Monday, Sept. 30, 2013 - UPS and Travel Day to Brushy Creek

We had ordered replacement parts for the damage done to the awnings back in the Black Hills, and they were sent out last week from our dealer in Florida, but the arrival wasn't scheduled until today. Since our drive today is fairly short, we decided to wait for UPS, since we were told the truck usually arrives around noon or 12:30. After breakfast and packing up, we drove out to the entrance to the park and waited, and waited, and waited, until finally, at 1:20, UPS arrived. Now we were a bit behind schedule, but the trip was uneventful (fortunately), though the route my GPS took me put us right through the middle of Fort Dodge, so it was slower than we had hoped. A stop a Walmart and the Subway inside was all we really needed, then we headed out to the campground less than 30 minutes away. There are two horse campgrounds at Brushy Creek, North and South. I had determined from Google Earth and other maps that the South Campground would have the most benefits, both in proximity to the most amount of trails and openness for a satellite signal. Fortunately, there is a good cell phone signal here as well. The first loop was mostly shaded, lots of trees and very pretty, but the farthest loop was mostly open, with one long half of a loop up against a row of trees. They have the dreaded hitching posts here, but many are hidden in the woods, providing opportunities for a highline, and after some reconnoitering, we decided Site #55 would work the best. Many of the sites here are full hookups, including sewer, but we settled for an electric site with a water spigot just one site away. Off-season rates just $14/night! Very reasonable. Great cell phone signal, too, internet is nice and fast. Got everyone settled in, water in the RV and one of the rain barrels, highline up, animals fed, and in our recliners at just about dark, which is getting earlier now that Fall has arrived!

Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 - Last Ride Day at Southwood, Busy Trails

Did our best to try to ride every bit of trail here today to finish it off, including one linear trail that took us to a picnic area, only got off track once at an unmarked intersection and ended up cutting a corner a bit, but other than that, it was a fabulous ride! You couldn't have asked for better weather, and the trails were in perfect condition. Most of the trails here are more "bridle path" style, wide enough for two, with good footing all around. There were a few places that had rough gravel, which the horses avoided as much as possible, though there was little room along the side of the trail so we were having to push branches out of the way a bit, but overall, it was very enjoyable! So even though there aren't a LOT of trails here by most standards, the ones they do have are very nice, and have enough variety to keep it interesting. There were actually a lot of other riders out today, this morning several other horse trailers came in to the camping area to day ride (tsk, tsk), plus there was one or two at the day parking area, so we had company on the trails, though we only passed one other couple, than ran into another group just as we were heading down the road back to camp. Back in camp two girls discovered they had a low tire on their pickup, so Hubby helped them out with his air compressor and had a nice chat with them for a while. Finished off the rest of the laundry, at last, did a few preparation chores for our move tomorrow, and finally settled down for the evening.

Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013 - Cold, Rainy Rest Day

Cooler, rainy weather came in overnight, so the day was spent with the fireplace on, watching movies in between loads of laundry. Almost done!

Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 - More Equipment Wash Day

Spent most of the day washing the RV and the pickup today, a major job, long overdue, and continuing with the laundry as well. Had hoped to finish early enough to get in a ride, but naturally it took too long, and we were bushed by the end of the day. Didn't take long to settle in for the night!

Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 - Rest and Computer Day

Having had my mail forwarded to me here, a couple of the helpers here brought my mail down to me, so I spent most of the day going through my mail and handling the various business issues I had to take care of, plus as many loads of laundry as I could do. Otherwise a nice quiet day.

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013 - First Ride at Southwood Conservation Area in Iowa (our 46th state!)

After a delightfully quiet night of good sleep and a late breakfast, we saddled up and headed out in the early afternoon for a fairly short ride. There are only about 5 miles of trails (though the ranger we met said they've added another one, so it's a bit more now), they were more like bridle paths than trails to us. Other than a few stretches of sharp gravel, the trails were quite nice, wide, grassy or dirt most of the time. They weaved from open fields to dense forest, with a few steep climbs and descents, but really nice considering how "civilized" the place is. While most of the park is highly landscaped like a state park, the woods do provide a nice escape from that, and the fields gave us a great opportunity to get some good trotting and cantering in. A very nice ride, albeit relatively short, maybe 90 minutes or so. It's a small park, but with a nice variety of terrain. After we got back, we decided we needed to do some chores, including washing the horse trailer and van, a long overdue job that we did over the waning hours of the afternoon. Eventually settled down to a quiet evening, having had quite the full day today!

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013 - Great Hay at Last!

After some research, I found some hay advertised near Sioux City, which is less than 30 miles away, so we disconnected the truck and I headed up in the afternoon, after having started my long week of doing laundry with a couple of loads in the morning. It seems a young couple had bought the hay for their goats, then got rid of the goats because they were too much trouble, and had the hay left over. Their loss was my gain, though, because it was beautiful hay! From two different fields, but it all looked really nice, plus Heidi threw in 3 bales of pure alfalfa at the same price as the hay! Maybe now we can put a little extra weight on Clio! We chatted for quite a while, and by the time I got back to camp is was dusk, and I had seen an absolutely gorgeous, HUGE sunset over the plains before I reached camp. We quickly took care of the horses, finally finishing off the weed-free certified hay that we bought way back in Minnesota, as we won't be going to any new states that require it any time soon. Great to have a full load of good quality hay again!