And the Adventure Continues

Marla, Steve, Connor, Kylie, Charleigh Hewitt and I all finished the last one hundred miles from Thomas to Frederick last June!! We went lots slower this time, but had just as much fun!!! Riding in the parade to honor Bud and Temple's ride in the NYC parade with Teddy Roosevelt was a thrilling experience!!
Then it was off to UCross, Wyoming with Donna!! What a great week we had....can't say enough great things about all the Fund for Teachers staff and the Apache Corp. people. Loved it!!

An Big Day in Frederick!

Tomorrow is a big day in Frederick, Oklahoma! There will be a recreation of Bud and Temple Abernathy leaving for their historic trip to New York City to meet their friend President Theodore Roosevelt! April marks the 100th anniversary of this amazing accomplishment. Please keep in mind that Bud and Temple were 10 and 6 years old in 1910! There are many events planned for Saturday, April 10, 2010. “Theodore Roosevelt” will attend the day’s events and will be there for the “wolf hunt” reenactment that evening!

I went horseback riding last night! What a relaxing event. Thanks Marla and Steve for being such great friends and putting up with such an inexperienced rider! We rode close to the Cimarron River, and the Hewitt’s dogs came along for the outing. The scared up two deer! What a beautiful sight as they scampered across the field with their white tails bobbing! And yes, for those of you who are wondering, I can walk today! It has been a while since the last horseback ride, but I had a great horse to ride. “Chunk” is a beautiful paint, and she is easy to ride. But I am a little like Temple on his first ride. I need a ladder to saddle up! Maybe I will get better as we practice!

Check back soon! I will have lots of news from Frederick!

No Joke!

It is hard to believe that two young boys were able to accomplish all the things that Bud and Temple Abernathy did. Although today is April Fool's Day, the boys' accomplishments are no joke! They continue to amaze and inspire me!

What Would You Take With You

In today's reading, the boys traveled across the Texas Panhandle. They travele through places like Esteline, Turkey, Quitaque (Kitty-Quay), and Silverton. They said it was very hot and dusty. Temple drank gyp water and suffered for it! Bud tried to cure him with some castor oil! There wasn't very much room in those saddlebags to carry supplies from home. That brings us to today's question. If you were going on a trip like this, what would you put in your backpack? Thing about it and let us know!

Would Your Parents Let You Go?

Today we read the part of the story where Bud and Temple get permission to go to Santa Fe, NM on an adventure. Their plans will take them from SW Oklahoma to Roswell, New Mexico on to Santa Fe, and then home. Remember that the boys were 5 and 9 years old when they asked permission to do this. They wanted to have their own adventures because they were tired of hearing about their dad’s adventures. Their dad was none other than Jack “Catch ‘em Alive” Abernathy, U. S. Marshall to Oklahoma and friend to President Theodore Roosevelt.

Some students thought their parents might let them have an adventure like this. I don’t agree. I think the students were just guilty of wishful thinking! Each of us longs to have adventure, and this story speaks to that part in each person who hears this story.
The question of the day: Do you think you would let your child have an adventure like this? Why or why not?

Remember to check us out on facebook! The Abernathy Challenge

Started Reading Bud and Me today

The students and I have begun the discussion about Bud and Temple Abernathy for the 2009-2010 school year! Last week we had some discussions about some of the interesting people that set the stage....Jack "Catch 'em Alive" Abernathy, Quanah Parker, and Burk Burnett just to name a few! We talked about Theodore Roosevelt and his quote, "...far better it is to dare mighty things...."
Will you share with us the "mighty things" you would like to accomplish or have accomplished in your life!
We "dare" you to dream big!

Please remember if you are a student to include your first name only....If you include your last name, I cannot publish your post if you are a student! :)

Facebook Group

I made a facebook group called The Abernathy Challenge....join and see what is coming soon!

New Adventures Coming Soon!

Look for information about new adventures coming soon. Christmas break is going to give us time to plan. There will be some projects for school age students and teachers! This story never gets old. Donna and I have talked to a couple more groups this fall about the boys. I told them to imagine how excited I was then, since I am still so excited now!
LOL

Quick Update!

I know it has been a while since we checked in with everyone.....It has been a busy time since our last post! I was fortunate to meet Raymond Plank in May at the OU Education Banquet! What a great man….He humored me and signed our book, Bud and Me!
Then, another blessing arrived in May! Donna and I were named the Oklahoma Raymond Plank Award winners. Thanks again to all of the people at the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and the Tulsa Community Foundation who have provided wonderful opportunities for us and the students we teach.
In June we headed for Frederick and the Crossroads Ranch Reunion. It was great to see old friends and make new ones. Later in the month, more people were interested in hearing our story. We were privileged to speak to audiences at the Tulsa Historical Society and the OSU Emeriti. It is so fun to tell people about Bud and Temple.
At the beginning of September, we set up a table to showcase our Fellowship at the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence annual meeting! I think I am just as excited today as I was when we were traveling. Stay tuned for more adventures….

Remembering the Ride

Thanks Matt! "Remembering the Ride" is super! So glad you finished the project.... it made Donna cry today! WOW! You are very talented---and what great material we gave you to work with....however, you need to remember that I am still the mother, and I should get to veto pictures I don't like! LOL!
Hopefully, I will figure out how to put a link on here and everyone can watch the video!
Will post again if Matt gets an award.

I just have to say again, Bud and Temple were just amazing kids....the students talk about them like they are real!! We had such fun following their path....

Molly and Donna Show

I forgot to mention that the "KUSH Girls" have the Molly and Donna show every mornig from 7:00--10:00 AM....tune in to find out the latest in the area.... Thanks again for having us on your show!

1600 KUSH

The excitement continues! Over spring break several interesting events happened regarding our fellowship. I (Melody) spoke to the Cushing Lions on Tuesday, March 17. Kym Skinner asked me last fall if I would be willing to speak when she was in charge of the program. Of course she didn't have to twist my arm very hard for me to agree. What a lovely gracious group of people. I shared the story of Bud and Temple, and then I showed them a slide show of our trip. I tried to explain a little of what we tried to accomplish along our journey--research; getting fingerprinted; taking Atlantic Ocean water to the Pacific etc! I appreciated what a great audience they were. Afterwards, Molly Payne from KUSH radio in Cushing, asked me if I would ever consider coming on her show to talk about the Abernathy Boys! Obviously, she doesn't know how much I love them! LOL I asked her if Donna could come along, and she said that would be super! Luckily, Donna didn't have plans for Wednesday, and she was willing to get up early and drive over!
What another unexpected blessing! Meeting Molly and her friend Angie was another opportunity we had to share Bud and Temple with people who loved the story and genuinely seemed to share our excitement about the impact this story makes on the lives of children!
They let us talk over an hour!! Yes, I felt like I was in heaven getting the chance to talk about two of my favorite boys, and Donna even managed to get a few words into the conversation!!
Sitting in the radio station while we were being interviewd was a new experience for us! The last radio interview we had with a Frederick station was completed over the phone---fun, but seeing the inside of the station was a new learning experience for us. Donna says, "It was almost like being on our trip again, and having those unexpected encounters with fascinating people who liked hearing about the boys and then hearing their stories!" It felt like Molly and Angie were old friends we just hadn't ever met yet....
When I told Mr. Vollmer about our spring break experience, he said, "The next thing I know, you all will be on the Today show!"
That would be great! I would love to tell America the story of Bud and Temple and great qualities they possess, and how children of today relate to these little boys from long ago.
Sunday night I recieved an email from Megan Carter. She is going to undertake a "long ride". She is going to ride the perimeter of Oklahoma which is 1200+ miles. CuChullaine O'Reilly, Founder of the Long Riders Guild, had given her my email. I am so thankful for the connection we made with him. I know we are not officially longriders, but we now have a tiny glimpse of what they do......
I am anxious to connect with Megan and hear her story and let our students compare her journey to Bud and Temples.

More soon.....
Melody

More Speaking Opportunities

I've had the great opportunity to speak about our trip to the POE ladies in Cushing lately. Rep. Lee Denney asked me to be her guest and share our story with her friends. I had a wonderful time, and it was amazing how much I could share in such a short amount of time. I appreciate Mr. Vollmer watching my students so I could have this opportunity to share.
On President's Day evening, Donna and I have been asked to relate our adventures with the Oilton Chamber of Commerece!
Also, the Tulsa Historical Society asked us to speak later this summer. Stay tuned for more details.

The Trail of Two Teachers

The fun continues! Thank you Mrs. Allen for writing the great article about us that was published in the Oklahoma Humanities Magazine! Thank you to Carla Walker and staff for printing such a fabulous story about the boys and us! We both feel honored to appear in this great state publication! Donna and I were so excited to see the finished product! Mr. Vollmer showed our staff the magazine during our last staff meeting. It is wonderful having others join in our excitement...Thank you teachers for being excited for us. We are anxiously awaiting our copies!! Last Friday, before Donna and I had even seen the magazine, we received an email from Robert Klemme of Enid. His son took the picture for the cover of the magazine, and he took the time to look up our email address. He was the man responsible for placing all of the Chisholm Trail markers. He sounds like a fascinating man....it reminded me of what made our trip so fascinating....meeting people and hearing their stories! Thank you Robert Klemme for sharing your story with us!

New Abernathy Videos

Check out these videos made by teachers at our school.
http://celebrateoklahoma.ning.com/video/video/show?id=688012%3AVideo%3A6359
http://celebrateoklahoma.ning.com/video/video/show?id=688012%3AVideo%3A6362

November Update

Wow, it has been such a busy year....my class finished reading Bud and Me....and loved it of course......we are working on several projects....An ABC book and a documentary project that Mrs. Smith is going to help us with....can't wait to finish that.... Last week, Donna and I went to a Fund For Teachers meeting....it was so exciting to hear about all of the other trips....Every time I get to talk about the trip, I get so excited all over again! We had such a great time. I know there were some other great trips, but I have to say that ours was the best!!! I wouldn't have traded my trip with anyone elses....
I think that my family is going to scream if I say "I've been there!" one more time when we are watching tv....just last night Gary England was talking about the 46" of snow in Deadwood SD and I said my new favorite phrase....it reminded me of how much fun we had that day...We ate crab legs at an all you can eat dinner! I know we definitely ate our share! The gun fight and museum were really a fun experience.... What a beautiful part of the world!
Donna and I are eagerly waiting for the Oklahoma Hummanities magazine to come out this month! Mrs. Allen wrote a fabulous article about the boys and our trip! Thanks again Mrs. Allen.

September

Well, we have submitted our final Fund For Teachers reports! Yeah! I know that you all are all surprised that we made the deadline with just a few hours left! We are so thankful for all the attention that we are receiving about the trip! Mrs. Linda Allen, former Spanish teacher at Yale High School, has written a great article about our trip that will be published in the Oklahoma Humanities November edition. We look forward to sharing this article with our friends and students...
More soon

Melody and Donna

Catching Up

This is a short blog to catch up, and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post a blog for each day that is missing....tonight's hotel doesn't have wireless in the room and last night it was pretty late when we got settled...don't remember the excuses for the other nights....
Thursday we went to Donner Pass....quite a powerful experience to go through the museum and walk around the trails....couldn't help but express the irony of the fact that while walking down the trail to where the Donner Party lived out the winter of 1846 in solitude you can hear all of the cars and trucks zooming down the highway at 75 miles per hour....after we left there we headed to San Francisco....I couldn't talk Donna into walking across the Golden Gate Bridge...but it was still wonderful to drive across and view the Pacific Ocean to the west...we checked in the hotel and caught the bus for Fisherman's Wharf....we took the scenic route for a couple of blocks...and then headed the right direction....of course it had been in the high 90s when we came across California, but by the late afternoon and early evening the breeze that was blowing across the water was down right cold...so of course we had to buy a hoodie....I overheard one shopkeeper saying that they sell more coats in July than any other time, because everyone comes to San Fran thinking that it is summer....LOL...Friday morning we dumped our Coney Island water in the Pacific Ocean....and gathered a sample of Pacific ocean water....then we were off to the John Muir woods to see the Coastal Redwoods...these are not the giant Sequoia trees, but they were giant to us!!!! It was so peaceful and beautiful....it made me think of Eden and what that might have been like....We drove into the valley to spend the night....the traffic was terrible....so glad that I was able to visit...and would love to visit again.....BUT...I would not want to live there and have to put up with that kind of traffic all of the time....Saturday we drove and drove and drove...but it was worth it...we reached the Grand Canyon in time for Donna to see it before dark....it rained earlier in the day and was still cloudy...however she was so impressed....more details later....We stayed Saturday night in Flagstaff....We didn't get up quite as early as we thought we might, but that was ok...we had a great morning driving and walking through the "Terrified Forrest" as Donna called the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert......what another grand case of God showing off!!! How beautiful.....we continued to drive across NM....I had some really great Green Chile Blue Corn Enchiladas ..... Yum....don't think that Donna was so impressed with her fajitas....we called it quits at Santa Rosa for the night...hopefully we will arrive in Amarillo tomorrow.....I left out lots of details...
Thanks for reading....we miss everyone....we will be home soon.....Matt will be home Friday....Gordon will be home the 30th....hope Mike has enjoyed the peace and quiet! LOL

Nevada

Melody here—Tuesday and Wednesday we drove across Wyoming, Utah and Nevada----lots of rocks and sagebrush….We went through the Flaming Gorge National Park area early Tuesday….then headed into Utah….of course when we arrived at the Great Salt Lake, Donna had to taste some of the water…I don’t think she really believed that it would be salt water…but guess what it is salty….The Great Salt Lake is not a very beautiful piece of water….and the area we walked on was extremely stinky…Donna says that she wishes there could be a camera to capture the smell of things…except I don’t think anyone would want to smell this….we stepped over lots of carcasses of birds…pretty yucky…one of the interesting things about the Lake is the way the salt dries on the sand and it crunches under your feet---like stepping on a beach of corn flakes….then you will reach another part and if you step it will be very wet underneath your feet….so we traveled on….after leaving the lake area…the salt desert stretches for miles and miles and miles…we stopped at one rest area where you could walk out on the salt flat…it was probably over 2 feet thick…it looked like a sheet of ice….there was a man wind sailing on the salt…we were able to take some interesting pictures of him…he even let Donna go for a spin….I think my favorite part of Tuesday and Wednesday were seeing the mountains that were tall enough to still have snow remaining on the tops…we saw some peaks that were over 10,000 feet tall…..the really bad thing about the last couple of days has been the haze…it hasn’t been clear enough to see things until we are really close up….We did stop a little early on Wednesday ---we reached Reno…found a place with an outside pool and actually did a little swimming….nice to relax a little before heading into San Francisco…

Cheyenne

Melody here...Monday morning we set out to meet with Bruce Salzburg, the Attorney General of Wyoming....we wanted to do that because Bud and Temple met with his counter part, Mr. Preston. Mr. Salzburg was very generous with his time...thank you so much! It is such a small world...he went to kindergarten in Stillwater, Oklahoma!! He even remembered his street address and phone # from then.....When we told him what the boys had done while in Cheyenne, he said we should eat lunch at The Plains, IT IS STILL THERE! Although the boys couldn't eat or sleep inside, the newly opened Plains Hotel hosted a luncheon for the boys and Mr. Preston (and others) on the sidewalk outside of the hotel..... We were excited to hear about that! We headed to the library for confirmation about the boys trip....they sent us to the State Archives...they were very helpful...we found two newspaper articles...one from September 20, 1911 and one from September 21, 1911...we also were able to copy two photos of the Plains Hotel in March of 1911.....What a great find.....then we were off to eat lunch...we stopped at the Newspaper Office and visited with Kevin....although he was too busy to eat lunch with us...he said that he would pass our information along to the Education reporter Becky...Tonya was one of the secretaries at the newspaper...she was so friendly and energetic...we offered to take her to lunch also, but she had to stay and work....thanks Tonya..... The Plains Hotel is such a grand old hotel...very beautiful and ornate... we arrived in time to eat their lunch buffet and it was absolutely super!!! The brownies we had for dessert were so rich and gooey...We are so glad we decided to eat there.... it was a fantastic choice for us...... we asked to talk to the manager so we could pass along the story of the boys eating on the sidewalk....we talked to Connie....she listened so wonderfully to our story!! She even shared a postcard book about the Plains with us! Thank you so much.....I was disappointed that we didn't know about the Plains in advance or we could have stayed the night there! Oh well, maybe nextg time..... We headed out about 2:15....we felt pretty excited about the day...We left two books in Cheyenne...one at the public library and one with Mr. Salzburg.....It was super to be back on track of Bud and Temple.....Thanks again for reading....we are having a super time, but look forward to being home soon..... We drove until Green River and spent the night...also managed to get a little laundry done....this is the first time we have had decent wireless....tried to load some pictures yesterday...but they were so slow