The Aftermath

Apparently, 5000 miles in 5 days in a moving vehicle will take a toll on the human body after the fact: I feel like I've been neutered and had my wisdom teeth out, while on a ferris wheel, all in the same day...it was a long drive into the city to work today. I suspect the commute home will be a blur!

The Eagle Has Landed-5/30 9am

Picture of the Griswold Family Vacation van outside Dirty Annie's in Wyoming. Interestingly, there is no food for 100 miles or so outside Yellowstone OR the Tetons at later hours of the day...or wee hours of the morn. If it wasn't for Dirty Annie aka Jim, we would actually be the Donner party!

I think I mentioned that already but it bears repeating.

The Littles and the White Husky and I realize we have to wake up now and make sure the barn animals are tended to. (The Littles are just awake for dinner.) It's also sandwich night at Farmer Ron's house and they want to hear all about our trip.

Somewhere in Minnesota

I've been driving most of the night...don't exactly know where I am!

Wall Drug, SD

5/29 5pm Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

Hangover-Sturgis, SD

Yup. We took our Amish friends to Sturgis. Is anyone surprised? Lily looks like she's been in a saloon for way too long...

Why do we never rest at rest areas?

Yellowstone National Park

May 28 8pm

Girl Interrupted

Are you worried yet? Sorry- no cell phone signal in any of the mountainous regions we've been in. We are all still alive and well and not reliving the Donner situation yet!

Somewhere in Wyoming-5/28/12 6am

Trying to find food since leaving Yellowstone...that was 12 hours ago.

Jackson Hole, WY vicinity

While the trailer brakes stop smoking and Mr. H chats with the sheriff who stopped to make sure we don't "coast" through town faster than 25mph, I climbed out and made some friends.

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Pocatello, ID

North of Salt Lake City, UT

Lily is tired of navigating...it's my turn to drive.

Memorial Day-Somewhere in Utah

Grand Canyon, AZ 7pm

Lily getting ready to tinkle after rock climbing the Grand Canyon....

Somewhere in Arizona

Montezuma's Castle

Phoenix, AZ

On the way, Dr. Coyote!

Onward and Upward to Flagstaff

Lily is worn out from Tucson. She's taking a power nap before we say hi to more friends in Flagstaff.

Nunn Better Lifeguard-Tucson, AZ

Rescue Nunn, making sure no one falls into the pool.

Our Tucson Welcome Wagon

Seneca took William on a trail ride while Lily rode Stetson...

Leaving Tucson...

...is the hardest thing to do.

Mr. H and I and William and Martha had the best time ever. Thank you Tucson peeps and Nunn Better crew! We love you all.

Three Points, AZ

Riley says hi!

Happy Morning-Tucson,AZ

What a welcome we got last night at 1a.m.! Seneca's little ranch is an oasis in the city...hate to leave but we've got chores to do today. Then, more sightseeing with friends...

Tucson, AZ

Gnome away from home! Goodnight...

Flashbacks--Somewhere in the Desert

Oh boy.....

An Oasis in the Desert

Oy. First yuppie cup on the trip. That gas station java is poison!

.....north edge of Albuquerque...

Wagon Mound, NM

Thanks for the ice cream, William and Martha! Lily loves strawberry shortcake ice cream bars.

Scenes From a Rest Area

Road trippin' is a glamorous life! Wish we were in that Seneca-mobile below...hee.

Hello, New Mexico!

I gotta find a Starbucks!

Thank you, Pueblo, CO

Thanks for the grub, Cracker Barrel; on to New Mexico...

9a.m. Somewhere outside Denver, CO

A little early for these, but nothing else photo worthy at the truck stop. First cup of coffee for the day--hi John and Denise!

Holiday Road-Lincoln, NE

Look! It's the original Clark Griswold mobile. If you've never seen National Lampoon's Vacation, rent it-it's a pip!

Albert Lea, MN-Walmart parking lot

(We took a northerly scenic route due to a death in the Amish community. Our friends requested a stop in Mondovi, WI before we set sail. Now we are on our way. I've already taken two naps)

Richford, WI

Griswold Family Vacation: Wally World or Bust!

I've been sittin' on this one a long time but thought I'd start the ball rolling, as we are less than an hour from departure...

Some of you are already aware that Mr. H and I are headed to Arizona and back over the next five days to retrieve the rest of our belongings at the little Tucson hacienda. We are also going to detour about 800 miles to try to visit the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore and more. Because...

We will be accompanied by our two young Amish friends, William and Martha, a newlyweds married less than a year.

Obviously there will be no pictures of them posted here, as the Amish don't like having their picture taken, on a matter of the "graven image" principle.

Off we go in our big pickup truck, and Lily--Mr. H's little Chihuahua--and a bunch of snacks. We can't listen to the radio with them in the truck so I've loaded my Kindle full of inappropriate music, as has Bill on his MP3 player, iPod thingy.

I'm on my way to load up the truck and hopefully will keep everyone posted on our adventures with the Amish! Maybe even some really cool photos of National landmarks.

We are also participating in what I like to call the Relay for Wife: I've asked a couple of my friends who are along our journey to stop off and have a cup of coffee with me. One of which is a dear friend from Arizona: a fiery little redhead who is now back on her family ranch in Idaho.  And, my Dr. Coyote: an eccentric little hippie who I met when he was one of my professors at Northern Arizona University.

This jaunt is called the Relay for Wife because Mr. H is always saying, "Happy Wife, Happy Life," and if I don't have coffee (or sleep...or food), there's usually trouble. So, the first annual Relay for Wife is set and 30 minutes (I've been running around while trying to post this) from commencement.

Bon Voyage!....er.....

Fueled by Fleece

After several encounters, both visual and audible, with coyotes at the Black Squirrel Ranch I am more convinced than ever that a livestock guardian animal is the way to go. Of course, there's no way we could rescue a sixth dog and still keep what's left of our sanity. A guard donkey could be a little noisy and we love our neighbors, so a pet ass is out. By process of elimination that leaves a guardian llama. Llamas are proven to seriously increase the safety of a herd of livestock, namely sheep or goats. They bond closely with whatever you've got in the pasture with them and they just sort of take over, instinctively protecting "their" animals. This will hopefully decrease the number of times I end up flying out of bed in the dead of night and throwing on barn boots with my PJ's,  to go see just how close the coyote howls are to my goat pen.

Diesel is the man for the job. He is one year and four days old today and he was in the Badgerland Sweepstakes Llama Show. Supposedly this is a show of heavy hitters: very serious breeders whose animals usually end up at Nationals.

Diesel should have been in the Juvenile class, but at the last minute he had to be entered in the Yearling class and he placed third (out of three). Oh well, for third place I got to take home a spiffy little lunch bag with a llama on it and took my picture with the man of the hour.

Diesel is being gelded in three days (we haven't even had the birds and bees talk yet!) and then he'll be shown by his little 4-H kid in June. He will most likely be officially on duty at the Black Squirrel Ranch sometime in early July. Unfortunately I really need him now due to the baby goat situation, but he's not quite ready. He'd be ready to guard, but we want the 4-H kids and his owner to handle him more. The last thing I need on this farm is a difficult animal!

Meet Diesel:

I know, right? He looks intelligent. I think he's wishing he
knew how to spit right about now....

Saturday Morning Cartoons

The kids formed a band called Caprine Chaos. Buck is of course the ringleader. Here's their first publicity photo as a group.....
Not really. They are playing on their slide and showing each other how high they can kick!