We received another shipment of Easy Boots, as well as a care package from home to replenish our elk jerky and dried fruit. While we organized them into our bear proof canisters, we had to fend off chickens and the cutest little black and white puppy named “Caper.”

We also spent more time with Ole going over maps. He is known to be the local guru on trails, so his advice will be very valuable in getting us to Hite crossing- one of the only places in Utah that you can get a horse over the Colorado River.

Our next few weeks will be very remote through red rock canyons- no cell phone reception and likely no computer access. I apologize ahead if there are gaps in blogs- but we will update again as soon as we resurface in civilization! In the meantime, your prayers for all of our safety will be much appreciated! God Bless- Richard, Jeannette, Fiddle, Apache, Tiska, and Satchmo

When we got to the Lindgren’s, we knew that only their 9 kids and grandmother would be there for the first full day. Ole and Kenda were working. We spent that day resting, meeting the kids and trying to remember all of their names, and doing mending projects. But more than that, we wondered what Ole would be like.

You see, it turns out he is something of a legend in these parts. People have talked about him for miles and miles as we have ridden closer to his home. They have warned us of his ADHD and being a “project starter”, yet had nothing else negative to say. In fact, by the time we got to his house, he was known to be an anaconda snake fighting, winner of the 3,000 mile endurance horse race in the middle east (that no American can even enter!), desert surviving, life saving man! His home was truly a master piece in the making- unfinished projects everywhere- but obviously heading in the direction of self-sustainability. There were goats, miniature cows, horses, rabbits, geese, ducks, chickens, peacocks, dogs, gardens, fruit trees, etc. etc. on and roaming around his property. We were quite interested to meet this man.

We were not disappointed. This brief blog can not begin to describe the absolutely fascinating nature of this individual. He is warmly welcoming, hopelessly generous, adventurous to the core, brilliantly intelligent and self educated, and passionate about Mormonism, sustainable farming, and healing hurting youth through horses and adventure. He is a wealth of knowledge, but most notably, he is a genius story teller.

He convinced us to go to his Mormon church with him. We figured it would be a good education considering as there were no other options for miles around. It was like “Mormon Religion 101″ – we definitely got quite an education, backed up by long conversations with Ole about religion. But I kid you not, we spent the entire day with our jaws dropped, our eyes glued, and our attention riveted to Ole as he told us true adventure stories of his life. Ours pale in comparison!

He took our imaginations to the depths of the Amazon where anacondas and head hunters (the tribes that shrink heads and display them proudly- you may have seen it in Ripley’s believe it or not) were a very real threat while they tried to find the “Golden City” (like in Indiana Jones.) Apparently it really exists, but try getting there and living to tell about it. They got within a day and a half hike, but had to abandon the  because of life threatening problems. Ole was convinced to go on the adventure mainly to follow along quietly- and save everyone’s lives when they got in trouble. Many of his stories reminded me of scenes in movies- like when they ran up a beach, jumped into a truck, and sped away as the head hunters were chasing them up the beach- like in Pirates of the Caribbean! Then he took us on a journey to Alaska where he was the first to climb a mountain called “the Horn” and barely lived to tell about it. It involved a 30 foot jump across a 300 foot drop with no rope. Nuts- absolutely nuts! And on the same day, he decided he was immortal and rode a current down many ridiculously tall waterfalls and lived to tell about it! Then he took us to a county fair where his grandfather, against all odds, won a pulling match through deep mud with his team that had only ever plowed fields- to win the prize that payed off his land and allowed him to keep it. We were in tears by the end of that story. He also shared stories of some of the other cross country travelers he had met that brought us to tears laughing! And finally he took us into the desert canyons of the home that he loves, with stories of flash floods, narrow escapes, and magnificent horses of incredible strength, stamina, and heart.

We were up to 3:00 in the morning listening to stories, having theological conversations, and not wanting it to end. Ole is truly the most fascinating person we have ever met! He’s only 8 years older than Richard, and we still have one continent yet to visit in his stories! His adventure stories and wealth of knowledge in many subjects we love make us hardly want to leave! It’s no wonder he’s a local legend!

But the ride through the canyon was gorgeous. There was a river, large red rock cliffs with caves and rock spire formations, and trees. The road wasn’t busy and it was quite a nice ride. Again- the change of scenery is incredibly welcome! The only bad part was a section where the canyon widened out and the river slowed down. The mosquitoes nearly carried us away. The horses weren’t the only ones agitated and hurrying this time! Thankfully, it only last 20 or 30 minutes.

We watered our horses at an RV park by a fenced off lake (the river had been fenced off the whole way too), then continued toward Antimony to the Lindgren’s home. Matt Parker, a previous coast to coast rider 8 or 10 years ago, had stayed with them and they welcomed us too. On the way, we met the Lindgren’s dear friend, Michael, and he gave us directions for a shortcut through the foothills to their home. We were glad to save two miles and cut our long 28 mile day into a 26 mile day.

No sooner did we arrive at their house, when Michael showed up with two daughters and they helped us untack our horses, groom them, and set up camp in the Lindgren’s apple orchard. Since neither Ole or Kenda Lindgren were going to be home for another day and a half, Michael took us back to his house for “dinner and a shower”. (Now more prized than “dinner and a movie!”) We had a great visit with his family and enjoyed stories of their 10 years of living in the Amazon.

We are grateful for your prayers for our marriage. This trip can be trying at times on our relationship as we are with each other 24/7 literally and can not ignore or avoid any trouble areas in our marriage. However, it has also enriched and strengthened our relationship beyond words.

To God alone be the glory for our eight years of marriage, as He is the glue that sticks it together when times get tough. And thank you to everyone who has had their part in supporting us through the tough times, as well as those who have been a source of joy in our lives. This Ride Across America has certainly been a life changing experience in our marriage and in our lives!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Chad, the Renegade approved barefoot farrier, drove on his own time all the way from northern Utah down to find us in Circleville. He fitted Apache for his new bright orange boots to ‘test drive’ them. They are a new company, so their sizes are limited, but we are excited about giving them a try.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Chad. He’s an excellent farrier, very passionate, fun and easy to get along with, and very knowledgeable. If you live near Huntington, Utah and are serious about a barefoot trimmer- we highly recommend him.

We also got to know the Newby’s a little better. They were pretty busy, but we did spend a little time with Kelsey and his mom, Tracy. I also nearly snuck out with the cutest little blue eyed kitten in my saddle bags. Too bad they were already attached to the little guy!

The switchbacks up the mountain were through the largest aspen grove we have ever seen. It was spectacular! Now aspens are great for carving your name in, and this trail was like riding through a hall of fame of past hikers. I’d never done this before- but I decided to commit the crime of putting graffiti on a tree. I wrote with a knife “R + J coast to coast on horses 2010.” Maybe we’ll come back in a few years and see what it looks like!

The entire day today was on a mountain trail and it thrilled us to the core. What a perfect day to celebrate our 1,000 miles! We even had fun when we got stuck for 45 minutes by 3 trees that had fallen across a narrow and steep section of trail. We couldn’t get around them so we used our “pocket chainsaw” for the first time and cut our way through the trees and cleared the trail. (A side note to my family- yes- it really is worth carrying a chainsaw in your pocket! It worked great! ) The trail was a bit challenging to follow, as it apparently was not well used. Out in this remote area of trail, I saw a nearby brown patch through the trees that I thought was a deer- until it took off and I realized it was a bear! It was really quite a pretty brown bear with a cinnamon colored back. Unfortunately, it ran away so fast I didn’t get the camera out in time.

We came out to a humongous grassy meadow up on top of the mountain and met some four wheelers there who gave us pure gold in my opinion- chocolate! I considered it a 1,000 mile mark celebration! The descent down the mountain was quite fun- it was a lot of steep switchbacks with sweeping views of the valley below. It was the first time we have been on anything even close to the terrain where we had the horse accident back in California, and Richard handled it very well. So did Tiska for that matter- though I did hold her lead rope out stating “if she goes over- I’m not going with her!” But we didn’t have any problems other than finding places to let 4 wheelers by that we had been h0lding up. We also got our first view of some red rock cliffs that we rode under as we got close to the bottom.

When we got to Circleville, we had no idea where to stay and no contacts. Water was not plentiful, nor was feed for the horses, so we literally rode around town looking for people who had horses, chose a “friendly looking” house and knocked on their door to ask for ideas or suggestions. Rather than directing us to a good camping spot- the Newby’s invited us and our horses to stay. I’m telling you, this country is filled with kind people! They are not few and far between- they are your neighbors!

We rode the first day on quite a bit of dirt road, but when we got to the trailhead- we were wowed! There was more water, green grass, trees, aspen, deer, etc. It was a real trail- not a dirt road! We enjoyed every minute of it- though the horses may not agree as it was up, up, up. We camped in a grassy meadow where we hobbled the horses and let them eat to their hearts content until dark. It almost felt like we were in a dream land – just floating around slowly and enjoying the view. I can’t even describe how nice it is to switch scenery and get out of sagebrush and into mountains- which we love. We watched the deer come into the meadow, then stared at the most amazing stars you can imagine. They were brilliant with the milky way almost close enough you could touch it. Stars went down to every part of the horizon and filled every speck of the sky, shooting stars happened several times, and we could even see tiny dots of satellites going across the sky.

The downside? It was COLD in the morning! We decided we hadn’t hobbled the horses in so long that we didn’t want to do it in the dark, so we went back to sleep. We didn’t worm our way out of the tent for 3 more hours until the sun came up and warmed us a bit! Needless to say, that morning’s ride got started pretty late, but we thoroughly enjoyed our little meadow.

Actually, the real reason for our stop was to see Ted, the Nevada American Discovery Trail coordinator, one more time- as well as meet Lynn- the Utah coordinator. Ted joined us at the Flanagans for breakfast and a tape recorded conversation on our experiences with the trail across Nevada. We also enjoyed getting to know Kathy and Dayle better, and they helped us choose a route for our next mountain crossing. Dayle’s knowledge of the trails and years of experience in the forest service really proved helpful. I think we can safely say that the ‘coincidences’ of us meeting the right people at the right time have happened so regularly that God is really looking out for us.

After breakfast, Ted took us to the cheese factory where we enjoyed locally made ice cream and yummy cheese curds, then we drove up to the trail head we were going to take so we wouldn’t get lost tomorrow. We then met Lynn for the first time over lunch, and she generously gave us most of the detailed maps we will need for the entire state of Utah. Her brother was the man who scouted out the initial route for the American Discovery Trail! We look forward to working with her as we cross this state, but we will really miss Ted and Trevor. We finished the evening with Kathy and Dayle and many laughs and stories over dinner.

We left Milford on a rainy, thunderstorming day. That in itself was a nice change. We broke out our rain dusters for the first time since California (the “rainy state”) and found our way over to “The Pass” road that took the back way up over a mountain to the town of Beaver on the other side. There were oak trees, aspen, and vegetation of all sorts up there! There were even creeks and springs- we hardly needed our buckets that were dropped for us! What a wonderful change of scenery from sagebrush, sagebrush, and more sagebrush! It was a long day of 24 miles, but it was cool and beautiful so it hardly seemed long at all!

Ya know, God is good. Just when I thought I couldn’t take another 1:00 am morning, the days started getting shorter, the temperature decreased a little, and we passed through a time zone that allowed us to get up later with the same amount of daylight. AND, just when I was soooo bored out of my mind with sagebrush desert that both my horse and I were literally falling asleep during the ride, we finally came to some new scenery.

We were met with yet another pleasant surprise as we descended into Beaver valley- it was green!!!! There was tall, green grass everywhere! The horses were so excited they barely kept walking! We thought we just walked into Heaven after all that desert. We met our new hosts- the Flanagans- and had a wonderful visit getting to know them as we un-saddled our horses. They are also into barefoot horses and natural horsemanship. Our ponies were in seventh Heaven when they got to go into a lush green pasture! (after a couple flakes of hay to help their bellies adjust)

And apparently, we were really tired. I normally get a little edgy during bad thunderstorms- leftover from a childhood fear. This night had the worst and loudest thunderstorm the Flanagans had seen in many years. We slept right through the whole thing and never even heard a single boom!