SD McAllister Mule Camp Adventure

SD or Bust…

Starting quite the big adventure today. Fred and I are heading to Hill City, SD via motorcycle. We bought a small pop up camper that we can pull with the motorcycle and that will be our home for the next two ½ weeks. We headed out yesterday, Wednesday July 14th. We had to work Tuesday night. So, got out of work at 5 AM, went home and Fred went right to bed to get some sleep. We had most everything packed and ready to go. I did not go to sleep as I had a bunch of last minute things I wanted to get done, house cleaning, picking and freezing my first crop of peas etc. I was too excited to get a nap anyway. We headed out just a little after 11:00 am. It’s a wonder the poor motorcycle can haul the load we have. The camper is fairly light at around 300 lbs but we must have a million lbs of gear loaded in and on top of it!! And with two passengers……well, it's quite a load. The motorcycle is a 1300 and I thought seemed to be doing fine but Fred is already making his case for a bigger one, you know, one of those fancy Goldwing 1800’s.



Wednesday July 14, 2010
426 miles
Bowdoin, Me to Croft's in Verona, NY
We traveled to Bonnie and Tom Croft’s today. I always love coming here. Bonnie and her husband are so much fun to visit with. They make you feel right at home,not to mention the 5 gorgeous draft mules she has here to admire. We did hit some rain on the way. It rained most of the way to Worcester, MA. Not hard and we didn’t really get wet. At highway speed, it mostly blew over us. Once we turned west, the weather improved though we did hit a few pockets of brief rain. Still not enough to bother with rain gear. We arrived here at Bonnie’s about 7:15 PM. I’d told Bonnie not to worry about feeding us as we didn’t know for sure what time we’d arrive. After joyful greetings, we got the camper set up pretty quickly, then headed out to a local steak house for some supper. Once back to Bonnie’s, we visited her and Tom until about 10:00 PM then headed for bed. I fell asleep instantly! But, now it’s 3:45am and I’m wide awake for some reason. So, I decided to check my email.
Bonnie & Tom Croft


Fred setting up camper



Thursday July 15, 2010
336 miles
Verona, NY to Monica's in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada
We were both up early this morning. We went in and had coffee and visited with Tom until Bonnie got up. Then, I had breakfast with Bonnie while Fred packed everything up. We headed out around 8:00 AM. I thought the tires on the trailer looked low on air but Fred said they were fine.

It was hot and sunny today. We had an uneventful drive up to Canada. There must have been a car show somewhere in the opposite direction we were going as we saw a lot of old cars in the east bound lane. It was fun to see them. It didn’t take long to cross the border. We decided to stop and see Niagara Falls as we were right there. Now you’d THINK finding a waterfall THAT BIG would not be a problem. But no, we missed the exit. We turned around and next thing we know, we are heading back to the US, we turn again, get off the highway and go into town and get directions from an information center. We managed to drop the bike turning around in the parking lot. No damage was done and we quickly got it up and headed out. Then made another wrong turn as Fred didn’t believe me when I told him which way to go. We turned around again and FINALLY found the falls! I'm glad we went it was worth the effort to find. And being a weekday, it was not to mobbed though busy enough. Then we headed on to Monica Lamothe’s in Strathroy, Ontario. I think she actually lives in Mount Bridges but the GPS doesn’t recognize the address with that town. We had to get off the highway to get gas and did not pick the best exit for this as there were no gas stations to be found. So, we picked a direction and drove. There was nothing but farmland as far as the eye could see. We were very low on gas so finally stopped to ask someone. We had to turn around to ask and on the narrow, windy road we were on, Fred nearly put us in the puckies turning. But, he saved it and got us turned. We were given direction to the nearest gas station and thankfully it was not too much further as I’m quite sure we coasted in on fumes. Fred dropped the bike again trying to back out of the driveway where we asked directions. The driveway was circular but there was a pickup truck in the way. The men who gave us directions told us to just drive around it and we did. So, in search of gas we got a nice tour of the countryside. We drove though the prettiest town on the way back to the highway, can’t think of the name now though. We arrived at Monica and Alex’s around 5:30 pm. and what a lovely place they have. They instantly made us feel right at home and has the best time visiting with them. They have a big storage barn and we were able to park the bike and camper right in under cover. Monica introduced me to her mule, Jake. What a handsome mule he is. We were treated to a fabulous supper, good wine, and the most scrumptious desert. We had supper out on their front porch. A thunder storm rolled though while we were eating. After supper, I went out with Monica when she fed the horses to visit with Jake some more. I am so glad we stopped to meet and stay with them. We had such a nice time in fact, that we overslept and got a late start from there.

Fred at Niagra Falls

Monica with Jake

Getting ready to leave


Friday July 16, 2010
Strathroy, Ontario, Canada to Charlotte, MI
198.09 miles
Charlotte, MI to Moline,IA
342.74 miles
540.82 total miles
We didn’t leave Monica’s until after 9:00 AM. Once again I mentioned that I thought the trailer tires looked low on air but Fred didn’t think so. It wasn’t far to the MI border crossing. It was a little slow getting through though. And HOT sitting in the traffic! Once over the border we made it to Kathy’s with no trouble. Though Fred did sacrifice his coffee mug to the highway. The holder on the biked flipped over and it flew off the bike and was instantly transformed into a road patty. Oh, well, coffee mugs are easy to come by. We stopped at Kathy’s for about 1 hr. We discussed several options on where we were going to stay the night. Kathy was also headed to SD but not heading out until her boyfriend Ron got out of work and she was planning to drive at least 9 hrs. We didn’t want to follow her as we didn’t want to go another 9 hrs today. We thought about throwing all the junk we have on our trailer into her trailer to lighten the weight. But, we won’t see her again until we get to SD and we might need some of it if we camp along the way to Battle Creek mule camp. So, we kept our stuff. We went in the house and got on line to see where we wanted to stop the night. We booked a motel room in Moline, IL. Just before we left, Kathy said she thought our trailer tires looked low on air. I finally checked what they were rated for, which was 60 lbs. We put a tire gauge on and they only had 25 lbs. The tires were low just as I’d thought all along. We put air in the tires and it made a big difference in how the trailer felt on the road. We could no longer feel it bouncing over ever bump in the road. We headed from Kathy’s place about 3:30. We stopped for supper just on the west side of Chicago on I-80 at Cracker Barrel and had a nice supper. Though we did some riding up and down the road before we found it! It was hidden back off the road among some motels. Sitting at a stoplight heading back to the highway, we got caught in a sudden downpour …… from a lawn sprinkler! From there to Moline was such a nice drive. Not the highway, it was rough!!! But we drove through the sunset and out there in the plains heading west into the sunset was such a pretty drive. We got to the motel with no trouble and were both more than ready to get off the bike. Time for bed now.

Kathy's Flower Garden


Saturday July 17, 2010
511.46 miles
Moline, IL to Mitchell, SD
We were up by 7:00 AM. When I looked at the map, I realized we had actually made it all but 28 miles of what I had originally planned for us to travel so we weren’t really far behind schedule at all. I had originally planned to spend last night with Therese Swift. But she had some trouble on her farm with some teen kids going on her property and harassing her animals and killing one of her goats. It was at night and she let her dogs out when she heard the strange noises outside and her dog bit one of the boys. So her dog is now in quarantine on her property and she can’t have anyone on her property. Her dog is all up to date on vaccines but the quarantine is mandatory anyway. So, we had hoped to maybe catch up with each other for breakfast. I called her many times this morning but her phone was busy so I wasn’t able to get in touch with her to arrange somewhere to meet. It was very hot today. The first part of our drive went pretty easy. We planned to go as far as Brandon, SD, and if we felt ok, push on to Mitchell, SD. We got to Brandon and decided to go ahead to Mitchell. We were tired but wanted to get as far as we could so we'd have a short drive tomorrow. After noon time a hard wind picked up and it didn’t make riding the bike much fun. It was blowing up under my helmet and I felt like it was going to take my helmet right off, or maybe my head with the helmet. And it was blazing hot by this time. 107 degrees by a thermometer in Mitchell, SD. I was SOOOOO glad when we made it to Mitchell. We had planned to camp tonight but I was so hot and tired I told Fred we were getting a motel room for the night. I am so glad we did. Not long after we got into our room at the Thunderbird Lodge a thunder storm rolled through. It is so nice and cool in the room here and taking a shower was just heavenly. I at first thought the Motel looked a bit seedy from the outside, but it turned out to be a very nice place. And since there is a rodeo in town, rooms are filling fast so we were glad to have a nice room. There is a decent restaurant just across the parking lot where we had supper. Because of the rodeo being in town, all the waiters and waitresses were dressed up in old west outfits at the restaurant. After supper, Fred went out shopping. He wanted to go to Cabela’s. I was too tired to bother and stayed here in the room reading my email. May be my last chance for a week as I hear there is no cell service at the camp.

Thunderbird Lodge in Mitchell, SD

Fred relaxing in motel room


Sunday July 18, 2010
299.21 miles
Mitchell, SD to Battle Creek Mule camp
We had a good night sleep and were up early. We packed up the camper and then went in to the lobby for the continental breakfast. Fred had plenty of coffee!! At breakfast, we chatted with some others that were traveling on motorcycle. We hit the road at 7:30AM. We only had a bit over 280 miles to go today so it would be a “short” day. The temperatures had dropped overnight and it was cool and cloudy. It was actually a bit chilly riding on the bike but a welcome change from yesterday. We could see bands of rain on either side of us as we went down the highway but we never hit any of it. Soon it was all blue sky and sunny. The landscape really went through some changes today. Started out as the same farmland we’d been seeing for days. But, once we crossed the Missouri River, the land looked like Moguls. Then more farm land but not the same. This is cattle country so we saw more cows and pasture then crops. I really was feeling like I was in the west now. It was interesting to see that they were baling the cut hay along the highway and in the median. At one gas stop, we picked up a gas can and gas. When you are only getting 25or so mph and only have a 6 gallon tank, it never hurts to have extra gas along. We didn't want to take any more unplanned trips through the countryside looking for gas. Then we got to the bad lands. The rock/sand hills make such a dramatic landscape and are fabulous. And as we headed for the black hill, we could see the mountains coming but felt like we'd never get there. Then we got into the hills. It is soooo gorgeous!!! We made it to camp just fine. Kathy and Ruth were here to greet us. Dwight, the camp owner, showed us where to park and we got the camper set up in fairly short order. Though we couldn’t blow up our air mattress with our pump. We had no batteries for it and it would not work off the motorcycle’s axillary plug. Kathy had a pump. Not quite the same as ours but it worked. Everyone is amazed at how big our camper really is. After setting up camp, we sat and visited for a bit. The view from camp is lovely. And there is a steam train that goes right by camp all day. It is a tourist attraction so doesn’t run at night. And there are rabbits everywhere around here. And being an open range state, you never know when you will see a cow wondering around. We occasionally heard screeching tires as a car came around a corner to find a cow or two wandering around the road. Ruth let us use her truck to make a run to the store for some food and drinks we needed. When we arrived back at camp, Anthony and a group who had been out on a ride to some mine, were back in camp. There were happy greetings and introductions to those we didn’t know. And there was already a campfire story as both Anthony and Cathy had been pitched from their mules. Anthony was riding Mattie Jean aka Buckin’ Betty and Cathy was on Pepper Ann. They were riding through some tall grass and some turkeys flew up under Cathy and Pepper Ann. Pepper Ann bolted off spilling Cathy and that spooked Mattie Jean who then bucked Anthony off. Both were ok though Cathy took a good hit to her head and was feeling a bit dizzy for a few days. Dwight had to pick up some hay. They took Kathy's truck and Anthony's trailer as well as Dwight's truck and trailer. Fred went along with them.Later in the day, Gail and Bill Dillon arrived with Ruby. It was so good to see Ruby and she looks fabulous. Gail and Bill are such nice people and Ruby has a good place with them. That night we made our own supper in the camper but sat with the others to eat. Fred, Anthony, Kathy and I stayed up until nearly 2am. Anthony showed us his new hat "El Humungo" with the snake skin band. One of the list members had sent him the rattle snake skin and Anthony's mother made it into a hat band for his hat.It is quite an impressive hat and snake skin. It got quite chilly tonight. I hate our air mattress. It was in the 50's tonight and the air in the mattress gets cold so no matter how warm you are from the top, you are cold from the bottom.

Battle Creek Mule Camp bunk House

Views from our camper


Mules in pens at camp

Kevin & Dorothy Raaf's mules

Kathy, Mike and Cathy

Camper set up

Ruby



Monday July 19, 2010
Mount Rushmore trail
Today was a beautiful day. We were up by 7:00 AM. As I was having breakfast, I heard a bit of a commotion by Ruth's trailer. Well, there is Ruth swapping her scooters under the gooseneck of her trailer and she had just rolled though a fresh dog poop. She was letting the world in general know her opinion on how she felt about rolling through a fresh dog poop first thing the the morning. Not long after, the dogs owner just happend to walk by with a shovel and pitchfork in hand. Ruth politely asked if she would clean up the poop and the owner was more then happy to do so. Soon it was time to ride so we went out and caught the mules. Dwight has pens in camp for horses and mules. But he's letting Anthony use his pasture for all his mules. I was riding Diablo today. We were riding to Mount Rushmore. We split into two groups. Doc was leading one group. In our group was Cathy on Elwood, Anthony on Mattie Jean, Stacy on Moonshine, Mike on Booker, Ruth on Billy Ray and Diane on July. To get to the trail head, you have to ride down the tar road about ½ mile. It is a narrow and twisty road. There is some sort of Model T car event going on near by and a bunch of them passed us on the road. Very fun to see the old cars. Soon we were on the trail and only crossed on road at the start of the ride and it was all single track trail for the rest of the day. The trail was fabulous. Not too tough at first but as we approached Mount Rushmore, it got quite tough with areas where we were climbing up and down stairs and there were many switchbacks. We caught up with Doc's group a few times. We would stop and let them go ahead of us. The last mile was very rocky and fun. Diane’s mule July went down trying to jump up a ledge. Diane hopped off to help him and he made it and was fine. The rest of us went around that piece of trail. There is a place to tie up the mules when you get to Mount Rushmore and then you can walk up to the visitor center. Doc’s group was already there. Ruth can’t really walk so was figuring she would have to stay where the mules were tied. But, Kathy had gone to the trail head and found a park ranger there. He said we could bring Ruth up to his truck on the mule and he would drive her over to the visitor center. From there we could get her a wheel chair. That worked out great. Anthony helped her off her mule and into the ranger’s car, where she loudly and WE knew jokingly told Anthony to stop grabbing her ass as he helped her into the truck. The poor ranger didn't know quite what to think. We all had lunch at the visitor center. The food was quite good. I had buffalo stew and rhubarb pie. Kathy was purchasing an item in the gift shop when she noticed the cashier looking at her t-shirt. We had t-shirt made up with the Mount Rushmore president heads and Anthony's head was added in as a 5th head. So, Kathy, with a perfectly straight face, asks the cashier when they are going to finish Mount Rushmore. He tells her that it is finished. She lookes him right in the eye and said, no it's not, it doesn't look like my shirt. He then asked her where she got the shirt. She told him she's purchased the shirt right there in the gift shop, and that she'd paid $25 for it. Kathy then signals Anthony, who was standing near by, to put on his hat, as his picture on the shirt was with his big hat on. The cashier got a good look at Anthony and realized the joke. When we got back outside, we could see a storm coming in and figured we’d better get headed back. Once again, the park ranger gave Ruth a ride back to the trail head and Anthony got her safely mounted back up on Billy Ray. Going back to camp, we were riding towards the thunder storm. But, it was moving kind of sideways from us and we only got caught in minor showers. We hustled right along fearing we'd get caught in a down pour, or worse, a nasty thunderstorm. It did start to sprinkle but as soon as Stacy got her 99 cent rain poncho on, it stopped. On the way back, I led with Diablo and he motored along quickly. We caught up to Doc’s group again. Stacy, Mike, Ruth and I got ahead of everyone. We got back to camp safely missing any real storm. Mike and Stacy had switched mules. Stacy didn’t think her saddle fit Moonshine and was pinching his shoulders. Mike didn't care for Moonshine. Said he was a punk. I think the feeling were mutual as Moonshine keep trying to swipe his knees on the trees. When I untacked Diablo he immediately dropped to roll. He rolled several more times before I got him to the pasture where Anthony’s mules were turned out. I then downloaded all my pictures onto my computer so I could clear my memory card. Fred said he went out for a short ride on the bike but spend most of the day just resting. We had supper of pot roast together. Cathy McAllister was the evenings entertainment. Anthony held off drinking much so he could keep an eye on Cathy. She got a bit tipsy and was quite lively. She showed us several times that despite being 50 something years old, she is still very flexible and could do the splits. I for one was very impressed. She was also trying to get someone to wrestle her under the “big top”. We heard her page “Fred to the big top” quite a few times but Fred didn’t seem inclined to take up that challenge. I was tired and went to bed 10:00 pm.

Cindy on Diablo, Mount Rushmore ride

Anthony on Mattie Jean

Anthony on Mattie Jean, Cathy on Elwood, Ruth on Billy Ray, Stacy on Moonshine & Mike on Booker

Cathy on Elwood, Anthony on Mattie Jean & Stacy on Moonshine

Cathy on Elwood

Ruth on Billy Ray and Kathy on Jackie

Ruth on Billy Ray, Diane on July and Kathy on Jackie riding down steps

A veiw from the trail

Ruth on Billy Ray and Kathy on Jackie

Cindy on Diablo with George Washingting showing in back

Caught up with Doc's Group

Ruth on Billy Ray


Ruth on Billy Ray with Kathy & Anthony waiting for ride to visitor center

Anthony with Ruth & Diane Mount Rushmore visitor center

Cathy doing the splits


Tuesday July 20, 2010
Harney's Peak ride
I was up by 6:00 am. I fired up my computer so I could label my pictures from yesterday and keep them in order then had some cereal for breakfast. We wrangled the mules after breakfast. I was riding Diablo once again. Anthony was riding Dwight’s mule Tiny as he bucked Dwight off the previous day. Though from what I heard,Tiny didn’t really buck hard, it was a tack malfunction that caused the problem. Tiny got a bit out of control going down a hill and the chin strap broke on his bridle. He got rushing down the hill and Dwight, in his attempts to stop Tiny, came off. It was only the 2nd time Tiny had ever been ridden. Anthony wanted me to pony Tiny with Diablo for a while. I wasn’t too happy with that idea as Tiny is a huge 1300lb QH mule and Diablo is a small 900 lb mule. I did it but not for long and Tiny was fine. We rode to Harney’s peak today. It was a spectacular ride. In our group was Anthony on Tiny, Mike on Booker, Stacy on Elwood, Bill on Ruby and Gail on Pepper Ann and Carl was leading the way with his very nice mules who’s name I don’t know. It was a great ride up. There was a place where we were playing on rock. I was trying to get Diablo to jump up and he got caught up in downed tree branches and fell. When Diablo jumped up, I slid part way off to one side and dropped the reins. Anthony quickly saved the day by shoving me back up into the saddle. We then got Diablo to jump up on the rocks. We stopped for lunch at the fire tower on Harney’s peak. There is a hitching post there for the horses and mules. We were a bit worried when we tied them up wondering who we should tie next to who so there would be no bickering. Carl stayed with them. When we got back from the tower, he told us we didn't need to worry, the mule were too busy resting to think about bickering. What a spectacular view there is from the tower!! 360 degrees of pure rugged, fantastic landscape. Carl said he knew a different way to go back to camp. It was a very pretty ride but we got kind of lost. Stacy, Mike and I were in the lead and took a wrong trail that took us to a trail head. There was a bridge to cross there. Booker was NOT going to walk on that bridge. When Mike tried to make him go,he jumped over the side. Mike stayed with him and made him go back and tried again. Booker was very determined to not cross so Stacy went back over the bridge, put a lead on Booker and ponied him across with Elwood. Elwood is a very experienced pony mule and though Booker locked up and nearly sat down, Elwood dragged him across. While everyone was resting and looking at the map trying to decide the best way back to camp, Diablo tried to roll with me and I came off. I jabbed my elbow into some gravel and scraped it up but quite minor. The guys finally decided which way we had to go to get back to camp and we headed out. We crossed several more bridges and though Booker wasn’t thrilled about them, he crossed like a good boy. I guess he decided it was better to just walk over them on his own then be dragged over them. We got back to camp not long before dark at 7:30 pm. We had started out at 9:30 am so it was a long but fabulous ride. We had supper together of sloppy Joe’s. Fred had spent the day with the ladies that didn’t ride. Kathy and Ron went off and did something on their own. Diane, Cathy, Ruth and Fred went to Hill City to do some shopping, by way of the Crazy Horse monument. They had lunch in Hill City where Fred apparently had a monster chili dog. I appreciated the warning. Fred told me some guy had arrived at camp looking for someone. Then preceeded to tell every quite some tale, the details of which kept changing, about how he once rode across country on horseback starting from Maine with only $1.35 in his pocket and traveling 40 to 70 miles a day and so on. I guess Ruth was the only one that finally came right out and said she though his tale was a bit far fetched, to put it politely. Anna Brown arrived today. She had two mules with her. Butchy her riding mule and Joy, a nine year old mostly wild molly mule. Very cute mule. She put the two mules in side by side wooden pens. She tied Joy up in the pen because Joy is a jumper. I went to bed early. Others stayed up very late. So all events I relate for the rest of this night are from what I heard from various sources the next morning. And there was a bit of variation between stores depending on who you talked to. Guys vs girls that is. I did wake up once when Ruth ran into one of my tent strings with her scooter then ran into the fire pit. Apparently she was chasing Fred around with a shovel so he could clean up his "mess" saying that farts that loud could not be just gas……. I also heard that the men told the ladies that they could not keep quite for 2 minutes. The bet was on and the silence went for 2 hrs. which seemed to bother some of the men worse. I also heard Anthony got whopped in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning by Kathy and Diane. I'm not sure what that entailed and not sure I want to know. As long as Kathy and Diane won......

Stacy on Elwood, Gail on Pepper Ann & Mike on Booker, Harney's Peak trail
Bill on Ruby, Harney's Peak trail

Anthony on Tiny, Harney's Peak trail

Cindy on Diablo, Harney's Peak trail

Cindy on Diablo & Mike playing on the rocks, Harney's Peak Trail




Harney's Peak trail

Cindy on Diablo, Harney's Peak

Cindy on Diablo, Harney's Peak trail

Cindy on trail to fire tower at Harney's Peak

Fire Tower on Harney's Peak

Pond at fire tower at Harney's Peak

Anthony, Mike, Stacy & Gail on Harney's Peak fire tower

Mules at hitching post at Harney's Peak


Wednesday July 21, 2010
Ride to mine site
I was up early again this morning. It was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. We had a big breakfast prepared by Kathy and others. It did sprinkle a bit while we were eating but then stopped. We decided to go for a short ride today to one of the mines. I rode Ruby today and if was so much fun to be on her again. Though I forgot how hard it is to take pictures while riding her as she does NOT like to stand still. Also in our group were Anna on Butchy, Kathy on Jackie, Ruth on Billy Ray, Anthony on Moonshine, Cathy on Elwood, Doc and his wife as well as Steve and Connie on their horses. Yep, we allowed some horses in our group. When the people riding them are extra special fun, you just have to make some allowances. I put on rain pants and packed my rain jacket as it really looked like it was going to rain. When Anna got Butchy tacked up, Kevin Raaf had to fix her crupper as it was way too lose. He had to punch more holes in it for her. And I noticed that the back of the saddle was sitting very high and didn’t think the saddle looked like it fit. But, Anna thought it fit fine. Anna rode in a skirt. Not a riding skirt, a regular skirt, this caused some minor problems but nothing she couldn't handle. It was a very pretty ride. We went through a tunnel under the highway. It was low enough that I decided to get off and lead Ruby through. Cathy rode Elwood through. Ruth and Anthony went around and crossed over the highway. We really weren’t riding on any particular trail. The directions we were following were "ride to the tire in the tree and take a right, then go to the flying saucer and go left." We were riding through a lot of wooded meadows. The flowers were in bloom and it was so pretty. We had lunch at the mine. Ruby was a bit sore footed on rocks as she has no shoes. Most all of this ride was on nice grassy ground so it wasn’t really a problem. Anna was having trouble controlling Butchy with the bit she was using on him. He is a fairly new mule to her. As we were riding back into camp, Ival was there and flashed us in greeting. Lee also arrived that afternoon. I was overjoyed to finally get to meet her in person. After she got set up and her animals settled, I visited with her at her camper for a while and met her husband Gary, and her dogs including her new puppy Ditto! What a cutie he is. I also met her lovely donkey, Asstro. And I already knew her mule Rooster as he lived at my house for a while. Anthony and some of the guys unloaded the hay from his trailer. Ival was having a great time riding on the flatbed going back and forth from the trailer to the storage shed.

Cindy on Ruby

Ruth on Billy Ray, Diane on July, Cathy on Elwood

Diane with July and Cathy on Elwood coming through tunnel under highway

Cindy & Ruby coming through tunnel under highway

Anthony on Moonsine, Cathy on Elwood, Steve & Connie, Doc, Anna on Butchy and Ruth on Billy Ray in meadow

"The Flying saucer" Anthony and Ruth

Mine site

Cathy with Elwood and Kathy with Jackie

Diane's mule July (Ruth between his ears)

Anna Brown on Butchy

Kathy showing Jackie her new dinner bell

Group riding back from mine site

Joel at Lehman trike factory

Scrap metal horse in Hill City

Road to Needles Eye, presidents in background

The Needles Eye


The surprise!
Dwight had a pig roast for everyone this evening. When it was time for supper, we were all gathered together and Ruth got up in front of everyone, told us that she was a minister and blessed our meal. Then, Ruth called up Kathy, Ron, Anthony and Diane. She then proceeded to begin a wedding ceremony. Kathy was dressed in a t-shirt, short and bare feet as was Ron, though he was wearing shoes. We thought it was some kind of joke and we were all waiting for the punch line. But, then we all started to realize that this was for real and Kathy and Ron were really getting married. What a wonderful surprise!! The wedding vows by Ron where that he promised to keep Kathy in mules for the rest of her life, and she promised Ron that she would always wear a clean t-shirt and a bra when he took her to town. Anthony and Diane then handed over the rings that were in Cracker Jacks boxes and were made by Ron. After the ceremony, we all then ate way to much of the wonderful food provided with the pig roast. A thunder shower and rain rolled in and we moved the party under the "big top" and awnings and the party continued for quite a while. What a wonderful evening. what a wonderful surprise the wedding was. I can't believe they kept is such a secret. Even Anthony didn't know until the last minute. He was wondering why Diane kept telling him he had to take a shower when we got back from the ride. I went to bed around 11:00 pm.

The Wedding, Kathy, Ron, Anthony, Diane & Ruth

Kathy, Ron, Diane, Anthony & Ruth

The wedding party, Diane, Kathy, Ruth, Ron & Anthony

Carl, Mary Lou, Ron, Kathy, Anna, Cindy & Dwight


Thursday July 22, 2010
I slept in as long as possible which was 8:00 am or so. After breakfast there was much discussion on who was riding where and with who and how we were getting there. one group was definitely going to Harney's Peak. Though it was a fabulous ride, I wanted to ride somewhere I hadn't already been. I thought about going with Fred and Joel on the bikes if Ival did. Ival decided she was riding. I wasn’t sure if she would due to her healing broken wrist on one hand and newly broken pinkie on the other hand. But she did ride. We did get her to agree to ride the most steady dependable mule which was Elwood. One group trailered out to the trail head for Harney’s peak. Well, all but Kathy who rode there and bet them. Our group trailered out to a trail head out near Custer park. In our group was Carl, Norma, Mary Lou, Ival on Elwood, me on Moonshine, Cathy on Diablo, Anthony on Mattie Jean, Gail on Pepper Ann and Gill on Ruby. Dwight trailered the Harney’s peak group first. It was a while before he was back to get us. We sat and chatted and ended up eating a little snack and finally headed out about 11:00 am. The weather was great. I took a few picture at camp and at the trail head. Then asked Anthony to take a few pictures of me on Moonshine at the first overlook. He takes one photo then tells me that my camera’s memory is full. That couldn’t be so I though as I was sure I had cleared off the memory card after I downloaded yesterday’s pictures onto the computer. But, he was right, there was no more memory because stupid me forgot to put the memory card back in my camera. It was still in my computer. So, I could take 10 pictures on internal memory. We had a lovely ride that was not too tough. We went through a lot of forest meadows and had lunch on top of a hill with good views. As we were getting back to camp, a man stopped us and told us there was a mule from camp running loose. He and his son had been chasing the mule for over 2 hours with no luck at all in catching it. He said the mule was about ½ mile down the road past camp. As we went by camp, we see that Anna’s mule, Joy, is gone and the top board of the pen broken. We rode down to where the mule was thinking if Joy saw our mules, she would follow us back to camp. No way, she wasn’t even close to interested in following us. We chased that mule for 2 hrs. with no luck. Someone brought us some grain and Anthony did get his hands on her halter once. But she whirled and dragged him and he could not hold her. She would not come close to anyone even with grain after that. Moonshine turned out to be a very good cow pony. He quickly figured out what we were doing and was tracking that mule very well. But, if was very rough ground we were chasing that mule over and after Moonshine stepped in a hole, I decided it was not worth risking a broken leg to catch this mule. Neither Cathy, Ival or I saw the point of continuing chasing this mule the way were were, we wanted to wait until Anna got back from her ride and bring he mule Butchy up. We saw Fred and Joel go by on the motorcycles. Fred came back to help but didn’t run around after the mule long before seeing how pointless it was. Cathy, Ival and I finally rode back to camp and I took Anthony’s mule, Mattie Jean, with me. This didn’t make Carl happy but I agreed with Cathy and didn’t see the sense as we were just going up and down the same ¼ mile stretch of ground and road with no progress at all. When Anna got back from her ride, she went out but Joy would not come near her either. Finally, Anthony walked back to camp, saddled up Elwood, got Butchy and led him down to Joy. Then Joy followed him back to camp. They got Joy into a pen and she ran by Dwight at the gate and got right back out. She ran up between an ally between pens and we were able to herd her into one of the pipe metal pens. Anna put Butchy right in the same pen and then Joy stayed. Anna had brought Joy thinking Anthony would be interested in taking Joy home to train. He really wasn't interested in another mule though he did like the look of her. He and Cathy just have so many of their own youngsters to get started this year that they don’t have time to take on any more. Anna had some tack problems with Butchy and he was welted around his girth area. There were also puffy spots on each side of his withers. Anna said he’d laid down on the trail at one point unwilling to continue. After a bit of encouragement from other riders, Butchy got back up and finished the ride. Anna felt bad that he was girth sore and will be getting a new girth for him. Because he is so new to her she has not gotten all the tack figured out for him yet but she will. Butchey also showed off his athletic skills by jumping off the side of a bridge in favor of crossing the stream rather then the brige. And Anna showed off her riding skills by sticking with him and not going for a swim. And I must say Ruth could not stop laughing about that all evening, she said it was the funniest thing to see as well as impressive on both Butchy and Anna's part. Most of the Harney's peak group had been picked up at one of the trail heads by Dwight. Kathy and Doc decided to ride back. They got in just after dark. Kathy made us supper from left overs. This is when the camp cook extrodinaire comes out in her and it was delicious. Fred said he and Joel had gone to the Lehman trike factory in Spearfish. They give tours of the factory. They even managed to get into Wyoming in their wanerings. I stayed up pretty late tonight. We were hanging out at Kathy and Ruth’s but the party moved to Doc’s Trailers. Connie was tonight's entertainment. She had gone with the Harney’s Peak group and had been talked into going up to the fire tower. She is very afraid of heights. She did it but told me it really scared her.

Mules loaded, ready to head to trail head

Cindy on Moonshine

Mary Lou & Carl

Cindy on Moonshine

Cindy on Moonshine, Ival on Elwood



Friday July 23, 2010
Hillside mine ride
I was up around 8:00 am. We had a communal breakfast of leftovers. Once again Kathy out did herself in make it a delicious meal. We helped Anna get her mules loaded. Her trailer is very small and neither mule was too happy about getting in it. With a butt rope, Lee, Anna and I got Butchy in. Then it was Joy’s turn. Just as Anna was getting ready to lead her out of the pen, Lee told Anna to put a second rope on Joy and got out her picket line. Good thing she suggested this or Joy would have gotten loose again. As soon as Anna opened the pen gate, Joy shot out of there and took off. Three of us grabbed the picket rope and were able to stop her. Then we had to pretty much force her into the trailer. She was scared and trembling and I felt bad for her. But, she had to get in, there was no choice. After Anna was all set, Lee saddled up Asstro and rode him around camp. Lee then graced me with the priviledge of riding him also. Then we got Cathy to get on him for pictures. Though Cathy and Anthony have had donkeys for many, many years, Cathy has never ridden or even sat on one. After we were done playing with Asstro, Lee loaded up and headed home. We then caught mules and saddled up. We headed out riding around 11:00 am. Today’s group was Gail on Pepper Ann, Bill on Blaze, me on Diablo, Ival on Elwood, Cathy on Moonshine & Anthony on Mattie Jean. We rode to a mine that was on a hill with a fabulous view. It was a great ride. There was really no trail to the mine. This is when it is so nice to be with Anthony who has been here many times before and knows of places we would never find on our own. It was a beautiful ride. At one point, when we stopped for a rest after climbing a big hill, I was in the lead and turned around to take a photo of Anthony. What I didn’t realize was that Ival was back there taking care of some business. Oooops, I got a full moon shot! I promised Ival I would crop her backside out of the photo! We had lunch up at the mine. We went into the mine and looked around. But, none of us had a flashlight so we could only go so far. We got a bit off course on the way back and had to back track a few times when we got into ground too rough to ride through. But, we were not far off and were soon back near camp. Bill and Gail separated from us at that point and the rest of us went longer. It was such a lovely day with perfect weather again and we were just not ready to be done riding. I took a shower as soon as I got back. Then Ruth let us borrow her truck and we went into Hill City and did all our dirty laundry. I took a quick tour of the town which is quite the tourist trap...I mean attraction.... Then I called Bonnie and she said all is well back home thought it had been very hot. For supper Kathy made a casserole of the left overs of left overs. Once again it was wonderful. We then packed up some stuff before going to bed. Kathy had agreed to take our camper with her back to MI. She was quite sure it would fit in the box stall of her trailer. That would cut half the distance we would have to haul it. We just packed up what we needed for a few day’s travel in the two dry bags which we could easily strap onto the saddle bag of the motorcycle. It was another chilly night on the stupid air mattress. Every night it has gotten down in the 50’s and the air in the mattress gets cold. Oh yeah, I already whined about that once. Fred had put our space blanket on top of the mattress and that had helped but it is still not what you’d call toasty warm. And is has been slightly slack as we can't get any more air in it with Kathy’s pump since it's not quite compatable with our mattrass intake valve.

Connie

Anthony & Doc

Kathy & Fred preparing breakfast

Gail, Bill, Cindy, Ival, Cathy, Lee & Joel

Lee on Asstro

Cindy on Asstro

Kathy on Asstro

Just can't get tired of the view from the camp

Ival on Elwood, Gail on Pepper Ann

Anthony on Mattie Jean

Mine entrance

Gail, Ival and Anthony in mine

Gail, Anthony, Cindy & Bill in mine

Anthony walking out of mine

Cindy & Ival at mine

Bill, Cathy and Gail having lunch at the mine

Cindy on Diablo & Anthony on Mattie Jean (aka Buckin' Betty)

Cindy on Diablo in camp


Saturday July 24, 2010
299.21 miles
Battle Creek Mule Camp, Hill City SD, to Mitchell, SD
We were all up fairly early. I packed up what more I could until Fred got up then had breakfast. After Fred had breakfast, we packed up the rest. We folded the trailer down, Kathy rearranged her dividers in the horse trailer and sure enough we got our camper in her trailer. Kathy’s trailer has a side ramp and mid tack/stall and it just fit with room on the side. Kathy packed everything around it . Yeeehaaaa. We were free. Once the trailer was all set, I helped Cathy catch all the McAllister mules and get them loaded up. Then Fred and I helped Ruth with dumping her trailer tanks. Soon everyone was ready to go. Anthony and Kathy pulled out, Ruth pulled out in the opposite direction. I Think she had trouble making the swing out of the driveway. Fred and I passed Anthony and Kathy as they waited for Ruth. We decided we were going to take our time going home. It was Saturday and we had a week before having to be back to work. We stopped at the Reptile Garden but decided we were too cheap to pay $15 each to go in and see a few reptiles. We did stop at Wall Drug. Neither of us really liked it much. Too crowded and way to touristy. We did have lunch there. The weather was good and we had a nice drive to Mitchell. We stopped at a Motel 6 for the night. It was ok though not the best place we’d stayed. They were getting full and the only room available in non-smoking was a handicap room which was fine. We ordered pizza delivered for supper tonight. I asked Fred if he would mind swinging a bit south on the way home and staying a night with Edie Wik. Edie lives in Iowa on the Missouri border. He said he didn’t mind. So, I called her to see if she would be home and mind having company. She was thrilled to have us come. Or so she said anyway. I told her to email me directions to her house. I then went to bed.

Fred packing our camper into Kathy's horse trailer

Train going through camp


Sunday July 25, 2010
434.49 miles
Mitchell, SD to Lineville, IA
I checked my email in the morning and there were no directions from Edie. She called me and I asked if she might have sent them to my work address which is what she had done. She resent the directions to me.Once again we had good weather and the drive was very pretty. You can see so far out on the plains and the sky was dotted with lots of little clouds that looked like someone had spilled a package of cotton balls up there. We had no trouble getting to Edie's house. She told me not to bother using the GPS as it did not recognize her address. I knew we’d arrived when I saw Emma Jane. After joyful greetings, Edie showed us the “man cave”. I think Fred was envious, it’s a great man cave. Edie’s husband was not home. He was out of state visiting his mother. Then Edie showed us her house and our room. She has a wonderful home. We met her 3 dogs. Doug, the very friendly boxer. And Cindy Lou, the tiny Chiuaua. She also has a Great Dane, Cameer, but she is very shy and hid under the kitchen table the whole time we were there. We sat and talked for a while. We were offered brownies that were wonderful. I like a place where you get desert first. Then we had a wonderful meal of homemade lasagne, garlic bread and corn on the cob!!. Edie’s son showed up with his daughter. After supper we went out to visit her equines. Emma Jane was semi-social. She let me come up to her and pat her. And baby Mo was absolutely delightful. He played ball for us and showed us how he knows to pick up all his feet. Sarah was trying hard to make friends with Fred. Edie’s son came by again. Edie and I went into the house and Fred stayed out with her son for a bit. I stayed up until about midnight talking with Edie. Fred gave up at some point and went into the living room to watch TV for a while then went to bed.

Edie with Holly and Mo

Cindy with Emma Jane

Cindy with little Mo


Monday July 26, 2010
569.85 miles
Lineville, IA to Charlotte, MI
We got up around 7:30 or 8:00 am. Edie made us breakfast of eggs and bacon. Edie packed up the brownies to take with us. We headed out around 9:30 am. Edie told us the best way to get back to I-80 to avoid flooding and construction. We soon realized our GPS was not working. Or rather we suspected that the auxilary plug on the bike isn’t working. We called Kathy for directions. It was a long way to her house and we told her we would not likely make it that far today. We had good weather once again. Edie said it had rained every day for nearly two weeks before we’d come. We brought the good weather with us. We decided we’d get through Chicago and stop just on the other side. But, once we got though Chicago, then Gary, IN we kept going and soon we were in MI. We stopped for supper at exit 12 on I-94 at the TA travel center. I called Kathy from there. She said it was only a bit over 100 miles to her house from there. It was nearly 8:00 pm but we decided to keep going since we were that close. We arrived at Kathy’s around 10:30 pm. We found her place ok in the dark. We did drive by her road the first time but knew quickly and turned right around and found it. She had hot pizza and cold beer ready for us. We watched TV and chatted. . Kathy asked how we'd faired with the swarm of locus. ???? I asked what locus? She said they'd driven through a swarm of them heading out of SD. Apparently, and thankfully, we'd missed them due to stopping at Wall Drug. I had asked Kathy if we could lay over at her place for a day. Fred and I were both tired from the long drive from Edie’s. Kathy said that would be fine. We went to bed around midnight

Kathy keeping Fred in line...


Tuesday July 26, 2010
Lay over in Charlotte, MI
We slept in till about 9 am. Kathy made us breakfast of dead pig and eggs. Then, she told Fred where all the local cycle attractions were and he headed out for the day. While at one shop, he had them check the auxiliary plug and found he had a blow fuse. So, nothing serious and it was quickly fixed. Kathy and I took a ride to town, then went to a local Amish harness and tack shop. We wanted to see if he could make a biothane mule bridle for Anthony. He was not there but we checked out the shop and what beautiful work he does. Then we went to another list members house to see her mules. She was out of town but we called her and she said to go in the barn and see the mules. Then we went to another friend of Kathy’s that raises Standardbred and Percheron mule and does a lot of show driving. It was a beautiful farm and they have gorgeous wagons. There was one sweet baby mule there only a few weeks old we played with. We went back to Kathy’s and I called Monica and Bonnie C. to see about staying at each of their houses on the way home. All worked out. We took Ron and Kathy out to supper at a Mexican restaurant for supper. Got home, and went to bed by 10.

Cindy playing with baby mule


Wednesday July 27, 2010
192.82 miles
Charlotte, MI to Mount Brydges,Ontario, Canada
We got up around 8:00 am. It looked gloomy outside and we figured our good weather luck had finally run out. The weather report was calling for showers and some sever thunder storms. Kathy made us breakfast while Fred hitched up the trailer. We had dead pig breakfast wraps. We headed out around 9:30 am. We thought we’d get rained on but as we got going, we drove into sunshine and it was good all the way to Monica’s in Canada. It took a while to get across the border but wasn't bad. The worst was it was quite hot and humid. We arrived at Monica’s a little after 2:00 pm. Her mom and brother, Roland, are staying with her right now. Her mom got out sandwich fixing for us. I showed Monica and her mom the SD pictures. Then Monica and I went out to the barn and put all her saddles on Jake to see how they fit. They seemed ok. We then took Jake down to the round pen and worked him. Monica put a back girth and crupper on him for the first time. He was ok. Bucked a bit but then settled down. Then we had a picnic supper outside and it was fabulous. Monica’s mom had made cold avacado soup, bread, salad, corn on the cob, grilled chicken and baked potatoes. It looked like we might get a storm so we moved up onto the porch but the storm went around us. We had a nice evening visiting and went to bed around 10:00.

Monica adjusting tack on Jake

Jake working in round pen


Thursday July 28, 2010
336 miles
Mount Brydges, Ontario, Canada to Verona, NY
We got up around 8:00 am and had some cereal and coffee for breakfast. Monica’s mother asked if Fred would take Roland for a ride on the motorcycle. But, Roland is handicapped and was having a bad morning and didn’t feel like going. We packed up and headed out around 10:00 am. It was yet another nice day in the 70’s and sunny. It took us an hour to get through the border crossing. The trip to the Croft’s home in NY was fine otherwise. We arrived at Bonnie and Tom’s a little after 5:00 pm. Her grandchildren, Taylor and Dusten are here. We got the camper set up pretty quickly. Dusten was pretty interested in seeing how it folded out. Fred took Dusten for a ride on the motorcycle and he loved it. He was nervous at first but got over that quickly and had a great time. Bonnie prepared a fabulous supper with corn on the cob, hamburgers, macaroni salad, broccoli salad (great!!!) cheese and crackers, We totally overate. Fred took Dusten for another ride on the motorcycle after supper. He took Dustens to his house which is only 2 miles away. Dusten picked up clothes to stay overnight at his grandparents. I asked Bonnie if we could go for a drive with her mules tomorrow and she said she would be glad to take us. Bonnie has a little kitten named Trooper that is absolutely adorable, as all kittens are. He is full of mischief and was playing with everything. He pulled the inserts out of my shoes twice. After supper we visited a while and went to bed at 10:00 pm. Dusten wanted to sleep in his grandparents truck camper that was parked near our camper. Bonnie didn’t think he would stay out there long but let him give it a try. She was right, he was only in the camper for about ½ hour when we heard him head back to the house.

Tom, Dusten, Fred and Trudy (dog)

Fred relaxing with Trudy and Trooper

Fred taking Dusten for a ride

Fred relaxing with Trudy

Fred playing with Trooper

Bonnie and Dusten dusting off the carriage

Bonnie backing up the team, Milt and Mort

Bonnie taking Milt and Mort for a spin around the field

Cindy in carriage, Bonnie at the line of Milt and Mort

View from the back seat of the carriage

Tom, Bonnie, Fred & Cind out for a drive with Milt and Mort




Friday, July 29, 2010
426 miles
Verona, NY to Home
We were up by 8:00 am. I went in the house and had cereal with Bonnie and Dusten for breakfast. Tom went out and pulled the carriage out of the barn. Bonnie and Dusten cleaned it off while Fred and I packed up the camper. Tom and Bonnie got Mort and Milt harnessed up and hitched to the carriage. Bonnie took a spin around the field first, then we all got in and went for a lovely drive. It was so much fun and such a beautiful team of mules. Once we got back, we had to head for home, we still had a long drive ahead of us. We left the Croft’s at 11:30 am. It was yet again good weather. It was an uneventful drive but long as we hit traffic on the MA pike and the whole length of I-495 was stop and go traffic. We stopped for lunch on the MA pike. And we did get hit in the NH Liquor store parking lot. Someone backed into our trailer. Hard enough to push it sideways but no damage was done. We got home about 8:00 pm. I was sad the vacation was over but glad to be home.

The prize at the end of the ride