Thursday, June 5, 2008

My attempt to catch up!

Here I am again, trying to catch up on my blogging! If this was a classroom assignment, I'd be losing at least 10%! We've had quite a few hits on the blog. We would love to hear from people, so don't be afraid to leave your comments.

I guess I need to back up to Tuesday. The horses were going home. How sad. They definitely needed to go home, rest and get back to par again. We can't begrudge them that, but I really do miss them. I still get sad thinking about seeing them go. Matt hasn't shown the goodbye pictures he took of me and Rocky. They think I'll start crying! Paul is so lucky to have Rocky and I am so appreciative he let me ride him on this journey! It's my understanding Rocky will be one of the horses Marla and Steve bring back with them. I can't wait! I have a lot of respect and admiration for the Hewitts and am glad I've gotten to know them. I hope to someday have more knowledge of horses than I do now. Of course, that wouldn't take much at this point. Perhaps also I might be able to ride as well as Marla does. I haven't seen Steve ride yet, but I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll understand some of his advice when I see it with my own eyes.

We decided to camp out for the night. We stayed at Crowder Lake. Matt and Chisholm were planning on fishing. When we stopped at a produce stand I informed Chisholm I was not planning on a vegetarian meal that night. Just a little hint! Unfortunately, when they were returning from fishing, he informed Aunt Melody that it would definitely be a vegetarian night. We cheated. When Melody and Matt returned from Chisholm's game, they brought back hotdogs to cook over the fire. I hung around the campground while they went to the game. It gave me time to write in my journal, check in with family and friends, and attempt to walk the interpretive trail. The journal and check in were successful. Unfortunately, the trail lacked any excitement. They didn't have any more maps, so I'm sure I would have understood better what I was supposed to be looking for had I had one.

Melody and I attempted to put up the tent by ourselves. We did a good job, but the winds were way strong! One of the pins for the poles was broken, so it was even easier for the wind to take charge. There were several times I had to go tackle it and secure it to the ground again. By night time, the three bodies sleeping in it helped out. It was a very clear night and the stars were so bright. They never look so bright in the city. What a vision to fall asleep to!



On Wednesday I awoke to another beautiful day. Before we left on our adventure, I had made about a dozen bags of trail mix. I was informed on how delicious these were. When I woke up it was evident a critter had gotten into a bag of our food. I know..we should have known better. The trail mix was gone! They didn't like the spicey stuff or the fruit. We had bacon and toast sandwiches made over the campfire.
One thing on our list was to drive to Roosevelt to visit the senior citizen center in the hopes of finding out more about the history of Roosevelt. The center was closed due to harvesting time. We did finally come upon Larry Phillips, interrupting him in the middle of welding. He informed us the best person to talk to was a former teacher, whom we would most likely find at the convenience store. That was how we met Wanda Jackson. What an AWESOME lady! She enthusiastically welcomed us. She had heard about us from someone in Frederick and had already written a story about us on her email newspaper, as well as doing an article in the Kiowa Democrat. She shared a lot of information about when she taught, the library (which she runs), her email newspaper, and many other things. She introduced us to just about every person who walked in the door. It kind of reminded me of the old general stores where people would hang out in the rocking chairs outside the door and visit with their neighbors. I wish we would have had more time to visit with her. She's exactly the kind of person I was hoping we would meet on this journey.
We then drove to Mount Scott. From the top you could see a long ways away. Melody asked if the height bothered me. No. It was more the looking and pointing at places of interest instead of unblinkingly watching the winding road ahead of her! It was nice to reach the top! We spent some time climbing over and around the rocks. What fun!
Just as we got into the car, the AC at the perfect temp, Melody gets her phone message that Sharon Bennett from Frederick wants her to call about doing an interview for the Frederick radio station. Sounds fun, hunh? The rest of the story....Melody decides the AC will be too loud for an interview over the phone. Oh, yes, and the windows cannot be rolled down because the wind would be too loud. It was a new experience to be on the radio. We didn't get to hear it, but I'm sure it went well. Back to the car...I think by time the interview was over, anyone of us could have won a wet t-shirt contest! There was a moment there when I wondered if anybody nearby was capable of CPR!
We got to visit Fort Sill. The main thing we did was check out the artillery. It didn't matter that I don't know much about that kind of stuff. Each one had a descriptionof what it was and where it came from. At one point, I started thinking about the fact I was standing just a few feet away from weapons that had actually been used in war. It was a really creepy feeling. Alas, I did not meet any soldiers.
We stayed the night at a cabin on the Swandarosa. It's owned by Melody's cousins. It's a one-room cabin that comes with all the necessities...cots, woodburning stove, lantern, and doors and windows that opened to let in a wonderful breeze. I loved it! Outside was beautiful with lots of trees and the creek nearby. It felt like a place a person could escape to and hopefully not be found until they wanted to be. Thanks again, Kent, for sharing it with us!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Melody and Donna and Matt: It was my pleasure to visit with you guys at the store. What fun you are! I know you are making wonderful memories for yourselves and your students. Good luck on the rest of your journey, daring mighty things! W Jackson

Anonymous said...

Keep the pictures coming! Love seeing what you are experiencing! You are making me want to escape to Western OK to explore our great state!

Anonymous said...

I read your post containing ...

"... AC will be too loud ... and the windows ... wind would be too loud...."

All true, all things considered, but when there's a recording that's done, with noise, etc. I can fix 'em right up and transcribe them just as if there wasn't any noise.

Alan, of www.VerbatimIT.com

kyla said...

I hope things are good. Looks like you are having so much fun!