10,000 miles later.....

Oops, after being so diligent in recording my Yellowstone adventures, I slacked off and neglected to write about my next two adventures.  My bad!  After arriving back home about 2 am Monday morning after safely making it back across I80 (and not being able to meet up with Amie in Iowa due to trailer lighting issues), I got back on the road less than 12 hours later.  My body was NOT ready for the return trip to NE on I80 but we got to Bassett, NE about 7 am the next morning.  The ranch we were on is a working cattle ranch on at least 10,000 acres with over 1,000 cows (not including calves and bulls, I think) and is almost an hour off the "major" road into Bassett on gravel and dirt roads.  These are the sandhills of Nebraska!  We go to bed early each night (8:30/9pm-awesome after a week of travelling!) and wake up when we want (usually 8:30 am).  We rode a few days, gathered up cow/calf pairs one morning, went to a homecoming game, and played lots of Blokus!  The best part of the week was the second to last day when we got to go to a branding.  Life out here is way different than anywhere I had been.  Neighbors come and help out.  Everyone gives a hand, everyone has a job, and all is done with a minimal amount of words.  Early in the morning, well before the sun came up, we got up, saddled up the horses, and headed to the fields.  The first order of business was to round up the cows which is more difficult when it's dark and the cows are black.  But they were rounded up via horseback and we herded them into a round pen.  The cows were shooed out and calves were kept inside. The noise of the cows and calves bellowing to each other was almost deafening.  Add into that noise was the sound of the propane tank heating up the branding irons.  Soon after the sun came up, a caravan of truck and trailers appeared over the hills and cowboys stepped out ready to help.  Trevor went to each one of them and asked them to do a particular job whether is was to rope the calves, hold them down, or brand them.  They rotated through the jobs as they grew tired, once again with a minimal number of words.  Amie's and my job at this point was to keep calves from following the roped ones out.  About two hours later, over 120 calves had been branded and reunited with their moms.  We took a small break, drank some soda, and then we were off to the next location to brand.  This was another neighbor of Trevor's who had about 200 calves to brand, vaccinate, deworm, ear tag, and castrate.  The cattle still had to be rounded up but by the time we were in the saddle, most had been brought in.  At this point we had the brand new, more exciting, fast paced job of ear tagging the calves.  We were in a small space with several other cowboys as three were dragging in calves, two guys each held down a calf, one guys dewormed, two were vaccinating, and Amie and I were darting in and out of the crowds ear tagging each calf while looking out for the hot irons, horses coming in and out, and the guy with the big needle!  Lots to look out for but it was amazing!  After doing about a hundred or so calves, we had to move to a different pasture.  Here we were actually able to ride out into the hills and bring in the cows.  Part of a real live cattle drive (small one).  Another set of calves branded and tagged later and we were done.  The boys picked up all the panels, had a few beers, and off we drove back to the house to eat.  And boy were we ready to eat.  I'm not sure the last time I had eaten so much.  I learned more about ranching, the family traditions involved in it, and felt a real sense of community among those men.  Amie and I were supposed to start driving back that afternoon but we were pretty beat after working all day so we decided a nap, some TV, another good meal, and a bed were in order before we left.  It was just so amazing the experience we had and something that isn't too easy to put into words.  The culture, community, and lifestyle were different that what we had experienced and it was thrilling to be a part of it in the branding.  After 2 1/2 weeks away, I was home....at least for a little bit.

After a week and a half at home, it was back on the road. This time, we were driving down to Oklahoma City to pick up camp's new trailer.  We left late evening of Halloween.  After picking up the trailer the next afternoon, it was on through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.  We reached California after two nights on the road and thus began the day long trek to get from southern CA to northern.  It was a lot of nothing to look at, the southern route.  It took from mid morning until 2:30 the next morning to drive up to Anderson, CA.  It was so amazing to lay down in a bed and then take a shower.  There was no real agenda while in CA.  Just a chance for Amie to catch up with friends, spend time with family, and relax.  We did all those things!  And a trip to Cassie's, Amie's hairdresser friend who is amazing, ended up our trip.  A little color here, a little different cut here, and voila! we don't look so ragged from all our travels.  :-)  We pick up her friend Amber's horse and two minis and we are ready to depart.  A week after arriving, we are off again, loaded to the hilt.  With a loaded truck and trailer, we aren't going to break any land speed records but we are determined to get home within 3 days (absolute worst case scenario is to be back by Saturday morning in time for trail rides) if not less.  After a brief stop in Reno, NV to eat dinner with Amie's grandparents, we hit Salt Lake City by sunrise.  We keep driving, making as few stops as necessary, and hit Nebraska by late evening.  We stopped a few hours each night to catch some shut eye at a rest stop and finally we make it to Indiana around 9 pm Friday night (we left 10 am Wednesday morning).  And my journeys, which began October 1st, consisted of 10,000+ miles, three separate trips, was now over on November 11th.

A journey of 10,000 miles begins with the first push of the accelerator.  

Full Map of Travels