Catching Up!

They say the folks who need a vacation the most are those who have just returned from a vacation! I can relate! Michael and I have spent the week catching up. As the flies start biting, we are all appreciating the fact that our pack trip was bug-free. Amazing luck on that factor!

This is a picture of one of the seven dogs along this year, Lily. She is now 13 years old and gets confused easily. After wandering off with another group the first day, not keeping up well on the second move, Lily got ugraded to the panyard seat atop a very gentle mule. She was quite content there, as illustrated!

The country of the Gray's River was green and lush and lovely. We traveled near and drank from clear, mountain streams. There were spots with hillsides of flowers and 10,000 foot passes still holding snow. (No reports of giardia yet!)

Our camps were peaceful and relaxing. This year's motto, "We're on Vacation, Remember?!!" was a good mantra to making ourselves relax and not be in quite such a hurry. Still, moving days require lots of saddling, packing, wieghing and tieing up of loads when you've got 25 head of stock!

Noteworthy this year was the quantity of amazing cookies aboard. The Judge's wife, Barbara, cooked up a remarkable 18 pounds of cookies for our trip. My favorites were the delicate, melt in your mouth sugar cookies. I'm hoping for the recipe!

And to supplement all those cookies, Cyndie and Susie baked up delicious desserts, just in case none of us had eaten enough cookies from morning time breakfast coffee, to brown lunchsack cookie packs topped off with afternoon snacks. We eat well on these trips!

Upon our return, we had an extra day to wash the pile of dusty, dirty laundry and were able to throw together a quick meal to share with visiting friends Terry and Mary from Vashon Island, Washington. What a treat to see them on their way through after their successful photography workshop in the beautiful northern part of Yellowstone National Park!

Back on the ranch (as they say!), Michael is putting the last two metal sheets on the roof as he finishes that week-long project - which will be great to have complete! The seven Trumbower/Clay stock have plenty to graze on around here now. The grass is tall and green. Next post will feature images of our newest addition, a mule named Methuselah who is about 25 years old; our rescue project! The chicken coop has seen a change. Before we left, we gave away the rooster and four hens. A new rooster, new hen and our four chicks that were posted on this site in a US Postal Service box (which, of course, has been returned!) now frolic around the extended yard space. He is a handsome rooster. Any ideas on a name for the lad?