pony Maggie
A Cheap Red Life Jacket Nearly Got Me Killed 2,000 Miles From Home
A cheap red life jacket nearly got me killed 2,000 miles from home.
There were saltier ways to make that Last Passage.
Moving in with Neptune would have been okay in a monster gale off Hatteras. Even coming to grief by getting run down by a shrimp boat in Adams Creek would have been fine. But to get flattened by a four-door Honda outside of Plains, Texas for the sake of a life jacket? What a lubberly way to go.… Continue reading
Mesquite and Windmills: Crossing the Texas Panhandle
After almost half a year of walking across North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, Woody, Maggie and I arrived in Texas. Texas! Land of the Long Horn, oil rigs and cattle drives. And now home to, at least on a walking-through basis, a pony, a mule and a dusty guy with a big grin.
Maggie’s Spots Turn Orange: Sunrise in the Wichita Mountains
The days are getting shorter now. The sun comes up late and dark orange. It climbs over the Wichita mountain range a few minutes later than the day before.
I stand and face East while that old star climbs the local hills.
Maggie’s white spots turn orange. I break camp, saddle Woody with the McClellan saddle and pile Maggie’s gear onto her pack saddle.
The morning light… Continue reading
What Would Gus Say? A Police Escort Across the Canadian River
Crossing rivers with a horse and mule pose a different challenges after Gus McCrae and Captain Call did it in Lonesome Dove.
All kinds of things went wrong back then. They drowned the chickens that were cooped under the wagons. Newt lost his favorite mount Mouse to a ball of water moccasins. So yes, I tightened up a bit when I saw “Canadian River” on my road map.
Not long after, I came to a two-lane bridge across the… Continue reading
The VW Black Widow Spider of Lexington, Oklahoma
The morning I left Rick’s Rodent Ranch, riding up the side of the highway, I came across the biggest black widow spider I’ve ever seen.
They say spiders aren’t bugs but in this case they’re wrong. Out here, they’re Bugs.
But there it was, looking like a “War of the Worlds” extra.
Actually, it was a 15-foot tall sculpture built by local Robert Leroy Wilson from a salvaged VW body as… Continue reading
Biker Weddings and Sink Water: Mule Woody and Maggie in Pink, Oklahoma
I went from a mansion to a biker ranch in a day. Maggie went from drinking water from a trough to a sink. None of us minded it one bit. In fact, we loved it. Al and Lisa Stillwell make a mule man feel that way.
After all, what do you expect from a couple in a place called Pink, OK?
Certainly not Harleys.
Two Nudes on a Straw Hat
Al and Lisa run Winding… Continue reading
Hubcap Bikinis on Highway 9: The Wheel Lady of Eufaula, Oklahoma
The Wheel Lady graces Highway 9 just outside Eufaula. I took a break across the fence from her for some orange juice and Lance peanuts.
She lives in front of a tire store where you can also rent a U-Haul. I can’t use either these days but even an iron lady makes for good lunch company.
Woody gave her a long look and decided she wasn’t worth spooking at. Maggie didn’t even glance up from the grass.… Continue reading
