I Left My Heart...

We are home again after a whirlwind trip.  There is much to do before our next adventure.  We have plans to upgrade the new camper as well as finish this year's remodeling project on the master bath.  My heart, however, lingers in Theodore Roosevelt National Park with its wild horses.

We did not find the white stallion nor his band.  An optimist at heart, I consider that good news.  Their territory ends at Coal Vein, so hope springs eternal that he and his band are in the remote high country.

We did, however, discover old friends.  We found the roan and his band near Buck Hill.

It appears that the new birth control program implemented by the park has worked with his mares.  None appeared to be pregnant.

The roan's aproned mare and her two-year-old filly pictured below.

We discovered several new bands with some precious yearlings.

We also found a lone, grey stallion with blue eyes.  We discovered him just minutes after he had been put in place by the black stallion.  

The young grey one appears to be a two-year-old, probably recently ejected from his mother's band.  Already, he shows signs of a difficult life, harboring a myriad of scars from recent battles.

We will visit again next fall with more stories to tell.  Theodore Roosevelt continues to intrigue!

Our Buffalo Gal

Our Buffalo Gal, Roxanne, continues to be fascinated by the bison.

When there is an itch to scratch, nothing works like a post! 

Theodore Roosevelt's bison are very fashion conscious... notice the cockleburs.

Another interesting head dress...

A small example of the respect this photographer receives during shoots!

Sugarfoot

The horses have been elusive during this visit.  Perhaps it is because the mares have yet to foal.  We have found familiar bands, but they remain at a substantial distance. 

Today is our last day at Roosevelt.  To my dismay, we have yet to find what we call the Coal Vein mob, led by the white stallion who was limping so badly last fall.

The majority of the horses that we have seen closest to the road have been one or two young stallions that have banded together.  Last fall, we discovered two of these stallions, the big red stallion with one blue and one brown eye and his sidekick.  During this visit, we have only found the sidekick alone and roaming the park road past the Coal Vein trail turnoff. 

The horse is small in comparison to most of the stallions here and seems very lethargic.  Every time that we have spied him, he keeps his distance, yet remains close to the road.  We have seen him almost every time that we have toured the wildlife loop.  It has felt odd for him to have so little spunk and so small a territory.

Today, he was walking up the pavement as we traveled down it.  For the first time, he didn’t turn off into the brush when David stopped the truck.  I stepped out to photograph him, as always.  He walked right towards me. 

As he neared, I noticed that he was limping on his back left leg.  I lowered the camera to take a closer look.  Immediately, I discovered that his hoof was malformed.  The horse bowed his head, keeping eye contact, almost as if he were trying to explain himself to me.  He veered away from the truck and kept walking along the shoulder.  As he passed, it was obvious that his left hip was also underdeveloped in comparison to his right hip.

We have named him Sugarfoot.  He has survived another winter, an enormous testament to his perseverance in spite of adversity.  Bless you, Sugarfoot, and thank you for telling me your story.

The Learning Curve Begins!

We spent our first night in the new camper at Curt Goudy State Park near Cheyenne, Wyoming.  

Chris gave us a thorough tour of the camper and its capabilities before we left.  Last night, however, was our first shake down.  We obviously have a few things to work out...

As the sun began to set, we knew that we were in for a cold night.  As you can see from the photo above, the lake behind the camper was frozen over.  We crawled into bed, delighted to have a furnace.  Several hours later, we both awoke, shivering with cold.

David got up to turn the furnace higher, when he saw a red flashing light.  Half asleep, both of us wondered what it could be.

Suddenly, David announced that he was going outside.  We had forgotten to turn the propane tank into its "on" position.  As a result, the furnace appeared to cycle but was not pumping any hot air!  He hopped outside in bare feet and pajamas (what an amazing husband I have) to turn on the tank.  Within seconds, I heard a swoosh as the furnace kicked in.  I doubt seriously that we'll forget that small item on our checklist in the future!

We're off to North Dakota for the remainder of our shake down trip.  So far, so good!

Our New Four Wheel Camper

Today Chris Janeway, owner of Rocky Mountain Four Wheel Campers, installed our new camper.  We are excited about the prospects.

The camper is designed to slip into the bed of our equally new pickup truck.  Like Oz, the new rig is spartan.  It has a bed, 15-gallon water tank, and, most importantly, a furnace.

Above is a video of our first load.  Chris was at the wheel this time... we figure it might take us a few attempts to become so proficient!

The unit is low profile while traveling to save on gas mileage.  This feature will also allow us to travel off road.  We hope to be able to off-load it when we stay in one place for more than a day or two.

The above short video shows how easily the top is popped.  Once the camper top is raised, the inside ceiling height is 6' 6".

I admit that naming our vehicles and rigs is a bit on the weird side… oh well!  As soon as I saw the new truck, he was dubbed “Hoss.”   As a result, David decided that the camper should be named “Little Joe.”  Of course, we recognize that these names date us back to the fifties when television pictures were black and white and one of the most popular shows was Ponderosa.  That’s okay with us…

We're having difficulty uploading, so will write more about the camper later!

It's Warmer in Denver than Houston!

We've made it to Denver and are tucked into our hotel for the night.  This will be our LAST hotel stay during the trip!  :)

After arriving around 3 pm, we stopped by Rocky Mountain Four Wheel Campers this afternoon to see our new rig.  Can't wait to have it installed tomorrow morning.  We are absolutely itching to get on the road and take it for a test spin!

The weather has been beautiful since we drove out of the rain west of Fort Worth yesterday... and unseasonably warm.  The high in Denver today was in the mid-70s.  After checking the long range forecast, we're expecting warm weather even up in North Dakota.  Hopefully we'll at least be able to test out that new furnace!

So adios y sueños dulce for the evening.  Know that we'll be dreaming of getting a little mud on the tires!

Onward and Upward!

Tomorrow we're on the road again... heading for Colorado to pick up "Little Joe."

After spending nearly six months over the past two summers living in Ozzie, our wonderful Kamparoo trailer, we have decided to upgrade.  The decision came one morning during last summer's trip when we discovered Roxanne's water bowl frozen over... inside the camper!  Our bones literally ached for days afterwards.

We also experienced two straight weeks of rain during last summer's trip, which left the canvas so saturated that we couldn't keep anything dry.  Except for issues during extreme weather conditions, the Kamparoo has been the perfect 4x4 trailer for us.  Our plans, however, are to continue stretching the limits.  We have come to realize that the Kamparoo was not meant to live in full time.

Last month we purchased a Ford 150 Fx4 pickup, named "Hoss." After a visit to Colorado's Sportsman's Expo in January, we ordered a Raven shell from Four Wheel Campers (http://www.fourwheelcampers.com).  While the new camper is extremely spartan (as is Ozzie), we have ordered it with a thermostat-controlled furnace and a 15-gallon water tank.  We will build the new camper out to meet our needs before our next big trip.  (This year we plan to take an East Coast excursion to Nova Scotia and beyond!)

The new camper and truck combination should allow us the same flexibility to continue our off-road travels, while still allowing us to off-load the camper at sites where we choose to stay for more than a day.  After all our research, we're excited about the possibilities.

Once the new camper is installed, we will drive on up Roosevelt National Park.  My prayer is to photograph at least one of this year's new foals.  I also need to check up on my wonderful white stallion.

We'll be blogging the trip... and invite you to come along with us!