The 4th weekend

[Karen <karen@storallnv.com>]

We're about ready for bed, it's almost 7 p.m.  Since we stayed in Casper, 
we have to haul down to the start in the morning.  We think that'll take 
about an hour.  It's just easier to leave the horses in the stalls here, 
they can lie down in them and have shelter in case it rains.  It's also 
cooler in there than outside.  We have both fans going, it's 89 degrees 
now.  It should cool off after it gets dark.

The truck dealer here couldn't fix our truck, they were too busy so we have 
to hope that we can find somebody that can fix it later on in our 
route.  And we have to hope that we won't need 4WD in the 
meantime.  Murphy's law.  We have it when you don't need it and then when 
you might it doesn't work.

The two days off sure do seem to go fast.  I think that they are harder 
than the ride days are because we have so much to get done.  It doesn't 
seem like much when you just think about it, but when you actually get to 
doing all those chores the time really adds up and next thing you know, 
it's gone!

The second half of the ride will be really fun, we're really looking 
forward to it.  We've got the routine down now. There will be new people, 
and others will leave.  Karen Fredrickson left today, she was injured when 
her horse fell with her on Saturday.  Dr. told her not to ride, that's too 
bad.  Kat also left.  A few people have left and come back with fresh 
horses and are ready to go again.

Somebody said that it feels like we are a bunch of Jim Jones' 
followers.....following the Duck across country.  It's really pretty funny 
in a way, everybody does what he says no matter what.  It's not like 
anything hasn't happened that he hadn't told us would happen.  There have 
been a few occasions when people have had to pick up and move camp, 
once...or even twice in the same day.  Or you have to move once you get set 
up at the vet check, things like that but that's all part of the adventure.

I've got Rocky's four easyboots glued on his feet for the coming 
week.  He's wearing red ones this time, and is ready to roll!  He got shod 
this weekend, and his feet were in great shape after having the last boots 
glued on for two weeks straight. (twice now)   Sure is a lot easier this 
way!  Tomorrow after I ride I'll do the same thing to Weaver's feet.  I 
longed them both tonight, and it's always a relief to do that and see that 
they are still actually staying upright and on all four 
feet!  :+))  <knocking on wood>

Hey, I just realized that we aren't camped next to train tracks!  Isn't it 
funny how you miss something like that?  Most of our ridecamps haven't been 
all that quiet, we've had trains and wild turkeys, or roosters, or else 
crews and riders arguing.  There are definitely people you try not to park 
next to, when they come rolling in to camp you want to chant 'keep going 
keep going' as they drive past where you are parked.   A few people have 
had crews/drivers quit and still need help.

The weather is supposed to stay hot, but at least it is getting 
drier.  It's more like we are used to though.  I keep being thankful that 
Rocky hasn't gotten scratches.  I've been using lots of desitin on him, 
which is easy to do on the days where we get off a lot to open 
gates.  We're going thru a lot of alkaline soil now.

This weekend I did get all of the cinches washed and the wool pads washed 
at the laundromat.  All the tack is clean now too, which was a chore after 
having desitin, gu, licorice (ever seen red licorice after it gets wet?) 
and electrolytes leak all over my packs in the heat.  I even squeaked in a 
shampoo bath on both horses.  I can't seem to get Rocky clean, those darn 
grey horses -- the brass on his tack is turning him green and he just won't 
come clean.  <sigh>  Those trails in Nebraska also turned him green, but of 
a different variety.

I've got the hay bags all stuffed, half each with alfalfa and grass hay, 
the blue ice chest is full of carrots for the week and we've got plenty of 
drinks, bottled water and food for us.  We've got a little BBQer so we can 
fix some food during the week in areas where there is no fire danger.  I 
eat a lot of peanut butter and simple things like beans or bagel 
sandwiches, and cheese and crackers.  Peanuts and licorice are good snacks, 
but mostly I'm surviving on gu.  I put on a pair of shorts today and they 
wouldn't stay up <G>, so I guess the elastic is coming out of them.  lol

Speaking of food, boy we have sure lucked out and every place we've eaten 
at along the way has been excellent!  Don Skinner told us about this 
Chinese buffet, and boy was it ever good.  Yesterday I had a 3 1/2 hour 
lunch at the Flying J truck stop while I uploaded photos, they have phone 
lines right at the table.  It wasn't so bad, it's air conditioned and the 
food was *really* good.  Better than sitting next to the trailer sweating 
in the shade and watching the horse swat flies.  oh, and speaking of flies 
-- the ones here bite HARD!!!

We haven't had any trouble so far finding feed for the horses.  Lots of 
people found some hay at a ranch this weekend for $5 a bale.  We bought 
some at the feed store, very large bales for $6.50 each.  The Complete 
Advantage I bought at the feed store in Casper was bagged in 1998, needless 
to say it's not feedable.  Jim Mitchell got some too but they replaced it 
with something else because he opened it in time.  Just what were they 
thinking selling horse feed that old?  @#$%!!!!

The last two days of last week, Dave gave out 150 gallons of water to 
riders on the trail.  If  we get to drier parts he won't be able to do that 
because we won't be able to fill up as often.  He does a good job of 
crewing for me and some of my friends, and I think my spare horse even does 
better on the days that he takes him (whichever one it is) too because Dave 
walks them a lot, like a mile with the dogs and lets the horse graze.  I 
think those days the horses look better than the days that they got hauled 
right to the next camp in a different trailer and then tied up.  The horses 
are both a lot better about being separated, they are sure dealing well 
with the large variety of changes in their daily routine on this trip.  We 
figure that each horse has probably been hauled four thousand miles by now, 
in addition to the riding miles.

It's really amazing at least to me, how good some of these horses 
look.  Most all of them do look good (really, I'm not just saying 
it).  There were several of us at the fairgrounds this weekend, and lots of 
horses were out being walked or longed and exercised around.  I didn't see 
any that were lame or that were too thin or that didn't look bright and 
alert.

Last night Joyce Sousa had a party at her rig, and we had a 4th of July 
cake and everybody got to see all of the photos I've taken in a slide 
show.  All the memories come back, and it's really neat when you see a 
photo of something and 8 people instantly know what day and where it was!

The fans have nearly cooled us down to where we can sleep, so I better hit 
the sack.  We've got a new week ahead of us!  Keep your fingers crossed, we 
want to keep riding!

Happy XP trails,

Karen