OTR - California Dreamin'

 Butch made it home last week, in time for us to attend the 100th anniversary of the Sidney Rodeo on Veteran's night!  By the time he received his dispatch mid-day Monday the 7th, he was already behind schedule.  He picked up a load in Omaha & delivered to Hillsborough, OR on the 8th - on time! Once he was back in the pacific northwest, it was no surprise when the next dispatch took him to southern, CA.

5:25 a.m. TA in Redding, CA

This morning, he had fueled, picked up a coffee & as he returned to Traveler, stopped to take the above photo!  It's literally never - that you only see one truck at a fuel island!  Especially in CA where there are so few truck stops.  Today was the day.

11:36 a.m. on the way to Fowler, CA

Decent traffic conditions also hardly ever exist in the state.  No matter the time of day, when a wreck happens, any schedule you may hope to achieve is tossed out the window.  Instead of being early, Butch was 20-minutes late.  

Traveler at Maxco Supply 12:34 p.m.

Thankfully, it wasn't long until Traveler was backed up to the dock & the unloading had begun.  The delivery was for 32 lb. Hydro Guard medium.  A roll is 23,357 ft. & 3,827 lbs. The load delivered was 44,000 lbs. 

This is the first time Traveler has pulled a Jacko trailer with the company logo on the side.  Rumor has it - Traveler will be sporting the Jacko logo before long...  Sad, since the Blake Scott Logo gets so many compliments.

Inside Maxco Supply~

Butch said it was impossible to get a picture that accurately shows the size of this building!  Huge, spotless & well managed.

2:27 p.m. North bound Hwy 99 ~

Just two-hours later, he was already on his way to tomorrow's load just outside Stockton, CA.  (Traveler slowed down to admire his image in the mirror! :-)  From there he'll be heading back up to Tacoma, WA.  

Butch's Highest Mileage Day to date~

Earlier this week, on his way to OR, Butch set another personal daily mileage record at 745-miles in 10:27.  He can only drive legally for eleven hours per day & had stretched those hours right to the wire.  With the trailer loaded at 18,000 lbs., climbing the passes didn't slow Traveler down! :-) 

Smokey - 1,000 + miles!

 As I was leaving home, I decided to try Gaston Road - again in the hope the paving would be done.  It wasn't - but they were letting traffic through on one lane.  I ended up behind a truck & gave him plenty of room, it wasn't long before he was pulling off & I continued on. 

One my way~

It didn't take long to reach Silver City.  Mari Jo was at her shop, we talked for a few minutes before I turned to the trail.

The corn emerges!

It's amazing to me, how fast the corn breaks the surface of the soil & turns the dirt brown fields to pale green!

The Walnuts~

To me, the show stoppers are always the Walnuts!  As the leaves open, they become nature's green lace against the clear blue skies.  The limestone of the trail is dry, very dry. The surface had been graded going toward Silver City from Malvern, but sadly it stopped short of the deep ruts we've had to avoid all spring.  All it takes is one uncaring person to damage the surface when it's wet.

The timber ~

The rivers are the life line of the countryside, as is the trail.  The protected "Wildlife" area runs the length of the trail.  The birds are abundant here - today I was buzzed again by the Cardinals, Oriole's & tiny finches. ( I've repaired my bright orange feeder at home & filled it with grape jelly.  It took a day for them to find it - but now I'm refilling it daily!)

Blooms under the Malvern Arch~

When I reached the Arch, I checked my Garmin to find I'm finally riding the speed I'd accomplished by September last year.  Every year, I wonder if I'll be able to at least maintain or improve!  I like having a goal to work toward.

Rows of corn~

The patterns of the planted rows, give depth to the roll of the land.  Even if Iowa's landscape has been manipulated to maximize farmable acerage, it still retains it's beauty.

When I downloaded my stats - I added the numbers up to find I've ridden Smokey 1,077.50 miles since purchasing the bike in November 2021. I started riding a bike as my major sport in April of 2020 & have ridden 2,211.69 miles to date!  I hope to enjoy many more~

Farah - 5,000+ Miles!

Farah & Khari 6-17-2011

I've been planning to add up Farah's miles for a long while.  I knew it would be a chore, since I've changed Garmin's & the Garmin Connect site has changed too.  Their reports used to be so great!  You could set any start & end date & the stats from that period would come up.  Last year they changed that.  Now you can only select a period of time that doesn't necessarily coincide with the period you may want.

I thought the first year 2011 - would be the most difficult - but I'd set up an excel spread sheet & kept track of every ride & mile.  Not many on Farah, since we didn't bring her home until June.  I was riding Khari & once I'd made the decision to sell Khari, I still had the responsibility of keeping her in condition for the sale.

12-31-12 Mt. Pilchuck - our way home~

2012 - We battled some form of scratches on Farah's hind leg, that started in November.  She stayed at Dean's farm until the middle of May.  I rode out from there a couple times a week - but Dean only wanted us out long enough to reduce the swelling.  I didn't ride Farah at all in January & only a few times in February, March & May.  After Khari shipped out in June, Farah became my priority.

I didn't keep a spread sheet & had purchased a new Garmin Forerunner 310 XT.  For whatever reason my old Garmin's miles were gone.  My activity mileage, on the Connect site, now only goes back to March of 2012.  Riding both horses, I didn't always note which horse I rode.  I had to go back & look at photos - there were only a couple rides that didn't have any.  My old blog posts helped & between all that - I sorted out Farah's miles.

12-31-13 View from Stimson Hill~

2013 - Was the first year I entered the Distance Derby - those miles were documented.  The photo above is of my favorite place to ride - with my friend Joyce.  We made a plan to do this ride every New Years Eve, but life got in the way.

12-22-2014 Out from Home~

2014 - We were again in the Derby & again our miles were posted.  It really was an incredible year of riding - I didn't realize then- just how blessed we were.

6-13-2015 Nehalem Bay, OR

2015 - I decided to start the Washington Trail Riders Distance Derby - for the state of WA.  It was fun & really interesting to see how many miles just riders in our state could ride!  I don't remember what the total was - but I think it was close to 25,000 miles!

10-14-2016 Sheridan, WY

By 2016 - I was tired of logging miles.  I rode because I love to ride.  I didn't even think about making a certain distance milestone.  I continued to ride with my Garmin & download the stats to my Connect site.  The year ended up being so challenging in so many ways - I never did total up our miles until recently.

2017 - Riding in Iowa - has been interesting to say the least.  Boarding Farah, the cold, icy winter months, stormy spring, buggy, hot/humid summer...  Long drives to find anyplace to ride & very limited riding even so.  It hasn't stopped us - our routines have changed - but our love of the trail remains the same~

5-26-2017 View of the Missouri River~

When I finished with my calculations - I found that we passed 5,000 miles in the middle of the Mt. Adams Endurance Ride, May 2016!  How fitting!  Farah is as sound as ever - forward as ever - beautiful as ever & enjoys the trails as much as I do.
  I'm fine, I'm Ridin' ~