The Trip!

pictures are a pain to post with these - so right now it's just words - becuase i'm not very motivated to sit in this truck stop and post pictures - maybe later - words are good too :-)

there are things i keep remembering about the trip - i wrote most of this blog along the route, but here's a story i forgot to include...

we had just drove past our first time zone change. Dad looked down and noticed (sorta) and said "Hummmm, well the pickup changed but my cell phone still hasn't switched over."

"What?" i said, a bit confused. He repeated. I laughed, then explained. No dad, your cell phone changed but the TRUCK - the 1990 GMC truck needs to be manually changed. Here, let me shut off the music and do that. Yeah, your cell phone...that's the one that changed." Haha, he quickly agreed.

I’ll try to keep these stories short, since there are quite a few of them that I’ve gathered the past few days.

We took off Wednesday, Nov. 4th at 5:45 am and reached Kanab, UT around 2:45 that afternoon. It’s nice to arrive late afternoon so the horses are settled in before dark and such.

In Kanab we met (like met for the first time) the family we’d be staying with for the night. Marty and Ann Hepworth and their 3 children ages 11, 9, and 6. They were a very kind and generous family and we had a great time. That night I went with Ann to her church to watch her teach a pie crust baking class. Which meant that the other ladies all brought a pie they’d backed and we ate them while Ann stood in front and talked. It was great! Meanwhile, my dad headed off with Marty to a town council meeting. Marty was just elected to the town board.\

Day 2 we headed to Gallup, NM and met another family. Navajo decendents Lyle, Fawn, and Jessica Benally invited us into their home and we had another wonderful time. Fawn taught my dad and I how to make Navajo Fry Bread which we later used to make Navajo Tacos. Since I’ve made tortillas a couple of times I had a relatively easy time shaping the bread in a beginners fashion. Dad on the other hand, wanted to skip beginners world and tried tossing the bread between his hands like Fawn was (similar to tossing pizza in the air). Soon, his bread was on the ground.

Later that night, Fawn’s mother (who was full Navajo Indian) stopped by. I loved listening to her speak in her native language and she even taught me how to say a few words. After she left, I convinced Fawn to say them again while I recorded on my camera so I could practice them! AND, Lyle even took my laptop and worked on it throughout the night (since it had given me the blue screen of death).

The next morning we woke up to Fawn making blueberry muffins and BLT sandwiches. She sent us out the door with a bag full of muffins and 4 sandwiches! We felt like royalty!

The next day we took off for Amarillo , TX. A couple of driving mishaps happened that day. The first, and only, interstate onramp we took that day…we also missed. Well, maybe we didn’t miss it, Dad just happened to get on the ramp headed the wrong direction! Pulling a trailer negated the option to turn around so we entered the interstate and hoped there was an exit close by. It ended up being aobut a 10 mile detour at 6:30 am.

Later on down the road Dad also had a hard time finding an off ramp for a gas station while in construction, so we took it a little bit fast. And then when we finally arrived in Amarillo we were told to take the frontage road off of the exit to the hotel. Since we thought it was on the south side we took the south frontage road. BUT as we approached the road I told dad that it had a white line, meaning it was a one way road. (Yellow line = 2 way / white line = 1 way) He disagreed at first but was soon being waved at by passer-bys and turned around. Let’s just say, if it wasn’t his birthday and I wanted to drive the rest of the way, I’d fire his services…but I decided against that.

We stayed at “The Big Texan” which is a hotel/restaurant/stables combined so we settled our horses in and headed to the restaurant. They have a famous ’72 ounce steak’. If you eat the entire steak plus 2 sides in 1 hour or less, it’s FREE! There was one on display when we walked in, and both of us decided against trying to eat (and later pay for) the college football size slab of meat. I did find a buffalo burger on the menu that I tried (didn’t honestly taste much different than beef to me). There was also a choice of an appetizer that include a ‘fried tater hull’ or even rattlesnake!

On the beds in our hotel room was a note accompanied by two mints. The note read “Thanks! You’re worth a mint to us!” Ummmmmm, well maybe it’s a Texan thing, but that note accompanied by two peppermints seems a bit more like an insult than a compliment. :-)
I also saw some cool road signs. Some very original thinking from a town that must’ve produced sulfur called itself Sulfurdale. More excited was “Casa Blanca” (even though I’m not really sure I’ve seen the movie) and “Historic Route 66” (which I did see a funny musical of once).

We headed out around 6:30 the next morning headed for Dallas. I’ll be keeping my horses with a friend south of the big city and then we’ll be visiting my brother, Matt, who lives on the north end. We’ll get in tonight (Saturday) and spend Sunday and Monday in Dallas, taking off EARLY on Tuesday for Pensacola, FL – about a 13 hour drive!

Oh, and we’ve listened to two books on tape. The first, Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, is on my recommended reading list from Parelli about success and how it’s viewed. The second was a novel by John Grisham called “The Last Juror”. Close to the beginning of the story I asked dad if he enjoyed listening to it. He said ‘yeah, but I can already see the end’. I allowed him to listen for another hour or more before I asked for his prediction. He was wrong. :-) But that’s the best way to be when it comes to the endings of books/movies!

Tuesday we left Dallas at 5 am – headed towards our new destination of Montgomery, AL. Our connection in Pensacola, FL called the night before and said that there was a hurricane headed straight for them and that we should ‘find’ another route. Thank goodness for Map Quest! It’s easy to change your driving route, but not quite as simple to find a place to put horses up for a night! But she called again the next morning and said that we were clear to come, it ended up being just a ‘tropical storm’ and wasn’t too bad.

About 4 pm that afternoon we tested our lights and realized both our truck and trailer didn’t have any clearance lights! Still a good 2 and a half hours from our destination, we knew we’d need the lights in order to keep going. We found a local Home Depot right off the next exit and found some information on local trailer sale/repair shops. Dad was able to find a blown fuse in the pickup and buy the correct replacement part. Soon we were on the road again.

When we were talking though the time we had left before it got dark, dad brought up the ‘side’ of the time zone we were on. It was 4:30 and had been getting dark around 5:30 pm. Dad argued that as we drove we got closer to the next time zone, so we will have more light in this time zone. I didn’t agree and asked him to explain farther – and he realized as we drove farther EAST, since the sun sets in the WEST we actually lose time.  “I guess I got it backwards” he said. “Just like my math teachers, I ask and once they start explaining – they figure out that I’m right!” :-) OK, not always.

We got into Pensacola about 7:30 that night, and after a couple showers we were soon asleep in a beautiful Victorian style mansion (at least that’s what I think a beautiful Victorian Mansion would look like!) I met Mirka and David Pitts there and we were so happy to have a place to stop for the night!

Left at 6:30 am on Wednesday for our last day of driving! It was straight forward and simple and almost painless. Got the horses settled in nicely, then made it to our house (yes house) that we’d be living in for the next few days.

took a tour of the ranch with dad - broke a few rules as well. Got dad to the airport - got a bit lost getting home - only a 120 mile detour :(

anwyays, that's all for now :-) Check in 2-5 TOMORROW!!!

Pack Rat meet Johnny Appleseed!

This will be short because a) i have packing and organizing still to do before we leave at 5:30 am tomorrow....did you catch that ...tomorrow! b) i just recently blogged (who came up with that word anyways?! BLOG? makes me think of Blob - which leads me to picture the scary green monster on Ghost Busters.)


Anways...i was packing yesterday...packing today...packing tonight -and actually got to the point of actually putting suitcases in the pickup! I'd been working pretty steadily and was pleased with my progress and thinking that this might not be too stressful of a night.

Dad came out - opened the truck door - threw in 2 magazines - and walked away. Almost as if to say 'well...i'm ready!' 50 hours on the road and he has 2 magazines?! Well, i have DVD's and a car charger and a laptop (if only it was behaving itself!)

This all wouldn't have been nearly as bad if i hadn't found out that his 'luggage' for the trip consists of a 'carry on'. i think this is mainly due to the fact that the airline he's using to fly home charges $25 for each checked bag...so he just has a carry on!



So there's me...with a horse trailer, tack room, pickup bed, tool box and back seat full of stuff - and him with a napsack! :-) Jonney Appleseed meet the Pack Rat!

Keys and Earrings - and the Future of Humanity!

Well there are a couple funny stories from the past few days...enough irony and laughs to be worth writing about at least. Let's start with my mother.

She opens my door the other day to tell me a story...

She had just gotten done with her work out at the club and hit the 'unlock' button on her car keys. Most newer-ish cars have such things but if you're confused here's a picture of what I'm talking about.



so there is an unlock button along with a 'lock' and 'panic' and sometimes a 'trunk unlock or open' one as well. Mom's keys have just the unlock/lock and panic.

Well, she pushed the unlock and nothing happened. So she pushed it again. When she told me this story she didn't elaborate on this part but i can easily imagine her flustered and trying a different angle, pushing it faster, slower, pointed up or down...but that's all imagining (feel free to imagine with me!)

At some point she figured out the unlock button no longer works. "Maybe it has a battery?" she tells me. Well yes mom, i'd imagine it has some sort of power source that makes it work...unless it could tap into the energy in your hand through your skin and...no, a battery makes sense.

But now there is a delima. She can't unlock her car. She considers calling the husband to bring the spare but wanders inside to ask the helpful lady behind the desk (i am sure car trouble advice is in her job discription). Mom asks her what the skinny red button at the top does (i'm guessing she didn't push it yet) "It's a panic button...it won't unlock your car. BUT you could just use it like a key. You know, like, put it in the door."

HAHAHAHAHA -you've gotta be laughing at that! i totally was. I think mom did. I'm guessing the girl behind the counter waited to laugh until mom left.

My siblings and i gave mom a bluetooth handsfree cell phone device. While explaining it to her she became flustered with 'all the technology'. There's 3 buttons - it'll be ok mom :-) i think she is in a very fragile state somewhere in between being confused / stressed with modern technology and forgetting 'olden days' common sense! But as long as she doesn't forget how to tie her runnin shoes i'm sure the rest will work itself out.

sooooo...on to the next thing that recently made me laugh. I got my ears pierced. At 21 i finally sucumbed to the 'pressure' and went for it. There really wasn't much pressure to be honest. Dad asked me how long i had been thinking about doing it, and what brought it about. "Oh, yesterday a friend said i should...that's about it"

before i continue here's an 'in the moment' funny thing. I needed a picture of an earing/ear/piercing...something so i went to Yahoo Images and typed 'single ear piercing'. the first picture was of 4 guys with multiple piercings - this was the second shot (don't worry, this isn't what i did!)



Anyways, i'd forgotten i am allergic to metal. If i wear jeans and/or a belt without having my shirt tucked in i'll get a rash. the pain for fashion legacy lives on! anyways, i forgot that part and am hoping these don't give me a problem that way. It actually hurt a lot more than i thought it would (maybe i have sensitive ear lobes?) No worries, i didn't cry in Walmart...but i can see how a little 10 year old would!

Are you waiting for the funny part? ok, here it comes, first the lady who pierced them says to me...ok, just clean them twice a day with this solution on a roll of cotton...and be sure to turn them as you clean. At that moment, in the store, all i said was ok. When i got home that night and attempted to have a roll of cotton in one hand, and then my other (untrained) hand somehow turning the earring...basically all i got was a shreded cotton roll that was now wrapped around my fake diamond! instead of a sparkley cute earing i had ear fuzz! :-) I now wonder if most girls get this done at 10 yrs old...and do just fine becuase thier mom's do the cleaning for them! I am slightly too proud to ask my mom to clean my earing though...so i probably won't be surprised if it gets infected.

But the fun doesn't end there. I read the box for 'directions' thinking maybe they would give some helpful advice to a newbee...this is what it had to say ...besides the regular directions i just mentioned "thoroughly cleanse hands before touching earrings and ears. Use a cotton swab to apply antiseptic. Protect ears from irritants, shamoo, soap, hairspray, etc." ok, not at first glance no big deal...but really to protect your ears from such things you'd need little ear coverings! I mean, dust and smoke and tons of other things can be included in the 'etc' part of that...so really for six weeks after piercing your ears you should walk around with little 'ear booties'! Now, wouldn't that change your desire/perception of getting your ears pierced! Funny mental image at least :-)