On March 1st, 2010, my friend Walter and I set off on an adventure with my Arabian horse, Sojourner. I rode Soj across America and Walter drove our little truck (with no trailer). The trip began in Los Angeles, California and successfully ended in Bath, New Hampshire 8 months and 14 days later. It was a 3,700 mile ride.

We rode in celebration of family and as an outreach to those dealing with divorce-related depression.

This ride tells a tale of love in many forms - through the people we meet along the way, our connection with the horse, with the land, and with each other.

As this blog goes on it gets more and more in depth with tons of photos and experiences. Snuggle in with a cup of tea and read this like a book. I have switched the blog around so it reads start to finish so you don't have to read backward (except the first entry).

Here is our story...

the day my mama was born....

3/13/10

...was a day to be remembered and we celebrated it today in the Joshua Tree National Park. We are looking at our pictures now. It was such a fantastic day.
Joshua Tree is where Stephen used to live in the 60's and so he was able to show us all of the most amazing parts of the desert. We paid the ranger and then all of a sudden "Magical Mystery Tour" started blasting through the speakers of the van. Walter and I rolled down the windows and started dancing in our seats as Stephen pointed out different rock formations outside the window.
Stephen used to visit with Bill Keys who was the first pioneer settler in Joshua Tree. He owned 800 acres of the desert. We walked down a path to find his old mine, but we didn't actually make it that far and ended up taking pictures and jumping off rocks instead.
Later on this evening we re-organized the truck and took out a lot of stuff that we haven't been using for my mom and Stephen to take back to the Bay with them. A while ago I noticed the van locking and unlocking itself and tonight it locked itself with the keys in the ignition so we had to wait for AAA to come open the door for us.
My mom and Stephen will leave tomorrow and it will be so hard to see them go.

Sojourner was really cared for while we were out enjoying the desert today. Kelly and James had a farrier out to round off Soj's hooves and later on a woman came out who stretched Soj's back and checked his kidney's. Soj had been pretty tired for the first half of the day and after he was worked on he was running and bucking and playing around like a young colt. I ran into the corral to give him a hug and jumped up on his back. He seemed really happy and ready to go. I am really, really looking forward to learning what this friend of Kelly and James has to teach me tomorrow. It really seemed to help Soj out.

The desert sun has drained me of any energy. I am going to relax with my mom for a bit now and go to sleep. Jordan should be getting in around 2am so I'll get up then to go meet him in town and bring him back to James and Kelly's. Tomorrow morning we are all having breakfast together and then we need to look at maps and get ready for the long trek ahead through the desert.

I am going to post a bunch of pictures and stuff tomorrow...

4 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday, Linny's mom (Wendy, right?)! I hope you had a wonderful one.

    I'm just getting to know a bit about your daughters through their music and videos, and a bit more about Linny through this trip. But from what I have learned about your daughters, I have no doubt that you are immensely proud of them. They exude qualities of creativity, courage, charity, and humor.

    My mom passed away when I was still very young (14), but not before she encouraged me in ways that I know you must have for your daughters. Moms like you are such a treasure.

    So, happy birthday!

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  2. 3 days ago I had this random idea to ride cross country on horseback but I wondered if it could even be done, I casually mentioned this to my parents who said that my uncle had just sent them a newspaper article about a woman who was doing exactly that! The woman is Bernice Ende a member of the Long Riders Guild and from there I found Linny who happened to be riding past my hometown the same day I had my idea! I wish you the best Linny and I regret that I didnt get a chance to talk with you.

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  3. To Jackie B
    Thank you for the Birthday wish, I had a wonderful Birthday with Linny at Joshua Tree. The people that Linny is staying with and their friends are amazing people!!!
    I am a very lucky woman I have three wonderful children.
    Thanks for your support of Linny

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  4. Wendy,

    My apologies. I didn't know that you had three children. I'm sure that you are equally proud of all three of them.

    So glad that you had such a wonderful birthday.

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