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Your go-to site about rambling, horses, mules, hoof boots, Long Riders and taking big voyages on short money. Scroll through the recent posts, browse the page that lists the 400-plus posts that go back to 2004 or visit the General Store.
Happy Adventuring!
Bernie Harberts
I’d love to give you a heads-up when my new book “Two Mules to Triumph” is published. Just enter your email below. Thanks!
Why My 1992 Cummins Dodge is for Sale After 18 Years
For anyone who knows me, you know how hard this day is. I have decided to sell my beloved 1992 D250 first generation Cummins Dodge. My wife Julia and I bought a newer truck and we can’t use two pickups so, instead of mothballing it in the barn, I’d rather find it a new home with someone that’ll love it as much as I have.
Public Service Announcement to Birds Nesting in Our Trailer
Attention Mr. and Mrs. Wren: Please don’t build any more nests in the spare tire of our horse trailer. That’s why your young’uns went missing today from 10:30 am until 5:30 pm.
Attention anyone hauling a trailer: check your trailer for bird nests and chicks before you use it this spring.
Stowaways
My wife Julia and I hooked up our trailer today… Continue reading
The Best Day of Your Life
Happy Saturday morning from Diggity and me. Diggity says today is going to be the best day of your life!
Diggity is Lucky, our border collie’s puppy. Lucky came out of a horrific animal abuse case out West, but she’s started a wonderful new life with us here in western North Carolina. We didn’t know she was preggers when we adopted her last November, so Diggity came as a bonus. You can read lots more about life with Diggity and… Continue reading
Filipe Masetti Leiti Rode a Horse 16,000 Miles. This is What he Learned.
“I’d never ridden more than 3 kilometers.” That’s what author, filmmaker, and Long Rider Filipe Masetti told me after riding 16,000 miles across North and South America. That quote will give you hope you can do whatever you’re dreaming of doing.
Interview With Filipe… Continue reading
Crankin’: Long Distance Bicyclists Talk About Their Bike Journeys
Though I take most of my trips on the back of a mule, I always enjoy meeting long-distance bikers in my rambles. Here are the stories of three people taking long bicycle trips I thought you’d enjoy. They are Johannes “Hans” Myors, Sven Eckhard, and Ji Liong.
Johannes “Hans” Myors
Reverend Hans’ story is one of stick-to-it-ness. As of the day I met him on the side of the road, he’d pedaled 168,000… Continue reading
Listen to the Creston Dinosaur on Atlas Obscura
In 2008, my mule Polly and I traveled from Canada to the Mexican border in a homemade mule wagon. I interviewed folks along the way, and one of the favorite characters I met wasn’t a person. It was a giant green cement dinosaur outside Creston, South Dakota.
Flash forward to now. Recently Atlas Obscura, the website dedicated to obscure Americana, contacted me about doing a story about the Creston dinosaur. I… Continue reading
The Long Ride: Melissa Priblo Chapman Discusses Her Book “Distant Skies” (Part 2 of 2)
In the early 1980s, twenty-three-year-old Melissa Priblo Chapman rode her horse Rainy 2,600 miles alone across America. She encountered rattlesnakes, thunderstorms and Great Plains busters, but she also encountered kind ranchers like the one who hooked her up with a pack mule. Almost forty years after her trip, Melissa wrote a book about her voyage called “Distant Skies”. I recently interviewed Melissa about her book and trip.
“Distant Skies”: Melissa Priblo Chapman Discusses Her New Book (Part 1 of 2)
Melissa Priblo Chapman dreamt of “riding through some distant town on a trustworthy horse” in elementary school. It was the late 1970s. When she was 23, she saddled her horse Rainy, hauled her puppy Gypsy into the saddle with her and headed west to live her dream. This week, I interviewed Melissa about her new book “Distant Skies: An American Journey on Horseback”. Here is Part 1 of a two-part series of our conversation.
The Hoof Boot Review: 3 Hoof Boots, 32 Days on the Trail
What’s the best kind of hoof boot for your horse or mule? My wife Julia and I rode from North Carolina to Virginia and back with three brands of hoof boots. This hoof boot review is what we… Continue reading
