Two Great Days in Montana

FINALLY -- I'm starting to enjoy the Montana that drew me to move here. I've been doing the mundane (but necessary) tasks of finding a new bank, changing my driver's license, dealing with painters and contractors, etc. And it left me to wonder -- "Now, why did I move here? Am I having fun yet?" And that answer for a few weeks has been a big, fat "NO".

However, on Sunday I spent the day at Big Mountain Ski Resort in Whitefish, MT. It's summer time on the mountains, and in this area, summer time is the "off" season. You can rent full condo's at Big Mountain for about $115/night (sleeps 6). It makes me want to yell like the Staple's commercial guy -- "Now that's a cheap price".

And yet summer in the mountains is great. You can hike, mountain bike, raft, fish, etc. And Big Mountain is beautiful. The resort starting adding activities last year to help get summer business. Two of the biggest are the Alpine Slide (like a luge or bobsled course -- without the ice), and the Zip Line Tour (6 separate spans that carry you more than 300 feet off the ground and takes 3 hours). On Sunday, I had fun on the Alpine Slide, and went to the top of Big Mountain on the chair lifts (both pictures were taken by Mountain Life Photography at the resort).

At the summit (elevation 6,817 ft.), the views of the area and Glacier Park are just fantastic. There is also the "Summit House" which has gift shops, food, and a nature museum. And if you forget your jacket, the gift shop is a great place to buy one.

You can take your mountain bikes to the top of Big Mountain and bike down the large # of trails. You can also bike "up" the mountain -- pretty steep, and I wouldn't recommend it. Many active folks purchase a one way chair lift ticket (going up), and hike down the mountain. Down is good -- but it is a long way and fair steep.



Two younger tourists enjoying the view of Glacier.









One more thing -- the most unique and unusual "privacy fence" I have ever seen. Wonder where they got all those skis.












My next great day was on Tuesday. I did get a new driver's license and talked to a nice lady at the Social Security Office (yes, I am turning 62 this year). And once those tasks were done, it was off to Glacier National Park. My year long pass was actually good for 2 more days, so didn't even cost me anything to get in.

The "Going-to-the-Sun Road" is THE attraction in Glacier. There are lots of lakes, boat tours, hiking, fly fishing, horse back riding, etc., in Glacier, but most people come to drive the road to the sun. In 1918, the first National Park engineer, George Goodwin, planned a route for the "Going-to-the-Sun Road" similar to the current route, except it made a steep climb up Logan Creek, using 15 switchbacks before reaching the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.

Thomas Vint, a National Park Service Landscape Architect, opposed Goodwin's plan, and lobbied the National Park Service Director to approve an alternate route. Vint's suggestion required only 1 switchback, a more environmentally friendly option (nice they were thinking like that back in 1918). Luckily for all of us, Vint's route was approved. It allows visitors to see and experience far more of the park, and follows along the "Garden Wall" to Logan pass.

(I know.....lots of inconsequential, don't-need-to-know kind of information, but I love learning about the history of the park. So "bear" with me.)

One of my favorite sites along the road is a section called the "Weeping Wall". It's really a must see early in the season as the mountain snow is melting and waterfalls abound everywhere. Toward the end of July into August, there isn't much "weep" but more like a single tear drop. Going up the road, you are on the outside, so not much to worry about. But folks going the other direction need to make sure windows are closed, because your vehicle gets drenched. In this picture, I was lucky to catch 3 of the Red Tour Buses going pass the wall. They all have open air tops, so I hope the riders have umbrellas on their return trip.

The road is perched right on the side of extremely steep mountains and cliffs, and when you drive it, you sometimes doubt there is room for 2 vehicles to pass (trailers are NOT allowed). The sheer rock walls jut out into the roadway, and in a truck like mine, you have to make sure your mirror does not hit. It is an absolute marvel to me that anyone could build such a thing back in the 1930's. And because of the age of the road, the # of vehicles that pass on this road each year, plus little things like avalanches, 80 ft. of snow, etc., means that parts of the road are under construction every year. As I've always said about our National Parks -- DON'T be in a hurry. Just take your camera, enjoy the vistas, or read a book while you wait.

But you can also have a great time while waiting 20 minutes for the road to clear. First, meet the people around you. Everyone is out of their vehicles. Bring your binoculars and look for wildlife. We (people in car in front of me)saw several mountain goats climbing on the mountainside. And enjoy the vistas.






Meet the people around you -- see how many!!














Even the flag people take a break to say hello to a couple of 4 footed visitors (dogs are not allowed in the park, so they can't get out of the car)








The only barrier to keep you and your vehicle from falling off the road is a small block wall -- and on the other side, it drops straight down. As we got back on our drive across the road, standing on the wall was a large mountain goat, a juvenile goat, and a baby goat (unfortunately I didn't get a good picture with the baby). I was suppose to be driving, and I'm leaning out the window trying to get a picture. Finally I decided to stop before I drove off the cliff -- and I didn't care if the people behind me minded or not. And you can see -- I got a great picture.

So it was on to Logan Pass. Last year this did not open up until about July 4, so I never got this far. But you could tell the thaw had not yet come to this area of Glacier. If you come later in the summer, the view up to Mt. Clement is a huge meadow full of wildflowers. And you can walk about 1 1/2 miles (on a paved path) to Hidden Lake. I've never done that, but it is on my list of "to do's" for this year. Today that was not going to happen as everything was covered in wet snow, with warnings to walk at your own risk. So I decided to just take pictures. And surprisingly with all this snow, the temperature was still about 62 degrees.

(don't know if you can see the really small dots beyond the tree line -- those are PEOPLE who did decide to brave the wet snow)




So I'm back in my truck in the Logan Pass parking lot, and I was looking at the map of the park to see if there was anything I wanted to see beyond Logan Pass, or whether I would just drive back down the road the way I came. Out of the corner of my eye I caught some movement, and there was a large, male, Big Horn Sheep (who would have thought!!!!). I'm thinking to myself, "where's my camera!! where's my camera!!" I found it, but by the time I had it turned on, the sheep is walking away with about 20 people with cameras following him around the parking lot. All I managed to get was the back of his head -- but look at the size of those horns.

It is always my greatest joy to see wildlife, so I was thrilled to have seen the Mountain Goats and this Big Horn Sheep. I plan to get to the park a lot this year, so hopefully a Grizzly Bear is still in my future.

Needless-to-say, I am once again happy I moved. Now if I could just sell my Georgia home!!!

How is Montana different from Georgia?

I've been giving this topic some thought lately. The obvious difference (for me) is that it is far less hot and humid than Georgia. Got a note from a friend saying it was going to be about 98 degrees yesterday. Not saying it doesn't reach that temperature out here in the summer, but without the humidity, it doesn't feel that hot.

Secondly......the speed limits in Montana are faster than Georgia. Even on a 2 lane road, you will find speed limits of 70 MPH. And those roads are generally in good shape. Of course, the residents tend to drive slower in Montana than Georgia. If you had 2 lane roads with a 70 MPH speed limit in Georgia, drivers would be going 80-90 MPH. In Montana, you'll get on one of those roads, and the people are driving 55-60 MPH. And that's when the sun is out.

Georgia is normally more green and lush than Montana. Except for this year. I think I mentioned that Georgia gets (on average) 51 inches of rain each year, and Montana gets 13.25 inches. We've had that already. So this year, Montana is pretty green. And of course, I'm living with pine trees all around me, so I feel very "green".

And in Montana, there seems to be a rodeo every weekend!! I went to the Polson rodeo last night, and for the first time, I really felt I had made the right decision. Lots of local folks with their kids, listening to country music, wearing cowboy hats, and enjoying the bronc riding. I just loved being there last night. And I can do this every weekend.

I attended this this rodeo last year, and the highlight (again) was the "mutton busting" competition for the very little kids. They are dressed up in the cutest little chaps and cowboy hats -- I didn't know they made them that small. They even had 4 little girls (all dressed in pink) who tried to ride these sheep. It was incredibly cute and funny. I forgot my camera, but here are some pictures from last year.




Several "pick-up" riders herding one of those pesky sheep










Bull rider about to miss his "8 seconds"

Baby Steps

I am reminded of a movie, "What About Bob", staring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus. Bill (of course) is a neurotic New Yorker struggling with a host of paralyzing phobias who relies on his pompous shrink (Dreyfus) for everything, calling him hourly and following him on his vacation. The shrink had written a booked called "Baby Steps" and was encouraging "Bob" to take baby steps to move on with his life.

That's what I feel like I've been doing in Montana. Every day is another baby step towards getting something accomplished. And it's continually slowed down by the weather, the contractor who never shows up, the lack of money (or more appropriately, the mounting expenses), etc.

For example -- my efforts to finally get a source of DSL in my house. First, I tried my existing AT&T Sierra Wireless stick, but I couldn't get any reception from AT&T (I was told AT&T does not service Montana, and I believe that is true). So I changed my cell phone to Verizon, and purchased their broadband wireless stick, which I immediately found out didn't get any reception from my house either. My first "baby step". So I returned the wireless (but not before paying a $35 "restocking" fee).

My next "baby step" was to get a flyer in my mail for "naked DSL" (meaning you don't need to have a land line to reach DSL and the Internet) from CenturyTel, the local phone company. So I immediately called and signed up for the service, being told that if I had a wireless router, I would be fine.

The technician (supposedly) did what he needed to do outside my house -- I wouldn't know as I didn't see him. But I did attempt to hook up my wireless router, and noticed immediately that the cord that came from the phone jack, was not the right size for my router (the phone company girl assured me all I needed to do was plug the phone cord into the router). So I called the help line, and they said I also needed a modem (you would think I would know these things, having worked 28 years for IBM -- but I don't). I called another number and ordered a combination model/wireless router from CenturyTel. Another "baby step".

Yesterday the modem/router arrived, so today I followed the instructions, put the CD into my computer, etc., etc. It appeared I was connected to CenturyTel, but didn't have any connection to the Internet. So again, called the help desk. He said something outside wasn't right, so he put in a request for a technician to come back to my house and fix whatever was wrong. My latest "baby step".

So right now I've been sitting in the local coffee shop, drinking my diet coke, and using their Internet -- as I have done every day for 2 weeks. I'm hoping this is my final "baby step".

Since it has been a while since I wrote, let me give you a quick synopsis on my activities thus far. The movers finally showed up with my "stuff" -- 3 days late. And that was June 10. Remember Delores and I arrived on May 31, thinking my things could arrive on June 4. Wishful thinking on my part.

It was a fun day of moving -- the driver, George, was great, and he had hired two strong guys from United Van Lines to help unload. They all did a great job. We pretty much blocked off the road and made everyone drive into the ditch to get by the large van. Even my truck got into the action as a shuttle between the moving van and my house.

My agent, Kate Jones, showed up and was a fabulous help. She became another mover, and George even paid her $20 at the end of the day. Kate really worked hard, and that was much appreciated.

My friends Jane and Jack Clapp were also on hand to help. They came about lunch time, and called to see who wanted sandwiches. The movers were most happy as many times they don't get lunch. And since they all came in the huge 18-wheeler, there was no going to town for lunch.

Now Jane and Jack took another approach to helping. I had purchased a new refrigerator, and the doors needed to be switched to open on the opposite side. So Jane and Jack took on that task. Remember......they are both attorney's turned cattle ranchers. So it was like, "How many attorneys does it take to read some directions and do what I was told is a very easy process?" Well it took 2 attorneys and 1 plumber. The plumber was out that morning putting in a new water filter so my faucets stopped clogging up (remember.....another "baby step"), and he also ran the water line to the ice maker. Jack and Jane roped poor Mike into using his tools and helping them for a bit. The good news is that the doors were changed and it's much more convenient for opening the doors -- it's just the covers over the hinges and wires on the top of the refrigerator don't seem to want to fit right. Oh well.....

And after a long day of moving (and I had not eaten a thing -- I was too nervous), Jack, Jane, Kate, and I went to the local Mexican restaurant and I stuffed my self with enchiladas.

There have been a string of repairmen in the home since then. First, when Delores and I were waiting for the refrigerator to be delivered, Delores discovered that 2 of the wall heaters were not working. And we had a leak in the washer, and the grouting had not been finished on the jet tub tile (that I paid $2100 to have fixed and tiled -- and I'll probably never use it). So the electrician arrived to look at the heaters -- repaired one and replaced one (although the repaired one doesn't want to work unless I take off the cover and keep hitting the reset button -- but I digress). Nathan seemed quite competent, and I'll have him back to replace the many light fixtures in the house (didn't like most of what they had installed).

I've already mentioned the plumber. After Mike, then came the fireplace/hearth repairman. It turns out my source of heat for the family room and my master bedroom comes from these gas fireplaces. If they don't work, I freeze. And Kate had smelled a gas leak in the bedroom, so she turned off the pilot -- and now I had nothing. The nice young guy from the fireplace company (his name was Titus -- unusual, don't you think?) found the leak, fixed it, cleaned the fireplace, and got it running off the thermostat. I also found out that the fireplace in the living room was actually a gas starter, which it appeared someone had taken. It will cost about $600+ to turn it into gas fireplace (so I don't have to deal with wood and start a fire every single morning during the winter). This feels more like a "medium step", not a baby step. Another expense -- but one that I don't need to pay until about September. Titus also checked the gas stove in the basement (my office) area, even though his company had not installed it. Thank goodness it is working fine.




(The $600 fireplace)





I don't know if I have mentioned the weather, but it has been raining almost non-stop since I arrived in Montana. And this is a normally dry state -- only getting 13.26 inches of rain a year (compare that with 51 inches per year in Georgia). I believe I've already had that at my house in the last month. And on Sunday, we had a hail storm with pouring rain.

So.....I sprung a leak. I like anything I own to be in good repair, so I really don't like water leaking through the seams of the door frame leading to the garage. The contractor was suppose to have put a gutter the full length of the house so the water would not pour down where the garage joins the house. This is what caused the garage to separate from the house (which the owner paid him to repair). He says he can't get it up because he doesn't have a 40 foot ladder. I checked what gutter I have, and sure enough it was clogged, so I cleaned that out. But the leak continued. So I called and left 2 messages, which he didn't return. I finally got him on the phone, and he was less than happy to be hearing from me. Funny how that works.

My next "baby step" may be to get a job (and I have sent out a resume to work in a gift shop in Glacier)!!!!! My house is now reminding me of the movie "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long (absolutely funny movie, if you haven't seen it). Every time they turn around, something else is falling off the house (literally), and when asked when it would be repaired, the contractor said "two weeks". I'm guessing you can figure out the punch line for that one.

I'm having to replace/repair many more things that I would have thought from the inspection. But hopefully my house and this adventure will end as beautifully as "The Money Pit". In the end, their house was beautiful, and they did remember they loved each other. I want my house to be a thing of beauty and joy, and I want to remember how much I love Montana.




(One of my new neighbors -- a young buck [and no, you can't shoot him])


















(My View of Kathy Lake)


















(The view from my house)

The Move is Almost Over

(Reminder of what the house currently looks like -- I'll be posting pictures as it changes)




I can hardly believe it, but my furniture and things are suppose to arrive tomorrow morning. HURRAH!!!! It would be great to sleep in my own bed again -- it's been since May 27.

Things are been moving along. Had a "heart to heart" with the contractor, and I believe we understand each other much better now. There were some additional things that I found which were not working, and he is fixing those for free. He's also finishing some of the items that were not done (some caulking in the shower, caulking around the tub, and a little additional grout where needed). And I think he felt bad so he's doing some things he really didn't need to do, like caulking around the mantle, cutting down some unnecessary walls in the garage, and hauling away all the trash from the garage -- including some he didn't make. It is amazing all the trash the owner left me in the garage (I know because I cleaned the whole garage today). I will never again need to purchase a wood screw of ANY size. And he left a power drill, jig saw, and a light. Unfortunately they are all battery operated and no charger. But my friends are having a garage sale on Friday, and maybe I can get a few bucks for them.

The plumber is coming in the morning to install a water filter from the well, and putting a water line into my new refrigerator. Friday I'm having "naked" DSL installed (that means I don't need a land line in the house to get high speed), and Saturday the DirecTV service man will install my dish and receivers so I can get TV. For those who know me, you know now much TV means to me -- yes, I admit I'm a "TV-aholoic".

So think of me this weekend -- unpacking and unpacking and unpacking. Then I'll be painting, painting, and painting all summer until I get rid of the orange and yellow walls in the house. And the offer still stands -- I will name a room in the house for you if you come out for a visit and paint!! I know what an enticement that is for everyone.

I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow of all this commotion. Thanks for reading.

"Scum-Sucking" Movers!!!!

Ludo's new home -- Heart of Sky Ranch






As you can tell, I'm having a few problems. Delores and I have been putting together a "scum-sucker" list. They are (in order of the problems they created):

• Banks
• Contractors
• Realtors
• Movers

and we are open to adding more (just send me your favorites)

I checked with my "own personal" moving coordinator 2 days ago. She said the truck would probably arrive on Monday. Okay.....that was 3 days later than she originally told me, but I could live with that. My friend, Delores, is here until the 10th, so that gave us an unloading day and 2 days to place furniture and unpack. We can do that.

Today I get a call from the Grabel driver (yes, it is Grabel Movers). He is in Atlanta and was calling to tell me they just (June 5) loaded my possessions on the 18-wheeler. Mind you, they were picked up everything on May 27. And he'll try to get to Kalispell on Thursday, but more probably Friday. F--R--I--D--A--Y!!!!!

I can't tell you the feeling of panic that went through my body. Delores is leaving on Thursday. And she made the trip for 2 reasons -- to help me haul Ludo, and to help with my move. So we've been here 6 nights, and we've done no moving. We just changed her ticket to leave on Tuesday (the only day we could make the flight change for only the $150 change fee).

There has been some progress. We've met with my contractor who we believe "ripped me off" on his charges. His people did quality work, but as I said in the previous blog, I still don't understand all the expense.

I've shopped and purchased great deals on a new (but with a dent) refrigerator (got $250 off), a new mattress (missed the final day of the tent sale, but they had "my" mattress left, so I got it for half off), and a new flat screen TV (Walmart is moving to a new location, and they are selling display models, so I got a 32" for $279).

I've met with the plumber who was replacing a part in my kitchen sink faucet "for free", but learned that the house did not have a filter from the well, so the dirt was clogging the faucet and would probably continue to do so. We also learned from the plumber that the water hose to the current refrigerator (which I am selling to my friends Jack and Jane) was wrong and very poorly done. He's coming back this Thursday to put in the water filter and run a proper, correct water line to the new refrigerator.

I also found out on the first day I visited the house, that it did NOT have a furnace so it did NOT have electric forced air heat. Instead, I have electric wall heaters in all the rooms -- 2 of which don't work, so I need to get those fixed (my Realtor told me there was a furnace -- but she was wrong as my friends pointed out). Wall heaters do heat very well, and you can close off rooms and not heat them, so there are advantages.

I also made an appointment with the hearth company that put in the 2 fireplaces -- my Realtor turned off the pilot light for the one in the master bedroom, because she thought she smelled gas, and now we can't get it to work. So the fireplace company will check that out and make it work. The second seems to be a gas fireplace in the family room, but there is nothing in it. So if it was a gas starter, those pieces seem to be missing, and I'll have to get that one working as well. Hopefully this service man can set it right and tell me what to do. Since there is no electric forced air, these fireplaces are the only way to heat the family room and the master bedroom. In the master, it has a thermostat.

Also spent about 2 hours in the Verizon store yesterday. I've found out that AT&T has absolutely no reception in my home, so I had to cancel that service and get Verizon service. The cell phone signal is weak in the house, but it does work. Unfortunately the broadband "stick" (that's what I call it -- gives me Internet access for my laptop) doesn't work in the house. So I need to figure out another way to get access, and I did get a brochure from CenturyTel (phone service out here) which indicates they have "naked" DSL (meaning I don't need a land line phone in the house). So I'll be checking that out.

So see......PROGRESS.

On the plus side, we've been to Fernie, British Columbia, Canada to see the beautiful mountains (it rained and was cold). We've shopped in Whitefish. We've gone to a reining clinic in which Jane is participating with her 5 year old quarter horse, Artie. I've included a couple of pictures.

And after the stress of finding out my furniture is still 6 days away......we took a walk along the Swan River "Wild Mile" -- and the river is way up with huge rapids. It has also rained almost every day we've been here. Today was the exception -- it was beautiful.

And Jack and Jane has been the "hosts with the mosts", and have treated both my horse and us great. We have to tell them to quit feeding us so much. Last night I had my first Elk steak -- it was great. They are both great cooks.













The Reining Clinic

CONTRACTORS!!!!

For the first time, I am experiencing what I've heard from so many other people -- the "renovation creep". I've had a contractor fixing some of the items which were found during the inspection -- items that were not structural problems or created a safety problems in the house (meaning the owner didn't have to pay for those), but more items that were very sloppy construction inside the house.

So I discussed with the contractor (Mark) which items I needed done now, and which I would wait to fix. As we discussed each item, he gave me an estimate as to cost, and it was about $1,000-$1,500. Imagine my SURPRISE when he presented me with a bill for $4,000. OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!

Of course the explanation was, "Well Nanc (he likes to call me Nanc), when we took the tile off the jetted tub, we found that it wasn't framed to actually hold tile, and we had to change the location of the entry panel, and...and...and". I will fess up and say I did hear him say some of those things to me, but when he said re-tiling the jet tub would be $650 and it turns out to be $1120 -- I would have liked him to tell me the extra cost and let ME decide if I wanted it done.

Or the 4 louver doors that were replaced (the doors to both bedrooms were louver doors -- not real doors). Of course I wanted to replace them, and when he asked if I wanted masonry doors or real wood doors, I totally opted for real wood. I believe he also told me the doors ran $160 each. Okay, had that down. But guess what -- the cost of replacing those 4 doors also included tearing off all the trim and building it back -- for the tune of $1,685.

Now the work all looks great -- but I was never told of all of this expense. Apparently this guy thinks I am rich, which I am not. I planned to paint the outside of the house (because the Hardi-plank was not painted correctly the first time and some of the trim is starting to rot) this year. That was going to be $4,000. Guess where that money just went.

I've owned so many homes, but this home has presented me with many surprises that I never saw the 2 times I looked at the house. I was so mesmerized with the view of the Swan Mountains, that my eyes didn't see a lot of things. And I still have many things that will eventually need to be "made right", but it won't be this year.

The good news is that I still really like the house, can't wait to make it mine, and I'll be spending the bulk of my summer painting the inside of the house (while trying to find money to paint the outside of the house). And I just want my friends to know -- I'll give you free room and board, a beautiful view, and a tour of the area if you come to visit me. I only ask that you paint one room -- and I'll put a little plaque outside the room stating that it is the "Delores Delrez Guest Room". So please come visit.

We did walk the 3 1/4 acres, and it is beautiful. And here is a picture of what I saw standing right outside of the living room window -- this is what makes it all worth it.

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

Or maybe I should say, "Ludo has landed". We have arrived in Polson, MT at the Heart of Sky Ranch where Ludo will be living. We left on Friday, May 28, and we arrived last night, May 30. It was 2500 miles in 3 very long days pulling a trailer with my horse Ludo. But we have arrived, and Ludo was looking good last night. And he was enjoying his new room mates in the barn, Cody and Tommy.

So.....let me briefly tell you about the trip and the "highlights". The trailer was packed full of hay, feed, tack, and of course the horse. Some things had to be loaded into the back of the truck -- one of which is a little trunk which looks like 2 stair steps -- both having a "lid" which lifts up and I can store things in the "steps". And it works as a mounting block at horse shows -- quite handy. There was no room for this trunk in the trailer, so I loaded it in the back of the truck. For about the first 6 hours, there were no problem. Delores was driving, and yelled -- "oh my gosh, some kind of white rag just was blown out of the back of your truck". I didn't know what it was, so we kept driving. About a hour later, she yells..."Something black just blew out of the truck -- and it's hanging onto the trailer". I thought.....is this something alive? So we slowed down and pull off the freeway to check. They were cotton "wraps" (for those non-horsey folks, these are long strips about 4 inches wide and about 4 feet long that wrap around a horses leg to provide support) that were stored in this little trunk. There were some bike riders behind us -- can you imagine riding along and all of a sudden this long, black, fleece thing hits you in the face.

I tried putting bundgy cords around the truck, think this would keep the lids in place. So we started driving again, and I looked back through the window only to see the trunk "levitating" out of the truck bed. So I yelled to slow down. We eventually got it stored in the truck, but it did cause a few tense moments.

The first horse bed and breakfast in Missouri was very nice. Ludo had a great big stall and horses to keep him company. The owners were great -- even let us borrow their truck to go get something to eat. I told Dianne she was being very trusting, and she said "I've got your horse". A couple of years ago, that might have meant something, but now Ludo is worth far less than her truck. Then she also reminded me she also had my truck and trailer -- good point!! Dianne cooked us a great french toast breakfast in the morning (mind you, it's 6AM!!), and we headed to Cheyenne, WY.

The only thing I can say about Nebraska is that it is flat and very, very long. Seemed like forever driving across the state. And the WIND!!! That state should be covered by those huge "wind mills" (can't think what these are called) because it would generate enough electricity for at least everyone west of the Mississippi.

Ludo was great. He road quietly in the trailer, and as long as we opened his door when we stopped, he as very content. During one of our MANY stops to get gas (unfortunately my wonderful diesel Chevy only averaged about 11 miles to the gallon), Ludo had his head stuck out the trailer door, and I noticed a lady bent down with her 2 young sons looking at the horse. I asked if they wanted to pet him (he's very friendly), and she said she was scared of horses, but her husband would lift up the boys to pet the horse. It was adorable and a definite "Kodak" moment. But where was my camera? Stuck in the truck. Then another couple brought over their little grandson to see the horse. LUDO WAS A HIT!!

Our 2nd stop was in Cheyenne, WY. The reviews for this place were great, which is why I chose this stable. But when we got there, things like "go through the white picket fence" showed a fence that hadn't seen white paint in quite a while. There was a skunk living under the sidewalk (they said they were trying to get rid of him), the barn was very old, and instead of having "paneled stalls", there were temporary stalls made out of pipe fencing. And there were no horses, so Ludo was very upset and running around the stall. Thank goodness he did settle down (when we left), and he was all in one piece the next morning. AND.....he emptied a full bucket of water over night. So I was absolutely relieved. I guess the moral is that "all's well that ends well".














"Ludo and Friends"


Ludo also met another guest in Jane's barn, and that is a little calf whose mother died about 10 days after he was born. So he is an orphan, and Jane has been giving him a bottle and getting him to eat some grain. Absolutely adorable -- Delores and I named him "Brownie" (very original).

So Ludo has settled into the barn, Delores and I have settled into Jane's guest house, and now the work starts when the movers show up.





"Brownie"