In Memory of Sam
June 27, 2005
Hello from Great Bend , KS-- "halfway between here and there"--the Atlantic and the Pacific. However, I'm only 1/3 of the way through my journey, due to the winding nature of the route we're on. We've traveled 1500 miles in 3 months--3000 miles and 6 months to go, and I'm still not tired of this incredible journey.
Val, Rocky and I had a much needed four day break in La Junta, CO with hosts Bill and Judy who were gracious enough to let us stay while Val's sore shoulder began to mend. I enjoyed our break, watching movies, eating with Lea, their daughter, and Bailey and Garrett, their grandchildren. Bailey, like her grandparents and mother, proved to be a good little horsewoman at 12 years old, and rode with me to my next destination, Las Animas.
On flag day, in Las Animas we were greeted with fans waving flags, a reporter, and as we pulled up to the Santa Fe Trail Inn, the sign read "In Memory of Sam, Linda Losey, American Discovery Ride." Our great hosts Michael, Lynn and their children, Jonathan, Danny, Travis, and his wife Erin, did a wonderful job in converting the Santa Fe Trail Inn courtyard to a makeshift stable, complete with fencing and straw for bedding. I bawled as I read the sign, knowing Sammy's memory was acknowledged. It came from the heart. Lynn and Michael 18 years earlier had lost their five year old son Corey in a tragic car accident, and they did what it took to host us, in such a meaningful way. The next morning chef Rosie from a neighboring restaurant donated breakfast.
Val was really acting up on the ride, and for the first time ever, we came close to a wreck on the highway. It turned out that the saddle sore that was working on her wither broke through and was causing pain. My girl now had a sore wither and shoulder, and it broke my heart. To top the day off, a huge thunderstorm broke out, with lightning striking all around us. Travis, who rode with me to Hasty, CO, and I tied the horses out in the ditch, as we sat for two hours beside the horses waiting for the storm to pass. I was thankful Travis was with me as he was quite knowledgeable about tornadoes and thunderstorms. Eventually his mom Lynn, his brother Jonathan and his wife Erin arrived, providing shelter for us while the storm began to subside.
I'm always amazed at how I never want on this trip. With the rain still pelting down, in the middle of nowhere, on a back dirt road, a pickup truck pulling an empty horse trailer pulled up. A man appeared, asking if I was "The Lady"--by now people are beginning to recognize my by my hat. It is a sorry excuse for a cowboy hat, but it has become my trademark. When I replied that, yes, I was, he asked if I'd be offended if he offered to trailer us...with four miles to go, pouring rain, and Val's pain, I gratefully accepted his offer to the Hasty Retreat B&B, where our next host Becky was waiting. We settled the horses in across the highway at a neighbor's corral while Travis and Lynn agreed to meet us in Holly a few days ride away, giving Val a much needed break on her shoulder.
I spent the evening with Becky, her 86 year old Aunt Wilma and her friend Veta, who was interested in meeting me. These two elderly ladies were amazingly young. Wilma still drove and had such a wholehearted laugh that made me smile every time it surfaced. The next morning, after Becky sent us off with a great breakfast, we headed onto the LaMar Sportsman
Campground and Horse Motel. I was prepared to sleep out on a picnic table with the horse blankets, but thankfully, Charlie, the owner, donated the use of a cabin. Luckily so, the sky grew black, the wind erupted, lightning was striking, while rain poured down....hard enough to rip the screens off the windows and break surrounding trees in half. After three hours, as the sun was setting, a beautiful double rainbow broke through the blackened sky, and calm settled all around as I finally settled in for the night.
The next day I received my first marriage proposal of the journey...Really. It only took four states and 1400 miles. On my way through LaMar a pickup truck pulled over and out stepped a gentleman, carrying the newspaper article. As I was saying hello, he said he came to meet the girl he was going to marry. He wanted to know why a girl like me wasn't married. For those of you who know me, my response was dead on, "because there's not a guy on earth who can handle me." He laughed and said that he could handle me....to which I heartily laughed. Rethinking his proposal, he offered himself, AND half his ranch. Tempting, but, nah. Darrell, throughout the course of the next two days, brought me lunch and Pepsi's and upped the ante; he threw in a race horse as well. And, although he said at 82 he wasn't the best lover, he'd treat me well. He made my days as I headed on to Hartman a 28 mile ride, where we encountered yet another rattlesnake along the way.
As we pulled into Hartman, Jeff, who had set up our stay in Holly, 8 miles from Hartman, and 8 miles too long for a day's ride of 28 miles, met us with a trailer to take us on into Holly. We were met by Travis, Lynn and Jonathan with our packs. They had quite an encounter just a few miles before. Travis' Jeep overheated, and as he stepped out along the road, he was met by the very same rattlesnake that we had encountered earlier, only this time it struck at him--twice. Thankfully, Travis was able to jump onto the hood of the Jeep before the snake could make contact. I absolutely think twice now before getting their roadside grazing.
For my next destination, it took a town to host a longrider. Jeff coordinated my stay in Holly, my last town in Colorado . The horses stayed at Gateway Downs, a racetrack. I stayed with James, an older German bachelor with a wealth of knowledge on a variety of subjects, and a chef to boot. He hosted a backyard barbecue for all involved. The next day was a rest day for us and I was taken on a tour of Gateway Products, a family owned business, which made healthcare products for horses. The family donated a product called Curazone, which has done an amazing job on healing Val's sore, as well as Gainweight to put weight on Rocky. That same day I received a call from an amazing man named Billy who invited Jeff, James and myself over for dinner to meet with Rep. Wes McKinley from Colorado. The afternoon was quite a delight. Billy, who is mostly blind, played guitar and fiddle, while his wife Loretta played piano. I love music and am especially partial to the guitar teary eyed as Billy played for us. Billy just enjoys life. I'm not sure how old this grandfather is, but a smile never left his face the whole time we were there. When Rep. McKinley stopped by, we enjoyed exchanging stories of our days spent in the saddle. Rep. McKinley campaigned in Colorado on a mule for three months and knew exactly the highs and lows of this journey.
The next day I headed off to Syracuse , KS where I stayed with Jennifer and Jeremy, Becky's nephew from the Hasty B&B. Jeremy was phenomenal with Val. He took out her stitches for me, and, amazingly, she let him. He had a terrific demeanor with her and I was really touched to see that. Jeremy took my packs onto Kendall , KS where I stayed with Becky and Dick, whom I had heard about for miles and miles. Dick is known as a "Hand." For those of you who don't know, a "hand" is a natural cowboy who is always there, where he's needed, without asking, and naturally gets the job done. Dick was that kind of man, who had a great touch with horses. Oh yeah, and rattlesnakes. He holds the world's record for killing the largest prairie rattlesnake, and that night he killed another one, pulled off the rattle, and gave it to me as a souvenir trinket. The next morning Becky made us a great breakfast as they all headed out on a cattle drive, just as the sun was rising over the horizon. Out here, the days start early, and end late. For as much as people said I would dread Kansas for it's long hot days, and flat, flat views, I am enjoying Kansas--a lot. It truly is America 's heartland with its small hometowns that exemplify all that is good in America , and its people are true, genuine and generous of spirit.
The next day was the first day that Val had packed, which still hurt her withers. We spent the night at Bobbie and Dale's Deerfield Beachside Campground. The horses stabled out in the corral and I spent the night with fellow campers John and Collette from Chicago . I was lucky enough to not have to sleep on the ground that night, rather in their motorhome. The next morning Dale drove me over to Bob's, a horseman, who offered me assistance on the road the day before. I needed another pad to lift Val's saddle off of her withers even more, and he had an old felt pad that I could cut the wither out of to relieve the pressure.
The day was June 22nd. The one year anniversary of Sammy's death. It turned out to be a bittersweet day. As we headed into Holcomb, our halfway point to Garden City, we were met by reporters, Angie, the County Fairground Coordinator who coordinated my stay in Garden City, Wendee, head of tourism for the City, members from the Miles of Smiles Therapeutic Riding program, who had purchased much needed supplies for me and my horses, from Q-tips to fly collars, Leslie, a school teacher who brought supplies, for days, clear to Dodge City, and Suzie, who met and rode with me to her friend Dory's house, who provided good meals, comfortable lodging and great conversation during our stay. As we headed on out Garden City we were met by a television crew, who interviewed us for the 10 o'clock news. It felt great talking about Sammy and the purpose of the ride, on his year anniversary death. The crew followed us on down the road, and Val's pack, with its double padding, had shifted across her wither, re-breaking it open.
The rush of emotions at that point were overwhelming, Sam's death, and the defeat of Val's sore wither....I called Angie and Leslie who immediately came to my rescue, hauled off her packs and saddle, and talked to Brian at Crazy House, who donated a pack saddle, that would stay off of her withers, blankets, and the shipping home of Val's endurance saddle. I am still in awe of the generosity of spirit I find on this journey. And it didn't stop there. In Charlestown , I stayed with Terri, Randy, and their terrific four children, Riley, Landon, Amanda and Ally. They were a beautiful family who had relatives in from Missouri and yet they shared their home, food and family with me. Under Sheriff for Gray County , put up the horses and talked to the Vogel's (my maiden name, but no relation) of Cimarron Crossing B&B who donated a room for the night. While in Cimarron , I met Cynthia who had lost her 14 year old son, Blake, not quite a year ago. A lot of sharing was done in the barn as we took care of our horses. On the trip I've met so many parents who have lost a child, and in sharing that grief, so much healing takes place.
My last stop was in Dodge City . Imagine Dodge City . I looked forward to it for so long. But I was disappointed, so disappointed in the City itself, but as always, not in the people. I was expecting old wooden facade buildings, and western themed streets, only to find that Front Street had been moved, renovated, and in Boot Hill the restaurant they let in was Applebee's--Applebee's, in historic Boot Hill Cemetery, not even with a western theme--it was sports based. Ugh. Apparently 10 years ago, the town decided to get rid of the cowtown modern.
They've failed miserably in their vision. The jewel that I found there was the Marchel Ranch. They put on a great old western show, with music, chuck wagon food, and great horsewomen, including Linda and her 6 year old granddaughter Lindee, both in the show. Linda graciously put me up, carted me around and the Marchel's let us stay for three days while I waited for the horses to be shod. After watching the show, I spent the evening out with the women from Garden City, who were on a quest to put a little juice into this story. The best we could do over fine dining, was to eat calf fries (calf testicles that fried up and tasted like, what else? chicken). As we stabbed our "calf fries," the conversation revolved around men, while a lone single man was eavesdropping. We had terrific fun with that conversation. We had a great girls night out, but, unfortunately, not a lot of "juice." If I ever write a book, I'll need to embellish.
I am continually amazed by the ways of the west. Linda has been on a horse since she was two, has no fear, and is tremendous on the horse. I also had the pleasure of meeting Linda's 87 year old mother Mary, who drove up from Oklahoma to share lunch with me. She's an artist, and at age 70 took up sculpting. She was commissioned by the town of Dodge City to do the one authentic thing they've done--to make an 8 foot high Wyatt Earp statue that graced the corner of Wyatt Earp Boulevard . It was beautiful. And she's just a terrific woman whose spirit has flowed down to her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter. It was an honor to meet this genteel, talented woman who has lead a tremendous life as an artist, ranch wife, mother and champion rodeo rider.
Today I was picked up by Lyman, a grandfather and trucker, whom I had met earlier, and who donated his time and resources to trailer us up to Great Bend . The horses are taking off for a week and my family is flying me home for Sam's anniversary death, my birthday and a Fourth of July celebration, I continue to be amazed at how this trip is unfolding, through blind faith, it has taken on a life of it's own, and I am just a player riding across country, touched by the people I meet.
Till I get back on the trail July 7, God bless and love,
Linda :)