Cold, Cold, Go Away

We finally left the soon-to-be-frozen North and are currently in Arkansas where it is THANKFULLY a lot warmer than Minnesota. We drove VERY curvy roads at about 25mph through the Ozark mountains to a quiet campground in the woods. After finding a place to park we got hooked up, then we scouted out the encampment. There were a few RV’s here and there and a structure with canvas flaps that whipped around in the wind.  The leaves soared high into the sky on air currents like buzzards and then fell back dancingly to the ground. Jadyn was like a Mexican Jumping Bean when she spotted the playground, so of course we had to stop there for a little bit.

The campground overlooks Beaver Lake and because it’s off-season it’s not very populated.

We like to hike and explore so we walked down to the lake with our french press full of coffee and two coffee cups.

While drinking our coffee we enjoyed the beauty of the lake, then Joe and Jadyn threw rocks in the water while I sat on the dock absorbing the energy of the place.

                          

On our way back to camp we collected walnuts that had fallen from the trees, then we cracked them open and ate them.

I am very thankful that Joe likes to be creative in the kitchen. He whips us up lunch in no time and he likes to make bread (spelt bread in this case).

                              

What a nice way to end the night – a game of cards (crazy 8’s).

          

Not sure where we are headed next. It might be to southern Arkansas to look for work. We’ll see.

Farewell to Graham Equestrian Center

Many thanks to the folks at Graham for their hospitality! Our host Jim and Ginny made us feel right at home from the minute we arrived. They were great! The barn manager Holly was an encouragement in fortitude, despite a trying time with a medical issue and a major surgery, quick to laugh and always positive she was wonderful. And thanks to nurse Beth for her caring and passionate medical ethics helping me through an eye injury.

Down at the barn the boarders accepted us into their lives without a blink. There was Nancy who was referred to lovingly as the cat nazi, however in fact was a closet cat lover and the owner of an Arab named Julius. Craig was a mechanic by trade but his heart was on the trail, riding his horse Blu. Jeanie had two horses named Bonnie and Winston, and I enjoyed her quick wit. Mike was a cowboy at heart who owned Dix. There was Pedro and Shelli that owned Freedom, Chesney and Macchiato. Pedro was a pilot for a major airline, and had a heart of gold. His wife Shelli, who had a kind spirit, and my wife Jeanne became friends. Lori was a petite redhead that worked in management at a law firm and owned Charlie, a rescued Amish Belgian draft. Lori would let Jadyn brush Charlie’s pasterns with a little red brush.

One of my favorite horses was LJ, a 4 year thoroughbred who was owned Steph. She worked with animals as a full time job and truly loved them. Lindsay became a boarder while we were there, her and her mare Audrey will always have a special place in our hearts. Debbie was a cowgirl who leased a horse there. She was full of life and knew how to enjoy it with her fateful sidekick Tonto, oh I meant Jennifer. I met Marta toward the end of our stay during a very stressful point in her life, however in the face of adversity she stood strong and quickly won my friendship. And then there was my friend Bill, who is a down-to-earth-no-bull bowman. The Bowman share the state park with Graham and Bill is their maintenance man.

The list goes on of all the great people at Graham and in Maryland and if I didn’t mention you don’t worry you aren’t forgotten. To all our friends in Maryland we love you and thank you for all that you did.

Goodbye To Maryland

We finally left Maryland after about 3 months. We made friends with lots of awesome people and had some really great experiences like being able to see the capital of the United States and being able to visit Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. We were able to accomplish a lot at Graham Equestrian Center including building a fence, painting two barns, staining a deck and everyday ranch chores.

We’ve had some fun times: campfires, potlucks, and a going away dinner.

Here’s pictures of the potluck – Joe gave hayrides. :)

                           

And we organized a Cowboy Campfire that was loads of fun! There was potluck food again, marshmallows, smores and singing (a guitarist was hired to play and sing). The kids loved playing on the hay rolls and running around in the dark with their glow sticks.

                          

Our goodbye dinner at Bill Bateman’s was fun – especially when a balloon attached itself to Jadyn’s hair. :o)

So now we are in Minnesota where we picked up a 1978 Ford Roll-A-Long. We’ve been busy trying to get things fixed on it like changing out a master cylinder, fixing a muffler leak and other things.

Because of the unexpected financial challenges we’ve not been able to leave yet. Hopefully soon though we can head to Arizona and look for work and be warmer. Joe will do his own post about Graham Equestrian Center within the next day or two so look forward to that. Adios. :)