Folks are staring to come into Base Camp and it
seems to be a friendly and seasoned group. The temps. this morning is 60
degrees and foggy w/ a chance of rain tonite and into the morning and if it does
rain during the ride it won't be the cold rains we had last week. The
Leaves are not quite at their peak but they are spectacular already, especially
the yellow poplars and the maples.
Had dinner w/ Jody, Joni and Joel, Darolyn and a
few other people last night and we went over the trail. Darolyn came up w/
4 horses for her and CeCi to ride the 100 and the 50 and only have CeCi's
fiancee for crew so i may help her out and try to find some more crew for
them.
Dare to Be Bare had Mustafah shoe her horses for
the rocks and what a good job he does. He impressed me w/ his soft
humility and really suprised me when i said i was some what embaressed by the
way we USAians are viewed in the world. He said he's glad to be here and
calls America Paradise and thought we did some good in the world in our current
warring ways. Its was interesting to hear this viewpoint from a
Muslim.
The Trail will be difficult in places but i don't
think it will be as 'brutal' as the OD and i would expect faster times.
The temps. will be almost perfect i think
Mary Coleman did the nicest thing. She gave
Joni a real cute 'Cat' full of goodies of candy and even a hoof pick like a
trick or treat kinda thing for being a Junior and showing up. It was
a wonderful greeting and sentiment.
Got a chance to share my booklet "Over the
Edge-Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell" that just came back from the printers
yesterday with Teddy. I told her she would get the first copy as she was
the one to challange me to write it when it seems the performace i wanted to do
may never get done. At least its in print and i found errors already in
the printing, so much for perfection.
Stagg is going a million miles an hour and looked
like he had a phone to his ear most of the time. The volunteers are
helpful and a very good feeling permeates the camp. I'll go over this
afternoon and see if i can get a copy of the starters list and post it.
21 hours and counting to the 100 Mile AERC
Championships. Its exciting and i wish all the contestants a safe and fun
experience and may the best horse of the day have their way. tom
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