2009 may have been the year I completed the Lost Sea Expedition, my Canada to Mexico wagon trek, but the trip isn’t over.

For that, I’ll need a good chunk of 2010.

In the course of the 2,500 mile, 10-state voyage, I shot over 6,500 minutes of Hi-Def film footage. Accompanied by a similiar amount of audio recordings. Now, it’s time to put this store of footage into a documentary film.

This is gonna be loud: Interviewing a Nebraska thunderhead… Continue reading →

Self portrait of Bernie’s new bull escape technique
Russell Gap
South of Hope, New Mexico

This week, mule Polly and I worked on our bull escape technique. It involves whiskey, limes and alfalfa hay. The story is coming.


Coming out of the Guadeloupes
Crow Flats, New Mexico

In the meantime click here for some hill thoughts….

Mule Polly ear demo
Floydada, Texas

Hang on buckaroos! The 2009 RiverEarth.com program series has kicked off with appearances from Texas to North Carolina. There’s something here for students, families and anyone curious to learn about the Lost Sea or how a mule’s ear compares to a horse’s. Then click here for program times and dates…

bernies-appearances

How would you like a free book on how to cook on a locomotive manifold? This week mule Polly and I visited with Gene Hansen of Seneca, Nebraska. Gene is a conductor on the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) rail line.  He has written a cookbook called “Manifold Menus” which I thought you’d enjoy hearing about. It’s about how to cook on a locomotive engine. It’s a great read, even if… Continue reading →

Welcome to the new RiverEarth.com site!

This week, while snow pounded the Great Plains here at RiverEarth.com, we pounded the keys…

There may be no mules to pull it, but the Lost Sea Expedition wagon is set to appear in Saturday’s Croaker Festival Parade in Oriental, NC.

Keith Smith agreed to provide his Wizard lawn mower for locomotion.

Gee! (that means right in mulespeak)

For more pictures visit towndock.net.

As I rode Woody and Maggie across America, I wrote a series of articles for RiverEarth and various newspapers.

There was only one problem.

I couldn’t carry a computer in my saddlebag because it weighed too much.

Enter libraries. They had public computers and Internet access. But what would I do with my mounts as I filed my stories?

Bringing them inside was out. I’d tried that at Gaskill’s Hardware Store in Beaufort and when Woody wasn’t eying the peanuts,… Continue reading →

I hear it all the time. “If you call it MuleCam, where are the mules?”

Mules?

The answer’s simple. I don’t have any right now – well, not any I’d trust to pull my wagon.

What about Woody?

It occurred to me that since he’d had already walked across America, he’d probably make a fine wagon-pulling mule. And he jumped too. That showed flexibility.

Woody the showjumping mule

In a moment of enthusiasm, I draped an old harness on him,… Continue reading →

MuleCam is visiting the Blue Bottle Garden in Oriental, NC this week.

Also, RiverEarth has released a two-minute clip of the “65 Days Alone at Sea” DVD (available in the RiverEarth General Store).

Here is a two minute sample.

Bernie

This week I’m visiting Oriental, NC ,where I began my circumnavigation aboard Sea Bird – and my mule trip across America.

Coast-to-coast mule trip departure – Oriental, NC, March 2004, Melinda Penkava photo

But no, this time I’m not here to go sailing, muleing or dragon hunting.

Nope, this time I’m here to attend Tennessee Ronnie’s annual block party barbecue.

I caught up with Ronnie this morning as he was inspecting the grill on his pig cooker.

Ronnie checking for… Continue reading →