September 16, 2006

Hello Everyone.

I am writing to you on a rainy Monday in September - a grim reminder of the seasons that are yet to come before we get back to warm, carefree, green summer days.

Rachel and Zach at the Salt Flats in Utah

I just returned from a 4,500 mile trek across country. Yes, you might say we just got a wild hair... the pressure of everyday life, the routine, the hard work, the stress of caring for our creatures, the heartache involved in that care, and the need for doing something for ourselves. Most of you know I am a California native, and the wanderlust took me to the point of all but begging on my hands and knees for Craig to take me on a long road trip. We did do this trip two summers ago and all of my four children had a journey that will last a lifetime. This year we repeated it with only the two younger children, with the addition of Craig. My mother, who is experiencing great health after an adjustment in her medications, just returned from a train ride to Seattle with my sister to see my aunt who lives in Ballard (a Norwegian community within Seattle). She had such a great time that after returning took three days to recovering from her "train legs" and jumped into our Dodge pickup for another two weeks. I must say I had a little giggle as we prepared for our adventure - piling up overstuffed luggage and baggage into the back of our truck without a topper, coolers filled with refreshments made us look like the Beverly Hillbillies! I tried to imagine what we would look like pulling into the concierge at Fisherman's Wharf to check in at a motel...it was too much for me to imagine so chose to just be thankful we were making the trip at all and disregard my petty attitude!

The first day we made it to South Dakota, and were going to rendezvous with my 17 year old son there. He made his first vacation this year with four "buddies" - in a mini van with a trailer and all band equipment towed behind. They rented a cabin at Nemo Guest Ranch so they wouldn't have to say they vacationed with "family". I got a call from Jordan on a cell phone about five hours after he was supposed to already be at his destination at Nemo. Seems there was a bit of "trouble" at the Badlands. I gasped, wondering if anyone had been seriously hurt??? I pleaded for Jordan to tell me, and only after I promised not to make fun of him did I find out that he and one of his four other buddies had hiked into the Badlands and then began to chase a "squirrel, or chipmunk, or something like it....." past the designated tourist areas. After much climbing and hoopla, it turns out Jordan and his friend got stuck at a high point on top of the rocks, and could not climb down. His buddies at the bottom realized their plight and had to phone 9-1-1... and after a time the park rangers came to rescue them! His friends at the bottom thought it was all quite hysterical, and taped Jordan and his friend stranded on the point. Jordan tried to minimize the situation by dancing on the rock in an effort to add humor to the emergency. The rangers brought ropes and brought them carefully down to safety. Jordan says the rangers thought it was funny, and they weren't a bit angry, but I was only much relieved to know they were okay and were able to continue their trip!!! They made it through the rest of their five day vacation in South Dakota with only minor incidences that I won't take the time to detail (involved girls they met in Rapid City, and other weird encounters)... while we continued our westward movement.

Wyoming is still Wyoming - beautiful and vast and lonely, in a way. I still think I could live in Cheyenne, but am thankful for my Wisconsin home.

Elko Nevada provided cheap entertainment. We stayed at the Red Lion Casino and Lodge, and had good food and even won quite a bit of money with very little investment (just what I like!). Grandma Lee even got lucky at the slots, and when I took a picture of her at the machine I was promptly scolded by a pit boss (ooooops).

Once we hit Donner Pass it became crystal clear, sunny, and warm. The descent down into Sacramento made me immediately want to stay the night at Cal-Expo so I could visit my friend Scott Ehrlich (donated Haiaku years ago and is now the track announcer there). The look on my mother's face and the "I'm holding my breath she decides not to do this" look on my hubby's face communicated that I had better not even attempt to try it, so we ventured onward to Los Gatos. We were so tired that we couldn't even think about going into San Francisco right away, so we headed for our familiar lodge and checked in with Tina and Cookie (the little dogs), who are always welcome there without a fee. Wow! It was good to be home!!! Seeing the oranges growing on the tree at the lodge and the aroma of fruit trees mixed with city air was so familiar - I asked Craig if we could bottle it and take it home with us. He wondered if he could buy me a palm tree to take back to Wisconsin with us... the palm trees were so tall and regal and comforting that I had to just lie back in my lounge chair by the pool and stare up at them. Rachel wanted to take pictures of them so we did. I counted each one surrounding the pool area and walkway to our room, not wanting to forget how many there were before I saw them again next time.

Zach and Rachel in front of Sue's childhood home.

We saw old friends... friends I have now had for forty years ....and spent a lot of time reminiscing about my childhood up on Graystone Lane. My friend's dad recounted stories of my own father, the city-boy who came from a farm in Coon Valley, who used to drive his Caterpillar tractor on our one acre apricot orchard on the hill with his suit, tie, and pipe. Truly Green Acres relived! He also shared memories of what type of little girl I was, ways in which I have changed, and I got to share with them once again what an outstanding impact they all had in my life and determined partially who I would become today. I am so blessed to still have them in my life! My friend's mom still runs a boarding stable in Morgan Hill. The horses and dogs surrounding them comforted me to know that some things never change - how NEAT!!!

My mom saw an old friend who is now 87 years old - while she visited we all went shopping and Zach got a famous "fohawk" haircut, Craig had his curls cut off by a stylist who didn't speak much English (poor guy! Oh well, it will grow back and already is!), and Rachel got layers. I didn't let anyone touch mine, but did manage to buy some really stylish clothes at my favorite store there (where will I ever wear them???).

One of the biggest thrills was our deep sea fishing trip in Monterey! You haven't fully experienced the power of the ocean until you go out into the Pacific on a smaller boat (it was big enough to hold 20 enthusiastic fishermen). We left the wharf at 6:30 am with the sun just coming up and rode for two hours to get to the right cod fishing spot. The waves just hurled around us, and we were tossed back and forth and to and fro. It was chilly but we dressed for it, and packed a cooler for our seven hour trip. After over an hour of riding in the boat I wondered if we would ever reach the right spot... then after two hours we were there, with no land to be seen on any side of us. The man stopped the boat and every fisherman took their place with their rod and reel. There were two hooks on each rod, and no sooner did you get your pole in the water than you were reeling in cod! Serious people - serious fishing... Zach who is nine was a trooper.....as we saw a huge swell of ocean wave coming up he and all others braced themselves against the side of the boat in an effort to keep his balance. I wondered how many people had gone overboard? Some men had brought their own bait and were casting below the schools of cod - they reeled in some red fish, the likes of which I had never seen!!! Their bulging eyes and ruffled fins made their enormous size very intimidating! Groan, strain, plop, the fish were flopping all over the deck of the boat......then picked up and put in gunny sacks for later cleaning. That sight made me a little nauseous, but the waves and tossing of the boat was so much fun that I could not help getting up and trying not to hold on as each bigger wave came. It was literally impossible to even walk a few feet without holding on for dear life to anything nailed down! Fun! I guess it was not fun for Rachel and Craig, though. Rachel was first, getting seasick. She laid down on the bench inside the cabin and slept afterward. Craig was next - the waves were just too much for hm too. Zach and I took a ham sandwich out of the cooler and observed all around us, enjoying the motion! I guess my ancestors from Norway came out in me - the sailors who went out into the North Sea daily to catch fish both for a living and to feed their family. What a great day!

Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row was next... and a great meal at Fish Hoppers. We were so tired by the end of the day that neither Craig nor I could imagine having to drive through the Santa Cruz Mountains to get back to the motel, but Craig did it. He is such a great driver when it comes to staying awake - thank goodness!!!

We still had more chapters to our trip, but don't want to bore you all too much. While we were gone Asha had her last seizure, or episode. She has now passed, and the funny thing is that it happened just after a prayer. See, my childhood friend and her parents are very Christian people. I was talking to my friend's mom about Asha, and she had given me some advice for how to treat the recent problem with Asha's laminitis. I was feeling all encouraged, but also a bit emotional about whether or not to make a decision to put her down. I had been talking to our wonderful farm helper Ethan about Asha several times a day. She had been doing well, and even had ventured as far as the end of the driveway to graze on the green grass. He had worried about her going out too far so had put her in the stall with small turnout in our little barn. I told my friend's parents about that, and Al (my friend's dad) was compelled to pray about it. We gathered in a group and Al led the prayer, and asked the Lord to give me guidance about Asha. He asked that God would cause things to come to pass that were meant to be, and to give me the strength to accept God's will. After the prayer we visited for a few more minutes and then left. On our trip back to the motel I received a phone call. It was from Ethan. Asha had passed. It had just happened!!!! That was IMMMEDIATE answer to prayer. Now if you were never a believer before, this will cause you to consider it. I called my friend right away and gave her the news... I was tearful, sad, mad at myself, but also I knew in my soul that a prayer had been answered. I think just praying it out loud, gathered together (as Al said, we were having church cuz two or more were gathered together), and this prayer, the prayer I was too afraid to pray, was ANSWERED with the speed of lightning almost. Wow - that is powerful.

Thank goodness for friends and family... mmediately Craig spoke with his dad and mom and they phoned our friend and together they were able to come and bury Asha. Asha - the quiet, obedient, loving horse who gave us Cricket who gave us years of pleasure... maybe her end should have come sooner, but she stayed bright until the end. Asha, polo horse, therapy horse, mother to Cricket, soft, pleading whinny, forever in our hearts. Thanks to everyone who was there for her!

In other news, we are home safe and sound and looking forward to Super Night at Balmoral Park this weekend. It also falls on the weekend of the Vernon County Fair. We were asked to take part in it this year with our Standardbreds, as it is the 150th anniversary of the fair and they wanted to do something special for harness racing. I will need your help in order to fulfill both obligations - is anyone willing to bring a horse to Viroqua for Saturday or Sunday or both? If you are, let me know and I will give you all specifics on participating!

We are log jammed - horses waiting in line to come and and not enough workers - please contact us if you are able to foster or adopt, especially if you are in Illinois. We are only as good as the people who can help - we need you!

I hope to send pictures soon!

Hugs,

Susan

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