Faces on the Way to the Fairground – Alliance to Hemingford, Nebraska
Marguerite, Ted, Joe, Peggy, 2 kids, Carolyn and John. Plus a wood cowboy hugging a bull. In this post I’m going to introduce you to some of the people I met today, July 15, 2019.
It amazes me how many people I meet each day. I can’t photograph them all. Still, today I asked a few if I could take their picture. Just to share with folks that are following my journey with mules Brick and Cracker. I think you’ll enjoy meeting them. Hopefully it’ll give you a sense of my social life on the road.
A Slow Start
This morning I got off to a slow start. No, not because I was sore because I walked 31 miles yesterday. Rather, I took an hour to plan my route from Alliance to Lusk, Wyoming. It looks like my route will take me to Agate, Nebraska and then, with luck, through Nebraska’s only tunnel.
Faces from the Road
Welcome to Hemingford
Around 5:30p, the mules and I arrived in Hemingford. We knew nobody. By 6:00p, Brick and Cracker were settling in at the Box Butte County Fairground. This is one of the nicest fair facilities I’ve encountered on this trip. Especially impressive as Hemingford is a community of only about 1,000 residents.
The fair grounds feature incredible wood carvings by Christy Mickey. Carved out of cotton wood trees, these exquisite chain saw carvings merit their own post. Here is one of my favorites.
Big thanks to John and Carolyn Annen who came out to make sure I settled in well. If you’re enjoying this post, you can thank them. They provided a great place for me to shower, cook and get these photos online.
It’s wonderful to know that a man with 2 mules can set off across the land, with little to no plan, and folks will take such good care of him. I hope after reading this post and seeing some of the faces, you’ll get a sense of what it’s like out here.
Off to Bed, er, Bivy
It’s 9:15p, past my bedtime. Brick and Cracker are picketed out on some lovely Nebraka grass. Now it’s time to crawl in to my bivy.
From here in Alliance, the mules and I plan to travel toward Agate and Harrison, Nebraska.
Great big thanks to everyone that helped us out today…and let me take their photo.
[…] a recent post, I introduced you to some of the folks the mules and I met between Alliance and the fairground in Hemigford. Here’s what the land looks […]
Thanks for posting photos of people you meet. Faces tell so much about where you are.
Sleeping question for you: when do you set up the bivy, as opposed to the big tent? Is weather a factor, time?
C
Ah, the bivy – aka “body bag with a mosquito screen”. One of my favorite topics. I’ve used it a lot lately primarily because the nights are getting cooler. Anything under 80 degrees when I go to bed (and absent torrential rains) I use the bivy. Anything warmer and up goes the tent. The bivy bag quickly turns in to an oven roaster bag in anything over 80 degress. I prefer the bivy because of the better view of the stars plus it’s quicker to put away in the morning. It’s a pleasantly interactive experience sleeping under the stars and next to the mules and coyotes. As opposed to the tent, I feel so much more part of the landscape I’m traveling through. For extended stays (more than one night) I usually pitch the tent.