heading towards Libby...

October 11^th, 2008 – 20 miles

Last night near Marion was very chilly. Some folks told us it was 13* F. My sleeping bag only goes down to 15* F so it was no wonder I was cold! But none of us slept real well, and not only due to the cold. Around 2 am, Alpache got out of the pen and Dad and Mom got up to put him back in. I think the horses were cold too because they were moving around all night and making a lot of noise. :-)

The girls are talking about making our close quarters even closer tonight. Ellie and Martha spread their sleeping bags out and are sharing their blankets. Together, they have 5 blankets. Ellie said that last night, even though it was so chilly, was the the first night in a couple that she's actually been warm.

Yesterday we did 26 miles. :-) We found a spot up an old logging road that was nice... though very cold! I'm afraid that is the only thing that sticks in my mind about that particular camping spot. :-)

Today, we pulled into an abandoned campground in hopes of finding a suitable spot for setting up for the weekend. It was pretty overgrown so when the horses came up, they investigated the road on the other side of the highway. They found the prettiest place for camping yet. I wouldn't mind living in this area. We're about 30 miles from Libby and 75 miles to Bonners Ferry.

Only five days to home if we do 20 miles a day. :-) The closer we get to home, the more we talk about taking hot showers. Jesse says he's going to take one every day for two months straight. Martha says she's going to take two showers a day for a week. LOL!

We have a campfire tonight.

October 12^th, 2008

Yesterday was an interesting day. First interesting incident: Martha's dress caught on fire. Dad saw it right away (PTL!) and stamped it out. But those flames ate away a 6 inch hole in her dress. Mom says she's sure it will become a new style! LOL! That's the second time Martha's caught on fire. The first time was several years ago. Jesse said that was the only time he's been able to throw dirt at his sister and get away with it. LOL!

The second interesting incident also involved Martha. Dad has been trying to desensitize his horse by kicking stuff in the ditch, like cans, that make noise. All was well until the other horses came up. Then, he kicked a white plastic thing that made a lot of noise and blew around right by the horses. Muckers and Kid spooked. Ellie rode it. Martha lost her seat. The scary thing was: when Martha hit the ground, Kid spooked even more and lashed out. He only missed her because she was flat out on the ground. Dad apologized and said it was a stupid thing to do and all was well.

I'm beginning to think we have nine lives. :-)

Hannah, Priscilla and I all took hot rocks to bed with us last night and I believe we're going to do it again tonight. It's great to finally be warm in bed. :-) :-)

We had the typical camp fire meal this afternoon: hot dogs and Dorritos. Mom and I made caramel corn for dessert and made plenty of it. :-) Fun.

Ellie says she is so glad we're stopped over for the weekend because they're all pretty raw. Someday... they all say... they'll do this again and get properly conditioned for these 20+ mile days.

Urban Kalispell...

October 9th -- 5:30 pm

We stopped by the horses to tell them that we couldn't find a place to stay at and they had a couple of juicy stories. Before I tell them, I want to clarify: we do natural horsemanship, using Pat Parelli's tecniques.

Kid, being arabian, was being his normal, spooked out self. It's dangerous to have a spooked out horse right beside a highway, so Martha was trying to get him to calm down. She was hitting his side (not hard) with one of the stirrups and swinging the rope. Twice, someone driving by started screaming (really screaming) and hollering at her to stop abusing her horse... “Stop hitting the horse! You don't deserve that horse!!! It's sickening to see how you're treating that poor animal!”

If you know Martha, you would know that she would never abuse anything, let alone her horse (whom she adores and never wants to sell). One gal kept following and turning around again to see if they were still abusing Kid!

One place, they were barely on the edge of someone's lawn, staying away from traffic, and the owner stepped out of her house and was screaming (yes, literally screaming!) at them to get off her lawn “...right now!!!”

This is urban Kalispell.

This is the 5^th farm we've stopped at to ask and finally, someone said that we could camp here. I am glad because it's going to be dark soon.

I am so glad we're all feeling well. :-)

October 9^th, 2008

By the time our host kindly agreed to allow us to camp in his yard last night, I was realizing what Joseph and Mary felt like when there was no room in the inn.

House #1: An older lady, “I have no idea where you might camp... there's the park, though I'm thinking they close at 5pm...” (it was past that)

House #2: A younger gal, “I don't own this place so I couldn't let you do that. Go try the Rebekah farm.”

House #3: An old man, “I have no idea... I just live here....”

House #4: A young man, “Well, this is private property.”

House #5: “Sure! Why not?”

Mom had a smile on her face when she turned from the doorway to give me a thumbs up. :-) We were beginning to wonder what was going to happen. But God provided a thoughtful man, a place to camp and a pasture for the horses.

We were just getting set up when a camper van drove in. The driver of the van jumped out and came over to us. He said was the owner of house #4 and his friend was renting it from him. He was so very sorry that we had been turned away and wanted to find and tell us that it was fine if we camped there... but he was glad that we had found a place.

“He's a good man,” he said, gesturing towards the house.

He told us his name was Bill and that he was a barber by trade. “Barber Bill,” he called himself.

It made me feel better. :-) It's funny to go from feeling like people are going to call the cops on you to a man like our host last night. He kept asking if we needed anything and even offered his shower to us. After such a poor reception, this man was an incredible blessing. Thank you!

Last night, Dad decided to run back into Kalispell to get some air mattresses (we have lost a few due to wind, cold and a few good ol' puctures) and a couple of other things. I begged to go along because I had been pretty chilly the night before and figured it would be even colder this night. I bought myself a new sleeping bag. :-)

This morning, we were all very reluctant to get out of bed so got on the road a half hour later than usual. The riders were walking when we last saw them and they plan to continue to walk for awhile. We're sitting in the Schwan's parking lot beside highway #2 waiting for them to come up. It's beautiful country here and not much traffic on the road they are traveling. It's narrow so less traffic is nice.

Connecting to the internet was interesting yesterday. I got on while we were driving... then it disconnected. So I got my post ready for posting and waited for another few seconds of another connection. It came about a half an hour later. :-)

I keep wanting to mention this but I never remember when I have time to do so!

Even on the days when Ruth was feeling the worst and was crying and throwing up, there was one thing that never failed to make her smile or laugh. It was Gordon Stobbe's song “Tye Manuchuck”. If no one has ever thanked you for composing that song, I am now. There has to be something special in a song that would bring a smile to the face of a three year old who has the stomach flu. :-) Thanks, Gord!

I see horses! :-)

--Naomi