Well, we did it! We rode in our 50th state!!! And our incredibly well-traveled horses rode in their 48th!!! Wow!! We saddled up later, but we got out around 1:30, heading towards the primitive horse camp and an area known as Hercules (not sure why), on a lovely, sandy trail that followed the river (which is dry because of all the drought they've had in this region), and weaved around tall cottonwood trees. After driving through so much desert to get here, riding amongst trees was truly a pleasure. After going about 3 miles or so, we decided not to do the entire length of the trail, but to curve around up to the "overlook," a spot with a picnic table and a gate that let us out of the park onto the dirt road that separated the State Park from BLM land. The road actually paralleled the original Pony Express Route, and for a while we thought we were actually on it, but it turns out we were next to it (not that the terrain changed much). In all, we did about 6.3 miles, the second half in beautiful sunshine, so I got to work on my tan as well as get in a ride! And our 50th state to boot!! It seems almost impossible to believe that we've been on the road practically full time for nearly 5 years!! It's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun! When we got back, I did some reading up on the Pony Express, and Buckland Station, which is just a mile from us, was a Pony Express stop, and there's a group area on the other side of Ft. Churchill State Park know as the Pony Bob Haslam Group Area, Pony Bob being one of the more famous riders on the Pony Express. Fascinating history, and what strikes me most interesting is that the Pony Express only lasted 19 months, yet it made such an indelible mark on our country's history. The route was eventually sold to Wells Fargo, and I noticed that on Google Earth, you can still see a lot of those original stage roads! Fascinating! A great day of accomplishment as well as learning!
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014 – Water and Work Day
October 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Woke up to find a ranger writing up pay envelopes for both vehicles, had a long discussion with him about it, before he agreed to take my issue (of paying for a full second vehicle) to his boss, who was the one that told me “tow” vehicles didn’t have to pay a fee. Anyway, he did tell me that there was water at Buckland station, which is just over the bridge on the main road, barely a mile away, rather than going all the way into the park to the dump station, so after breakfast, Hubby took the horse trailer and the two portable rain barrels to fill those up, while I spent the day working on the computer and doing paperwork. I have 4 bars of 4G on my phone, but it’s still dropping calls on me for some reason. Internet’s working fine, though, so I got some work done. Had another pleasant evening, looking forward to our ride tomorrow, and finally achieving our goal of having ridden in all 50 states!!
Monday, Sept. 29, 2014 – Laundry Day
September 29, 2014 By Leave a Comment
After the constant rain over the weekend, the spigot nearest to us was working well today, so I put a long hose on it and managed to get almost ¾ of a tank of fresh water, which I promptly used to do four loads of laundry under a very breezy, sunny, quick drying day. Eventually the hose didn’t have enough pressure to fill up the tank, but at least I managed to get the job done! Hubby, meanwhile, ran down into town for gas and groceries to keep us going for the rest of the week, and to reconnoiter our exit route for whenever we leave. It’s forecast to be quite chilly until Thursday, then warming up nicely for the weekend, so we’re considering staying until next Monday, since we have all that we need here, and it’s free, and the only downside has been the very cold nights, with even a freeze warning for the next few nights. Just need to bundle up and keep warm!
Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014 – Football and Blog Catchup Day
September 28, 2014 By Leave a Comment
It rained all night, we had buckets of water, and even the rain barrel had a lot of water in it, though not as much as I thought it would, probably because it has a leak in it somewhere, another job for Hubby to look at when he has some time and energy. We’re both feeling a lot more rested, finally, and we haven’t seen a soul up here since the first day! Very quiet here, just what we need for recharge out batteries. Had to do a water run, but before I did, I checked the spigot that was closest to us, and YEAH, it worked! Instead of having to run the trailer around, filling the rain barrel, then sump pumping it into the RV, all I had to do was string out enough hose (which, fortunately, we had) to reach from the spigot to the RV. Yeah! That means I can get some laundry done, as the forecast is sunny for the rest of the week. Hubby will have to run down to Cedarville tomorrow for more gas for the generator, but we’ve now solved all our problems, and I’m starting to really like this place. Won’t be much dust after all the rain, so now I’m looking forward to riding here, too, maybe later in the week when it warms up. That’s the only drawback here at this time of the year, it’s a bit chilly, in the low 40’s, even upper 30’s during the night, while it’s 10 degrees warmer in the valley. No worries, though, we’re keeping warm, and the forecast is for upper 60’s later in the week. Not sure how long we’ll be staying, depend on the progress of the weather. Don’t want to miss our window going south, as we do need to spend some time in the Reno area, getting mail and getting the van fixed, if possible.
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 – More Rest, Rain, Movie Day!
September 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Indeed, it rained last night, and most of the day today, so we had several full buckets, though my rain barrel got turned over in the wind. We decided to make it a rainy movie day, since we recorded a whole lot of stuff and just haven’t been able to run them down very much, particularly with all the new series stuff we’re watching. Great, relaxing day, and my back is feeling much better, thank you.
Friday, Sept. 26, 2014 – Recovery Day from Wrenched Back, with Some Overnight Rain
September 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Woke up with tremendous back pain, proving I was right that I wrenched my back yesterday. Took some ibuprofen and relaxed in my recliner most of the day to rest it. Hubby, thankfully, was feeling well enough to do my chores, with all his recent injuries in abatement, yeah! Expecting some rain tonight, so we put out all the buckets and rain barrels under the gutters on the RV, with a bit of luck, it will save us from having to do the water run for an extra day or two.
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014 – Rest Day and Computer Day
September 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Another day of rest and computer work. When we fed the horses in the evening, I tried to carry an extra heavy hay bag, and I have the feeling it’s going to become a problem, but you know how that goes… I think it might hurt tomorrow, but we’ll see.
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 – Rest Day
September 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Did some work on my computer, but otherwise did little else but try to get caught up on some computer work that I’ve let go because of all our running around, thankful I have a good enough signal to get onto the internet. Not super speedy, but at least it’s there!









