Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Almost home...

October 14th, 2008

As the riders were walking through Libby yesterday some newspaper people stopped them and asked for an interview and if they could take pictures. This will be the first time (that we know of) that we're in a paper. I'm a little excited about it, I must admit. :-) They said that someone called them and told them that something interesting was going through town. Thank you to whoever did that. :-)

Also, a special thank you to Chuck and Charlotte Woods who put us up for the night. You'll never know how much your hospitality meant to us. :-) (We'd been 10 days without a shower and it rained in the night... it was so nice to be indoors for that!) And to, M., the sweet lady at City Service Valcon who helped us so much and was very supportive of us, thank you with all of our hearts. I hope we get to meet again... maybe we'll get to do a trail ride together. :-) We talked about taking time to go the route you suggested but everyone is very anxious to get home. We might do it another time to check it out.

I'm writing as I sit beside our campfire. The dancing flames lend just enough light for me to see what my pen is doing on my notepaper. :-) The fire is dying down and Jesse is stirring it up. I love campfires. The yellow-orange flames sometimes turn a blue and the sparks shoot away like miniature fireworks... even the smoke serves a good purpose, besides making my eyes water: the smell of woodsmoke pleasantly overrides ours when we haven't been able to shower for several days. As Ellie says, “It's one thing to joke about not bathing for a week; quite another to do it.” :-)

We hope tomorrow will be our last day on the trail. Today we made 26 miles, which surprised us all because the riders had to walk 7 miles through Libby and a bit beyond. Tomorrow we'll have to do 33 miles (approx.) if we wish to make it home.

And boy, does home ever look good! Cold, wet nights sure make a nice, warm bed inviting. I will miss the pure outdoors air, though, and having a campfire every night.

It's dark now. The moon is shining a path across the Kootenai river and the farmyards on the other side have their yard lights on. We're camped on a bluff overlooking the valley and river. It's lovely here. Even with the trains running at regular intervals on the track, it's very peaceful.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so happy you all made it home safe and sound. I was so inspired by all of you, and I can't wait until next spring to start conditioning my horses for some back country packing. I hope that if you're ever in Libby again you will look me up so that I may introduce you to the rest of my family :)) Here's my ranch website (altough it's in desperate need of updating) and I hope you will stay in touch. I will pick up an extra copy of the newspaper and mail it to you tomorrow :)

Bless you all
Marchette

Anonymous said...

OOOppppps....

Here's my website:

www.geocities.com/divagoddess_38/M2_Ranch.html

The Panhandle Roughriders said...

Hi Marchette! Thank you so much for commenting on the blog! I hope we were as much of a blessing to you as you were to us. :-)
I can't wait to see the newspaper!!
I will take a look at your website...
Thank you!
Love,
Naomi

Anonymous said...

The paper is on it's way!! :)) It's not a huge article...but I always like seeing "positive" news in the paper and in the media.

I spent time working with my horses on Sunday and their training to be part of a pack string. Hopefully, by next summer they'll be ready to go!

enjoy,
Marchette

The Panhandle Roughriders said...

The paper arrived today! Thank you so much for taking the time to send it to us. :-) I looked at your ranch website. Very nicely done! Do you plan to update in the future or are you too busy? I understand the latter. :-)
Blessings,
Naomi