EQUES-TREK               Ride Long and Prosper

I took over 14,118 pictures and from them have 1765 good ones. I wrote 120 typed pages describing The Trip via laptop. I did weekly payrolls and monthly bank statements for a client from the road. We took about a dozen books which we read and then started buying more. Two we especially liked describing much of what we were seeing were: Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose and Thunder Over the Ochoco by Gale Ontko. We also took many copies of our Trail Rider Magazine. 

If we were blessed to do a trip like this again we would need some changes. I would do more riding and Ralph would investigate the roads before we got on them. Our future dream would be to do a trip up the eastern seaboard and the eastern United States and a third trip into the heartland of America. There are many places (see our favorites) that we would go back to in the West and spend more time and see some of the places we missed this time. Do we have any plans for another trip? The Pacific Crest Trail for five months in 2009.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this photo journal and sharing it with you. It made The Trip more important to me to know I was opening a window for some of you to see the view. Several have asked about a book. I’d love to take this to that level and will pursue it. Let me know what you think.

Our  favorite places (no order): Bryce Canyon N.P. UT; Columbia Gorge, OR; Teton Mnts, WY & ID; Orick, CA; White River National Forest, CO

3) Caprock Canyon State Park, Canyon, TX

Hardest Roads to drive:

1) Hwy 12 between Grand Staircase-Escalante National Mon. and Torrey, UT (4 hours in 2^nd gear)

2) Hwy 22 over Teton Pass, ID (steepest - over 15%)

3) Hwy 15 into Gila Cliff Dwellers N.M., NM (36 miles of windy, narrow pavement without guard rails climbing from 6000’ to 8000’)

4) Hwy 128 between Mendocino and Hwy 101, CA (windy and narrow with constant switchbacks and logging trucks thrown in to keep your heart rate up)

5) Hwy 120 into Yosemite N.P., CA (narrow with a rock wall on one side and cliff with a parapet on the other and lots of traffic)

6) Hwy 198 into Giant Sequoia N.M., CA (we did this one without the trailer and it was still difficult and hair raising (or graying))

Things we did not have but wished we did:

1) Micro-quiet generator (we found the Honda EU6500is in Niederwald, TX on the way home)

2) Another 30-50 gal. fresh water tank (we did carry 3 - 6 gallon containers and used them)

3) Satellite dish for Internet (We did not have a TV on The Trip and rarely missed it, we did have a DVD player and rarely used it, we did have a PC card for the laptop but it seldom connected. We ended up in Wi-Fi spots.)

Things we missed the most:                                                                                                               Things we were sure glad we brought! 

1) Friends and Family - a lot  (my 101 y/o Great Aunt kept in touch the most!)                                1) GPS & compass & many maps

2) A BIG shower with lots of hot water                                                                                            2) Camera & ways to download and backup pictures 

3) Good Communication access                                                                                                       3) National Park Pass (The best bargain!)

Most exciting things: (click them to read about them)

To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, 2006 actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was 'My Favorite Things' from the legendary movie 'Sound Of Music.' Here are the actual lyrics she used: (now get the tune in your head for "My Favorite Things" and read) ...

'Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting, Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings, Bundles of magazines tied up in string, These are a few of my favorite things. 

Cadillac’s and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses, Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses, Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings, These are a few of my favorite things. When the pipes leak, When the bones creak , When the knees go bad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad. Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions, No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions, Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring, These are a few of my favorite things. 

Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinnin', Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin', And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames, When we remember our favorite things. When the joints ache, When the hips break, When the eyes grow dim, Then I remember the great life I've had, And then I don't feel so bad.'

One last slide show I'd like to share with you:       Give it a minute to load (It is 11 minutes long.)

So . . . Were we glad to be home?

It is bitter sweet. We feel phenomenally blessed to have made such a journey. We feel a bit sad that it is now past and the road is no longer in front of us. We do have more than just memories though we have more of those than we could share; we have new friends, a fabulous album of pictures and  records of our journey, two great jean jackets covered in patches (Besides the pictures, the jackets are our souvenirs of The Trip.), two incredible horses to ride and camp with, one incredibly well traveled dog, and we have each other to dream our future dreams with. We have had friends to visit and many have seen the pictures and we are both back to work. Ralph is finishing a kitchen and will start a large bathroom after that. I am into the tax work of the season. All four of our equines are home and I got to ride once in the month of January. It is a joy to look out to the pasture and see them there. I decided against bringing home the stallion Zam. He found another home. Besides the busted pipe, we had a leaking roof and spent a morning cutting firewood. We are both getting ready to share our faith, Ralph in a prison in south Georgia and I on a Tres Dias weekend.

Unfortunately I caught Ralph’s cold soon after we got home and suffered about 5 days with that. The second night we were home I was downstairs after Ralph had gone up to sleep when I noticed Gizmo was still wandering the downstairs at 10:30 at night. This being three hours past his own chosen bed time, I knew something was wrong. He also was not lying directly in front of the heater as he loves to do but rather was sitting at my side at my desk or wandering around the rooms. Finally I understood that he was unsure where to sleep as Ralph was upstairs and I was down. So I turned off the lights and took him and his beddie upstairs to be put at the foot of our bed similar to the situation the last eight months in the trailer. He was asleep before I came back from brushing my teeth. Ralph asked me what was wrong with Jur the next day. He explained that Jur was always on top of him when he went through the gate (Ralph’s work shop is inside the front pasture). If Ralph walked through the field Jur walked with him. I noticed similar behavior when I went out. We concluded that he, especially, was missing our constant company like on The Trip. He has returned to being fun and respectful as well. So the animals have definitely changed and been affected by The Trip.

And that leaves us . . . We, too, have changed. We always said we could do with a lot less and tried to sell our 5 bedroom, three bath house on 12 acres before we left so we could live in a smaller, simpler home. Now we know that is what we would prefer, a smaller home with fewer “things” and with a simpler life to go with it. So we will put our farm for sale again. We have no plans to move out of the area, just to a smaller place. We enjoyed living with few obligations and few pressures. Though we did not earn the money to do this trip while traveling, we could see ourselves traveling and earning on the road. I  had a hard time getting back into the everyday grind of cooking and cleaning and candle stick making. Not the individual tasks but the combination of them, without end, day after day. I value time with people more than ever. I would sooner drop what I am doing and share a cup of tea than to get the house clean. And do, so ya'll come visit, you hear? And as a couple? Well, it was not all smooth sailing. There were some times when we were not enjoying The Trip together. But in the end we both feel The Trip accomplished the goal of giving us a joint interest and more unity as a couple. We both enjoyed The Trip enough to want to do another. We especially liked the traveling and working, for it gave us an opportunity to meet people. I found a love for traveling as it meant meeting and sharing with people. I would continue traveling with the same elements that were in this Trip: horses, camera, people and sharing. Ralph liked the riding especially when others joined us and he could take Gizmo along. Gizmo preferred it that way too!