Ok, this is Hannah, I got a couple things mixed up on the blogs, we have another address and we're selling the horses on the other blog. (I forgot to ask Naomi how to run this thing, I'm so dull when it comes to computers) anyhow...
www.panhandleroughriders.blogspot.com should take you to the other blog. I guess we left off the the on the new one.
We have some friends from Alberta visiting us for a few days, yesterday we took one of the girls riding with us. It was lots of fun being back in the saddle even if it was only for a couple hours. I miss riding so much.
I'll sign off for now.
-Hannah

The end...

October 20^th, 2008

My sincere apologies for letting so much time pass before reassuring you all that we did indeed arrive home safely. Today I am going to walk to the library with my laptop and (hopefully) get a wireless connection there. :-)

Life hasn't been too exciting since we arrived home but knowing us, things could explode any moment. LOL! ;-)

I don't know when/if I'll have the time to update now that we're at home but if something exciting happens, I'll try to update for you all. Thanks for reading this blog!

--Naomi

It's home, home, home!!!

October 15^th, 2008

We went to bed last night with the sky so clear and the moon so bright that it was like daylight. We woke up to fog everywhere and a wet tent! The fog hadn't reached the moon which was high above the tallest mountain, but it wasn't long before it did. It didn't even burn off until we were just leaving.

We are crossing the bridge for the Kootenai river right now. It's going smoothly so far. Mom has her fourways on and the horses are behaving fairly well. Martha's Kid almost spooked when a loaded logtruck went around our group but Martha got him calmed down. Dad, Hannah & Martha are leading their horses; Jesse, Lydia and Ellie are riding.

For some reason, lots of big boats are traveling down the road by semi truck. We have just met one on the road and the truck stopped in the road to let us by. Now that is one nice truck driver. :-) Some people would just fly past but not this guy. Thanks, to whoever you are. :-)

Later: We stopped for dinner right at the Idaho border (in the parking lot of a casino) and it appears that Millie is sick. It looks like she has a puncture on her front left leg and we think it's infected. It's swollen up, she's not drinking at all and she's not eating well, either. We're sitting in Bonners Ferry now at the Farm & Garden Center.... Hannah and Mom went in and are getting some penicillin. Hannah intends to administer the dose herself. Everything should go well since we've done it before. We hope to get back to the bridge before the horses get there because it's so narrow. [I posted quick while we were in at the vet's office... Hannah has given the shot to Millie and it went fine. :-)]

We're almost there!

Still later: We just met up with Ellie and Martha. They were way ahead of the others and we knew right away that something wasn't right. They said that all the horses spooked over something and began running flat out. Kid and Red went ballistic in the middle of the highway... in front of a couple of semi trucks. The semis were both carrying heavy loads and couldn't have slowed down, even if they had had time to do so. Thankfully, both were thoughtful drivers and went into the other lane... Ellie managed to get her horse behind the guard rail but Martha and Jesse couldn't get their horses stopped. They did manage to get their horses off on the side of the road. Jesse got his horse halted at last, but Ellie and Martha's horses ran wildly for close to a mile.

Other than those particular truckers, we are again experiencing inconsiderate drivers. Their attitude is, “Get out of my way. You're slowing me down.” Thankfully, some are gracious, but most are not. One minivan driver would not slow down or move into another lane even though it was evident that the horses were out of control. This country ain't horse friendly!

The riders have all come up and are ready to go... We are going to proceed them to the bridge, then go on to where we are boarding the horses.

I am praying for safety! :-) And that we will be blessed by kind motorists...

10:00 pm

“Oh! It's home, home, home!!!”

That's what Ruth said when she recognized where we were driving. She was so excited! For a long while, she went around just beaming. She got her toys out... was reacquainted with her babies, “My baby! My horsey! Another baby!” Such a happy little... ahem, big... girl! (Until she got too tired to keep her eyes open, that is!)

I am sitting in my own bedroom as I type. It's warm, my stomach is full and my bed looks wonderfully inviting! :-)

Yes, we made it. I am so thankful!

When we got to the place where we are boarding our horses (thank you!!!), the lady asked what highway we traveled on today. When Ellie told her highway #2, she said we were crazy. After our experiences today, I must say I was doubting our sanity as well. We are so thankful to have safely ended our journey.

Millie perked up after the shot of penicillin (PTL!) and Hannah is going to give her another one tomorrow. Hopefully she'll heal fine and all will be well. Al will most likely be a different story since his injury is more complicated than Millie's.

The shower is calling for me, so I bid you a goodnight. :-)

Vet's office...

I'm afraid that's where we are. Millie's sick... we think it's an infected leg. She's off her water completely and not eating well, either. She's not acting normal either. :-P
I'll try to update later. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
--Naomi

Almost home...

October 14^th, 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.

One more post...

Before I sign off for the night, I wanted to update quickly. A nice lady at a propane store near Libby found a place for us to stay. It's at an elderly couple's home. They have room for the horses and they are going to let us stay inside for the night. They also have a shower and bathroom for us to use. I feel ever so blessed. PTL! for His blessings. :-)
Thank you all for your prayers!
--Naomi

Pictures...

Ellie helps Martha saddle Kid yesterday.

Mom at lunchtime today. :-)

Our cool little gal. :-) Bev, is this the classic Ukrainian look?

Lydia and Alpache.

Gotta love that smile!

I finally got a picture of Jesse. :-) He was feeding Red grain.