Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 - Halloween and Rest

Slept late again, with Hubby staying in bed a few extra hours, still trying to fight off the cold, slowly. Lost 1-1/2 pounds, would you believe!! Continued to work on a project on the computer, rained off and on again today, finally clearing up in the afternoon to bright sunshine and some wind, hoping it will dry the trails enough for a ride tomorrow. Ate my way through the day again, Hubby starting to feel a bit better, pretty sure he'll be up for a ride tomorrow!

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013 - Another Rest Day

Woke up a half pound lighter, though I figured that would happen even without the diet, having gotten back to my usual food after a week of eating in restaurants, or out of a hotel microwave. Spent the day working on the computer again, with Hubby in bed again for part of the day, feeling only marginally better than yesterday, still needing more sleep. Rained off and on all day, sometimes torrentially, with mud everywhere. I put the horses on anchors just to get them out of the corral, with is quickly become ankle-deep in mud. Other than that, an uneventful day, though I still felt like I spent the day eating! Strange diet, can't wait to see if it really works!

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013 - Mostly a Rest Day

Got up around 9:00 to tend the horses, then spent most of the rest of the day on the computer or reading. Hubby slept a few hours longer, then got up feeling lousy, so after breakfast he went back to bed. Got up in the late afternoon feeling better, and worried that if he slept too much today, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. I started a Nutri-systems program today, trying to get off the extra 10-15 pounds I've gained in the last year, it seems like I ate more food today than I ever have before! Very curious to see how THAT works out! Spent the evening relaxing before turning in, both of us still feeling quite exhausted, that deep, down, muscle-ache kind of tired that only rest can cure, so we intend to do that during this cloudy, rainy spell.

Monday, October 28, 2013 - Travel Day to Eisenhower SP in Kansas

What a crazy night! We were in bed before 10, but we both woke up abruptly when we heard some clunking and felt the RV shaking. When I looked out my window to the barnyard, where it was lit up like daylight anyway, we were surrounded by cattle munching the grass around us. Most had horns, and some even were longhorns, so between the horns and their swishing tails, we were getting good and thumped! Nothing we could do about it, and eventually they wandered off, so we got back to sleep after a while. They came thumping around again at 8:00, which forced us to get up despite plans to sleep a bit later, which was probably just as well anyway. We got up and quickly went to work packing up and moving out. We were on the road by 9:30, with stops at Costco so Hubby could pick up an earbud for his hearing aid, which he had lost a few days ago, grabbed a meal at BK (just missing breakfast), stopped at Tractor Supply for oats and senior feed, and finally at Walmart. From there we drove to the Eisenhower State Park near Malvern Lake. We stopped at the office, but were told to go select a site, then come back to register, which we did. Registration, like in so many state parks, was a complete pain in the butt. They asked for more information that anyone purchasing a week of camping should ever be forced to answer, including our Social Security number! I refused to give them that one, wondering what on earth they needed that for, and would you believe it had to do with finding deadbeat dads who didn't pay their child support? Apparently they collect them, then submit them to another government agency who lets them know if there are any outstanding child support issues, in which case the state park is supposed to refuse to sell them anything! The clerk told me that in her 14 years, they had actually caught 3 people. Can you imagine, collecting all those social security numbers of completely innocent people, putting their identities at risk of being stolen, just because the court system is so pathetic it can't catch up with three guys who owe money? Ridiculous! She also wanted Hubby's birthday, and refused to let me purchase the camping without it! How I LONG for the days when all they did was say "how much" and all I had to do was pay them. This only seems to happen at state parks, but I honestly thought a state like Kansas would be a little less bureaucratic and a little more appreciative of freedom. Plus they made us pay for an annual vehicle pass, another way to pump up the coffers for no real reason. I really dislike state parks. I walked into that office in a good mood, and by the time I left (and it took over 20 minutes!) I was miserably, feeling like a criminal. No question, government is sticking its nose WAY too much into our lives. Anyway, enough of my rant. I got back to camp (Hubby was starting to get worried something had happened to me), and we finished setting up. None of the sites are very level, so we had to put boards down under the back wheels of the RV, and the corral that the horses are in is a bit on a slope as well. A little while later, another ranger came by and told me he had accidentally credited our account while he was giving a refund to someone else, so not to be surprised when it showed up, but that makes me REALLY wonder about how long they hang onto credit card numbers. I thought they were supposed to disappear right after a purchase was made, at least that's what I have to do when I collect money through my merchant account. Anyway, at least he didn't say anything when the dogs came out and said hello. We finally settled in for the evening, utterly exhausted, coming down from all our activities from the past week. The forecast is calling for rain for the next 2 or 3 days, so lots of rest and laundry are in order.

Sunday, October. 27, 2013 - Back to Kansas City

After a week of working, shuttling between hotels, taking on extra clients and generally doing the usual, mundane, non-horsey things for the past week, we were happy to get back on a plane at Reagan National and head back to Kansas City. We had a later flight, thank goodness, had plenty of time to sleep until 9:30, have the complimentary breakfast at the Embassy Suites Old Town Alexandria, grab a cab make our way through the airport, all in record time. Flight was on time and non-stop, so we arrived on time, happy to get back to all our four-legged kids! Finally met our hostess Beka, checked up on everyone, of course the dogs wriggled themselves nearly inside out when they saw us! My good old Apollo whinnied when I called him, because they had moved them again and we couldn't find them, but as soon as I heard him, we were able to locate them in a paddock a little further along. Soon got settled in, partly unpacked, completely exhausted, and were ready to head to bed early, though being still on Eastern time, it seemed later.

Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 - Rest Day

Slept until 9:00, Hubby up first for a change, down to breakfast for their buffet (management had given us coupons because of our long wait yesterday), then spent the afternoon preparing for tomorrow.

Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013 - Travel Day to DC

With the alarm ringing at 3:30 am, our day began early! Quickly got dressed, finalized our packing and headed out the door by juast after 4:00, not leaving too much time for a margin of error. Unfortunately, that was tested as we discoverd the freeway exit we needed was closed, and we had to take a detour that took us several miles out of way, but with no traffic, that didn't take long. We arrived at the Clarion, which offers off-site parking for almost half the price of the airport, had a nice chat with the night clerk until the shuttle driver returned. It didn't take long to check-in, a bit longer to get through security, though for some reason they gave us a pink card that meant I didn't have to take off my jacket or shoes, though Hubby did because he had to have a patdown, just because of his defibrillator, but it didn't take any longer than usual. No breakfast places were open, not that our stomachs were ready yet anyway, nor did we really have time. Loading began about 15 minutes after we arrived, and we were in the air before we knew it. Had coffee and snacks (all they had), an uneventful flight, arrived by 9:30 local time, and arrived at the hotel by 10. Unfortunately, no rooms were ready, so we would have to wait. By now, we were starving, so we put our baggage in storage and headed to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Room still a long way from ready, so we took the shuttle over to Pentagon row, and did some grocery shopping. Got back by 12:30, room still not ready. Sat around the lobby for another hour+ before they finally got us into our room. By now we were exhausted, and rested most of the day, with Indian from Marsala Express delivered, watched a couple of movies on Showtime, including War Horse, which we had seen the stage play on Broadway back in Oct. 2011. Nicely done by Spielberg, though there were several production elements which we didn't agree with, it was still very worthwhile. Finally got to bed after 10:00, ready for some serious sleep!

Friday, Oct. 18, 2013 - Travel Day to Belle Star Ranch

Woke up to the alarm, cold and dark outside, pretty overcast, but we finally managed to crawl out of bed and get our butts in gear. Out of the campground by 8:15, stops at Tractor Supply, where Hubby found a much needed new saddle blanket, Walmart for a few essentials, McD's for breakfast (only because there wasn't anything else around), then finally arriving at the Belle Star Ranch where the horses will be boarded. A large, very busy facility, probably the busiest horse ranch we've ever been to. Unfortunately, it started raining, and actually then we got frozen rain, so I immediately covered up the hay in the pickup, and we had to do everything socked in with this cold, frozen rain, not what the forecast had called for!! Got the horses settled in the barn, a large stall, though they later got moved to another stall, with a turn out paddock where they can come and go as they please, so they should be happy. Got the RV settled in, satellite dish up, hooked up to electric, filled with water, promptly started a load of laundry so we would could pack asap, then spent the afternoon packing and feeding Hubby every anti-cold remedy I could find, as he started coming down with something, no doubt from working outside in the cold rain. Finally got everything done, instructions to the young man who will be looking after our guys while we're gone, and settled in by about 6:00. Plans are to go to bed REALLY early, as we have to get up REALLY early to catch a 6 am flight. Not my favorite, but it was the only non-stop to DC from KC, and that was more important than hopping up and down. At least we'll have two days to recover before we begin working on Monday!

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013 - Prep Day

Slept really late this morning, trying to put a few deposits in our sleep bank before a busy week next week. Did some chores and repairs in the afternoon, packing stuff away for our early departure tomorrow morning. Just another day on the trail!

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 - Second (and last) Ride at Honey Creek

Slept good and late again (as we have for the last few days), so after brunch we saddled up and headed out, this time back tracking the first part of our last ride, leaving by the outhouses. We bundled up, though, as the temps were only in the fifties, and it was pretty cloudy and damp. I thought I heard a little rain this morning, so we were a little worried about the trail conditions, but this may be our last chance to ride, so we headed out anyway. We quickly took a shortcut, though, we've discovered the "side" trails are actually just as good, and in some cases better than the main trails, as the lighter traffic sometimes made the trails less slippery. We didn't want to take too long a ride today, as we have a long week ahead of us next week, so after the first shortcut, we just followed the A/Red trail all around the north side of the park, often getting so close to the freeway we could not only hear it, but see it as well. There are several stretches of trail that they've put stone down, obviously to ameliorate the slippage problem, but the stones are HUGE, not like gravel at all, just stone from a riverbed or something, mostly about 8-12 inches in diameter, so the horses didn't like them much. It's only marginally better than mud, but that could be a close call! Passed by a really huge old oak tree, 300 years old at least, judging by the diameter of the trunk. Anyway, it was a short ride, under four miles, but we did manage to canter once or twice on some ridges through open fields where it was dry enough. Got back to camp, put everyone out to graze again, and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 - Work Day

We had considered riding today, but after the rain yesterday, we decided to let it dry out today, so we spent the day working on the computer and reading again, proving that even when you're living your dream, there are still days that are just simply mundane!

Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 - Lazy Rainy Day

Woke up to more rain moving in overnight, and, being a sort of holiday, we spent the day reading, on the computer and watching movies.

Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013 - First Ride Day at Honey Creek

Woke up to another sunny day, though a cool wind tends to whip by us, as we're right at the highest, most open part of the campground. Nevertheless, we were ready for a ride today! So were the horses, they were quite raring to go! Saddled up and headed south near the entrance to the park, which was the start of what is marked as the Red trail, or A trail, depending on how you read it. Despite the two days of sun, there were still some spots that were pretty slippery. The trails were in pretty good shape, mostly wide enough for a group of horses to pass at one time, with just a few areas narrowing down to single file. It made for several nice opportunities to canter. A lot of it had the feel of riding around someone's farm, as there were quite a few corn and soybean fields around. They had obviously just been harvested, and in fact, the first night we were here there were all kinds of heavy trucks and a harvester coming in and out late into the evening, so now we know why! A nice ride, though. Some of the trees are well into changing colors, while others are still quite green, some have gone brown, so not as pretty as last year's east coast journey, but nice nevertheless. Weather was perfect! Had a nice watering hole not too far into the ride, and once we stopped along the trail to adjust Hubby's sliding saddle blanket, only to discover a nice little stopping area just a hundred yards further along, with hitching rails and mounting stumps! Wished we had known about that before we stopped! A very nice trip, just under 6.5 miles long, a perfect length for us not to get too tired out. Quickly got everyone settled in for the evening, and relaxed until bedtime!

Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013 - More Work

A beautiful day today, lots of sun, but I still felt a bit tired from the trip, and still had work to do on the computer, plus we were a little worried about the state of the trails, since we had read on an internet resourse that the trails here were terribly slippery after a rain, so we decided to wait another day to ride. The sun all day today should help to dry out the trails for tomorrow, and it would give me a chance to really get caught up on some work before our trip the DC next weekend. Lots of day riders came in today, parking near us and down by the vault toilets further down the road, so I guess the trails can't be TOO bad, but there's no sense taking chances with our babies! So a relaxing day was had by all, the horses munching happily on the abundant grass supply and us parked in our recliners for the day and evening!

Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 - Rainy Computer Day

Rain came in last night, and kept us socked in most of the day. I managed to catch some water in buckets, though, so that will help with our water supply for the week. Spent most of the day doing computer work and preparing for our workshops in DC the week after next.

Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 - Long Drive Day to Honey Creek, MO

Up at the crack of dawn, stops at the conveniently located dump on the way out of the campground (there's one at the north equine camp as well), headed pretty much due east to catch the freeway as soon as possible, intermittent stops at BK, Tractor Supply and Walmart, and because they didn't have a gas station there (the Sams Club did, but no diesel anyway), we stopped at a gas station just before getting back on the freeway. That turned out to be a mistake, as there was another truck stop at the exit where we got off the freeway, and their diesel was about 15 cents a gallon cheaper! Went straight to the camp, which also turned out to be a mistake, caused, once again, by misinformation provided by the main office of the Missouri DNR. I had called last week to confirm, again, whether there was water available at the campsites or not, and even though I was very specific, the girl I spoke to me assured me, three times, that there was a water spigot there. Of course, there wasn't! So we had to go back to the gas station and fill up all our tanks, a process that took over an hour, making it after 5:00 by the time we got back to camp. We actually hooked the horses on the hitching rail before we went back for water, so at least they didn't get thrown around in the trailer for that time. We finally got back and got set up. I put the horses on their anchors, because there is LOTS of grass for them to much on here, included some nice sections of clover, which they naturally devoured! Got the generator going, as well as the satellite dish and all other electronics, happy to see a good cell phone signal, though I'm not surprised being right off the freeway. That's the other down side here, it's a bit noisy from the traffic, and you have to park just so to get the RV level as most of the field area is kind of slope-y, but the upside, it's free! Got everyone settled in, and had our usual travel day evening.

Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013 - Last Ride Day at Brushy Creek

With just this one major trail in the southern half of to do, we headed out after brunch on the SE loop trail, exiting from the eastern trailhead for a change, the re-tracing part of the same trail we did Monday (because we had no choice), then finally split off on to the SE branch of the river. While it was a nice trail, a lot of it paralleled some open fields, so it felt a bit more like riding on someone's farm rather than in the fields. Not quite as interesting as the SW river loop, but a very nice ride nevertheless. The horses have taken to the hackamores like real troopers, and Apollo only tried to rodeo me once, and only half-heartedly at that. The last bit of trail, Creek trail, was a little slippery, but nothing the horses couldn't handle. There was a large tree that was being cut down, the ranger had talked to Hubby about that earlier, but the work was done, just the branches remained, piled up at the base of the trunk, which the lumberjacks decided to let remain. I'm sure it won't take long for the forest to recover! Spent some time packing up and getting ready to leave tomorrow, an early morning and a long day ahead of us!

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013 - Casual Day

Spent the day mostly on the computer doing some work for our upcoming workshop, and recovering from our ride yesterday. Got a bit frustrated reading all of the news about how the National Park and Forest Rangers are having to take on the role of the Gestapo during the government shutdown, with stories about locking down hotels in Yellowstone and trying to close down 1100 square miles of ocean to prevent people from recreating on Federal property, throwing people out of the homes because they're on the same, closing down a horse camp in Alabama in the middle of the night, kicking out hundreds of people and animals after a long trail BENEFIT trail ride run by volunteers, doing everything possible to make life miserable, which, last I heard, was the opposite of what the government's job is supposed to be. If we hadn't had the same kind of jack-booted experience in South Carolina earlier this year, I would have found some of the stories hard to believe, but after meeting up with that attitude first-hand, so I know they're true. Hard to imagine how we got to this place, how far removed we are from our Founding Fathers vision of a free country full of people capable of governing themselves, to a nation where we can even decide for ourselves how to take care of our families and animals, and accepting responsibility for ourselves and even our neighbors. Now we're creating a culture where we're not allowed to do so. So sad!

Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 - Fantastic Ride Day at Brushy Creek

Well, today we truly discovered why this is such a popular horse camp in the Midwest, why everyone always asks me if we've been here. One guy last week told me he could live at Brushy Creek! I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I can certainly see spending several weeks here. I got up just in time to finish making manure piles, because here at Brushy Creek, men actually come around with a skiff and shovels and pick up after you! Never had THAT before, at least not without having to first wheelbarrow it over to a central bin somewhere! Here they actually come looking for piles, though they missed one of mine, so I guess they'll get it next week after we're gone. Anyway, after brunch we saddled up, again with our new bitless bridles, and headed out of camp on the opposite trailhead from last week. At first we thought we might have to trailer them down to the Lake Trail near the north equine camp, since we had had so much rain yesterday we thought they would closed the non all-weather trails, but in fact, we were told they were open, so we left straight from camp. The first section was a bit slippery, particularly on a few rather steep grades, but before long the trail started drying out a bit, and there were many sections that were more out in the open that had had a chance to dry. We had some fantastic canters across several fields pretty early on, which the horses seemed to love! Apollo seems much more comfortable in his new bridle, his transitions were much more gentle and smooth. We took the SW River Loop, staying on the outer perimeter, and the majority of the trail followed along the curving river bed, with several places to stop and water the horses. It was so beautiful! The trees are just starting to turn, and the river was so peaceful, it made for some beautiful pictures today! We did a lot of trotting and cantering, whenever the trail wasn't too slippery, so even though we covered over ten miles, it only took us less than 3 hours. Apollo was perfect until very near the end, when we ran into a couple of cowboys galloping across a field, then he did one quick rodeo (probably just to show off, though they were out of sight by then), but otherwise everything was just perfect. A gorgeous ride in a gorgeous place! Thanks, Iowa!

Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013 - Cold, Drizzly, Lazy Day

Rainy, cold day, perfect for turning up the heat on the fireplace and watching TV and reading today. The horses had their rain sheets on since Friday, but this afternoon we put on their winter blankets, as it's supposed to go down to 39 tonight. Trying our best to prevent the horses from growing too much of a winter coat, so that they won't have clumps of hair dropping off when we get back down to warmer climes, which will be pretty soon! The campground had pretty much cleared out by mid-day, and by evening we had the place to ourselves (just the way we like it : -).

Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013 - Quiet Day in Camp

When we came back from errands yesterday evening, the first loop in camp was almost full of trailers, though our loop still only had one other trailer, and they apparently didn't ride at all here, they came for a rodeo and just camped here. It was quite a bit cooler and somewhat damp, and we figured most of the trails were closed anyway after the rain yesterday and we had already planned on just relaxing today, so we read and watched TV and worked on the computer, a nice lazy day.

Friday, Oct. 4, 2013 - Ride and Errands Day

Even though they close most of the trails here at the drop of any significant rainfall, there is an all-weather trail that goes all the way around the lake, about 12 miles, with a couple of other short connectors as well that have crushed gravel dust footing. The morning started out clear and beautiful, with some clouds moving in from the west, but we decided to take a quick ride on a loop of just under 4 miles near the north horse camp just to try out our new bitless bridles to see how the horses reacted to them. We threw them in the trailer (well, they jumped in by themselves, actually : -) and went up to the north Day Use area, and saddled them up. I decided to put boots on Apollo, which, unfortunately, meant I had to do a quick hoof trim, but we were soon on our way. They responded to the hackamores brilliantly! Actually they seemed to respond better than with a bit! We've only been using a light snaffle anyway, but I had gotten the impression that maybe part of Apollo's problem when shifting up to a canter may have been too much pressure from the bit (even though I do my best to try to remember to give him as much rein as possible, I don't always have enough time to do it before he starts to rodeo on my, and of course, when he jumps I tend to pull up on him anyway, my survivor instinct!), he seemed much more relaxed today. Although he jumped on me a tiny bit the first time we went into a canter, I think that was more out of habit than need. In any event, we did a LOT of trotting and cantering today, partly to get them used to the new bridle, partly because it was such a short ride anyway, and partly because we could see the rain moving in fast and didn't want to get caught out in it. The horses didn't seem to mind a bit, they were quite happy to trot and canter almost the whole way! We timed it perfectly, just getting the horses in the trailer and the tack put away when the rain arrived. Rather than head back to camp just to let them stand in the rain, we decided to run our errands and let them come along, so we headed up to Ft. Dodge. With stops at Boomgars for feed, then a trip to the north end of town to JRG Livestock and Pet Supply for some other feed Boomgars didn't have, then back to Walmart (Subway first, we were starving by then), some quick shopping, then back to camp. We heard on the radio that the Black Hills, where we were just a couple of weeks ago, had had over 40 inches of snow!! Brrrrr! It is supposed to get a little cooler here, but only in the low 40's, maybe 39, but not snow! Fortunately, it' due to warm up here again next week, we've already decided to stay through Thursday, then move down to Honey Creek in Missouri for a week. We have a job the following week, so we'll be heading out to a pre-arranged stable on that Friday. Meanwhile, we got everyone settled in and had a nice evening, now that the rain had cleared through!

Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 - Lazy Day of Reading and Computer Work

Lots of rainstorms overnight, lightning and thunder, too, so I didn't get much sleep (though Hubby has no trouble sleeping through anything, lucky man!). The horses were well protected in the woods, happy to say. Spent the day on the computer and reading, I borrowed a Kindle book from Hubby and my time is almost up, so I have to get it done. Didn't rain as much as we thought it would today, actually had clear skies by mid afternoon. The maple trees here have gone from a touch of gold to almost completely gold in the time we've been here already, yet temps have been really reasonable. Supposed to get colder over the weekend, though. I seem to remember that was always the complaint back in my 9 to 5 days, it was always nice during the week and got crummy over the weekend. Glad we don't suffer from that problem any more!

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 - Repair Day

Woke up to find my package from Valley Vet on the picnic table outside the door, never heard them come by, but they evidently got the message I left yesterday on their answering machine telling them what site we were in. Thank you!! Ordered two new hay bags and two poly rope bitless bridles. One of the hay bags had ripped, and the horses were having great fun ripping it more, so new ones were needed. The bitless bridles were something we had been talking about for some time, but hadn't gotten around to it. We saw some in the catalog for less than $20, and though we'd at least give them a try before we considered spending a lot more on an experiment. Though we had hoped to ride today, Hubby's back just wouldn't allow it, and we figured we needed the last of the nice weather to do the repairs on the RV, having received the parts on Monday. So we replaced the slide awning fabric that was ruined by the tunnel in the Black Hills, as well as the end cap and the motor cover on the big awning, which took us a couple of hours, but all worked very well. In fact, I think we improved the slide awning, it had been a bit slack before, but we were able to tighten it up a bit. Hubby's back barely survived, and I had to do the motor cover myself, but that's what teamwork is about! We finished up by supper time, and settled down for the evening, anticipating rain that was on its way.

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013 - First Ride Day at Brushy Creek, IA

Because of weather forecasts that don't look promising for the next few days, we decided to take advantage of nice weather today and go for our first ride. I plotted out a route that was supposed to be about 6 miles, but lately I've begun to think my Google Earth maps are just not quite accurate. We looped around toward the north, under a bridge and across a fabulous variety of terrain, from open fields to narrow woods trails winding through forest, up and down some pretty serious inclines, several creeks crossings (one was quite deep, though we skirted around the edge instead so we wouldn't be swimming-I heard later that it's about belly deep) and generally a beautiful ride. Stopped once at a ranger station to see if a package from Valley Vet had arrived yet (I had ordered it over the weekend, but the UPS tracking trace said it was supposed to arrive today!), but the office was closed. The ride ended up being 10 miles, though, so by the end, Hubby's back was hurting him and he wasn't enjoying himself the last hour or so. Too much going down steep descents. We got the horses settled in, Hubby took some Tylenol, and we settled in for dinner and TV for the night.