The Adventure Continues.........The First Ride

The Adventure Begins

It was on the day before the horse show actually began that I had my first ride on Legs. We had a chiropractor appointment at 4 and I wanted to get one trip around the pen so I could see if the long trailer ride had affected my already hurting horse.

I had the horse worked on by the chiropractor at home right before we'd left. He'd found Legs in dire enough straights, he insisted the horse would need another adjustment as soon as we reached the show. I've never gotten that kind recommendation from Dale before. I knew it meant my horse must really be hurting for Dale to suggest such a thing. If I expected this horse to give me his all, I needed to make sure he was capable of that.

Evem though the horse hadn't worked in two weeks, I just took Legs right up to the arena and got on............no lungeing, no nothing. I've never been a big fan of getting a horse tired before working. I wasn't going to change my routine just because this was the US All Arabian National Championship Show.

I could pretty much tell the horse wasn't going to stand still for me to mount. Yet I was confident he would be just fine once I threw my leg over the saddle and began to school. That's what Legs would do at home........and it's certainly what I expected here.

That right there is what was different about this first ride than the first ride with Dandy those fourteen years ago. I could feel my confidence. I didn't feel out of my element or overwhelmed like that new kid on the block. I knew what to do to get the job done and I was comfortable with that.

I may not show every year at nationals like many of these folks but I know I belong here......my horse belongs here. Even if Legs is not exactly at that vision I have been working towards, he's still doing well enough to be out there with horses like these.........and I know what it takes to get him through to that vision I am working towards. I can feel it. I can taste it. I'm ready for this.........even if the horse is not perfect. I was looking forward to riding my horse here.......in this venue.

That insecure woman riding Dandy all those years before is gone. I half smiled as the recognition of this confidence swept over me. I looked around and spotted someone I knew to ask for a hand holding a stirrup so I could mount my horse. Then I climbed on and rode the horse I expected to have.

We took a couple of trips around the warm-up arena flexing and bending before we entered the Ford Truck Arena. Legs was hot as expected but trying hard to give me what I wanted. I could feel all of that pent up energy contained beneath me. With a little reassurance my horse was beginning to settle in.

The differences between this ride and that first ride on Dandy many years ago crossed my mind. Poor Dandy had been jumping out of his skin and running off at every little thing. He had not had the reassurance of a confident rider to ease his fears. Dandy had tried every bit as hard as Legs, the difference in outcome was about the difference in me.

It felt good to have my confidence be that solid. Yet I wondered, would it stay that way. Being totally on my own at this show, would I stay confident or would lifes little challenges throw me a curve ball capable of knocking that confidence down a peg or two. A lot had happened on this trip ......... and a lot can happen at a horse show..............particularly one like the US National Arabian Horse Show.

To be continued............

The Horse Show Begins

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The Adventure Continues.........Tulsa Day One continued...

The Adventure Begins

The Arabian horses rested most of that first day. There was very little movement or conversation on their part....... not even that usual nicker when food is on the way. It was easy to see the horses were just as tired as we were.

Even with the horses all tuckered out, I kept seeing asphalt circles in the middles of their stalls. Despite the extra bedding I'd now added any kind of movement seemed to push the shavings up towards the edges of the stalls leaving the hard surface underneath exposed. The horses were still wearing their leg wraps from the trip........ well at least the leg wraps they'd managed to keep on, but I was going to need to take those off soon. I wanted to find some way to remedy this situation.

I've noticed over the years that horses who've had spills in their stalls seem to have less problems with this bare spot in the middle. I decided to do a little test. I poured a bunch of water onto the bare spot in the middle of the stall. Then covered it with shavings.

I was hoping the shavings absorbing the water would form a clump. Hopefully that clump would form a base the rest of the shavings would stick to........protecting the horses from the bare asphalt floor. I'm sure I must have looked a little crazy deliberately pouring water on the stall floor. It would be worth it, if my test worked. Otherwise, I'd be spending more money on shavings than what I normally spend for my whole herd in an entire month.

I noticed sometime about mid day that Rhet was coughing. I'm not sure when he'd started the coughing just that once I noticed it, he seemed to be doing a lot of it. In addition he was dispensing some snot right along with it.

The colt had a cough at home about two months before we'd left home. It had taken most of six weeks before he'd gotten over it. He had not had a temperature during any of this time and the discharge from his nose, though cloudy was not green in color.

Now it was looking like Rhet's same cough had returned. The colt didn't have a temperature. Although he had some snot, it only seemed to show if propelled by a cough. It was hard to tell if he was really sick because he was so exhausted from the trip. His behavior pretty much mirrored that of the other two horses. I had my fingers crossed it was nothing more than what I'd dealt with already at home.

Then there was the issue of hay. I had located the feed office early that morning. Once they found my order, they delivered my shavings and my feed. The only problem was that grass hay didn't look like anything I wanted to feed my horses.

It didn't smell bad but it didn't look good either. It was mostly gray in color with some brown thrown in. If there was any green, it was but a hint.........not enough to make me feel comfortable. I found myself wondering was it just me, or was there a difference between feed in this part of the country and what I am used to here at home.

I hadn't had problems with feed when I'd shown at Albuquerque BUT I had sure had a problem with bedding. That's when Dandy swelled up like a balloon and I'd spent over $2000 in vet bills all because of his allergic reaction to different bedding. The last thing I needed was problems with feed. I could only imagine where that would lead.

To be continued.............

The First Ride

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Holiday Posting...........Just a Little Late

With most everyone swarming the stores for Black Friday or zonked out from yesterday's overdose, I don't seem to be able to get myself focused enough to write more on the story of my trip to the US National All Arabian and Half Arabian Horse Show. Instead I thought I'd a bit about out holiday here yesterday.

Having still not really recuperated from my trip.........and the fact my poor house suffered dearly while I was gone, I decided not to have the usual family dinner. I just couldn't seem to convince myself I had enough energy to accomplish the clean-up necessary for such an event, let alone the cooking it takes to pull the thing off............so I called all the kids and cancelled the usual traditional dinner with all those trimmings.

It turns out that seemed to work for most of the family. Number two son, Nick, is currently living in San Diego. I knew in advance he was scheduled to work the holiday so no way was he making it home. Number one son, Bil, was planning on going to Whistler for the holiday with his wife's family so no problem there. Colleen's husband was on call for the city of Tacoma for the day so staying home worked for them. That was all but two who seemed to be pretty much OK with mom taking a holiday off.

I am stuck, however, with Dave and Lindsay. Both hopeless romantics when it comes to holidays and tradition. You'd think I'd told them I was murdering someone..........instead of opting for a quiet holiday.

Dave thought not cooking a turkey was OK since he's the one who does that part here. But the idea of NOT having turkey didn't set so well. Evidently going to a restaurant to have turkey dinner didn't set well either because next thing you know Dave had ordered a complete turkey dinner from...............Safeway. Oh yum..........................LOL But he'd ordered it so that's what we did.

Then Lindsay decided she wanted to make her usual holiday fruit salad. It's nothing fancy.........fruit cocktail, mandarin oranges, bananas, raisins and whipped cream. It all sounds simple enough.............

I was coerced into fixing my sinfully dessert like "pink" salad. Well, ok, so I can't imagine turkey without a little mountain or so of extra calories from that salad, I volunteered to whip it up even though I knew it would totally outclass anything premade by Safeway............heaven help us.

The only thing about this pink salad it requires a bit of timing. Anytime you go mixing sherbet into jello, you can bet there's timing involved, or else you end us with little lumps of jello instead of smoothly blended concoction.

Also in the mix are thawed frozen strawberries, fruit cocktail and crushed pineapple. These things must be well drained or they can turn the whole thing into mush. Since I've been doing this darn salad for over thirty years, I have the timing of draining, cooling and mixing all pretty well down. Yesterday I was right on schedule to throw the whole thing together when what did I see as I can around the corner and into the kitchen but one Siberian Husky who has recently learned the fine art of counter surfing.

That's right..........the Devil Dog has returned. Delilah had her mug in my well drained fruit..............and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the crushed pineapple. The jello may have been appropriately cooled to blend in the sherbet and whipped cream followed by the fruit..............but the fruit was toast............. Dave was off to the store to buy more fruit while I dealt with Delilah......... And this was just the beginning of our holiday.

Here's hoping you all had a great Turkey Day!
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The Adventure Continues.........Tulsa Day One

The Adventure Begins

I had to laugh when the alarm woke me in the morning. Between my lack of sleep and poor lighting inside the trailer, the cleaning I did was not all that good. Sitting up on a narrow ledge right over my head four poop balls were perched rather precariously.

That darn ledge has been a frustration to me ever since I bought this trailer. Funny, though, once the "spot" is taken those darn balls will sit there until they're nearly mummified. The second I clean it off some horse is always making another deposit there. It's like some unwritten rule there must be poo in that spot. Now even as the horse trailer doubled as my room, here it was still decked out with horse poop.

As I tried to get up out of bed, I struggled with the air mattress swallowing me up. Seems like it was another victim of my lack of sleep. There was barely enough air in it to keep me up off the trailer deck let alone add any support. What air there was displaced immediately as I tried to move causing me to roll.

It reminded me of those days back when I had a water bed struggling to get my feet to the floor. I never did like that water bed precisely for that reason.

I couldn't help but wonder what other tasks I'd complete the night before in this half *ssed manner. I sure hoped I'd taken better care of my horses than I had myself. There was only one way to know and that was to get my b*tt to the barn. It was time to do a thorough check of the horses and get all their stuff moved in.

The first thing I planned to do when I got to the horses' stalls was check Gypcy's water. She had looked like she was going to drink when I'd hung the bucket the night before but I wanted to be sure she was finally drinking.

When I reached the stalls all three horses were laying down. Even the sound of my footfalls on the barn floor didn't rouse any of them. Normally they'd have all been up yelling for breakfast but after this long trip, they definitely needed some down time.

I checked Gypcy's water only to find the filly had drank less than half her bucket of water. With as long as she'd gone without drinking, this just wasn't enough.

I threw all three horses hay before beginning to unload the horse trailer. First I wanted to get out the big tubs I normally use to water my horses and my hoses. I figured this more familiar container would be less intimidating to Gypcy. If using that didn't get her water consumption up where I thought it should be, I'd try electrolytes.

I'd packed the horse trailer putting the things I'd need first in at the very last. That meant those tubs as well as the horses' blankets had been the very last items put in. The problem with this plan, I hadn't considered how I'd fill these tubs, the hoses were buried..........and I do mean buried. I figured it would take less time to scrounge hoses in the barn than get mine dug out.

When I got back to the stalls, our neighbors at the end of the aisle were in the process of watering their horses. That gave me the opportunity to borrow their hoses to get my big tubs filled.

That darn Gypcy, as spooky as she is, could hardly wait for the hose to fill her water tub. Despite spooking to the point the filly was nearly on her tiptoes, she was trying to drink before even the bottom of that tub was covered with water. If I'd had any doubt her problem the whole darned trip had been about the bucket itself, it was certainly gone now. All the silly filly wanted was the container she knew.

Even at that I planned to monitor her intake. Four days with very little if any water, I knew she must be dehydrated. Just drinking her normal amounts of water wouldn't be enough to get her re-hydrated. She'd need to drink a lot more water than that for me to be sure we were out of the woods.

By the time I gotten all the water tubs filled, Jesse and his crew had arrived. They were unloading their rig from the farthest door in the building because Jesse didn't think it was polite to be dragging his stuff through barn aisles already inhabited by other trainers.

Because I was stabled with Jesse, I figured I should go by his rules. But I have to tell you the hike it took to get to my rig made the whole job take twice as long. Between that added distance and being dog tired, I think it took me half the day to get all of my stuff unloaded.

Part of the reason for that could be attributed to my little wheel barrel. Once Jesse was done with his big one, I borrowed it despite the fact it had low tires.

It was on one of my trips down the center barn aisle with that wheel barrow that I met a young woman from Tennessee. She saw the low tires and offered to pump them up for me. Little did I know at this time, this gesture would change some aspects of my trip.

The only reason unloading didn't take me all day was because I shared some setup stuff with Jesse. I had purchased my own tack room but offered it to Jesse to use as a feed room if I could share his other rooms (tack room, ready room and dressing room). Since Jesse had all the set-up for those rooms, I only needed to add a few hooks for my things and got to leave the rest of that stuff in my horse trailer.

It probably would have been better if we'd discussed this plan ahead of time. Then I could have saved myself dragging all this extra "crap" two-thirds of the way across the country for no reason.

I think Jesse's crew was running on low gear, just like me. It took us most of the day to get the set-up entirely finished. The portion of the day that was left after the task was done went to resting. The plan was not to work any horses at least until the following day.

To be continued....................

Tulsa Day One Continued......

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The Adventure Continues.........Moving In

The Adventure Begins

Having been to the US All Arabian National Horse Show before I had an idea what to expect about the moving in process. I already knew that bedding needed to be purchased and any additional feed we might need. I had sent in my request form including payment with my entries so those things could be delivered and waiting at the stalls when we arrived.

The best laid plans can go awry and this was one of those times. Even though I'd clearly marked my form that I'd be stabled with Jesse Saldana neither the bedding I'd ordered nor the grass hay had been delivered. Jesse had received all of the bags of shavings that he'd ordered however, and thankfully he shared because neither of us knew that the feed office was open around the clock. We thought we were stuck with things as they were until morning.

The stabling at the Tulsa Expo Square is all portable from what I can tell. The stalls are 12 by 12 which is not the norm for portables. These walls are solid only half way up. The upper portion is a 2 by 4 inch mesh. That is also not the norm for portable stabling.

I don't think I've ever been to a show before where the horses could actually touch each other through the mesh. The first thoughts in my head were all those owners over the years telling me why their stallions could not be in portables. I was pretty sure most of them wouldn't have thought much about the fact the horses could see each other like this, let alone smush their little noses together.

It tickled me just a bit that my stallions were up to this new concept in stabling. With as much contact with other horses as my stallions get, neither Rhet or Legs would have trouble dealing with horses this close. On the contrary, I expected each would actually appreciate getting to know their neighbors so up close and personal.

Of course, because these thoughts were the first thing to cross my mind, my horses (just like kids) had to make liars out of me. When I first put Legs into his stall he couldn't think about anything else but Gypcy across the aisle away from his protection and the gelding behind him. Legs was sure that gelding was after his girl.

The only real draw back to these stalls was they were set up on concrete. Trying to keep a horse safe on concrete has its own unique challenges. It seems no matter how thick you bed them in shavings, the horses manage to find the slick floor underneath. I didn't want a repeat performance of Dandy's accident year's before.

The next challenge in getting the horses bedded down for the night was locating water. There appeared to be no hoses anywhere in sight. We did find faucets on the outer supports of the building but the first one of those had no pressure what so ever. We did find on with better pressure but had to resort to bucketing water to the horses as least for this night.

By the time I'd finished this task, Legs had figured out the gelding behind him was not a threat to Gypcy. And Rhet, the only neighbor he was interested in was Legs. He was constantly sticking his nose up to the mesh trying to get chummy with Legs.

Luckily I still had some hay left from my trip since my feed order hadn't arrived. I hauled in enough feed for the night, blanketed the horses and then headed off to the horse trailer. It was to be my home for the next week so I had some cleaning to do before it would be livable.

After the horse trailer was thoroughly cleaned out, I spread out a small blue tarp on the floor. On top of that I put the cheap carpet I'd brought. Then on top of that went my air mattress and sleeping bag. I backed the horse trailer up to a far corned of the parking lot and dove into bed.

Jesse said they'd be back about eight in the morning. I set my alarm. Called home to check in and pulled the covers over my head. It was nearly midnight and morning was going to come much sooner than my poor body needed.


To be continued.....................

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back............Getting to Tulsa

The Adventure Begins

If you remember back to the Region 4 All Arabian Horse Championships, you might remember that dear sweet Rhet (yes, I am being facetious here!) had an injury right before that horse show. Now looking at the blood streaming off Rhet's nose, I was wondering if maybe this colt had a hidden agenda when it comes to horse shows.........something along the lines of a major self destruct button, I'd guess.

The first injury had so many staples Dave referred to it as his own personal line of jewelry. I was afraid that this injury, however, was going to look more like some kind of deformity than something that had happened on the trip. Between this and the rub marks right at his tear bones he managed to do right before we left home, Rhet's beautiful face was going to look like some kind of a war zone. Tulsa was looking less and less promising.............

I was glad when we finished at the station and headed on down the road again. If I coudn't be excited about showing, at least I could be excited about not having to drive anymore. This whole trip totalling over 2600 miles was taking its toll on me. I was hoping we'd be arriving in Tulsa before dark.

Oklahoma had plenty of construction zones. The things I noticed the most about them was they weren't all marked the same way. Some of them gave a lot of distance from first warning to when the lanes actually merged, while others, not so much.

The worst of those came as we entered Tulsa. We merged onto the freeway in a far left lane. Shortly thereafter we spotted the contraction's signs saying the left lane closed ahead.......only ahead turned out to be just a matter of feet. Before I knew it, Jesse was darting into the right lane into oncoming rush hour traffic and I was looking at concrete Jersey barriers right smack dab in front of me.

I, too, darted to the right hoping there was room for me there. There was no time to signal, not much time to think, as I dove into the right lane to avoid hitting the bulkhead in front of me.

Thankfully I had an astute driver coming from behind in that lane. The driver knew I'd be making an emergency change into that right lane and made room for me. Otherwise I think my story about Tulsa would have ended right here.

By now my heart is pounding and I have enough adrenaline coursing through my veins to last me at least a week. My hands were shaking, there was sweat running down my face and my knees were weak. Rush hour traffic in Tulsa didn't really care about my distress, there was no time to regroup. Jesse was headed off toward the far right to exit onto another turnpike.

We don't have turnpikes in Washington state. They are foreign beings to me. I saw them on the MapQuest directions but they just did not compute, although the very thought they had used that word, turnpike" had made me quake just a bit. Now that I was actually experiencing a turnpike, I was wishing I was back home safely in my bed with the covers pulled up tightly over my head. Turnpikes are definitely NOT for the faint of heart........again I was glad I had Jesse as a guide.

I don't know how long we were on the last turnpike. I do know it went from daylight to nightime........and it still seemed like forever before we pulled off that thing. By the time we did, I was really ready to be done. Thankfully I also remembered once we left this thing, it was only a few short miles to Tulsa Expo Square.

It was about 7 Pacific Time when we finally reached the fairgrounds. Another half hour or so figuring out where our stalls were located. Then it was time to move horses in...............at least I didn't have to worry about anymore road hazards.

To be continued......................

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Closing in on Tulsa.........

The Adventure Begins

After this experience in Albuquerque every time we drove through a construction zone I could feel my body tense. I was having muscle spasms in my arm from grabbing the wheel so hard.

I just couldn't get over that feeling I had some kind of target on my back or that this trip was jinxed. I'm not normally a person who buys into such crap but between my lack of sleep and all that had happened, logic had pretty much escaped me.

I was also very much bothered because Gypcy still had not decided to drink. Heck, she wasn't even sticking her head out of the trailer window when given the opportunity let alone reaching for a bucket of water to drink. In stead she just stood there snorting at everything that moved or every little sound she heard with her eyes bugging out of her head.............Arabian horses..........you just gotta love 'em!

I'd had tried hanging a bucket inside her trailer slot on those times when we were stopped. The poor filly would plaster her butt up against the wall as far as she could get from the bucket. You'd think from her reaction she'd never seen a bucket before......but somehow in her head, buckets didn't belong here, I guess. Whatever it was, even by the time I removed the bucket Gypcy still hadn't left her position plastered up against that back wall.

I was relieved when we finally crossed the border from New Mexico and moved on into the panhandle of Texas. I knew from my MapQuest query we wouldn't be long in that state. Once we hit Oklahoma, I figured I'd finally be able to breathe........

We did make what was supposed to be a brief stop in Texas. We pulled off the Interstate somewhere in the sticks thinking it would be quieter than waiting until we hit Amarillo. The road leading to the station looked quiet enough but the station itself was swamped. We ended up sitting on the shoulder waiting for our turn at the pumps.

While we were waiting this place was suddenly swarmed with cops. I didn't see a cop during any of my times of need on this trip and for that matter none in between. Yet here we are stopping in Texas to refuel and grab lunch and there's sixty-gazzillion state troopers pulled in there..........and half of them ended up standing in line in front of Jesse waiting to get lunch. Who knew Subway sandwiches could have such appeal.

I doubt we have that many state troopers in the whole state of Washington working at the same time, let alone congregating for lunch like that. I swear it looked like a convention...............made me nervous...........for the first time on this trip, I was anxious to get back on the road.

While Jesse and his crew stood in line waiting to order, I went out and tried watering the horses again. Since the temperatures had warmed up some, I also wanted to check how the horses were doing wearing sleezys and sheets.

Legs and Rhet both drank two whole buckets of water. Gypcy still wouldn't even try to take a drink. She just stood there snorting at the open window and the water moving in the bucket. Other than that the horses looked good. They seemed to be handling the trip better than me.

It was probably a good hour maybe even longer before we finally got back on the road. For some reason being outside Amarillo had me humming to myself "Amarillo by morning.............." as we booked down the interstate.

At one time Dave had applied for a job in this area of Texas. Now looking at the trees and their tell tale windswept growth, I was really glad he hadn't gotten that job. I don't know that I could live with the kind of wind it takes to deform trees like that........even though there would have been definite advantages to moving my breeding business to a new location like that......then there are all those great western pleasure trainers in that area........thoughts for another day, I guess.

By the time we hit Oklahoma we would only have one more stop for fuel before we hit the Tulsa Expo Square where the US All Arabian National Horse Show was held. I could hardly wait to reach that milestone. Even if the trip did last a couple more hours past that stop.

My enthusiasm for that last stop vanished when I opened the windows on my trailer to inspect the horses. There stood Rhet with blood running down his nose. The colt had managed to find something in that trailer to snag his right nostril on. He'd torn completely through the ridge that forms the nostril and there was a thick chunk of tissue hanging...............

To be continued.............

The Road Hits Back........Getting to Tulsa

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Albuquerque......... the Damage

The Adventure Begins

Jesse was true to his word. At the first off ramp outside the construction zone, he pulled off Interstate 40 so we could refuel and check the damage to my rig. I already knew I had lost the lights on the fenders of both my truck and my horse trailer but other than that I had no idea what the damage might be.

That passenger side fender on my dually has been crunched a couple of times so I know from experience it doesn't take much to compromise the fiberglass. Whether or not hitting those sand filled pylons at 55 mph was enough to wreck that fender or not was in question. Although that fender "only" had small chunks out of it, as well as that broken light, I wasn't prepared for the rest of the damage to my rig.



It looked like someone or something had tried to rip my horse trailer fender right off the frame. The section of the trailer fender that attaches to the body of the horse trailer was peeled back and the fender itself was pushed into the tire, along with an assortment of dents and paint peels.

One side of the front of my horse trailer was caved in from the whiplash effect that resulted from my swerve to avoid hitting the pylons head on. The offending part of my truck, its bumper was crumpled up as well.

Then the off side of the horse trailer had an assortment of scrapes from tangling with the concrete Jersey barriers. Along with a crumple at the bottom back of the fender from hitting some kind of low spot in this process.

Structurally my horse trailer was still sound. However, we had to take a tire iron to raise the one bent fender up so it was no longer making contact with the tire. All in all, I probably got off easy considering what could have happened to me and my horses had I hit those pylons head on.

I probably should have been grateful.........BUT truthfully I was really pissed off. Mostly I was mad at the New Mexico DOT for setting up a traffic lane that was inherently unsafe, a speed limit that didn't fit the circumstances.......and at myself for trusting they knew what they were doing.....because obviously they DIDN'T. Then I was mad this trip just would NOT give me a break. Seemed like every time I turned around something else was smacking me down. AND thirdly I was mad I was in this mess ALONE! What was I thinking???????

If you're wondering by this time if I was thinking maybe I wasn't meant to be on this trip, the answer to that question would be an unequivocal yes. If it hadn't meant travelling alone without proper maps and such to get me there, I might just have been tempted to turn around and head home.

At this point the only thing keeping me moving on to Tulsa was my faith Jesse knew how to get there. My fear was bigger of being stranded somewhere alone than making it to the show. I wasn't even sure anymore if I'd get there in one piece.......but the odds that something more bad might happened seemed to be slim.........or at least, that's what I hoped because after our brief stop at this station, I was once again following Jesse down the road to Tulsa...............and the US All Arabian Half-Arabian National Horse Show. I mean really.........what could happen next?

To be continued.................

The Road Hits Back........Closing in on Tulsa

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Albuquerque.........

The Adventure Begins

As we pulled out of the rest stop and back onto Interstate 40, I called Jesse to thank him for taking the extra time to give me a break. I knew he didn't need to stop rotating between two drivers resting for two hours had totally been about me.

The first few miles in the early morning darkness I was wide awake. However, the monotony of the drive was hammering away at my resolve. Again I began looking for little goals I could achieve. The first obvious one was making the Arizona border and moving into New Mexico. From there Albuquerque was the next big goal. I couldn't help but wish Nationals was still held there.

In the meantime I waited and watched for any sign of sunrise. I knew myself enough to know that daylight would bring with in much need mental acuity even if I was sleep deprived. Funny how sunrise can sneak up on you even when you're watching. Before I knew it the New Mexico skys were visible and I found myself remembering those sky those fourteen years ago when I arrived in Albuquerque with Dandy.

The timing of that horse show had been the same as the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival Just the thought of all those brightly colored hot air balloon littering the Albuquerque skies made this drive a bit lighter. I knew the festival had been earlier this year. There was no chance we'd be getting a glimpse of that phenomenon again. Albuquerque had another kind of surprise in store for me.

The construction zones across the central United States had started in Arizona and continued on through New Mexico into Texas and even on into Oklahoma. There was a heck of a lot of construction. It made driving difficult. Some of the signs said it was the government stimulus package at work. How much of this construction was funded that way I don't really know.

Those construction zones were set up differently than I'm used to here in Washington. While the signs read "FINES DOUBLE IN WORK ZONES" the slower posted speed limits were much higher. Not only that but the construction workers seemed to be always flagging us through.........faster......faster. Here in Washington those flaggers are always signaling drivers to go slower............slower.

By the time we reached Albuquerque it was rush hour. The construction zone pushed us down to one lane. The rush hour drivers were dive bombing for that lane with little regard for the workers or other drivers. If you didn't keep up, the odds were you'd get run over. The frantic pace was terrifying.

As if that wasn't enough that one lane was not really a true lane. The DOT had set up their orange and white sand filled pylons inside the dotted white line that should have been the right barrier for the far left lane. That forced the traffic to maneuver through with part of each vehicle in the lane and the balance on the shoulder.

Of course, that shoulder was edged with those concrete Jersey barriers. Trying to keep my rig centered between these obstacles was a nightmare. I found myself straddling the groove outside the solid white line that's supposed to be the lane edge. You know the groove........the one that causes that noise to wake sleeping drivers. Driving along that trough made for tough steering.

At one point I hit some kind of rut and it pitched my truck drastically to the right. Suddenly I was faced with three of those heavy pylons directly in my path. I jerk the wheel swiftly to the left and avoided hitting the pylons head on, however, I took out at least one of them with the fender on my dually and another with the fender on my horse trailer. My rig seemed to bounce from the pylons off to the Jersey barriers before I was able to get it back under control.

I immediately called Jesse to let him know what I'd done. My truck seemed to be travelling ok but it was clear I needed to get out of this traffic and find a place to survey the damage to my truck and horse trailer. With Jesse in the lead we headed for the nearest off ramp out of the construction zone.

To be continued........................

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Getting By.........

The Adventure Begins

When all was said and done, I'd spent over $800 on new tires and an extra rim for my horse trailer. It was well past dark when the job was finally finished and Jesse mentioned we still have about twenty-three hours of travel left in front of us. The emotional drain of all this stuff was taking it's toll. I was beginning to wonder if I could complete this drive by myself.

I think Jesse was worried about it too although he never said. While he didn't want me to hold him up, he didn't want me to have problems either. He mentioned in passing that he might be able to stop for an hour or maybe two max so I could rest. That was all I needed to rekindle my resolve. I knew from past experience I could make Tulsa with a break......even that short.

So once again we headed down the road. Jesse in the lead and me following his trailer lights in the dark. We got onto Interstate 40 and began the long stretch to Tulsa. If I remember my MapQuest correctly, it was over a thousand miles down this interstate before we'd be anywhere near our destination of Tulsa.

I tried not to think about that fact often. I found it depressing. Instead I thought about when would be the best time to take my break. I knew if I timed it right, the rest of the drive would be manageable. With a little thought I decided the most difficult times of the night for me would be those late night hours just before dawn. If we stopped at around 2 AM and stayed until 4, I would be resting through the worst of it. Refreshed from the break, I'd be able to make it through the last hours of darkness. Once the sun rose, I would have renewed energy to get me through to Tulsa.

With this plan finally determined, I just set about following Jesse. Other than making sure we stopped when I needed fuel, staying on Jesse's tail was my major focus. As the hour got later, the traffic became more sporadic. The lights of the horse trailer in front on me danced hypnotically.

There's always been something about a well lit horse trailer against the dark night that reminds me of graceful dancers. I'm not sure why that is. I only know I've had this impression many times before. It doesn't stem from fatigue or lack of sleep. There's something about them that keeps me focused and lends reassurance as well. I just love the look of those lights running down the darkness.

The later it got, the more I focused on making it until 2 AM. I found myself in a mental game willing myself through this treacherous drive against time and dreaded sleep. Road signs with mileage got translated into terms relating to that goal. Each a manageable step in my quest to ward off the monotony courted by sleep.


When I felt I couldn't make it another mile, I told Jesse I was ready to stop. Before long he pulled off into a rest area along side the Interstate. The place was dark and filled with semi trucks already tucked in for the night. At the far end Jesse found parking spots for both of us. We pulled in and turned off our engines and out lights.

First I got my phone out to set my alarm. I wanted to no take one minute longer on this break than Jesse had been willing to give so I set the time for 3:45. That gave me a few minutes to be wide awake and put things in order for the drive. Then I quickly went through my routine setting up a place to sleep.

The horses had been feed and watered at our last stop for fuel. They stood quietly in the trailer allowing me to sleep. Before I knew it my phone was signaling it was time to get up.............

Keep in mind at this point it had now been almost seventy hours since I'd risen Saturday morning to begin this trip. During that time I had actually sleep about ten hours. Yet, I didn't groan or even set the snooze alarm when my phone woke me. My eyes no longer felt laden with the weight of much needed sleep. I actually felt ready to proceed on with the trip despite only getting about an hour and a half of sleep.

By the time I put my bedding away and my boots back on, Jesse had turned the lights on to his rig. He was ready to get back on the road. I was ready to but in the back of my mind I was trying to do the math to figure out how many miles we actually had left.


To be continued...................

The Road Hits Back.......Albuquerque

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Not Again.........

The Adventure Begins

My mind raced with the possibilities. Was there something endangering my horses? Was my truck or trailer on fire? What........what could be the problem?

I rolled my window down and the man in the car did the same. Then I heard him say I had blown out tire on my trailer. How could this be? This time I hadn't heard anything........nor had I felt anything. How could I have another blow out?

In disbelief, I began looking for a place on the shoulder to pull my rig as I watched Jesse pulling farther away from me. I carefully pulled my truck and horse trailer off the road and onto the shoulder being sure I was clear of traffic. Then I grabbed the walkie talkie Jesse had given me to let him know what had happened.

Now I could see Jesse's rig finding its way to the shoulder farther down the road. Jesse responded asking me if I could get down to where he was so they could help me get my tire changed. If I proceeded slowly, I thought, I just might be able to make that half mile down the road to Jesse without doing too much damage to my rim. I started my truck back up and carefully began creeping down the shoulder.

I hadn't gone far when a truck pulling a red boat whizzed past me. Then it darted onto the shoulder and backed up towards me. A man jumped out, running back towards my truck. As I lowered my window to talk to him, this man asked me if I had a spare. He told me if I'd pull farther off the road, he could change my tire for me.

Then the man moved his rig up farther giving me room to get deeper onto the shoulder. I called Jesse to let him know what was happening as I reparked my rig. Then I saw the man coming towards me with a hydraulic jack in tow. This guy was really prepared for situations like this.

Next I unlocked my tack room to get at my spare trailer tire. There right in front of me were a couple of traffic ones. I've always carried a couple of traffic cones just in case of emergencies like this.However, I've never used them before. I grabbed those cones and set them out along the roadway up close to the line. Hopefully making the passing drivers more aware of the jeopardy of this good Samaritan changing my tire.

Once I finally had the spare, you know, the one I'd just bought the day before at Wal-Mart, dug out from underneath all that miscellaneous horse junk, I took it around to this man. Then I began to tell him about my first blowout and my disbelief at having another. It was then he said to me he criss crosses the country a lot. There's one thing he's learned about tires in this process. If they blow it's usually due to bad stems or aged tires.

These tires had been purchased a little over a year ago so I thought it couldn't possibly be age. Bad stems he said were easy to tell, you could just flick them off with your fingers. But we wouldn't want to do that until we got to a tire store. That was his recommendation. The next thing I needed to do was head straight to a tire store, not just to get another spare but to check out my other tires. If not, I'd surely see another blowout before I ever finished my trip.

When he'd completed changing my tire, I thanked the man. He turned out to be a retired fire fighter. Helping people is a way of life for him. He couldn't seemed to quit even though he was supposed to be retired.

It really wasn't long at all and I was back on the road following Jesse. I called Jesse to let him know what this man had told me we needed to do. Jesse was certain there was a station with tires not to far from us in Kingman Arizona.

It was after hours when we reached our destination. There was a semi truck pulled in front of us waiting for the tire expert to return. The station owner thought the driver of the semi was out of luck but was confident that they'd have what we'd need to get back on the road again.

Even before the tire guy arrived, I noticed that new tire from Wal-Mart seemed to have lost some air. I don't think we'd gone much farther than twenty miles or so but the tire was clearly lower than when it had been mounted on my trailer.

When the tire expert arrived I had come to an important conclusion. I wanted to have two spare tires and not just one. I didn't want to be spending anymore time hunting for spares if I should get into trouble again. Right off that meant at the very least I'd be purchasing two tires and an extra rim.

Then I thought we'd be putting those two new tires on the trailer not to take any chances. Since I supposedly had two new spares on now, that would give me new tires all the way around. I could use the two other tires for spares.

However, the tire expert confirmed the former fire-fighter's beliefs. The tires on my horse trailer, despite being recently purchased were indeed aged tires. Close up to the edge of each tire was stamped a date of 2004. That made this tires five years old........an age inappropriate for a trip such as this. That meant instead of buying two tires, I was no buying four. I could use my two former spares as spare tires again. The odds were I wouldn't need them before I made it home.

Then there was the question of the Wal-Mart tire. It was indeed leaking air. The tire expert believed they had installed a car stem on this tire instead of a heavy duty steel stem intended for trailers. Car stems are only rated to hold 35 pounds of pressure. The pressure on most trailer tires would be 60 pounds or more. Had I tried to run any distance on the Wal-Mart tire, it would have blown too.

To be continued................

The Road Hits Back......Getting By

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You Take The Horse; I'll Gladly Take The Dog

By Dave Barry

RECENTLY a woman I know named Michelle came into the newspaper office with a big ugly wound on her upper arm. Realizing that she might be self-conscious about it, I said: "Michelle, what's that big ugly wound on your upper arm?" Sensitivity is the cornerstone of journalism.

It turned out that Michelle had been bitten by a horse. It was her own horse, and it bit her while she was trying to feed it.

This is a typical horse maneuver. Horses are the opposite of dogs, gratitude-wise. You give a dog something totally wretched to eat, such as a toad part or a wad of pre-chewed Dentyne, and the dog will henceforth view you as the Supreme Being.

It will gaze on you for hours with rapt adoration and lick the ground you walk on and try to kill the pizza-delivery person if he comes anywhere near you.

Whereas if you spend hours grooming a horse and lugging its food and water around, the horse will be thinking: "Should I chomp on this person's arm? Or should I merely blow a couple gallons of horse snot into this person's hair?"

I don't trust horses. "Never trust an animal with feet made from the same material as bowling balls" is one of my mottoes. I never believed those scenes in Western movies when bad guys would tie the hero up, and his horse would trot over and untie the knots with his teeth. A real horse would size up the situation and stomp on the hero's feet.

I don't blame horses for being hostile. I myself would feel hostile toward somebody who was always sitting on me and yanking on my lips. But what I don't get is, how come they're so popular? Especially with women?

Now, you're probably saying: "Dave, you're just bitter because in fifth grade you had an intense crush on Susan Cartoun, and you wrote `Sue' on your notebook inside a heart, but the name inside the heart on her notebook was `Frosty,' an imaginary horse that she loved much more than you, despite the fact that, if Frosty ever had the chance, it would have got imaginary snot in her hair."

Yes, it's true that I am a little bitter about that. Also, I have not forgotten my first experience with a horse. I was 9 years old, at a farm, and I attempted to ride a pony.

"Pony" is a misunderstood word. Many young people, having grown up watching the "My Little Pony" cartoon show, believe that a pony is a cute little pastel-colored critter with a perky voice and a nurturing personality and a 1973 Farrah Fawcett hair style. Whereas, in fact, a typical pony is the same weight as an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme but with no controls or moral code.

Anyway, following my sister's directions, I put my foot into the metal thing hanging down from the pony (technically, the "fetlock"), and instantly the pony, not wishing to be boarded at that time, trotted briskly off, with my leg attached to it.

I attempted to keep up by bouncing next to it on my other leg, like the famous Western cinematic star, Hopalong Dork, but finally, in a feat of astonishing equestrian skill, I fell down backward and got dragged across the field with my head bouncing gaily behind amongst the cow doots.

I could tell the pony enjoyed this immensely. It couldn't wait to get back to the stable and tell the other horses via Snort Language.

"You should have seen his hair!" snorted the pony. "He'll need to shampoo with industrial solvents!"

"Next time," snorted one of the older horses, "try stepping on him. It's like dropping an anvil on a Hostess Twinkie."

"And the legal authorities can't prosecute, because we're horses," snorted another.

So I stayed off horses altogether until 20 years later, when I was courting my wife. We were in the Rocky Mountains, and they had rental horses, and she wanted to ride one.

Naturally, she loves horses. As a child, she used to ride a neighbor's horse bareback, an experience she remembers fondly even though she admits the horse would regularly try to decapitate her by running under low tree branches at 27 miles per hour.

I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but why is it that a woman will forgive homicidal behavior in a horse, yet be highly critical of a man for leaving the toilet seat up?

But I was in Raging Hormone Courting Mode, meaning I would have wrestled a giant snake to impress my wife-to-be, so I let her talk me into getting on this rental horse.

It turned its head around and looked at me with one of those horse eyeballs the size of a mature grapefruit, and I knew instantly what it was thinking. It was thinking: "Hey! It's Hopalong Dork!"

So while my wife's horse trotted briskly off into the scenery, looking for low branches to run under, my horse just stood there, eating and pooping, waiting for me to put one leg on the ground so it could suddenly take off and drag me to Oregon.

So I sat very still, like one of those statue generals, only more rigid. I'd say we moved about 11 feet in two hours. Next time I am definitely renting the snake.

Fortunately, my wife's horse was unable to kill her, and we got married and lived happily ever after, except that she keeps saying that she wants us to go riding again.

I don't know what to do. I think maybe tonight I'll fix her a candlelight dinner, give her some wine, and put on some soft, romantic music. Then, when the moment is just right, I will gently but firmly bite her upper arm.


Dave Barry's column appears Monday on The Times' editorial page.


A friend sent me this via email. I thought I'd share before I lost track of it. Then I thought the picture of Legs probably reflected his attitude about the whole thing. Can't you just see him laughing at us silly humans?

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back.....Day Three

The Adventure Begins

It turned out to be just one of those nights. It didn't matter how I laid or what I fluffed up where, I just couldn't sleep. With the drive to Tulsa looming I just couldn't seem to clear my head so instead of sawing logs I thinking about a drive to a place I'd never been.

When my cell phone chirped at me, I couldn't believe my ears. How could it be 4 AM when I hadn't even been to sleep yet? Pulling a pillow over my face I thought I might just escape the reality of the situation.

I watched in my rear view mirror to see if anyone was stirring in the barn. Maybe if they were running late, I might grab a Z or three. I saw the motion light go on and off a few times but I thought it was the wind triggering it. It took a while for me to realize it was Richy going in and out of the barn as he packed stuff in the horse trailer setting it off.

With that realization I was more than ready to quit struggling to sleep. The last thing I wanted was to be holding Jesse up. Finally shutting off the snooze alarm, I began packing up my bedding and getting my truck in order from there I moved on down to the barn my horses were in to rewrap their legs.

When I arrived in the dark barn, I easily found the light switch. The only problem was the lights refused to respond. Even after getting Richy to help, the fluorescent lights just did not want to co-operate so I ended up leading each horse up to the arena level to do my wrapping there. As I finished each horse, I loaded it into the trailer.

By the time I was finished, Richy was finished with his chores as well. As I walked my last horse into the trailer, Jesse, Richy and John were working on loading their last horse as well. They had some little last minute things to do before we actually pulled out. It was 6:30 when we finally got on the road headed towards Tulsa.

I had been unable to locate a station with diesel anywhere near the ranch so was not starting off with two full tanks of fuel. I had asked Richy the night before if we would be stopping to eat breakfast along the way. He assured me that we would sometime around 9. If that was indeed the case, I 'd been fine with the fuel that I had. If not, I was going to need to make a stop.

As we worked our way through rush hour traffic headed towards southern California, I couldn't help but be grateful I was following someone. Those road signs and off ramps were coming up faster than I could keep track. I had no idea "where" we were going just that I was following Jesse.

Traffic has always been particularly stressful for me but rush hour traffic in California seems to have its own unique character. I breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled off the interstate onto a much quieter road.

Only this road made me a bit nervous. It seemed rather desolate with nothing but miles and miles of empty fields. Even the freeway ramps seemed pretty barren, I was beginning to worry about finding that fuel.

I called Jesse on his cell to let him know I'd be needing fuel within the next fifty miles or so. He told me the stations were at least fifty miles apart so to keep that in mind when I let him know I needed fuel. Then we just kept right on flying down the road.

It was probably about an hour before he signaled he was exiting the freeway. My gauge was reading about a quarter of a tank so I was glad we had finally found a station. That enthusiasm was quickly squashed when I saw the size of the station. Jesse has a 4 ton truck and pulls a 5 horse trailer. Between his rig and mine I couldn't imagine how we were both going to get into this place........but we did.........although it took some maneuvering as well as some time.

Once I was finished fueling, I pulled over to the air pump to check my tires. After the blow out of the first day, I wasn't taking any chances. As I just finished up Richy ran by tossing a bag of breakfast from Jack in the Box my way.

It didn't take long to figure out that's what meals would be on this trip. Anything we could grap from a convenience store or those fast food places Incorporated into gas stations. When Jesse Saldana says he drives straight through.........that's exactly what he means.

To me it seemed like forever before we even hit some place I knew. That was Bakesfield and it seemed like we drove right down the middle of town, but I could be wrong about that. We did drive right through the middle of some town in the vicinity however as we made our way towards Interstate 40.

We stopped about every 250 miles or so because I needed to refuel. My truck seemed to be running well and my tires looked good. I had my cooler in the back seat that I was utilizing with sandwich fixings so I didn't have to rely on greasy fast food places. It seemed like it was taking forever and we weren't even out of California yet.

This whole part of the trip is kind of a blur. I had no real idea what our route was. I just followed Jesse. Most of the time the road signs didn't give me enough information to have a clue either. I do know we headed towards Needles but I don't think we actually went to that town.

What I can tell you for sure is we did a lot of climbing..........and a lot of descending........followed by a lot more climbing. It had been many years since I'd driven to Las Vegas from Oxnard, California and I remember these kinds of hills......but that's all I remember.

All I can really say is it was late afternoon when a car pulled up along side me waving frantically. I didn't know what the problem was...........only that I needed to pull over.

To be continued..............

The Road Hits Back.......Not Again

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...The Second NIght

The Adventure Begins

It was nearly 6 PM when I arrived at Jesse's place. It was a busy highway and I'd expected a quiet country road. The traffic whizzing by intimidated me as I looked for numbers on mailboxes. I was paying more attention to it than those numbers so I ended up driving right past Jesse's ranch. I had to call from somewhere down the road to figure out where I'd gone wrong.

I drove back down the road and found the appropriate easement road but missed the gate to Jesse's. It wasn't until I reached the farm at the dead end of the easement that I realized that mistake. It was a tight squeeze turning my rig around and I would probably still be there working on it if the owner hadn't come out to be an extra set of eyes for me.

Once I was faced back towards Jesse's my new found savior pointed out where I really belonged. By this time I figure I'd been lost at least a dozen times in less than six hours. My reputation for being geographically challenged was intact but I was exhausted.

Part of the latest problem was I'd been told that Jesse's gate would be open. It, however, was closed even when I actually pulled up in front of it. I sat there a few minutes before Jesse's barn hand, Richy, came to let me in. Then he directed me on where to park.

With the help of Richy I unloaded the horses and got them into stalls in a small barn down the hill. The little hike up and down that hill about did me in. This day had stretched on much longer than I'd planned.

Both Legs and Gypcy had trashed part of their leg wraps so I removed them. I hung them on the blanket bar wanting them to air out and hopefully dry some. I'd be reapplying them in the morning and there's nothing more gross than wrapping legs in soggy wraps. I doubt Gypcy or Legs would notice the difference but I knew that I would.

This barn was equipped with automatic waterers. I had hoped to turn the one in Gypcy's stall off so I could hang buckets to have a true measure if the filly drank. However, it turned out the shut off valve was up in the rafters.......way too much work for an overnight stay.

I crossed my fingers and prayed the filly would drink. Also, to make sure she was taking in some kind of moisture, I soaked her hay. I know from experience horses eating soaked hay don't need much water. I might not be able to get her to drink but I could affect her intake of water.

After feeding the horses, I worked some more on that tie job on the back of my truck. With more hay out of the pick up's bed I was finally able to move things around and really get the job done right. I was able to run that rope underneath the heavy refrigerator and bales of hay using their weight to keep the tarp down against the wind.

I wanted to be sure there would be no issues with my load when I was following Jesse. I had expected this fix to go pretty quickly but in actuality it took much longer than I thought. It was well past dark and I'd worked up quite a sweat before I finished with retying the load.

I'd hoped to get a shower before bed but that turned out to not be an option. My second choice was to wash my face but by this time Richy had gone to bed and I couldn't locate the water faucet in the barn. I was going to have to settle for the baby wipes I'd brought along. Next I set about putting my make shift bed in place again. Have I said before camping is not my thing? Well, this trip was starting to look like all the things I don't like about camping.

At least I wouldn't have the horses waking me. I set my alarm for the 4 AM start it would take that to have my horses loaded and ready to leave at Jesse's specified time.......5:30 AM. Glancing at the time as I set the alarm, it was 11:30. There wouldn't be much time for sleeping before we headed off to Tulsa.

To be continued................

The Road Hits Back........Day Three

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Into the Second Day

The Adventure Begins

While I'm really too tall to be able to lay down in my truck, I managed to simulate a prone position by padding up a corner of the seat and door forming something of a ramp to lay across. My feet end up on the floor on the passenger side but that's ok. At least I can stretch out my nearly six foot frame.

I do have to pad over the seat belt holders. They make for mean lumps when one is trying to sleep. I've found my down coat and vest work pretty well at this so I use one for each of the two bothersome locations although getting them wadded just right makes a big difference.

It's something of a production getting all this stuff in place just so but once I do, even I, the lightest sleeper in the known world can actually fall asleep.
Once I am awakened, however, that's it for me. I am done with sleeping. It really doesn't matter how much I need it, or want it, sleep will not return twice in one night.

Here in this rest stop at near the top of the Siskiyou Mountains I was hoping I'd at least be able to sleep until daylight. Those tire stores wouldn't be open early on a Sunday morning. Even though they were a ways down the road, arriving anytime before noon probably wouldn't be helpful. I prayed the horses would have a peaceful night..........so I could have a sleepful night.

On this particular occasion the horses did a pretty good job of that for the first couple of hours at least. Their first rumblings only seemed to be minor and while I might have heard them on some level, they weren't enough to wake me.

As the truckers decided to get an early start, the horses decided it must be time for us to move as well. Around 4 am they began to get more serious about needing some attention. A few well placed kicks and I was wide awake despite really needing at least another three hours or more of sleep.

By the time I fed and watered the horses and stored my make shift bed it was getting close to 5:30 AM. I pulled a container of Yoplait's lite out of my cooler, grabbed a spoon and hit the road. I figured I would take it easy through the rest of the pass. Maybe I'd get lucky and pull into Redding about the time the town was waking and find a tire place along the way.

The horses settled down once the trailer began to move. I don't know if it was fresh hay in front of them or having to concentrate to stay standing throughout the twisting winding roads of the pass. I was relieved to have them finally settle in after the turmoil of the night before. I was beginning to think all of this chaos had ruined the horses sense of safety.

The first part of this drive was mostly boring. There were a couple of times my heart stopped because the truck thought it should gurgle a bit but mostly it ran just fine. I even found myself creeping up faster than that 45 MPH the mechanic had suggest but the truck seemed to just take it in stride. The temperature gauge didn't rise in the least and there were no more signs of steam.

Once the sun came up I really settled into a groove driving down the freeway. There were few people on the road at this hour so I had time to do some thinking about how I was going to deal with finding a tire place. I've never had much luck with the sixth sense that some travellers have...... just pulling off at the appropriate off ramp and finding whatever they need. Being geographically challenged I was worried about getting lost as much as finding a tire.

When the signs for Redding finally began to appear it was still too early to be looking for tires so I decided I go on to the next big town. Then it turned out I turned off heading for Jesse's before I actually reached that town. My well laid out plan was quickly falling apart and I was getting nervous about finding that tire.

I decided the next time I stopped for fuel I'd inquire about tire stores. Wouldn't you know that stop turned out to be one of those off ramps promising fuel but not really saying it's miles down the road. When I did find the station, it was rather run down and the people hanging around outside a bit scary. Looking at my fuel gauge I didn't seem to have much choice not knowing how far down the freeway the next diesel station would be. I swallowed hard and pulled in.

I can remember when I went into the little store, the floor was an old wooden thing that reminded me of the general store where my grandfather shopped when I was a kid. The air smelled about the same as that old general store too. Some of the occupants looked like they could have been from that era as well. I wondered if I'd driven into some unknown time warp.

I paid for my fuel and asked about tire stores. The clerk gave me the name of the next town but I had trouble getting it. The absence of several of her front teeth affected her pronunciation and I was embarrassed to ask her to repeat a third time. Later when I saw the signs for Vacaville I realized why I'd had such troubles understanding her. The V's and C's are hard enough without putting them together.

That clerk was right, however. Vacaville had several tire stores. The problem was most of them were not open on Sunday. With the help of an assortment of strangers I flagged down in parking lots, at bowling alleys and mall parking lots, I managed to find several tire stores. I can't even tell you how many different tire stores I tracked down nor how many wrong turns or blocks circled even finding them in the first place, only to have them closed or without tires that would work for me.

Eventually I ended up looking for Wal-Mart. Not the first place I'd think of shopping for trailer tires but by now I was desperate. It was getting close to 3 PM and I still hadn't located a spare so when the good Samaritans said Wal-Mart that's where I headed........only it felt like I spent an hour driving around the complex the store was supposed to be in before I actually found it.

When I did find the Wal-Mart, the tire department was at the very back corner. Getting to it with my truck and trailer proved to be its own challenge and, of course, the speed bumps were particularly bothersome to the horses.

By the time I pulled into the tire department's parking lot, the horses were having something of a temper tantrum. I'm pretty sure the workers wanted to run for cover. They kept telling me they couldn't change a tire on anything with livestock still inside even though I didn't need them to change a tire at all.

Once I got it through their heads what I needed was a spare, they actually began looking to see if they had a tire that would work. Since this seemed to be my last hope of getting a tire on Sunday, I crossed my fingers. I didn't know what Jesse would think of waiting for me to get a spare on Monday.

As it turned out, Wal-Mart did have a tire they said was right for my trailer. While they mounted the thing up, I went into the electronics department and found a charger for my phone. Then I went back to the tire section and waited and waited...............and waited some more.

When I realized that they were calling people who had arrived after me, I went to the counter to see what the problem was. It turned out the only problem was the kid who had mounted my tire had forgotten to complete the process in the computer. I'd been sitting there for over an hour when I didn't need to be...........at that moment I wasn't very appreciative of Wal-Mart. As it turned out, it wasn't the only time I'd be not so happy with them.

To be continued...........

The Road Hits Back......The Second Night

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back...Moving On

The Adventure Begins

The mechanic had warned me to take it slow on my way to the rest stop. When I'd asked him what he meant by slow he said not to get my truck above 45 MPH. He figured the truck hadn't really had enough time to totally cool down from the overwork it had gotten when the tire blew. It would be better to be safe than sorry.

As I pulled the truck and horse trailer back onto the freeway, my heart nearly stopped as the engine sputtered a bit. My head started spinning and sweat poured off my hands as I griped the steering wheel and hope this too would pass.........and that's exactly what it did. However, not without sputtering every now and then just to keep me on my toes.

The drag getting going from a dead stop can be difficult on any grade. I had been stopped on the steepest grade in the Oregon portion of the Siskiyou Mountains. I tried to remind myself it was the difficulty of the task that was causing the issues with my engine not some unknown problem that was going to break us down.

Some traffic did go whizzing by us making it seem like we were standing still. Some traffic labored as much as we did and they'd had a running start at the hill. As we progressed up the corridor I began to relax just a bit. I guess a part of me was looking for trolls like the horses do so that relaxation was limited at best but I was beginning to think I might actually make it to the rest stop. That was an improvement.

The rest stop was just a few miles up the road. The people following me had given me clear directions so I spotted the exit easily despite the overwhelming darkness. The night itself had been dark and the road's enclosure by the tallest of trees swallowed up what little light there had been. I'd have missed this rest stop without the landmarks they'd given me.

I carefully pulled onto the exit slowing down as quickly as possible. I wanted to make sure I didn't get caught by one of those quick turns into the park that so many rest stops have. I sure didn't want to throw the horses off balance or worse yet have a wreck.

This entrance did turn out to be rather abrupt as well as winding into a downward spiral rather rapidly. As I pulled into the portion reserved for trucks I could hear the traffic on the freeway overhead. It was a strange feeling and I was disoriented. I was pretty sure this rest stop served both sides of the freeway. I sure hoped the route for my return to the freeway was marked clearly.

By now it was after midnight. The park was bulging with trucks taking refuge for the night. I had to make my way almost to the end of the tarmac before I found a spot to park. I was able to pull in between two tall semis blocking out the light from the park's street lamps. There was hope, I might actually get some sleep.

As luck would have it, it was a ways from the rest rooms but right close to a water faucet. The first thing we did was check that faucet to be sure it worked. The mechanic and his lady friend assured me if water faucets were not available at this rest stop, I would still be able to water the horses.

There was a creek that rain through this facility and they'd help me haul water from there if that's what it took. I was relieved to know I would have help if needed. As tired as I was I could just see myself falling into the creek and getting washed down stream. I certainly wasn't feeling all that secure about my luck on this trip.

I turned the handle on the water faucet and the water spewed. There wouldn't be any need to pack water from the creek I could hear off in the distance. I was relieved not to be bucketing water from that distance. Just across the parking lot was a lot more manageable.

I had been unsuccessful at several of my stops in locating a water source that worked. While there were rest stops with outside water faucets, most of them had the handles removed or the water turned off.

When I did find water Legs and Rhet were drinking well.. Gypcy on the other had was not drinking at all. I was worried about her getting dehydrated and that leading to colic. .

While the trip had been rainy it had also been warm. My horse trailer is hot for the horses having a black roof (something I would never do again!) The horses were sweaty a good part of the trip so keeping them hydrated was a priority even before I knew that Gypcy wouldn't drink. Now water for the horses was the first thing on my mind. I retrieved buckets from the trailer so I could get the horses watered.

Once my rescuers saw I was set, they said their goodbyes and headed off into the night. By now I was pretty sure my truck was indeed running ok and it didn't worry me anymore to have that lifeline gone.

As they pulled away I set about getting the horses thoroughly watered and then feed. Once I was done with their needs, I headed for the rest room and then off to bed.


To be continued.................

The Road Hits Back......Into the Second Day

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back continues......

The Adventure Begins

I called Dave back just to let him know I had help coming. Then I got off the phone because at this point my battery was getting low. Here's where another note to self came in........Don't make a long road trip without a charger for the cell phone that works off the cigarette lighter. The last thing I needed was to be stranded without that resource.

Shortly after I got a call from the driver who would be assisting me. He wanted to go over the details about my location and what kind of issues I was having with my truck. Before we got off the phone he told me it would be at least another half hour before he was able to reach me.

Sitting there in the darkness watching the speeding traffic fly by I couldn't help but wonder if this trip was truly jinxed. It was now getting close to midnight and I hadn't even left the state of Oregon yet. The majority of my trip to Jesse's still lay before me and I'd already gone through an entire day.

I also couldn't help but think back to that man who'd been asking for help at the last rest stop. I wondered if he'd really needed help and if so if he'd gotten it. I had intended to give him $10 towards the sum he needed before I'd left but I hadn't seen him anywhere around so I'd gotten in my truck and left. Now I wondered if karma was catching up with me.

I was jarred from these thoughts by some kind of thump on my truck. The sound threw me into an intense defensive mode. What was this? and What do I do know? raced through my brain as I scrambled to ascertain what was going. At this point a flashlight shined in my truck and my imagination was about to take off on some wild trek when the possibility this could be the help I was awaiting flickered through. I took a deep breath trying to see past that light while hoping this was not another weird turn in this adventure.

Thankfully this intrusion was indeed the mechanic who had come to help. While introducing himself by shining a flashlight into my truck hadn't been the most safety conscious I could think of, I was glad to see him. Hopefully I would be back on the road soon.

The horses weren't particularly glad to see him, however. As he jacking up the horse trailer, they began to protest. I guess standing on this steep grade was putting lots of stress on them. Then the added pressure of dumping their weight to their front legs didn't sit well. Kicking and screaming it was clear they didn't like much about this situation and the resulting rocking of the horse trailer was a concern. I needed to calm the horses but I was still trying to dig out the spare.

The mechanic had arrived with a lady friend. It was clear they were a couple but I never did know the extent of their relationship. But with the horses rocking and rolling in the horse trailer, I was glad for the extra help. She jumped into to assist getting my trailer unpacked enough we could reach that spare.

When we finally did have the spare exposed, there was horse paraphernalia spread all over that shoulder. It's amazing how much stuff it takes for horses at a show and right now I was really wishing I had less than half of it. At least the rain had let up for the moment I could just see myself trying to figure out a way to dry soggy blankets and hoods.

Even with everything moved out of the way, the horse trailer still would not relinquish the spare. The wing nut that was holding my spare in place up against the tack room wall was locked up tight. Both of us women took our turns with it trying to break that thing free.

Even when the mechanic stepped in the darn thing wouldn't budge. He had to drop what he'd been doing to find a tool to speed this process along. The horses seemed to sense the disruption and again voiced their disapproval. Watching that trailer sway precariously on that big hydraulic jack because of the steep grade made my stomach tighten. I'd be glad when this part of my adventure was over.

I talked to the horses trying to calm them. Gypcy seemed to be the one least soothed and unfortunately she was the one with her butt right over the hydraulic jack. Her kicking and scrambling was making even the mechanic nervous.......and he'd had lots of experience changing flats on loaded horse trailers.

Once the tire was changed and the trailer sitting safely back on the ground on all its tires, we moved onto the issue of the truck. The mechanic thought the steam was caused from the added drag caused on this steep grade by the heavy trailer on one less tire. He figured the truck was just fine but checked the engine and the radiator just to be safe. Then he and his lady friend followed me to the next rest stop.

Since I was going to need a spare tire before I could proceed on this journey and it was soon going to be Sunday, I was going to have to wait out the night to have any shot at finding a tire place open. They figured my only show would be one of the bigger cities down the road. In the meantime, if anything was really wrong with my truck it would surely show up on the continued climb to the next rest stop. They would make sure I got there safely and that I found what I needed for the horses........water.

To be continued................

The Road Hits Back.......Moving On

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The Adventure Begins.........The Road Hits Back

The Adventure Begins

By now my normal three hour trip to Salem turned into something like six. I hadn't even finished my fight with those tarps when the road signs for Salem went whizzing by. Finally before night time fell, I pulled off into yet another state rest stop to finally fix that load and feed and water my horses.

As I struggled with those darn tarps I was approached by a man asking for help. He claimed his truck was broken down and he needed to be at the airport to pick up his parents. He'd found someone to bring him the required part but didn't have anything but a gas card which just wouldn't do. He needed about $100 in cash.

After my experience with the trucker and the pan handlers I'd encountered at nearly every rest stop along the way, I was thinking in defensive mode. While I believe in helping those who are in need, I was worried that admitting I had cash could put me in an unsafe situation. I struggled with what is really the "right" thing to do as I continued working on those tarps.

The world has changed a lot since my last trip to the US National Arabian Horse Show. Then I hadn't needed to deal with the fear of what the intentions of others might be. I guess I hadn't really thought about these issues up until this point. Now the reality of the journey I'd undertaken began to sink in with it came a sense of uneasiness. I would be glad to reach Jesse's and no longer be on my own.

It was late Saturday night before I even began my ascent into the Siskiyou Mountains still within the borders of Oregon state. I'd been having trouble reading the road signs for indications of diesel fuel as those signs seemed to fly by faster than I could read. While I wasn't sure what towns were coming next, I knew I could travel about 250 miles before needing to refuel. I just wasn't sure how many of those miles would be within the mountain range where I knew the stations would be few and far between.

Being geographically challenged and dependent on diesel fuel, I wasn't sure where or when the next time I would be able to stop might be but my instincts told me I needed to stop and do it soon. It was in the town of Ashland that I pulled over to get fuel before I continued my ascent. Little did I know the timing of that stop would turn out to be important.

I was thinking I had a few more hours of driving time left in me. I planned to get well into the mountains before I found a place to stop. Then I figured I sleep until the sun came up before I continued on my journey.

As usual things did not go as I expected or planned. I hit the steepest part of the grade going up into the Siskiyou's and a construction zone no less when I heard a loud pop. I remember that sinking feeling as I realized I'd just blown a tire. I immediately began looking for a safe place to pull my rig off the road.

Luckily I hadn't reached the "no shoulder" portion of the construction zone. I was able to get over quite quickly to get my truck and trailer onto the shoulder and out of the way of traffic. As I pulled off the road I realized that steam was rising off my engine even though my gauge read well within normal temperatures. I wasn't sure what the reason for this was but at this point I was now worried about both my blown tire and my engine.

I was relieved to find my cell phone actually had a signal in the mountains. With the high hills on both sides of me I wasn't sure that I would. I called Dave to tell him what happened and then I called 411 to get a phone number for some help. There was no way my little trailer jack would handle the weight of a loaded horse trailer on a grade like this and then there was the issue of my steaming truck.

Most of the time since I'd gone past Salem I hadn't known which town I'd left nor what was coming next. My sense of direction and distance is pretty useless most of the time. Thankfully knowing I'd just stopped in Ashland was important to finding any kind of help at least I knew which town to tell the operator for the emergency road service I needed when I dialed 411.

I don't know about the cellular service of others, but here is where mine fell short. I don't have internet coverage on my phone. Yet, the 411 service emailed the information I requested to me when I had no way to receive it. I got a message it was coming, but the actual email with the phone number and name of the company was never received.

I did get connected to the emergency road service. Luckily I got an answer and didn't need to call them back or I'd have been doing the whole process over again. Note to self........next time you take a long trip be sure you have internet service for emergencies.

The emergency service was based in Ashland. They knew the roads well enough they had a pretty good idea where I was just by the information I had on that station where I'd refueled and how long it had been since I'd left there. Help was on the way........

To be continued.............

The Road Hits Back continues

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