Small Farmer's Journal Auction/ Swap Meet

Yay!  We made it!

Ok, so it has taken me a while to post about this.  It's not because it we didn't have a good time (we had a GREAT time!) or because there aren't any photos (I remembered to take some!!) or anything like that.

What happened, as happens so often to all of us, is that life got in the way!

First, I only had one week home before we took off on our next adventure (Wyoming, with our horses. and yes I will post about that one next!) During this week I had to catch up on work from the previous week and then get things wrangled for the next week when I would be gone.  And throw into the mix that my boss of 7 years suddenly decided to throw in the towel and pursue a different career...(meaning I had to move my whole office space on top of getting used to the change).  Well time just slipped away.

So back to the story: 
We brought our horse trailer to sleep in and the puppies slept in it too!

Comfy nest, no? 

Although Willow really doesn't have any problems sleeping, anywhere...

Pooped pup

And we actually didn't sleep in the straw nest, we slept up front.  On a mattress.  I know, spoiled...

L.O.V.E. this trailer!!!

And the days were filled with this:

and this:

and this:

Lots of cool vehicles for sale there.

This was my favorite

Look at the bunks inside!!

and tack.

and mowers

even a windmill!

Some assembly required...

This beautiful team of paints were for sale.

(they did not come home with us)

and there was a sheep dog presentation.  It was super interesting to watch, but this is the only photo that I took that is any good (it's kind of hard to capture the sheep dog action...)

We ate.

Brian talking to the bears in front of the Black Bear Diner!

I spun.

This one got sick :( 

(and costs us a bunch of $$$ for "dietary indiscretion" - stinker)

Doesn't he look sad? He is all better now!

and this was the find of the auction!!! (yes Brian was the successful bidder)

Cool, vintage barbed wire.  Stuff we have never seen before!!!

I went to an educational seminar by the cheese makers at Cada Dia Cheese and bought some of their yummy feta and cheddar.  I crocheted a bunch while watching the auction.  All in all we had a super trip!

Well that's the story!  Hope you enjoyed it (and the photos).

Aren't we cute?  We've been thinking about a mini van, but maybe a Prairie Schooner would be better???

Headed to Madras

We are going here:

Madras, Oregon

to look at this:

and this:

and hopefully, not come home with any of these:

but, you never really know.  and we are bringing the horse trailer, (so that we can sleep out of the weather- but really, how convenient would that be...).

Yes, you guessed it- we are headed to the Small Farmer's Journal Auction this weekend.  Oh? you didn't guess that?  Well, now you know.

It is an awesome place for horsey types to co-mingle with others with common interests.  There are workshops and seminars on everything from horse training to blacksmithing to raising chickens.  There will be a sheep dog trial and a social event on Friday. Here is the link to the schedule: SFJ Auction Schedule.

Lots of neat horse-drawn vehicles for sale (these are all from last year):

Everyone needs a horse drawn hearse.

Water, anyone? That is the main man Lynn Miller in front of the water tank!

Coolest little dump-bed cart

And you see this all day:

And there is always a little political discussion:

In my mind, no truer words have ever been spoken...

Last year I met a wonderful couple from Halfway, Oregon who have Stonehaven Farm- a Shetland sheep farm!  I had to buy some of their beautiful roving (which I still haven't spun up-oops) and I think this year I will bring my wheel and sit and spin with them awhile.  I hope they are there again!!


So pack up yer wagons and head on down!  Sure to be enlightening and tons of fun!

See you next week! (and yes, I'll take pictures... geesh you all are demanding.)

The "Bob" Part 2

Water crossing/Drink break- the horses and mule are pretty good at crossing water.  Although Sapphire (the black and white paint in the lead) is kind of a stream hog when he is thirsty!

Lest you think we spent our whole trip lounging around camp, here are some highlights of the actually riding.

This is a pretty typical view for me on a pack trip.  I bring up the rear, give updates on the state of Mule's packs, and generally lolly gag around.  Brian, on the other hand, is in charge of navigation, addressing potential disasters on the trail (think back packers, bicyclists, moths, other things that might potentially eat a horse- never mind bears) and handling the mule.  It can get a little dusty in the back, but I am not one to complain!

The long and dusty trail.

Pretty sure this is Big Prairie... especially because of, well, the big prairie.

Lots of water crossings.

Of course there are times when I can trot up next to Brian:

And times when I can't (or won't!):

This is probably one of our least favorite trail features. Sheer cliff on the left, steep face on the right and footing that is, shall we say, less than perfect...

This was also very steep, but with good footing.  See how it was a little windy up here?

And this is a pretty typical view from the front:

Ears and trail...

A little bit different water crossing.

Pack Bridge at Big Prairie

 My husband jokingly asked me if I would like to lead Mule across this bridge.  Last year on our Bob trip, I wanted to lead Mule.  We did great until we stopped at the foot of a similar bridge to read a sign.  When it was time to go again, I did not pay attention to where the lead rope went.  Well, it went right up the back of my horse's legs and under his tail.  Suffice it to say,  my horse was not at all happy about that.  Some bucking and tearing around ensued, I ended up on the ground and my horse's hoof (complete with metal shoe) connected with my skull.  Minor concussion aside, it was still an awesome trip.  But, I did decline to lead Mule this time...

So, this bridge might not look all that impressive, after all it is no Golden Gate.  But, bear in mind that no motorized vehicles are allowed in the wilderness.  Every stick of wood, bolt, cable, everything... was brought in by pack animals. It's starting to look a little more impressive, isn't it?

The quick summary of camps:

Thursday: Trailhead (we covered this in The "Bob" Part 1)

Friday: What we have named "Ice Box Camp", near the top of Hahn Pass- it was mighty cold that night:

Frozen water bucket

But, lots of grass!

Saturday: Big Prairie.  As ridiculous as it seems, and quite accidentally, we camped in the exact same spot that we camped in 2 or 3 years ago when we rode through here!

Yeah... that's me, being campy.

And even though, we were miles from any road, there is this:

and this.  People get to live here during the summer!! Doesn't that sound awesome?

And this.  although we did not see the draft horses that would pull it...

 Sunday: Danaher Meadows.  We intentionally camped in the same spot this year as we have in the past, because, although there is a lotta, lotta grass here, water is a little harder to find.  Unless you want to camp in the swamp, which was not on our agenda...

Our view from our campsite.

 This is where we heard the wolves howling. and where the big herd of mules appeared outside our tent in the middle of the night. Coincidence?  I don't think so.  The mules actually disturbed me more than the wolves- my horse LOVES mules.  He has jumped out of the electric corral to meet up with them before, so taking no chances, we got up early to saddle up and ride!

Lunch break.  We only tie to trees for short periods, when we are right there to watch everyone.

This was (another) Big, Long day.  I think we did 26 miles this day, part of it over an enormous pass!
The Hoadley/Stadler pass went on forever...

Top of the pass.

Then, going down the other side!

 At the bottom, we stopped at this forest service cabin for a break.

Glad to have a break.

This is another typical scene: my horse stands patiently, while I root around in every pocket, every bag to find something I most likely left at the trailer...

Monday: Back at the trailhead.  So happy to be back at the trailer (no tent to set up), with a wooden corral (no electric corral to set up) and a truck to take us to dinner (no sausage, cheese and crackers for dinner!). As you can imagine, we slept well that night!!

Well that's about it. Already have our trip planned for 2012!  and hopefully another trip to Wyoming (think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid...)

I hope you enjoyed this trip summary.  I have another tale to tell, but it is from home base (and involves some pretty happy sheep!!)

Happy Indian Summer.