Travel by Mule

Cruisin' the Fireball Freeway

This week I’m pondering all the Fireball whisky bottles the mules and I are encountering on Indiana’s roadsides.

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Some of the Fireball whisky bottles I’ve come across on the roads between Sulpher and Monroe City, Indiana.

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Mules Cracker, Brick and me: on the road looking for adventure and roadside trash. (Tracy Smallwood photo)

Traveling America’s back roads by mule lets me absorb life at 3 miles per hour. How the bottom of a hill is cooler than the top. How… Continue reading

Mule Chow Gift

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An unexpected treat for the mules. A bag of corn left at my tent. (Hodgenville, Ky)

I was camped at Big Spring Cemetery wondering what the mules would eat for supper. It was going to be lentils and watercress from a nearby spring for me. For them it looked like it was going to just be grass. Grain is just too heavy to carry.

I strolled over to the spring and picked a mess of cress. When I got back… Continue reading

Welcome to the Land of Lincoln

Bernie Harberts, mule, trail ride, storm cloud, rain, hail, prairie
Welcome to Illinois. Is this the real land of Lincoln?

Yee ha! The mule and I have arrived in Illinois.
Illinois is the third state that claims Abraham Lincoln. He was born in Kentucky but didn’t live there long enough to get on too many road signs. He spent time in Indiana where he got a mention on the state line. But the Illinois Lincoln Marketing Board was smart enough to step up and just claim him. They branded… Continue reading

Mule Fuel

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Mule Fuel. In to which slot does the gas pump go? Cracker’s pretty sure it’s not his blow hole… (Campbellsville, Ky)

It seems odd that a guy traveling across the land with his mules would need to buy gas. Sorta seems to defeat the whole reason to travel with a vehicle that gets most of its fuel from grass.

But, about twice a month, I’ll ease in to a gas station. Tie my mules up next to the gas pump.… Continue reading

What to do About Tornadoes

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The waiting is the hardest part: will this become a twister, a hail storm, a thunder storm….or nothing? (Newton, IL)

“What are you doing about the storms and tornadoes?”, folks ask me.
It’s been an active summer tornado season with twisters getting lots of press as they destroy homes and communities.
I tell them, “nothing”.
When the closest shelter is a telephone pole, your options are limited.

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Where are you going to hide? That treeline is a mile away –… Continue reading

On a Map Versus On a Mule

To get ready for my mule ramble, I looked at a lot of maps – from Google maps to topo maps to hand drawn sketches. They’re fine for giving you a general idea of what direction you need to go. But to see the water run under the bridges, and feel the whoosh of a semi roaring, well, you just gotta physically be there.
It looks different on a map than it looks on a mule. Join mules Brick and… Continue reading

Mule Dawn

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Mule dawn: Cracker ponders the day ahead (outside Petersburg, IN).

I hope you have a good Sunday. I thought you’d enjoy this photo of Cracker starting his day. Yes, the sky really was that vivid.
He’s pretty chill about dawn’s early light but intense skies like this freak out the mariner in me. It’s that “red skies at morning, sailor take warning” thing. Sure enough, it rained like bejusus-crazy-hell for the next three days with tornadoes thrown in for good… Continue reading

Button Lathe and Cooling Casket

Taking a lunch break with my mules at Stephenson’s General Store in Leavenworth, Indiana, I was reminded of one of my favorite books, “Shanty Boat” by Harlan Hubbard. The book is the account of Harlan’s 7 year journey down the Ohio and MIssissippi Rivers in his shanty boat. Accompanying Harlan were his wife Anna, a few dogs and occasionally, a hive of bees.

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Harland traveled the river with dogs and bees. I’m visiting with mules Brick and Cracker. Here, Brick… Continue reading

Mule Bridge Police Escort Video

Last week the mules and I crossed the Ohio river from Kentucky to Indiana … under police escort. It was a challenging steering job steering Cracker past oncoming traffic and over the bridge’s expansion joints. I really wanted you to experience what it’s like to ride across a river so I filmed it. Enjoy!


Dead Animals of Kentucky

I wanted to show you some of the Kentucky wildlife the mules and I are seeing. But my camera doesn’t have a strong telephoto. So to get nice closeups, I’ve just been photographing dead animals as I find them on the roadside. Here’s a selection of Kentucky creatures I thought you’d enjoy.

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Animals of Kentucky: Mule Traveler Edition. To give them a museum-esque presentation, I put laid them out against a black background.

As to my labeling, you know that’s… Continue reading

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