Howdy Chuckwagon Friends
We departed Strathmore in a very soggy and wet manner. The rains came down after the last night of racing, and continued on into the night and throughout Wednesday and beyond. Driving when your wet, cold and damp after packing up and loading, is not that comfortable. None the less, away we went and arrived home in a 3 hour window on Wednesday. Home was a great place to see. The greenery at home was lovely, the flower bed my daughter Amy created was breathtaking, as all the flowers were in bloom. Seeing all this made me want to stay awhile. And with the calendar the way it fell this year, we did have a weekend off, so I enjoyed being at home and tending to things there.
When going through my mail, we were excited to see such a great article in the Canadian Cowboy magazine about Rick’s father, the Late Dave Lewis written by historian Billy Mellville. This magazine put out by Editor Terri Mason and is well worth the read as it has so much in it about the cowboy way of life. This issue is the August/September 2016 and you can pick it up at most magazine stands or even better yet, you can sign up to have it come straight to your mailbox. Check it out at cowboycountrymagazine.com
Well, I did know we had this weekend off some time ago, so a few of us girls signed up to test the waters in the Red Deer Mud Hero Race. Not sure what we were really in for, but we did know it was going to be fun. It was a time to just get out from the summer normal of chuckwagon races and have some girl time with lots of laughs and craziness.
We picked up some t-shirts that we believed in “Don’t just dream it, Do it!” and we did it. We had so much fun, we laughed, slipped and slid. Ran, climbed and crawled. Would we do it again? I definitely think we would.
WE DID IT!
I thoroughly enjoyed our down time, with the Mud Race as well as just enjoying the Ranch and all that comes with it. I even got to babysit our newest grandson Ryker and if you don’t know, that kind of time is so precious. It makes me slow down and just enjoy.
Our rest time at home had come to an end, as it was time to load up the ponies and head up north to Dawson Creek, BC. Monday seemed like a fine to go and away we went leaving the yard at an early 6 am. It was rather foggy out for the first hour, then the sun began to clear things off. It was smooth sailing and I was excited to be arriving sometime around 1 pm as it takes approximately 7 hours with our two quick stops. Just as we turned into Valleyview, our second stop on our way, Rick lost air in his truck. A quick search to see what the issue was and a mechanic was called. An air hose had blown.
A Great Mechanic
We didn’t have to wait long, and this nice young gal from DNA Truck Analysis came calling. She removed the hose, went back to the shop, returned with a new one and put it on promptly. When all was said and done, I realized this could have turned out way differently. The hose could have blown somewhere in between towns, then we would have had to wait for help, with added travel time too and more money to boot. It all worked out good, and we just arrived a couple of hours later into the City of Dawson Creek.
Set up went well in the warm and sunny conditions. There has been some rain that has fallen here too, just as in Alberta, but the Stampede Grounds are fairly dry with all things considered. Races start tomorrow at 6:45 pm pst. BC is 1 hour behind Alberta just so you know.
From the Travelin Trailer
Sue, with Rick and Team 23
P.S. If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs.
Sue
what a beautiful grand son.