A girls just got to have some new shoes

Getting to make 2 posts so close to each other is a dream come true, and yes my dreams have become a little different since I started this trip.

When I last left you all, I was at the Austin House where I had a very restful nights sleep before getting up to the best French Toast breakfast I have had on this trip. Before I could leave, Delightful managed to bend one of the gates on Christy and Jeff's property, not very Princess Pei Pei like of her. And Christy got to witness the ungraceful early morning mount up. Sigh.

Our ride that day was 21 miles up to the second pass through the blue mountains and into Baker county. We had little traffic to deal with, except for the trucks, both Log and ODOT. I am always surprised at how well both the girls are doing on the road since Mystic has been trail ridden limitedly and Delightful has never been out of the arena. On our trip out of the Mountains, I let Mystic choose her path and suprisingly she picked the scenic route a few times, turning off the road onto a forest loop a few times. Personally I think she was just trying to find a road that led back home, or at least to some nice grassy meadow. As we came down to the valley we were overcome with wildlife. Everywhere I looked there were tiny darting prairie dogs. Jumping out of their burrows darting across the road, waiting til we were near them before diving back into another burrow. I figured it must have been some odd Prairie dog game of chicken. Of course, all the darting furry critters didn't once bother either of the girls, but when a pair of ducks took flight Mystic nearly unloaded me on the road. I can't be too mad at her for that since it was really the first time she has actually spooked hard on this trip. Of course I would have seen it coming if I hadn't been looking at this amazing meadow, covered in purple flowers, and to make matters worse, I forgot to take a picture of it. Now that part does make me a little mad, but at me, not them.

I arrived in Unity around 5pm, my knees aching since I had to shorten my stirrups to prevent my leg from cramping, and road up to the Unity Country Store to meet Cindy, the owner of both it and the Motel next door. We put the horses up in a grass filled paddock and me in a bed and shower filled motel room ( YAY!!!) and Cindy jumped on the phone and started trying to find me a shoer as both the girls hare fast wearing out their shoes. Cindy is a wonderful woman with a kind and generous heart and after calling everyone she could think of found me not one, but two people willing to reshoe both the mares. Of course one of the potential shoers was a pair of cowboys that asked if I was pretty, lol, I should have asked if they were handsome . . .

I am waiting for the post office to open so I can send some items I don't need anymore back home and then I am off to Ironside, where new shoes are in order for my companions in this crazy journey. I know I say this most every entry, but, I am so humbled by how willing people are to help me on my trip. I am going to have to start calling it our trip, since now, I have hundreds of people following along with me.

Climb Every Mountain, well at least a few of the Blues. . .

This week has covered a full range of emotions for me. Total sadness with the loss of Solo to a heart full of hope and peace in response to all the work total strangers have been doing to find me places to stay along the way. I should say former strangers and now friends.

My last entry was had me ending up with Jody and Mark, who not only took great care of me, but made sure that I was taken care of through several more towns. I left Kimberly and headed to Dayville where I stayed at the C Bar C Bed and Breakfast and Kelly took excellent care of me and the girls there. It is a lovely rustic B and B where I had my first night in a bed since the first week of this trip and upon seeing me gimpying around after my 25 mile ride Kelly insisted I take a long soak in the tub (I am sure it had nothing to do with how bad I smelled . . . really). She also got up early to make me breakfast for my next day.

So we headed out with the 2 cranky ladies who grumped and grouched at each other for at least half the trip and at one point I could have sworn they got into a shut up no you shut up argument, it made for a tense ride on a long day. The Next town was Mt Vernon, I lovely town where I was to stay with Reena Winfrey (no relation to Oprah) and I discovered Delightful's achilles heal . . . wooden bridges. To get to Reena's we had to cross a long wooden bridge and poor Pei Pei would have nothing to do with it. After 8 attempts I finally called Reena and she came down with her trailer and we hauled the stubborn princess up to the barn where they had a lovely night in a paddock and after sampling the Silver Spurs bacon cheese burger (Emma is still number 1) I camped in the barn with the raccoons.

The next morning I was up at 5 am to get the girls ready to be hauled back over the bridge and we were off to John Day. In John Day I met up with John Aasness who had arranged for the girls to stay at the Fair Grounds, many thanks to Stephanie and Vickie for all their help, and I stayed with John and his lovely wife, Diane. I visited with the Chamber of Commerce and went to the Ranch and Rodeo museum for pictures and an interview with the Blue Eagle Herold. I have to say, the museum is impressive, and I would recommend that everyone that visits John Day stop in and go through. The Rodeo pictures alone are well worth the trip.

After a restful night in John's shop, and a delicious breakfast prepared by him I was on my way to Prairie City. On my way out of town, I was rooted on by a friendly gentleman who turned out to be the husband of my next contact, one Bonnie Nance. She drove out to meet me and after dropping the horses off at her barn, took me out to sample the local Bacon Cheese burger at the Hitchin Post, which was good, but still only second to the amazing Emma's burger in Spray. It was then home to spend the evening with Bonnie and her cheerleader husband, Ken.

This brings us up to today, a day of mountain climbing, up Dixie to the pass and down to Austin House for Dinner. This trip was beautiful, it was a lovely day with all sorts of weather, Sun, rain and even thunder storms and I am happy to be back in the forests of Oregon's mountain ranges again. The Highway runs next to several raging creaks that zig and zag under the highway and the pass is about 5200 feet and there was actually some snow there when I passed. I stopped to see the remains of the Stump Jumper rail road and marvel at the will it must have taken to build it through that heavy forested area. The owners of the Austin House welcomed me, having been called by both Jody and Bonnie, Christy and Jeff made me a great burger, though still not better then Emma's, and let me have free run of their computer. As always I am amazed at the sheer generosity and kindness of people to a total stranger and every time I meet a new person, I find my faith in people growing.

So tonight I stay here and then its off to Unity and beyond.

And the Legend's name is Jody Foss

Alot has happened since I left Antelope, Solo Got his booties sent from my friend Joel and after his initial embarrassment at wearing them he was off and running. We journeyed from Antelope to Clarno, 15 miles and he trotted along happily til we arrived at the farm of a wonderful young couple and their beautiful 7 month old daughter, Nora. They kindly fed me and offered me their spare room to sleep in, but something told me to stay in the tent. Which was a good thing since Solo was up all night vommiting. The next morning he was very depressed and I was concerned for him and Tom, the farm owners hired hand told me he would bring him to Fossil for me. So with worry in my heart I headed out to Fossil, a 20 mile ride. In Fossil I met a wonderful couple that helped me get a stall at the fair grounds and I waited for Solo's arrival that evening. Tom dropped him off and I started coming to the realization that he might not be going to be with me much further in this journey.

The next morning was spent trying to figure out a way to let the dog ride on the pack saddle, and after many attempts at putting first a kennel and then foam on it for him to ride upon, all attempts failed. So with worry in my heart I headed out to my next destination. We camped that night in a state park about 10 miles from Fossil and while he was tired he was able to keep up and so the next morning we headed for Service Creek.

Upon arriving at the Stage Stop, I asked one of the waitresses if she knew of a park where I could graze my horses and she recommended one a short distance away. Upon arriving there I found that there was absolutely no grass and after talking with the Rangers, ascertained that was the situation in all the parks in that area. So I high lined the horses and walked back to the Stage Stop for lunch and to see about buying some hay. The same waitress told me she would sell me a bale and bring it to me when she was off work. I returned to my camp and waited, til 10p.m. She never showed up, so the horses went hungry.

The next morning I was up early to get on the road to Spray, but Solo was not doing well at all, he was lethargic and the pain pills I had been giving him had stopped working, but I needed to get to the next town to get feed for Mystic and Delightful so we hit the road. We had gone about 4 miles when Solo appeared to have a heart attack. He was in a lot of pain and could go no futher, so I picked him up and carried him in front of the saddle for about 2 miles til I realized he was not going to recover and could no longer hold onto him. I found a beautiful spot near the river and laid him to rest. This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do and I miss my dog terribly.

I continued on to Spray and when I got to town was greeted by its wonderful and kind residents who not only offered me a corral for my horses but provided them with all the alfalfa they could eat. I only wish I had arrived on any other day so that I could have been more expressive in my thanks for their kindness.

Just about everyone that I met said that when I got to Kimberly I should look up Jody Foss, a true legend amongs Long Riders, so I did exactly that. It turns out that Emma, the young lady that made me the best bacon cheese burger I have had so far on the trip, is her step daughter. She told her dad about me and when I got to Kimberly he invited me to their home to stay for the night. They let me shower (Yay) and do laundry and set out such a repast of food as to honor a head of state. And Jody found me a place to stay in Dayville, my next stop. The kindness and generosity of others is heart warming and calms my shattered spirit.

I am sad, I miss my dog, my heart hurts but I shall continue with the help of all of my dear friends and the new friends I shall meet along the way and Solo will be with me, running faster than before, nipping at the heels of Mystic and Delightful, keeping them in line for me, just like the good dog he always was.

There are some great people out here

I just have to say, that 10 days into this trip I am discovering that there are some great people out here. My friends have been wonderful, Alexis and James driving out to Sandy to bring me forgotten supplies, Alison for picking up Solo and keeping him for me while his pads healed up and then driving him out to Dufur, and of course Mr. Morris, Steve's Dad, for coming along with Steve to bring me Delightful to use as a pack horse. Oh and not to be forgotten, Steve Morris, my friend and the best horse shoer I have ever known, for all his help, shoing my horses for free to get me ready for this trip, picking up Delightful and bringing her to Maupin for me. It is an honor to have these people as friends, but what has surprised me most on this trip is those people that are willing to help me just because they are kind and giving souls.
Joie Smith of Rhodedendren who took a whole day to show me the path to ride over Mt Hood and then when there was a forcast of snow, she came and picked me up on the east side of Government Camp and took me to the fair grounds at Tygh Valley. Sid, the care taker at the Fair Grounds, who let me and the horse stay for free and even gave me change to take a shower(bless him forever for this). Gail and Randall(sorry if the name is wrong Gail's husband, I am horrible with names)who let me toss Mystic in there pasture for the night and let me stay with them. The wonderful people of Saniko, a true ghost town, who let me keep the horses inside city limits and fed me and allowed me to shower and do laundry(seriously, I almost cried at this). And then again tonight, Don, of Antelope, a lovely little town with some beautiful old homes and a nice cafe, who is putting my horses up in his corral, and allowing me to "rough it" in his fifth wheel and once again to take one of those ever so dreamy showers, he is a truly wonderful man.
Everyday that I am on this trip, my faith that this is indeed the best country in the world, full of the best people is restored. Thank you all and Bless you (and your showers).

Working out the bugs

Well, it is day 3 and I am still trying to work out the bugs on this trip. Found out yesterday that the path I wanted to take is snowed in and am now looking for alternate routes, and believe I have found one. Mystic and I are working on our relationship, it is hard to get used to a new horse when you have ridden one for 14 years and while everyday I miss my girl I know that if I just have patience Mystic will rise to the occasion. Solo is my bigger concern, his feet have paid the price of miles on the pavement and he is taking a break with my friend Allison. Hopefully he can rejoin me when he heals, if not I will have to find someone to take care of him during my trip, which will not make him or me happy.

While these first days have been frustrating, they have also been very cool, as I have met some wonderful people that have done everything from giving me water to letting me charge my cell phone to finding me an alternate route to travel. I must also comment the Sandy volunteer Fire Station for its nice field where I camped not one but 2 nights on this trip. It was starting to feel like 'GroundHogs Day'(an older movie starring Bill Murray) and I keep having this sneaking suspicsion that I will round the next bend and suddenly will be back at the fire station. hah hah

Well time to run to dinner before hitting the ranger station here to get maps for the trails I want to take and accurate snow tallies also.

I must say dinner was wonderful, Ali treated me to a meal that included one of the best briskets I have had and the best mac and cheese ever. If you are ever in Zig Zag Oregon, please stop in at the Skyway, and bring your appetite as there are no small portions served and if you love barbeque you will be in heaven(try the blueberry sauce).

OK heading to bed people, will blog more later.

Just a mild panic attack, really

It is 2 days before I head across the country, and most everything is ready to go, there are always those last minute things to put together and purchase as well as making sure that all the details at home are taken care of. Today, amidst my crazed driving and dashing from store to store, finishing packing up my house, and moving all my belongings over to my friends house for storage I did manage to take a little time for myself and have a tiny panic attack.
Just a brief moment of "Holy Crap, am I really gonna do this" and then it was back to running around pouring over my endless lists, hoping that I have everything I need. And through this mind numbing dash to the starting line, voices of my friends reach me all saying the same thing, I will be fine, I can do this and if I do need anything to please let them know.
Thank you, I appreciate and love you all and am dedicating this trip to my dear friends and family members that believe in my strength and just plain stubbornness.
And when I get a chance I will post a picture of the dog in his pack, he hates it and looks miserable, it is hilarious.

Slowly But Surely

There is less than two weeks until my departure date now and plans and preparations are coming together surprisingly well. Being dropped down to one horse does limit the amount of gear I can take with me, but it simplifies my travel quite a bit. My Father has mapped out all of the Oregon section for me and we had the ceremonial handing over of the first 10 days of the maps yesterday. Sage pieces of wisdom were imparted as he has finally reached the last stage of dealing with his daughters crazy adventure, acceptance. I have been slowly purchasing the equipment I need and am down to getting the last few items. The support of my friends and family has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion lately, for it is somewhat humbling to find out how many people believe in you and want to throw their support into you adventure. For those of you that know me, you are aware of how tenacious I am and for those of you that are just getting to meet me through this blog, you will soon come to realize that. I want all of you to know that I am a patient, careful person and my priorities on this trip are The Horse, The Dog and then Myself. I will be careful and if I need to I will take extra time to find the safest passages for us all.

Thank you for believing in me and I am looking forward to an interesting and amazing journey.