It Takes A Team

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5/14/10, Northdale, CO - After a nice day, the wagon is completely re-provisioned and we’re settled on some BLM land for the night, about 3 miles from the Utah State Line.  Before I write up today’s blog, here are some pictures from yesterday.

My view of Mesa Verde from my camping spot on the night of 5/12.

At last night’s camping spot, I had some young visitors. The young man was very helpful by assisting me in driving of the team and then by keeping Doc company by sitting on his back.

Sunsets can be rather spectacular

Now for today’s news:

It was a tough five mile drive to the town of Dove Creek.  We had a fairly sharp descent, then climb, out of Cross Canyon. It was nice to have a fresh team.  People were stopping to chat and take pictures all morning long.

My first stop in Dove Creek was at the grain store, where I bought 400 pounds of feed.  Then it was off to the grocery store for food, gas and water. While I was there, a very nice husband and wife brought be 3 great bales of hay.

It’s not often that Bill gets a carrot from a pair of fellow Red Sorrels.  I believe he was thinking, ‘A carrot, from a Carrot Top - what a perfect combination!’

Since I had a lot to do, I broke the team out for lunch. At lunch, dozens of people stopped by, including some families with small kids. 

One family in particular was a lot of fun. They included two small boys and an older girl.  The older boy wanted to be a cowboy, so he was really enthusiastic about the horses.  The highlight of his day was when he got to sit on Doc. The girl was initially afraid of the horses, but the team won her heart and calmed her fears.  She went from not wanting to get within 6 feet of them, to sitting on Doc, all in fifteen minutes.  This was the everyone’s first experience with horses, except the grandmother. She was an ‘Ol Horse gal, as she had ridden a lot when she was growing up in Mexico.

He will be Cowboying before he knows it.

It takes a lot of groceries to keep the team on the road.  Currently, I’m fully provisioned, with 2 days of water (1000 pounds), 9 bales of hay (600 pounds) and 400 pounds of grain. I also have a week supply of people food, since I’m not really crazy about eating snakes and bugs. The total weight of the wagon and trailer is about 7000 pounds.  If I didn’t have to haul animal feed, water, horseshoes and horse care things, I would probably only weigh about 3000 pounds.

“Now, where am I going to fit all this stuff?”

I settled for the night about 6 miles out of Dove Creek, on a nice spot. The lads looked like they needed an early quitting time, so I turned off the road and bedded them down.

Tomorrow, I cross into Utah and head for Monticello. After that, I’m leaning towards a trip south to Monument Valley. I called a couple of the National Parks and Monuments, and they don’t allow any livestock in the parks.  It’s just as well - I have no desire to put up with a bunch of National Park rules and regulations.  Having three fast horses probably wouldn’t help. Being with the U.S. government, they are most likely in league with the IRS; and everybody knows you can’t outrun them!

Too nice of a camping spot to pass up - un-grazed and un-fenced (probably BLM government land).