Feb 21 - Parade Day!

We did it! Today was the final celebration with a parade through the town of Ft Pierce. My parents surprised me by showing up at the parade start, as we were unloading the horses! I was SO surprised! They drove down from Savannah, GA a few days ago and kept the whole thing a secret! My friends Julie and Ray came up from Stuart, FL (their winter home) after flying in from (work in) Pasadena yesterday! After the parade we all had a big picnic lunch that my mom put together in the park at Harbour Point! What a great way to end this adventure! It was so nice to be surrounded by people you love!

The parade was beautiful! I expected there to be other things in the parade, but it was just for us! We had wagons, whip crackers, flags, banners, and lots of horses! I was so amazed that there were so many people lining the streets as we made our way through in a U-shaped route. Sombra and Blondie strutted their stuff with a great display of Paso Fino talent! Lots of people pointed to the two of us and said "look at the dancing horses"! Some of our riders coaxed the crowd into loud, long cheers of "Yee Haw"!

It's very strange to be in the truck and travel so fast! After going 3 mph all week, it's weird to travel at 60 mph! We are on our way home to clean up and rest up!

One last wildlife sighting; saw a Crested Caracara yesterday! We are going to miss all the people and animals from this trip. It feels strange just stopping at a rest area; making that adjustment back into moderne society. I am torn. I love my everyday life, but I also love the adventures. Someone asked me if we would be doing the Cracker Trail again. I thought about it long and hard, but what we just did can not be recreated. You can never go back to the first time. There are lots more adventures out there, and Cindy and I will start looking for another one!

My mom used to send me blank journals for my adventures and I finally kept one! Now I have a record of all these great memories!

Thanks for reading this blog!
Mary

(Photo L-R; Lee, Debbi, Bobbi, Cindy, Mary, Tammy, and Oscar)

Feb 20 - Almost there!

We made it!!!! 21 miles today in the cold, wind, sun, and dust! Today was the last big ride! All that's left is tomorrow's parade!!! We celebrated with a sponge bath before dinner, dance with a live band, and the awards ceremony. We are both so happy and can't believe we made it all the way, every step of the way! We held hands like Thelma and Louise on te driveway into our last camp. We just rode 110 miles! Someone had a GPS measurement of 136 miles. Whatever it is, we just rode all the way across the state! Yee Haw! I wasn't even sore today! I finally get broken in and it's over! Mixed emotions as we will miss all our friends!

Since I have been unable to correct previous posts, I want to thank all my friends for letting me know that I said Celsius when I meant Fahrenheit. I as gong to add the metric conversions for my European friends but fell asleep! Thanks for catching that! All temperatures have been in Fahrenheit.

I also forgot to mention that when we got on US 98, trains were passing us on our right and airboats where in the distance off to our left. It made for an interesting morning, especially when Sombra started dancing on the train track gravel!

The stars at night have been beautiful. I forgot how big the constellations look when they reach the horizon! (When you are away from city lights!)

Saw little 8 year old Anniston at breakfast and let her know I practiced cracking the whip that afternoon at the last camp. She quickly replied "I saw you, you were snapping it too close in front of you. What a teacher! When I asked her what part of the ride she liked best, she said it was Bass Ranch, where we camped Thursday night because she could ride when we get into camp! These kids spend all day on the back I a horse and then they want to ride some more. Amazing!

More corrections from yesterday; Calvin Barfield is from SC and Mike Mulligan is from NC. Stephanie Frohmann is from Kassel, Germany. Shirley and Mark just bought and are building Cottonwood Camping and RV park in Maine I spent 2 hrs in cold in the coldest morning waiting for Cindy to move the Trailer and learned all about the Blueberry Barrens where Shirley works. I want to go there some day!

Another correction; the name of the Cowboy Poet last night was Doyle Rigdon. You way find his work on Youtube! I will look for it!

Route for today; We took a left out of camp on US 98, then a left on 2 lane road (160th), crossed 441 and went north, then went east at a flashing yellow light to finish at Bud Adam's ranch. We had lunch at Duck's other property, (Bar Crescent S). I am surprised at how many Dairy operations are in this part if the state!

We are making final preparations for the big parade in downtown Ft Pierce! Looking freed to seeing Julie and Ray Garber there! Then we are headed home!

Feb 19 - Crossing the Kissimmee River

I slept so hard last night that nothing could wake me up! I finally got the long stretch of sleep (8 hours straight through) that I needed to keep going! Exhaustion overwhelmed me as I snuggled down into my sleeping bag last night, still wearing the dirty clothes I had ridden in all day!

We woke up to 34 degree (Celsius) weather with wind chills down to 21! We had the horses in blankets all night on the leeward (blocked by the wind) side of the trailer. Cindy and I are in sleeping bags in the metal trailer with quilts and wool blankets on top of that. It is SO hard to get out of that when the alarm goes off at 5:30am! The only other warm spot I found was in the port-a-potty, out of the wind!

We awoke to find Bobbi looking for her and Tammy's horses in the dark; their two mares had gotten out of the electric wire pen they put up each night. We were camped in the corner of Stokes Ranch (US 98 and Cow House Rd) with active cattle in this huge field, so we were worried. It turns out that the two mares had a party outside Stephanie's trailer (she is from Kassel Germany, near Frankfurt) with her horses, which got her up. She was able to catch the two and tie them off for the rest of the night. Disaster averted!

We have a bunch of great kids on this ride who are expert horsemen and horsewoman at such a young age. We watched the kid's whip cracking contest! Those kids are amazing! We saw them cracking those whips, sometimes two at a time, standing, down on their knees, while doing cart wheels, and standing up on the top of the rear end of a horse! Anniston, who is the cutest little girl and only 8 years old, taught me how to crack the whip this morning! She also told me she expected to see me again at the end of the day for more practice! Just adorable!

More wildlife! This time it was spiders! I wore a red glitter top to my saddle pad yesterday (I think it was supposed to be a tree skirt for Christmas) and the glitter got everywhere! This morning as I brushed my teeth in the field in the dark and cold I thought I dropped more glitter, but it was really the eyes of spiders looking up at me from the grass. It was so cool! If you have never been "shining for spiders", give it a try! Just keep a flashlight up next to your eyes, or use a headlamp for hands free viewing!

When I got in the saddle this morning, I felt like I was sitting on gravel! I could feel every tiny little contour of the saddle! Ouch! It turns into a dull ache after a little riding! We have to use a lot of Chapstick as the wind dries out our face. The sun is so bright (but not hot enough) that my hands are burnt from the sun and the wind. I started to get very headachy today and thought I was dehydrated, but it turns out I just needed my sunglasses. Cindy brought them to me when she got the trailer at lunch. That is the time period I use to get started on my blog, then I finish it up after dinner.

My sister-in-law, Anna, gave me some great hand cream called Udderly Smooth that I use every morning and night. My other sister in law, Missy, gave me the grooming tools I use on the horses! My fingernails have never been so dirty for so long! I guess we could work on our nails, but we are just too exhausted by the end of the day to do anything more than take care of the horses, eat, write our blogs, and go to bed!

I am riding Blondie today as she has gotten over her whip cracking phobia. Cindy is back on Sombra. These horses are wonderful and I love getting to know their personalities. It is so nice to be back on Blondie as she is the one I trained with for this ride. As Cindy's husband said to me when I had to ride Sombra "Did you ever think you would have to ride the crazy horse because the other horse was crazier than the crazy horse??!!" Too funny, John! At least neither of them was crazy today!

I heard from my friend Silke and her family in Germany today! We were exchange students when we were in High School! I loved her message and this quote; "wish you the very best for finishing this adventure safely and with saddlebags tremendously filled with new experiences of life and humanity". I love that!

Our morning break was at the Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp. Lunch was at Kissimmee River Shores on Boondock Rd and CR 721! The big bridge crossing over the Kissimmee River was after lunch. It's a grated bridge and they roll out 5ft wide rubber mats for the horses to walk on, single file. The Paso's went last and they did great! Outriders were on foot all across the bridge just in case. No pictures, since it was a full hands-on experience, but the river is about 200 yards across and the bridge was a least 50ft in the air. The wind was howling at about 25-30mph! It was clear and cold and you could see for miles!

Once we were across the bridge we entered our fourth of 5 counties! We are now in Okeechobee County! We stopped at the Cracker Trailer Store and the owner have us all free soda and water! We had Coke-cola on horseback in front of the gas pumps! Our camp tonight is at the Bass Ranch, another working cattle pasture. Only 21 miles today, with about 70 riders. We got into camp in time to settle in, have a little more whip cracking practice, eat, then circle up for a bonfire and some entertainment! Tonight we heard from Doyle Hainsley, Cowboy Poet. He works for Lykes, one of the biggest cattle operations in the state and he can spin a rhythmic yarn! He recommended a book called Florida Cow Hunters by Jom Bob Tinsley.

Had a nice chat with two cowboy circuit preachers on the ride from North Carolina. Nice guys! They said a prayer for my family this evening that was so moving. We also had a nice time with Bobbi and Tammy from Port Charlotte as well as Debbi from Ormond Beach. I am really going to miss these great people when this ride is over. What looked like a long way is quickly getting shorter and shorter. Tomorrow (Friday) is our last full day of riding. Saturday is the parade and then we are done. I don't want it to end. I will miss this experience, despite its difficulties. That just made it more worthwhile!

It's forecast to be 28 degrees Celcius in the morning with wind chills in the low 20s! Forgot to set a cup of water out to see it freeze and I am NOT getting out of my sleeping bag to do that now! Night all!

Feb 18 - Sebring

Sorry about my typos in yesterday's blog. I was falling asleep last night as I completed it! Luckily the phone would fall on me (I was laying on my back) and I would wake up! The same thing is starting to happen to me tonight.

It rained all last night but we put the horses in the trailer. They moved around a lot which made for short stretches of sleep, but at least they were refreshed in the morning! I can't exactly say the same for us!

The rain stopped just after we got up, so we got the horses out of trailer in time for their breakfast and ours, packed up, mucked out the trailer and were riding by 8am. Now I see why troops use bugles! It's the best way for them to tell us to get up, gather up, and ride out.

We got on SR 66 right away and soon crossed into Highlands County. We stopped mid-morning for a parade and demonstration for the Cracker Elementary School in Sebring, FL. Calvin and Debbi dismounted and brought their horses over to a group students who got to pet the horses (Possum and Trigger) and ask questions. One 5th grade girl asked "How do you become a Cracker Trail rider?" Debbi said "well, you need a horse, you have to like to camp, and you don't mind riding a really long way"! Debbi said she saw the girl deflate at the "have a horse" part but maybe someday she will, or she will have a wonderful friend like I do, who is sharing her adventure with me! Cindy is my pilot (I am the co-pilot) or as I sometimes like to say when Cindy has to use her super horsewoman skills, that "Cindy is the Superhero and I am the Sidekick"!

At noon, we finally got to and crossed US 27, a major north-south road that runs down the center of the state, and SR66 became US98 as we continues east through the intersection. We finally stopped for lunch about 1:30 just south of Sebring International Speedway and I could hear lots of cars racing on the track there!

Luckily, no one came off their horse this morning. We have a lot less riders today, only about 60 in the morning now and 45 in the afternoon. Quiet a few people took today off and just trailered to the next site. Not us! We want the full experience! The rain did not stop us and neither will the forecasted freeze the next two nights! Luckily the mares are staying healthy!

We are both sore and ache from long hours in the saddle and constant attention to our surroundings. There is no boredom. Something is always going on and while we both work to remain calm for our horses, our minds are on high alert for problems and issues every moment of the ride. Lunch is a nice time to get out of the saddle and get a change of pace. I typically watch the horses while Cindy moves the rig from the previous camp to tonight's camp.

We both really appreciate all the comments via this site, Facebook, text, and email. It really helps us to go on despite the rain, cold, sleep deprivation, horses acting up, and riders and horses being injured. It has been a long road ride today and the trucks, motorcycles, cattle, dogs, and even other horses sometimes get on the horses nerves. It's a far cry from the last few days where we got to see so many wild animals. So far on this trip we have seen Sand Hill Cranes, Spoonbills, Storks, Egrets, Herons, Hawks, Bald Eagles, Wild Turkey, White-tailed Deer, Wild Hogs and even a Cotton-tailed Rabbit who was scampering out from under hooves! That was interesting!

This afternoon we traveled across Arbuckle Creek, a major waterway (more like a river, and thorough a town called Lorida (pronounced lor-EE- da) where a few riders bought produce from a fruit stand without ever getting off their horses! We passed through lots of fish camps and RV parks. There were a lot more people waving us on today!

We travel behind some wagons at about 3 miles per hour. Today was our longest day at 24 miles! It was a 10 hour ride today, with 8 of those hours in the saddle! We got only 3 breaks, with lunch and the rig move being the longest.

We really do appreciate the support of our husbands on this ride! Their messages of encouragement really lift our spirits! Thanks to Jim Spence and John Brown!

FyI - Picture attached is of Debbi and her horse, Trigger, at Cracker Elementary School.

Feb 17 - Half Way?!

We camped last night next to the Peace River where it crosses under SR 64, near Zolfo Springs, FL. We were exhausted and woke up tired and sore! Feels a bit like scout camp; up at 5:30am for horse's breakfast, our breakfast at 6, then break down camp, groom and saddle up, and ride out at 8am. Bugle calls included!

After crossing the Peace River, and US 17, we had a parade
past Zolfo Springs Elementary School. The whip cracking was a big part of the show, and boy did our two Paso Fino's look like they were dancing! Cindy did a great job of keeping Blondie all together, and Sombra stayed together by herself. I'm not saying it was pure pleasure; more like a controlled series if explosions. The horses were better today but they still have a long way to go!

Here is a little history on the whip cracking. Cattle roamed wild across Florida after the Spanish brought them ashore in the 1500s. The early settlers found that they could, with some effort, round them up out of the seemingly inhospitable brush that makes up Florida's scrub land, and drive them to market. Their tool was a large whip that they cracked, and the "Cow Hunters" (don't call them them cowboys) soon earned the nickname of "Crackers" because of the sound of the whip. Now you know where the term "Florida Cracker" came from!

We rode a nice low-traffic, 2-lane road called Stacy Roberts Road for most of the morning and finally arrived at our lunch spot at the Putnam Ranch with only a few riders being thrown (no one seriously injured). As we crossed a stream on the Putnam ranch, the mule-drawn wagon got stuck but with the help of several horses and cowboys, they pulled that wagon right out of the muck! We did not see Mr. Putnam, but I am sure he is busy working today. Adam Putnam is our State of Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. Nice ranch!

Here is a little info about the Paso Fino. The horses we are riding are from the Columbian Paso Fino line that were bred to be work horses but are known for their "fine step" (the translation of Paso Fino), their "brio" (contained energy), and their gait. As a gaited horse, they have an extremely fast walk type of step that is the speed of a trot, but without the bounce. They are born with this ability; it is not something they are taught. When they are asked to, or they get really excited, as ours have recently, they will step very, very fast using a lot of energy! Someone commented that it looks like a sewing machine! Another person who saw us doing this told us to "shift gears"! Yet another said that by the time these horses have finished the ride, they will have taken enough steps to go 240 miles, not the 120 we are traveling. They are all too funny!

Today's mileage is the longest so far, at 21 miles. Rain is in the forecast for tonight with cold air dropping temps below freezing soon. Right now we are getting sun burnt in T-shirts, though Cindy and I did dress up a bit for the parade today!

The wind is blowing hard and you can feel the weather coming in. It has been wonderful to see the stars every night and when we get up (we have not slept more than 3 hours at a stretch), it's neat to check the stars' rotation through the night sky and try to estimate the time of night before checking your watch.

We have met lots of really neat people on this ride and hope to remain friends! It will be sad to part when the ride is over!

We made it to the Kahn ranch for dinner and baths (for the horses, not us). It's raining hard now and the horses are in the trailer for the night. They are making the whole rig rock and roll. Hope we can sleep a few hours! Exhaustion is setting in. Decisions are more difficult. Staying alert to potential dangers is harder. We are begging for sleep. Tomorrow is a new day! Despite the niceties of the port-a-potty and the catered food, we think about how lucky we have been so far to not be thrown, kicked, or stepped on! Good night from a location near SR 653a few miles west if Sebring, FL!

Feb 16 - Crack that Whip!

Well, they call it the Cracker Trail for a reason! Once we got off Duck Smith's property, people were allowed (and encouraged) to use those whips and it changed everything! More on that later!

We ha a great auction last night (Sunday night) at Susan and Duck Smith's property. Cindy's and my donations netted a few hundred dollars towards the FCTA's scholarship pool. (FCTA - Florida Cracker Trail Association) we were pleased that big Brookstone Wines (Cindy) and Shallow Water Designs (Mary) could help out! It was also a BLAST to experience a live auction! I had to sit on my hands! I was afraid that if I scratched my nose I was going to be called as a bidder! Yikes!

We were up at 5:30 this morning to feed the horses and ourselves before Cindy and the other rigs (trucks and trailers) made a dash for the next campsite. Cindy took the bus back to camp and we rode out early, stopping for lunch at Duck's cow pens and a mid-afternoon snack at his horse breeding farm in the east side of Ona, Florida. We reportedly did 22 miles today, and the first 15 or so were on Duck's property, led by Duck Smith himself! We even saw his cattle being driven so expertly!

It reminded me of the president...when Duck stopped we all stopped. When Duck had something to say, we all got quiet and listened. (See photo) That's pretty amazing since he was now being followed by 160 people on horses! He was wonderful and told us all he loved us as we left his land and headed on. We love him, too what a genuinely nice guy!

Once we left his property, riders were allowed to crack their whips and did they! Blondie, the horse I am riding came unglued. She got outside herself. I do everything Cindy had told me today when this happened, but it was not enough. I was doing my best to tear up somebody's front yard on the horse version of doing donuts (circles) and when Cindy said, let's trade horse I just about jumped off and kissed her!

I got on Sombra, who was mildly agitated by the whips, but still in control, as long as her sister was nearby. Blondie was beside herself and Cindy proved herself to be the amazing horsewoman she is. We finished the last 5 miles or so with difficulty, through orange groves full of the scent of their blossoms. The tranquility of the smell was lost on the horses.

When we or to camp, Debbie suggested that Cindy take Blondie to work with "Lee on the Appaloosa". I did not see the session they had but Cindy said it was amazing! Blondie did so well under Lee's instruction! I stayed back at camp, setting up and bathing Sombra. Once Cindy got back with Blondie, I bathed her while Cindy fed them both.

We are both exhausted. It was a heck of a day. As Preacher Mike said while we were dealing with these issues; "This is not a fun ride, this is a hard ride; horses that are normal come unglued and horses that are normally unglued just fit right in." There is never a dull moment on a 900 lb animal with a brain of his own!

Cindy and I are settling in for the night and hope to try this new dry shampoo Bobbie let us borrow since it is now Monday night and we have not showered in 4 days! At least the horses got baths!

Feb 15 - Day at the Ranch

It's Sunday, and a day of rest! After a wonderful steak dinner last night on Duck and Susan Smith's "Bar Crescent S Ranch" in Hardee County, we went to bed early last night and there were no loose horses! Everyone, both riders and horses were plum tuckered out!

Breakfast was made for us and we had a lovely church service afterwards. Then, we took off on a 5 mile trail ride on the ranch in the cool morning air. Only two riders had off-horse experiences that we heard of today! One happened in the mud, so at least she was not hurt as the horse rolled over her! The other episode was in the creek! The young lady, who was a very experienced rider, laughed as she poured the water out of her boots, patted her horse and said "he was just hot"! We all laughed with her!

Duck Smith and his wife Susan have been such gracious hosts! They have such a long generational history of ranching in Florida. We toured their wonderful hunt camp home last night. Both Duck and his friend Ken could name every person AND every horse in all these old black and white photos in the wall. Susan's dad was in the Senate and her grandfather, Doyle Carlton was the Governor of Florida back in the early 1930's! They have all been a part of this ranch, the Cracker Trail legislation, and even Cracker Country, at the Florida State Fairgrounds for a long time. The 2-story house at Cracker Country was the one Doyle Carlton grew up in!

We spent the afternoon cleaning up, resting, and repairing tack. I had to make a run into town (20 miles one way) and our new friends Debbie and Mitch loaned us thier truck (the one NOT attached to a trailer) so I could do that! Their kindness and generosity was amazing and we truly love them. They said "Hey, that's just the Cracker Way". We have seen such love and kindness around us! These are truly wonderful people!

We are off to the auction where a bottle of Cindy's Brookstone Wines Blackberry Merlot and 3 of my Shallow Water Designs leather pieces (phone case, holster, and journal, all handmade) are up for grabs!

I have included a photo of Cindy doing her morning stretching routine, which she kindly taught me! It looked to me like she was greeting the world! Perfect way to start a Sunday!