, finishing with his head down and me landing on his neck before sliding onto the tarmac on my hip. I’m sure if I had been 100% I would have been fine, but with my back twisted from yesterday, I was far from 100%, so I couldn’t keep my balance and hit the street rather hard. Seems I only fall off when I’m already under the weather, last time it was when I had been in bed with the flu for a week! Anyway, after a minute to catch my breath, I climbed back up into the saddle (to the applause of a couple of bystanders), and off we went. The weather was cloudy and a little windy, which, frankly, was better than hot and humid, which it had been earlier in the week, the temps perfect in the upper 60’s for the start of the ride. We trailed along some roads in the neighborhood until we reached Riverside Park, taking trails which, for the most part, we had done before. At the north end of the park, we were directed through an underpass they call a Critter Crossing, to get to the north of Indiantown Road, then followed that a bit until we reached a spot where we all had to bunch up, then the sheriff’s office stopped traffic on the six-lane highway while we crossed the bridge across the river. It only took about 5-10 minutes for everyone to cross, and then we were on our way! The next section we hadn’t been on before, through Cypress Creek Park, until we went through some old groves and under a couple more narrow and dark critter crossing under the Florida Turnpike and I-95. Shortly afterward, there was a water stop, then a water crossing across the Hobe Ditch (which didn’t phase our guys a bit, fortunately), until we were on the well-marked trails of Jonathon Dickinson State Park. It wasn’t too long before we started recognizing that area, as we had ridden there a number of times last year. We arrived at the final picnic area right at 2:00, in time for lunch but too late for the first shuttle back to the parking area where we left the trailer. We unsaddled, watered and fed the horses, then enjoyed a rather large burrito and chips for lunch (included in the ride price), before rinsing the horses off. The whole time I was struggling because of my wrenched back, which I knew some people would interpret as being out of shape for the ride, which, as you know, is about as far from the truth as can be! That part really sucked. Anyway, we killed a couple of hours until the final shuttle left at 4:00, when I got carried back to the park, picked up the vehicles and finally arrived back at JD about 5:00. Got home after 6:00, settled the horses in, finished packing, dropped off the horse trailer, fed everyone, then headed south to Miami. Arrived at our hotel (the Marriott on Biscayne Bay) around 9:00, exhausted, in pain and ready to do NOTHING until Tuesday morning when we have a Workshop to facilitate. We both took painkillers, I had a hot bath, and off to bed we went.

Saturday, February 25, 2012 - Van Wash

Well, all our best intentions were to take it easy today in preparation for our long ride tomorrow, but I just couldn’t stand looking at how dirty the van was, so I set out to give it a "quick" wash, which, of course, never turns out to be the case. I did manage to get it cleaned up, and then, while doing the final spritzing of the windsheild, I managed to pull a muscle in my back, twisting it "just so" in that way when you know it’s going to hurt very soon. Just what I didn’t need! At least the van was clean! We took a quick ride over to Jupiter Farms Park to register for the ride tomorrow, then came back and hooked it up to the horse trailer so we would be all set to go in the morning. I took some painkillers, and we went to bed early, alarm set for before dawn.

Friday, February 24, 2012 - Battery Replacement

After being on the charger trickling all night, the van started up immediately this morning, with no problems with fuel or ignition. Yeah!! I left Hubby behind to rest up (he’s still feeling a bit woozy), and headed down to Advance Auto in town, where a woman quickly diagnosed and replaced my battery. As we suspected, though it had a full charge, the cold cranking was down to about 300, so it wouldn’t be long before it needed replacing, and I’d rather do it now while it’s still working a little than wait until one cold morning when we really needed it to work and it wouldn’t. Just glad the fuel pump seems to be working okay! Did a few errands, then got home in time for our ice cream lunch, then settled down for the evening, having run ourselves ragged this week solving problems!

Thursday, February 23, 2012 - Van Day

Part arrived early this morning (finally, FedEx does something right for a change!), and Hubby got busy working on the van. Unfortunately, it was a pretty hot day, and he had a few dizzy spells during the morning, so I ended up coming out to give him a hand in the afternoon. He spent several hours trying to release some piping which, in the end, we decided didn’t need to really come off. After that, it was fairly straightforward to drop the tank, change the fuel pump, and re-hang the tank again, though it took the rest of the day. Then, when we were ready to test the system, the battery failed. This didn’t really surprise us, as it had really died quickly when our flashers were on while we were dead by the side of the road, but we’ve never had any trouble with it before so we never thought about it. Turns out the battery is original equipment from 2003! Guess we got our money’s worth out of those nine years! Put it on the charge so that tomorrow we’ll be able to go get another battery. No way to really test the system until then, but we have no reason to suspect it’s anything other than the fuel pump (famous last words!) A bit concerned about Hubby’s dizzy spells, he had several bad ones during the day, but I’m thinking it’s probably the heat and dehydration, I can never get him to drink enough fluids, and it’s something all of this doctors keep telling him to do. Well you can lead a horse to water, but... Hot showers and to bed!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - More Spring Cleaning

Spent most of the day doing more spring cleaning, while Hubby started to work on the van, in preparation for receiving the fuel pump, which is due tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - Ride Day

One thing we’re determined to do is to make sure that we don’t neglect our preparation for our upcoming rides, both for us and for our horses. Despite the pile of work staring at us, we decided we had to get back on the horses and go for a ride, so that’s what we did. Since we didn’t have the van to go anywhere, we decided to cross to the south side of Indiantown Rd and follow the canals a while, something I had done last year with my brother, but never with Hubby. So off we went, this time with GPS in hand to get our first taste of mapping as we go. A long learning curve on one of these things if you’re not used to them! So many choices, it’s going to take awhile to get the hang of it. Anyway, we rode along the canal all the way down to an area called the Loxahatchee Slough (pronounced "slew"), where another wildlife public land area began, and one we’ll have to explore another day, as there’s a minor water crossover at the canal at this point, which evidently leads into several well-marked equestrian trails. Saw lots of birds and turtles, and possibly even one baby alligator under water (looked like a log but it was moving), and had quite a few trots and canters along the way. A couple of workers were out with some heavy equipment bush-hogging along the trail, but they were very respectful of us and turn everything off whenever we came up to pass them, which turned out to be several times, coming in and going out. Total distance out and back was almost 13 miles, so another good workout for the horses and for us!

Monday, February 20, 2012 - Waxing and Shopping Day

Got up early again and started waxing the RV, using an excellent marine wax that is pretty easy to apply and remove, thank goodness. Managed to get all of one side and the back done during the course of the day. Hubby spent the day draining the gas tank. Fortunately, my brother happened to have recently acquired a holding tank with a pump on it, and though we couldn’t get the pump reversed to pump it out, at least we’ll have it to pump it back in. Meanwhile, he pumped it out mostly by siphon and by hand, which took about five hours. Afterward, we went out to do some shopping for essentials.

Sunday, February 19, 2012 - Day OFF!!!

Doing NOTHING today!! Just slept as late as possible, then spent the day watching TV, napping, resting, and otherwise taking it easy today. Doesn’t feel like one day is enough, but it’s all we can afford!

Saturday, February 18, 2012 - RV Wash Day

Perfect, cloudy day to wash the RV, so I got out early and got one side finished before breakfast, and finished up the rest during the day. Nice to finally get the dirt off!

Friday, February 17, 2012 - More Spring Cleaning

Spent more time in the RV trying to move along the spring cleaning, slowly but thoroughly working on another set of cupboards in the kitchen. Amazing how long a thorough clean takes, even in a confined space like an RV! Hubby spent the day trying to find out what is wrong with the van, and after numerous tests, determined that the fuel pump had given out. Unfortunately, the fuel pump access is at the top of the gas tank, which means we have to drop the tank to get to it. That’s problematic, since we had just finished filling the tank (31 gallons) just before the pump went, so that’s our first challenge. I ordered the pump online (locally the price was double), so it will be next week before we get to that job anyway. Not looking forward to that, but it must be done!

Thursday, February 16, 2012 - Truck Wash and Hay Day

Started the day off emptying out the last few bales of hay out of the back of the pickup and washing it before heading out to Okeechobee, about an hour’s drive, to pick up a load of hay. Locally hay is between $11 and $18 a bale, vs. $6 a bale out in Okeechobee. There’s been quite a drought in the area the last few months, but it seems like there’s been more rain lately, so maybe the price will come down later. Meanwhile, it’s an easy drive, and fuel is cheaper out there anyway, so we filled up while we were out there anyway. Another day just getting the usual chores done, not making any progress on our list of things to do!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - Blood test, GPS

Van still didn’t start this morning, but we don’t have time to mess with it today. We disconnected the truck from the RV and headed south for a previously arranged appointment with a guy I found on craigslist that has a trail-mapping GPS I’ve been looking for. He ended up being somewhat late, but he finally made it to our meeting place at Starbucks in Boynton Beach, and it didn’t take long to complete the transaction. We made a couple of stops on the way back, including one at the lab in Jupiter for another blood test Hubby’s doctor wanted. Another tiring day of running around.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - LONG Ride Day, Breakdown

  Set the alarm early so that we could "test drive" an early morning followed by a long ride in preparation for the upcoming Ocean to Lake trail ride at the end of the month. Took a quick side trip into Indiantown to pick up breakfast at the Burger King before heading out to Dupuis WMA. Managed to get saddled up and out on the trail shortly after 10:00, still a bit later than we had hoped, but at least it gave us plenty of time to do the mileage we wanted. As always at Dupuis, it was a great ride! Love this place! Ended up being out until almost 4:00, doing at least 17 miles, with lots of jogs and trots and some lovely canters. The horses were brilliant, as usual, and managed to keep up until the last few miles when they finally got noticeably tired. We got them unsaddled, watered and loaded up in the trailer, then headed back into town to fill up the gas tank. Then, just as we were leaving town, the motor on the van suddenly quit. We had just come off a high bridge, and we coasted another half mile before I finally had to pull off and stop. I didn’t want to pull off too far with the trailer, so we were still out on the road a bit, but enough where people could get by. We tried several times to get it going, but it just wouldn’t start again. We ended up having to call a tow truck, and we also called the sheriff’s office so they could post someone behind us to slow traffic down. It took almost an hour for the truck to get there, getting darker and darker all the time, until he finally arrived just at the end of dusk. He was good, though, and had us loaded up pretty quickly, with the van up on the flatbed and the horse trailer in tow behind. We arrived back at the house about 7:30, and we were quickly unloaded and settled in, with no great drama, other than the fact that we were exhausted after the long ride and the late evening. Not the best day to break down, but then again, no day is a great day for a break down! Chalk up another job on out list of "things to do" (as if we didn’t have enough already!)

Monday, February 13, 2012 - Work Day

More Spring cleaning inside, as the yard is still too wet to work outside much. Can’t wait to get caught up on all this work!

Sunday, February 12, 2012 - Rest Day

Took the day off today, to get some rest from all the work we’ve been doing. Turned the alarm off so we slept late, and though I spent some time on the computer researching GPS units, it was mostly a quiet day, too cold to go riding, with the north wind blowing all day. A relaxing evening recharging our batteries, as our list of chores still seems longer than the number of days we have to do them. Seems like we’ll never get caught up!

Saturday, February 11, 2012 - More Spring Cleaning

Spent the day spring cleaning. Started out cloudy, but the rain finally stopped, the temperature dropped throughout the day, and a cold wind started coming in from the north, so we have our fingers crossed that we soon will be able to cross the yard without our Wellington boots on! Forecast is for quite cold tonight, down into the mid-40’s! Got the quilt out again, thought we were done with it for the season, but no such luck. Brrrr!

Friday, February 10, 2012 - Doctor and Cleaning Day

Hubby had another helpful visit to our new chiropractor this morning, then we spent the day back at spring cleaning.

Thursday, February 9, 2012 - Ride at Dupuis

Despite setting the alarm, due to some complications we didn’t get going until fairly late in the morning, but we had decided to trailer the horses over to one of our favorite places to ride, Dupuis Wildlife Management Area near Indiantown, FL. The horses nickered when they saw the trailer, obviously they were ready for a change of scene as well! After the half hour drive, we got the horses saddled up and going by about 1:15. What a great ride! We love this place, it has so many trails that all offer something incredible. We started out on the Green trail, going in a direction we’d never been before, and it seems that they trails have been re-marked fairly recently, as we had no trouble reading any of the markings, and never lost our way, even for a minute! Trails here have great footing, hardly any water or flooding despite all the rain we had earlier in the week, we just rode and rode and rode. Lots of jogging and trotting, and several great canters as well. It even seemed like the horses were more comfortable with their new hoof trim, they seemed to stumble a bit less than usual and just overall seemed more comfortable on their feet, which was terrific! Rode for 3 ½ hours, returned home but then had to run out again to try to pick up some x-rays from our previous chiropractor, but their office had closed early and we missed them, an hour wasted. Got back about 7:30, had some ice cream and cocoa and settled down for the evening, content we had gone a long way toward helping build up our stamina for our upcoming horse adventures!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - Runaround Day

 Started out the day with spring cleaning, something I’ve been meaning to do since we arrived, albeit slowly over time. Managed to get several kitchen cupboards done before breakfast. After breakfast we had a visit with a farrier that I had made an appointment with last week, a fantastic farrier that specializes in natural hoof care named Frank Tobias. Excellent! Not only did he do probably the best trim job I’ve ever seen on my horses, he explained everything to me in clear detail so that I can keep it up throughout the year. What I’ve been doing habitually is to get a pro to do it once a year, then I try to keep it up myself throughout the rest of the year, and I’m always concerned I’m not doing it quite right, but Frank was very complimentary about how good their feet looked (though obviously in need of a good trim), he said I was doing a pretty good job. He took a lot of time helping me understand, he said he’s always happy to help someone who is interested in hoof care, especially barefoot care (though he is also a farrier as well. If you need a farrier in South Florida, this is the guy! Afterward, we spent the day running around, picking things up for the RV repairs, grocery shopping and generally just having a regular day, followed by a gorgeous sunset!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - Lazy Day

Despite a few hours of being awake early, we fell back to sleep and slept late this morning. We puttered around most of the day until it was time for Hubby’s doctor appointment. It kept raining off and on, though the water in the yard did go down a bit, it was still ankle deep in most places. Got back and had a relaxing evening, overall a lazy day which made for a nice change.

Monday, February 6, 2012 - Rainy, Rainy Day

 It started raining overnight, and continued for many hours of the day. As they’ve been having a drought here for the last couple of years, the locals are happy about it, and I didn’t mind until a huge gusher this afternoon. By then the ground was so saturated it couldn’t drain fast enough (despite the fact that we’re surrounded by lakes and canals) and pretty soon the yard was full of puddles that grew to ponds that completed engulfed us. Walking anywhere required wading through water that came halfway up my calves in some places! Had to navigate through it to feed the horses, not much fun! Then I accidentally walked through a fire ant nest, and had to deal with getting bitten all over my ankles and even up to my elbows as I reached down and picked something up before realizing it was covered with the little buggers. Ouch! I hope the flood drains off by tomorrow, and that the rain quits for a while. Dogs are wading around every time they go out. Crazy! Other than that, I spent the day trying to finish organizing out anticipated vacation next month, while Hubby did some repairs inside the RV around the kitchen. Relaxed as much as we could for the evening, a busy week coming up!

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - Ride with Brother

Had an excellent night sleep for a change, then oatmeal for breakfast to compensate for all the extra calories we had for dinner last night! Early in the afternoon, my brother and I saddled up for our Sunday ride, a habit we formed last year and are continuing to this year. We decided to cross over the canal to Hungryland, which, despite the fact he’s lived here for over 15 years, he’s never been to before. The horses were excellent, with only a slight hesitation before going down the steep incline, and climbing up again. I showed my brother, who is really in to the flora and fauna of the area, a skeleton of a fish that we had passed several times before, and which I was sure was a piranha, even though they’re not native here (there are lots of stories about folks letting them loose in the Everglades, though it sounds like just another urban myth, like alligators in the sewers of NYC). When I first described it he thought it might be an alligator gar, but they are long a thing, and this thing had a blunt nose and huge teeth. When he saw it, he agreed it wasn’t a gar, and couldn’t think of anything else other than a piranha, though he’ll be more convinced when he looks it up on the internet (which I’m sure he’ll do at some point). Anyway, we headed out the Indiantown Trail out to the pavilion, where he checked out the old stockade area of the former cattle ranch that this was. We had run into a ranger on the way in, and he was telling us about the history of the place, and suggesting some other places to ride on the other end of the WMA. After a bit, we headed further west on the main trail, but then we reached a spot the horses got a bit stubborn about, probably because they could smell pigs, but also, I think it was because we’d done the trail before, and they get bored easily and didn’t want to do it again. Clio finally headed down a trail to the south, and Apollo and I followed out of curiosity. I was a bit concerned we’d run into too much swamp, but we could always turn back if it got too bad. Well after a bit, we did reach a small water hazard, but there were clear tire tracks of a recent vehicle passing this way, so we took the plunge and went through. Fortunately, it wasn’t even knee high, and the bottom seemed quite firm, so we plowed ahead. It seems most of the bottoms here are pretty firm sand with just a bit of sediment on top, but that’s in the well-traveled areas. I’m not taking risks off the trail. Anyway, we continued to follow the tracks, even when it started getting more water on the trail. Clio was being brilliant, without the slightest hesitation, even when the water got higher. We never quite reached chest high, but almost. Eventually I could hear a noise of machinery, sounding like a generator one of my brother’s neighbors had been running for the past few days, so I realized we were probably on the same trail Hubby and I had taken yesterday, the one where we stopped because of the water hazard. Once we reached the end of the water, I confirmed it was the same trail, which was perfect because it headed us home. As we were getting closer to the main road, my eagle-eyed brother spotted what looked like an eagle’s nest at the top of a dead tree, and just as he was pointing it out to me, we saw a very large bird flying towards the next, carrying a snake, probably about 4 foot long. Amazing! I guess he or she had babies to feed! We watched for a little while, then kept moving back to the road, where we had to go around a gate. We were less than 100 feet from the entrance of the park, so we were home in no time after that, once again crossing the canal with no problem. Old hat for these guys now! It was a great ride, and I can’t wait to search out some other areas, though Hubby said he was ready to trailer the horses out to Dupuis or Riverside this week, when we have time. Got lots to do this week! We had a nice dinner, watched a few programs while we recorded the Super Bowl, than zipped through that play by play (as is our habit with football... Sorry, but we really detest commercials), before heading off to bed.

Saturday, February 4, 2012 - Ride Day

Started the day with new stretching exercises recommended by Hubby’s new doctor (we’re doing them together, because a good stretch always make me feel better too!), then eventually after breakfast and a couple of chores, we headed out with the horses to the Hungryland WMA, this time insisting that Apollo take the first downhill part of the canal crossover with me riding him instead of me leading him as I had done in the past. Took a little time, but eventually he overcame his reluctance and plunged down and up again, no sweat! Hubby and Clio followed quickly afterward, and then, for some reason, neither one wanted to take another stop. We urged and urged, but they were really reticent. Obviously there was something in the wind they didn’t like, (or maybe it was just that they are already bored with this trail) but eventually, we managed to get them moving. We turned off the main road shortly, wanting to explore some new trails, and it was obvious from the length of the grass (belly high) that it was not used very often. We only got about half a mile along a canal before we came across water over the trail. Not being familiar with it, we decided not to go through the water, as it looked swampy for as far as we could see, and turned around. We took a couple of branches and ran into more water, until we finally found one trail that got us back to the main road with only a minor water crossing. We kept on the main road until the pavilion, where the parking lot was full, apparently some kind of bike event. We tried to go out the back end of the parking lot and along a fence, and again ran into a swamp. We turned around and tried going in another direction, but the grass was so high we turned around again. Some hikers told us that one trail let to another canal, which likely had a trail along it (like pretty much all canals around here), but we decided we’d been out long enough and headed back. We had no problem getting back out over the canal. It was a nice ride, though a bit frustrating at times, but a good three hours out was good for everyone! Relaxed for a couple of hours before starting on dinner. I had offered to make dinner for him and his girlfriend, so I began prepping the salmon, slicing tomatoes, cleaning green beans, added some wild rice to the menu, and enjoyed a very nice meal when they got home. We spent the evening with them for a bit, then headed back to the RV for an abbreviated evening of TV.

Friday, February 3, 2012 - More Work

Got too busy to ride today, trying to finalize the flooring order and doing some cleaning, laundry, shopping and running around. Hopefully tomorrow!

Thursday, February 2, 2012 - More Work

Started off the day going to the new doctor for Hubby’s back pain. A much different atmosphere at this office, more thorough and professional, and he felt some relief by the time we left, thank goodness. Since it was an early appointment, we had skipped breakfast, so afterward we headed to a nice little cafe call First Watch for a delicious breakfast before getting back to work. After a trip to Home Depot to get the rest of the items we needed, Hubby finished the job of re-doing the RV floor, except for the new tile covering, which we still have to decide on and order. Meanwhile, I ran around to a bunch of stores trying to find the kind of flooring I wanted, and did manage to find some flooring I liked, so I brought some samples home to make a final decision about the color. So that job’s gone as far as it can until we finalize that, though there’s plenty more jobs on the list to keep us busy! Finally settled in for the evening, hoping to get a ride in tomorrow, though the weather forecast is a bit iffy, following on the light rain and drizzle we had for much of the day today.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 - Work Day

Hubby progressed on our first major project in the RV, replacing an area of the floor that had deteriorated somewhat, so trips to Home Depot and a flooring store were in order. Found a new doctor for him to go to for back pain that he’s been having, since it seems the last one doesn’t seem to be helping much, we have an appointment tomorrow morning. Worked until dark before finally settling down for the evening.