Five Points, CA

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Sea G Rhydr

Moonlit dinner across the street from the liquor store…

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Flash Back: Corcoran

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Sea G Rhydr

As we sit here at the Tule State Elk Reserve, mountains are visible to the south for the first time in months. This is both exciting and terrifying, as it means we are nearing the end of our trek through this vast desert that serves as America’s bread basket.

The past 10 days have been both fruitful and absurd, and a million things in between. We have been delighted by random passersby, surprised and horrified by some of the places we have ended up and unhinged by new news of our fates.

11 days ago found us walking down the road (Sea was walking and Gryph riding) when a Farm Fresh Foods van passed us, then stopped. A good looking young man stepped out, and quickly proceeded to rap off a whole sales pitch about the finest steaks, restaurant quality, on sale now and would we like to buy some!  We giggled, asking him how he thought we were going to cook fine steaks. Well, it took awhile to convince him that we were not just a mother and daughter who lived on a ranch down the road out for a quick joy ride, as he had thought. When he finally believed us, he was so excited and supportive of the trip that he went back to his van and pulled out a whole box containing 7 flash frozen air sealed premium steaks. We were so happy that we probably sustained on that good energy alone for the next 6 miles, until things started to look so bleak that no one was smiling anymore…

We came to the town of Corcoran, but instead of heading into the lights and concrete of civilization, we pushed on down highway 43, even though the sun was beginning to slip and each step was screaming agony for Sea and her blisters. Soon after we made that turn, we feared that it was an irrevokable mistake. The almond orchard with its parched ground and rows of small trees was endless, with barbed wire and No Tresspassing signs. The other side of the road was not any friendlier, also bordered by barbed wire, keeping us out from factory farms with bright lights and tractors on cement. We trudged on because that was all we could do. We passed vacant lots of machines, more barbed wire, and eventually the Corcoran State Prison, which looked menacing and haunted by cold bright lights on the opposite side of 43. Can’t stop there.

It was pitch black by the time we found anything that looked like an occupied home, lit up and boardered by alfalfa fields. We treked down the winding cement driveway for about a quarter mile before we came to the house, where a family was bustling around getting into cars. Gryph approached out of the darkness on Finehorn. “Where did you come from?” asked the woman, bemused. We told her our predicament, and she explained how they were just headed out of town for the weekend…..Well they saw in our desperation that we really had no other choice, and offered their lawn and empty corrals in their absence. They even suggested that we have a campfire to stay warm, and pointed to a hefty stack of firewood that we were welcome to. How generous this couple was, and we never even exchanged names! That night we had a campfire, and cooked up the most delicious and amazing steaks we had ever tasted in our trusty skillet.

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Words of Wisdom on the Diner Wall

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Sea G Rhydr

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On the Eve of Adventure

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Sea G Rhydr

Tomorrow at 7am we are loading the ponies into a horse trailer and hitching a ride down into the Los Padres National Forest.  This week has been intense and we are grateful to have been granted a week’s rest with kind and wonderful people.  Jesse continues to improve and I am to the point of believing that he can carry me at least part of the way along the 10 mile trail from the Piedra Blanca Trailhead to the Hot Springs.  We are carrying food and supplies for two weeks, although we plan to be out on day 12.  The territory ahead is unknown to us – Mountains – we have made it through the Central Valley.

This has been a week of many gifts and blessings – not only the much needed rest and respite from the cold, but a horse named Daisy And a western saddle that fits Gryph and Finehorn comfortably.  We have been given maps and advice which allowed us to recover the dream of visiting two remote hot springs, meals and sodas and rides to town so that we could provision for this major undertaking, bales of hay and a bag of feed, money to help us on our way and now a ride down past the waterless bits so that we can get to the trail head with Jesse James on his regimen of shorter days and lighter weights.  Talk about the 12 days of Christmas!

Gryph has had time to catch up on blog entries and I am so grateful to have had a warm bed and a flush toilet on the night I was violently losing the contents of my stomach.  We have been encouraged and strengthened and taken in like family.

One exciting bit of news is that we now have an official Free Range Rodeo bumper sticker – designed by Gryph and each one hand made by GF Ink.  We ordered 100 the first time out and are already down to 14 – and several of those are spoken for!  We’re planning to order another batch when we get out of the wilderness – so if you want one, click on the Donate button (minimum donation $5) and let us know where you’d like us to mail it by sending Sea an e-mail at: sea-g-rhydr@juno.com.  If you want more than one we can work that out as well.  We think they’re really cool and we hope you do too!  😉

There is a saying in Arabic, Insha’Allah – which translates as “God Willing.”  In Latin it’s Deo volente (DV).  In English sometimes it’s rendered as “good Lord willin’ and the crik don’t rise.  It seems that as Americans we have come to speak of our plans as “what’s going to happen.”  As we have progessed on this Journey we are constantly reminded how much those plans are at the mercy of forces over which we have little or no control.  A lame horse, an invitation, a wind storm, a germ – and as we head into the wilderness, the possibility of the creek rising (quite literally) can throw our careful plans into sudden disarray.  That said, our current plan is that we will be incommunicado until the 20th of January – no internet or cell ‘phone service where we’re headed – but things will continue to appear on the blog as if by magic.  Ah, technology (and a wonderful sister!)  We will let the Ozena Ranger Station know our proposed route and time table.  Insha’Allah we’ll be back with fresh stories and photos and drawings and insights on or about the 21st of January – and will be able to respond to e-mails and messages then.

Happy Trails from the Free Range Rodeo – Keep us in your thoughts and prayers – We’re so glad you’re reading this blog!

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New Year – New Horse!

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Sea G Rhydr

So much can change in a week!  A week ago we were feeling fairly hopeless about Jesse James’ ability to continue with us on the Journey.  We had given up on being able to visit the hot springs.  We were in a rough situation in terms of saddles which fit horses and riders in their current combinations and, in need of another horse to join our herd, we’d looked at a mare who was on the far edge of our price range and who we knew, as soon as we saw her, wasn’t going to work for us.  I spoke with my Dad on the ‘phone as we were waiting for her to arrive and he asked me, “Do you have the guts to send her back if she’s not the right horse?

“Yes.”  I replied, with more assurance than I felt.  “I have to, or I sabotage the whole trip.”  I was good to have that clear Before she showed up.  At that point in time I was feeling fairly confident that she was going to work for us, but I was concerned that $700 was more than we had any business spending on a horse.  When Lucy got out of the trailer she was thin and nervous, looked older than the advertised 12 years, not paying attention to Gryph or I (or even the other horses) – she just wanted to eat as much grass as she could graze.  Her withers were high and sharp and I didn’t feel that it was fair to ask her to carry 150# of pack, no matter what her owners said.

It was hard to say to them that she wasn’t going to work for us.  They were obviously desperate to get rid of her and badly in need of the money.  Ten minutes after they drove away with her the ‘phone rang and I was roundly cursed out.  I’ll spare you the profanity, but some of the nicer bits included: “I hope you have the very worst luck.  I hope your horse is crippled forever.  I hope he bucks you off and hurts you.”  I thanked the man for letting me know how he felt and hung up, feeling cursed and shaken.

Two days later we rode up to a house with 6 horses in the back yard.  The woman who answered the door was on oxygen and hadn’t ridden in 7 years due to a serious car accident.  Her horses were for sale, but only one looked suitable and none were within our price range.  We spent the night in an RV out back (her husband was in the house with a bad cold), the horses in a goat pen, she brought us tangerines and hot cocoa mix – and in the morning we reached an agreement about Shyan – the mare I had my eye on.  We offered 1/2 down  and the other 1/2 to be paid within a year and walked down the road.  Gryph reminded me of our “”no debt” policy, but I was feeling desperate.  Within 3 miles the mare was obviously foot sore.  We called T and asked her to come retrieve  her horse (part of the written contract if Shyan didn’t work for us).  She did, but wasn’t happy.As we were struggling to load Shyan into the trailer a woman stopped her jeep on the side of the highway and asked how she could help.  She offered to find a place for us to spend the night – and she had a mare named Lily who just might…

We spent the night in an RV in a vacant lot, our ponies tied to the outside of C’s trailer and Lily pacing inside the trailer.  It was dark by the time she arrived so we decided not to bring her out until the morning.  Good call as Mr. James got loose that night and Saint Finehorn woke me at 4:45a to let me know that I needed to go looking for him.  After 20 minutes of searching in the cold and dark I found him grazing contentedly, returned him to the trailer, and gave up on sleep for the night.

Friday morning we had our first Newspaper interview (the Taft Midway Driller) and then took Lily out to see what she looked like.  She was lovely, but at 16 years and completely untrained (she’d had a saddle on once when she was 18 months old) – and with a very long back – we decided that she was probably not going to work as a pack horse given our situation, and we sent her home.  C was gracious, and carried our luggage for a second day, as we rode to the Maricopa PO to pick up boxes of Christmas cookies and a map we needed for the next stretch.  Then she loaded us all in her trailer and brought us to the Diamond O Ranch – where we’ve been given a much needed rest – and a place to get clean and reorganized for the next stretch.  But what to do about a horse?

That afternoon we got a call from the vet.  Jesse’s blood work was back and in the range of normal.  With enough rest and careful reconditioning (and a change in diet) he should be able to continue.  Then we got a ‘phone message from a woman, who told us about a man she knew who had a horse that might work for us.  She left his ‘phone number but not her own.  We called A – he had a big Thoroughbred mare – 13 years old – and free.  Two years ago three people were crossing the country and wound up with one of his horses and he was offering her to us if we wanted her.  We were a bit skeptical, but arranged to meet him the next day and take a look.

She was Big.  And strong and solid with clean legs and a calm eye.  We waited for A to arrive.  Her name was Africa, a black bay, over 16h and not getting ridden enough.  He got on her to show me that she was fine to ride – she trotted the whole time he was on her.  I got on for a test drive, and she was Intense.  and Big!  Powerful – and trotted the whole time.  Free.  So we agreed that I’d come and ride her home the next day.  B&O agreed to follow me until I felt comfortable and show me a cross-country way back to their place so we didn’t have to ride along the highway.

The first hour of the ride home I was sitting on the limit of how much horse I can handle.  I had no idea where I was going – so grateful for my lead car so that I could keep my attention focused on the mare.  I started singing to try and calm us both down and the first song that worked was “daisy, daisy, give me your answer do – i’m half crazy, trying to ride on you… ”  B&O stuck with me the whole 3 hours home, riding through the oil fields, and by the time we arrived I was exhausted, she was calmer, and we’d renamed her Daisy.

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Holly’s Photos

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Sea G Rhydr

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The Mountains Ahead

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Sea G Rhydr

This morning we awoke in a camper-trailer in Tupman; the horses munching on alflafa in a goat pen where they spent the night. We are at the foot of the foothills of the mountains which we must cross in order to leave this vast valley.  It seems strange after a month and more of seeing only flatness to know that today we will climb a hill.  It’s officially Winter now, and yes, we do know how cold it gets at night, but the days are growing longer once again – for which we are grateful.

On Friday, after speaking with the vet about Jesse James, we packed up and headed on down the road.  I had some serious thinking (and crying) to do and walking along the side of a road can be a good place to do that.  We had gone 6 1/2 miles and the blisters on the soles of my feet were getting kind of interesting to walk on when a man greeted us from his fenced in yard.  He later told us that God had told him to talk to us and he went miles out of his way (literally!) to be helpful to us.  The horses were housed in a nice paddock and given hay, we were taken in and given food and shelter, the house smelled wonderful thanks to 4 generations of women gathered to bake cookies – and in the morning we were driven on a reconnaissance mission and found our next stopping place at the Tule Elk Reserve.  He even delivered our gear when we arrived in the afternoon so that I could ride Cowgirl instead of my blisters.  We were very glad that God had told him to come out and talk to us!

As we were in the truck, slowly driving along the dirt roads we’d take from his house to the Elk Reserve, we were talking about our need for another horse to join the herd so that we could continue the Journey.  He started to warn us about not dealing with Mexicans, as the ones that come up from Mexico are a criminal element and we’d get ripped off.  He warned us that we wouldn’t be able to find a good horse within our price range.  That he knows how horse people are and they’ll lie to us and sell us horses with problems and that it’s really hard to train a pack horse and it takes a lot of time.  This went on for about 10 minutes: a litany of fear, draining hope and confidence and motivation.  I know he was trying to be helpful, that he meant to be giving us good advice, warning us to be careful.

Finally I had to stop him.  “The way I see it, we have two choices.  We can either move forward, doing the best we can within the circumstances, or we can curl up and die.  We’ve trained two pack horses already and we’ve done OK with that.  We’ve found very good horses for our purposes within our limited price range and we’ve made it thus far safely.  We’ve been warned repeatedly about Mexicans and Liberals and People who have huge farms and ranches – and they’ve all been like you!  Kind and helpful and generous and welcoming to us – and warning us about their “neighbors” – who turn out to be kind and helpful people as well.  So either we can figure out a way to keep going, or we can quit.  And since quitting isn’t an option, we’re going to continue moving forward, doing the best we can with what we have.”

Thankfully, he got the message and we spoke of other things for the rest of the ride.  But I have been thinking a lot about fear, and how it limits us and keeps us from doing and experiencing and understanding so much.  The biggest hurdle I’ve had to cross in terms of moving from dreaming about this trip (for 30+ years!) to actually living out that dream has been fear.  However – the panic attacks that were so intense pre-trip stopped as soon as we were underway – and haven’t returned in 11 weeks!  Yes, it’s cold at night and things aren’t always easy and smooth and there’s a lot to figure out and deal with on a daily basis.  OK – life is like that sometimes – for all of us.  Money is tight and plans get turned sideways and beings that we care for deeply get sick or injured and there’s a lot of “unknown” in the world.  But living in the fear doesn’t help with any of that.

As Paul wrote to Timothy:  “God has not given us a Spirit of Fear, but of Power and of Love and of a Sound Mind.”

What a privilege it is to have a dream, and to finally be living it in reality.  Yes, it’s challenging – and sometimes it’s scary!  But, as we learned in Ireland, the antidote to Fear is Curiosity.  Understanding is Power.  Love casts out Fear.  And may our Sound Minds help us to stay safe, find the right horse to join the herd, plan adequately for the miles ahead and continue to do the very best with what we have so that we can move forward with the Journey.

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Free Range Rollercoaster

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Sea G Rhydr

Last night I sat down and started a blog entry about the ups and downs of the past week.  I hit the “save draft” button and went to take a bath.  When I got back to the computer, everything I’d written had vanished.  It’s been quite a week and I’ll do my best to write about it soon.

Tonight I’m sitting down to write with an aching heart and tears blurring my vision.  Jesse James hasn’t improved over the past two weeks and this morning a vet came out to see him.  The current diagnosis is “Metabolic Derangement leading to Rhabdomyolosis (muscle damage)”.  The bottom line is that he’s not going to be able to continue on this Journey.  It’s not a death sentence, but he needs a special low-carb diet which we can’t provide for him on the road – and he needs a month or so of rest and then gradual reconditioning.  I cannot imagine this Journey without him.

At this point we have no intention of calling off the trip, however I am honestly at a loss in terms of where to go from here.  We have a rest stop planned in Rosamond, CA – from mid-January through mid-February at Mariah Country Farms, a WWOOFing host farm that makes goat milk soaps (among other things).  That’s 4 weeks from now.  For the past two weeks I’ve been walking along the road leading Jesse and Cowgirl (who has been steadily carrying the pack) for 5 – 12 miles a day and the blisters on the soles of my feet have broken and reformed repeatedly.  For four of those days we’ve been blessed with someone willing to transport our gear in their vehicle and I’ve been able to ride Cowgirl, who has done really well – but that doesn’t help Jesse, who has been gamely keeping up, trudging along because he understands that it’s necessary.  It’s hard to see the point in that now that we know he’s not going to improve under these conditions.

Right now I feel like my first priority is to find a good situation for Jesse.  Then we need to find another horse so that I don’t wind up walking to the east coast.  Meanwhile, tomorrow we move on, because that’s what we do.  We have visions of walking up to some random house tomorrow afternoon and knocking on the door of some unsuspecting family, happily involved in their Christmas celebrations, and saying “Hello, nobody’s pregnant and we don’t have a donkey, but could we maybe sleep in your stable tonight with our three ponies?”  We’ll let you know how that goes…

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the present moment

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Sea G Rhydr

We’ve been posting a lot of journal entries and photos from the beginning of the trip – and realized that a bit of a peek into the here and now might be a good idea – and hopefully interesting.  This morning finds us sipping tea in a large round arena – perhaps 70′ in diameter – solidly built of cinder blocks below and a metal panels above – the ground is sand, which was lovely for our tent and for the ponies legs – and we really appreciated the wind and noise block it provided.  Our hosts are Mexican, with beautiful horses of their own – and although they warned us that the neighbor might play loud music for a few hours last night, we didn’t hear a thing!

The nights are cold, but our tent and sleeping bags keep us toasty when we camp, and often we have been invited into people’s homes (and fed and showered and laundered and entertained into the bargain).  Last night hot burgers and cold pepsi were delivered to our tent – and a bale of hay for the ponies.  Today we press on to Corcoran – where we hope to do a bit of a re-supply, as we’re out of porridge and horse food, and very low on denatured alcohol…

We are growing more accustomed to this strange and haunted valley – the immensity and gridness of it all.  We are moving slowly, 5-7 miles a day of late, because Jesse James has a strained muscle in his left hip and we’re not asking him to carry anything or anyone while he has time to heal.  We count it a great blessing when someone is willing to transport gear for the day, because that means Sea can ride Cowgirl and pony Jesse, rather than trudge down the side of the road, leading them both.

Gryph was given a spectacular and well-worn pair of chinks two days ago, a blessing for her chafed knees (and they look So cool!).  We made a tack change for Cowgirl, packing her on an old (1904) McClellan cavalry saddle rather than a sawbuck – so we’re back on the learning curve re: packing, but at least we have the principles down and we only had to repack once yesterday – before we’d even left the yard.  We’d toyed with the idea of gradually transferring over to all McClellans, until Gryph put it on Finehorn and sat in it.  The slot down the center of the saddle (to allow air and lack of pressure on the horses’ spine) seems to have been specifically designed for men – which makes sense as there were no women in the cavalry in 1904 – we have yet to meet a man who considers it a problem (or a woman who considers it ridable!)

It is strange to realize that so many of you are busy preparing for Christmas – and to wonder where that day will find the 5 of us.  Occasionally we pass some reminder, a huge Santa hat on a John Deere tractor – or Christmas lights decorating a house we see across the fields.  Nothing to do with us hobos – who ride along each day wondering if there will be room for us to stop for the night and throw down our bedrolls in a barn (we don’t even knock at the Inn ;-).

Now that we are finally getting the blog up and running, we find it a great encouragement when someone decides to “follow” us – and/or makes a comment (which lets us know that we’re being read!)  Blessings on you all  — as we have been incredibly blessed thus far on this journey, by the love of friends and family and the kindness of the wonderful people we have met and are meeting along the way.  Our hearts are filled with gratitude.

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Sea’s Journal: Excerpts (Oct. 23-28)

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Sea G Rhydr

23 October – Pitched camp in darkness – lost again – horses drank from puddles today.  Left BS camp just after 11 – found Flynn Ridge Road today – a beautiful ridge-top ride – horses dripping sweat exhausted by the time we hit the top.  The breeze soon cooled them and they stepped out well on the gentle dirt road.  Across the Masonite Road to Bailey Ridge we were making good time – no worries – but somehow at Low Gap we made a serious error.  Finally found the way, and out around a gate that read “Flynn Ridge” – so at least we have a touchpoint.  Wrong turn – NW is not part of Masonite that we should be on – back to gate – other direction – but somehow in the dark we must have missed something – once again found ourselves heading NW (!?!) – too dark to continue and we’re in a truck pull-off behind a huge tree stump – ponies tied to trees in edge of forest on flat ground – extra ration of oats to make up for lack of evening graze.  Gryph and i have one Nalgene of water between us which we are saving for morning – both thirsty.  Cold tortilla w/ cheese and sausage for dinner – tomorrow it’s back to the gate.  GPS is not functioning (no signal?) and MRC map doesn’t match DeLorme for this section anyway.  Bearbags – best we could do – wouldn’t fool anyone – but at least they’re hung out of camp and there’s nowhere else to put them.  Seen plenty bear scat today…

24. Oct. – Hot last night – slept with sleeping bag unzipped and still very warm!  Started the day lost.  1 litre water b/w Gryph and i for hot morning beverages with cold sausage and cheese tortillas – nothing else but a bit of gorp that doesn’t need to be cooked with water.  In retrospect the DeLorme map was correct and the MRC topo was wrong – followed compass and intuition to the bridge K had mentioned – Low Gap over and Masonite below — went down to Masonite and headed East – did close to 15 miles today and now are 8 miles from Ukiah – where we hopefully have a place to stay – need a resupply of horse and human food and some oddments of gear, time on-line and cleanliness would be beneficial as well.  J, the head forester who had issued our permits,  found us a mile from a bridge – checked how we were doing.  We asked about water – he said up a mile or so and then another 2-3 miles to where the road parallels creek – pulled away – w/in a few minutes he returned – .7 miles on the right, 50′ before a metal bridge, he’d opened a gate for us to a place where we could camp – water and graze and a flat tent stop – really cool – he also twigged that we’d had no water and gave us bottled water from his truck – really a boon at that moment and it held us together just enough to get to camp, take care of the ponies, set up camp and deal with purifying water and making dinner.

Lots of bird and animal activity and noise tonight.  Bear bags are up high and not too close to camp.  Jesse is on high alert tonight – herd stallion mode – tense and gorgeous.  It was a long day on hard footing today and Finehorn was grumpy a bunch – can’t blame her – but still she was good as gold and friendly tonight.  They all grazed like fiends for 3+ hours when we arrived here – will leave a tad later tomorrow to let them enjoy this pasture.  MRC has been frustrating in terms of lostness – but so incredibly beautiful to ride through.  I realized yesterday that these are the roads i fantasize about riding across the country on when i daydream about the trip.  i don’t think we’ll be so spoiled/privileged often – but all in all this has been glorious.  Saw a buck and a doe today (and two dead rabbits in the road — which put the lie to me reassuring Jesse that those trucks are vegetarians and only eat trees… )  I think we were hearing wild pigs earlier tonight, coyotes and wild turkeys for sure.  Bear scat right by where we originally started to put up the tent (and within sight of last night’s camp on the road).

25. October – Made it to Ukiah just after 5pm – welcomed by A&M – ponies stripped and put out to pasture – Gryph and i in a bachelor pad above the barn.  Sorting and ‘phone calls – Jesse’s right eye a bit weepy and swollen this morning – Vaca’s back sore – Finehorn her usual stoic self even with sore feet and weary.  8 miles of road today after a late (2p) start. Gryph’s fiddle and my travel guitar were waiting for us, delivered by M – right now they seem like another thing to carry when we’re trying to pare down.

Chilly and damp last night and this morning – wild pigs were about last night – we saw where they were rooting – Jesse vigilant.  Gryph stirred up some hornets at the water hole this morning – Jesse, still half-way down the hill and waiting his turn, was the first to notice and vacate.  The mares followed him pronto – i chased after thinking they were staging an escape – but they stopped and waited for me on the road back to camp – Gryph got one sting (bite?) on her neck but we are otherwise unscathed.  I went back for buckets and a nalgene after they’d had time to settle a bit.  Vaca Suerte is losing weight even though we are feeding her more than the other two combined – worrisome.

   

27 Oct. – day off today and another tomorrow waiting for a pair of Renegade hoof boots for Finehorn (general delivery to Redwood Valley).  Yesterday was a really rough day – up the RR tracks – awful footing and overgrown with brambles and weeds.  We walked and led the horses over 8 miles of that and no-shoulder road.  At one point it was bad enough that we had to lead the ponies through one at a time – even then Finehorn’s pack took some maneuvering.  I led Jesse through and tied him on the other side and went back for Finehorn – when I returned, with Gryph and Vaca close behind, there were two boys (13? 14?) with guns standing by Jesse.  I acted confident and reclaimed my horse while joking “please don’t shoot my pony” – but the vibe was creepy and they kept looking at one another like they were trying to decide what they were going to do – or maybe they were just trying to make us nervous about what they might be planning.  Gryph tried to chat them up a bit as she went past, but we were glad to leave them behind and come out into a more open area.  When we got to JJF’s nobody was home but Gryph tended to the ponies (Rainbow Ag had delivered a bag of grain) and i walked a mile to the Redwood Valley Market for food (we had none!) and made it back by 6pm.  Finehorn seems to have forgiven us again by this evening.

I keep having flashes of:  “Oh my Goddess, we’re really doing this!”  “We’re actually getting away with this!”  “We’re figuring out how to ride horses across this continent in 2011!”

The instruments are not an easy addition – can’t imagine having time/energy to play – Gryph’s fiddle case bag strap broke 1st time out – she re-rigged it today – see how it goes.  I need to figure out elsewhere for the tarp-wrapped sheepskin that rides behind Jesse’s saddle – it’s not working for the saddle and does not fit with the guitar.  Paring away the excess – gear, body, encumberments – Need to get more efficient in terms of packing up camp and packing Finehorn.  We are trying to be as close to mustang/natural with the ponies as possible – barefoot and graze – but up against genetics – like Vaca’s metabolism – and lack of conditioning (both mares, and Jesse’s bare hooves).

A little electricity is a dangerous thing – we’re staying up entirely too late.

28. Oct. – Walked to town this aft.  No boots @ USPO – no WiFi anywhere – no headlamp batteries.  Got back and T was here – she has a posssible WiFi connect on the way out of here – and knew of a (free) hot spring en route in Mendo Nat’l Forest – and organic farming community in Capay – And 2nd week of Feb is Primitive Skills gathering in AZ – goal!  It is hard to believe that Monday is Halloween and Tuesday is November!  Tomorrow I’ll go to PO and check for boots at 10am – then we’ll pack up and ride 5 miles to another small farm – goats and a hot tub, WiFi and a pasture, on the edge of Black Bart Trail.  It’s been a good two days here, restful and helpful, living in the yurt, getting on-line and dealing with pragma, enjoying healthy tasty food and good conversation.

I am dreading Sunday’s Hwy 20 ride (or walk!) of 10 miles (+ Black Bart Trail and around Blue Lake.  We’ll know if the horses are up for it after tomorrow’s trail ride.  It’s almost 10pm somehow – Time for Sleep.

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