mules
Meet Mule Polly and Watch The Lost Sea Expedition at FENCE House in Tryon
Ever squeezed into a 21-square-foot wagon that crossed America?
Come take a wagon voyage across America with mule Polly and me! On Wednesday, September 30, Polly and I are bringing the Lost Sea Expedition program to FENCE House in Tryon, North Carolina.
Come meet Polly. Squeeze into the Lost Sea Expedition wagon. Then settle in and watch The Lost Sea Expedition, the documentary about our 3,500-mile, 395-day wagon voyage across America.
Launching Grit: Storms Delay the Start of Our Shackleford Banks Voyage
Thunder storms, downpours and a tornado. Whew. Today was the day Julia and I were going to launch our sailboat Grit in the Neuse River and head toward Shackleford Banks. Only that didn’t happen on account of the, er, bumpy weather.
Join the Horse Partnership Webinar with Julia Carpenter – February 7th
If you’re interested in forging a stronger bond with your horse—really seeing the being inside the animal you’re working with—I’m inviting you to attend my wife Julia’s free webinar this Saturday. It’s called Exploring the Building Blocks of Partnership, and it’s about connecting with horses, mules, and donkeys in ways you may not have imagined possible.
- Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
- Time: 1 pm EST
- Register here.
- Cost: Free
If you haven’t officially registered yet, make sure you sign… Continue reading
1992 Dodge First Gen Cummins Mule Haul: Nebraska to Missouri
This is Part 3 of a 3-part series about hauling mules Brick and Cracker home from Idaho to North Carolina in a 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge. Read Part 1: Idaho to Wyoming and Part 2: Wyoming to Nebraska. Wondering what became of the old Dodge? Read Why I Sold My 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge After 18 Years.
The news today is there is no news. No blown fuses as my 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge D250… Continue reading
1992 Dodge First Gen Cummins Mule Haul: Wyoming to Nebraska
This is Part 2 of a 3-part series about hauling mules Brick and Cracker home from Idaho to North Carolina in a 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge. Read Part 1: Idaho to Wyoming and Part 3: Nebraska to Missouri. Wondering what became of the old Dodge? Read Why I Sold My 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge After 18 Years.
Fried fuses, carrot nubs and dead dials. Today marks Day 2 of me hauling my mules Brick and Cracker… Continue reading
1992 Dodge First Gen Cummins Mule Haul: Idaho to Wyoming
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series about hauling mules Brick and Cracker home from Idaho to North Carolina in a 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge. Read Part 2: Wyoming to Nebraska and Part 3: Nebraska to Missouri. Wondering what became of the old Dodge? Read Why I Sold My 1992 First Gen Cummins Dodge After 18 Years.
Today mules Brick, Cracker and I chug, chugged 500 miles closer to home in my 1992 First Gen Cummins… Continue reading
Blow Your Whistle at my Mules
Maybe the mules and I have been alone too long. Maybe I’m childish. Who cares. Fist-pumping the Nebraska sky to get a coal train to blow its whistle at the mules and me amuses the hell out of me.
That ol’ train whistle sure makes me smile. I hope it does you, too.
Whistle Post Script
The whistle blowing caper happened in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The mules and I have since traveled to eastern Wyoming.
Email From the Sand Hills
“You never saw so many cowboys drinking so much beer in a hurry.” So writes my wife Julia to a friend of ours about attending a ranch rodeo in the Sand Hills of Nebraska.
Read Julia’s “Email From the Sand Hills” about the ranch rodeo, Sand Hills cowboying and how we almost got flattened by a… Continue reading
Finally a Mule Team – East Bend, NC
Published November 3, 2005
Growing up, one of my favorite pictures in my parent’s house was a photo of a man cultivating tobacco behind his mule.
(One of) the photos that got me thinking run-away thoughts as a kid. Simon Ward cultivating tobacco field with mule Kate using wooden harrow Tennessee 1974 (Photo by Jack Jeffers 12/4/74)
That old man was slim as a tobacco stake and the great old mule he walked behind had a notch missing from its… Continue reading
Rolling Out of Artesia with an 83-Year-Old and His VW Covered Wagon
“I’d sure like to ride out of town with you” Vernon Laman told me and that Sunday morning we met.
For years Vernon drove a big rig as an over-the-road trucker. “I always wanted to build me a little wagon” the 83-year old Vernon told me. “So I bought an old Volkswagen and built this wagon”. The old Bug cost him twenty bucks. The rims are painted yellow. The chrome hubcaps say “VW”.
