Embrace the Blessings Prepared for You

So after spending Sunday night by myself and thinking about everything in the civilized world that was going forth without me, I had a reckoning. Laying in bed as the morning sun peaked on the mountain tops, it occurred to me I have a choice. I can choose to embrace the day & the wonderful blessings the Lord has prepared for me....and that is…. Exactly what I did! Little did I know just how extraordinary it would be!

I cooked breakfast for the guys. Mike & Casey came down to help us feed. (where hay loading is concerned…I think, the more the merrier) It was already off to a good start. Right as we got ready to break loose the ski’s on the sled, Kevin, Stephanie, & Trigg Jones showed up! Yay! Trigg took his 1^st sleigh ride!

Did I mention it was a gorgeous day! Absolutely gorgeous, blue skies, warm sunshine, GORGEOUS!!!

Pics of Trigg riding Nip & Tuck!

What a good morning! Trigg was super fun. Thanks to Mike, Casey, & Kevin our 60 bales flew by in no time! Hmmm, now apparently Dad & I are headed in to Jackson....to fly!!!! Seriously, Kevin is a helicopter pilot & we are taking a trip with him! AWWWWWWWW! Awesome! Pretty excited! (Rita went with him before & she got sick & puked....we loaded a 5 gallon bucket for me just in case)

Here is where we begin the "alot less talk & alot more....PICTURES" section of our story!

Our fearless Pilot preparing the chopper!

Head set on & preparing to get flight briefing. No smoking, incase of a crash wait for the & pilot dies......wait until blades stop spinning before exiting chopper, & the fire extinguisher is to put out people....not plane...seriously! (not said during flight directions.....you can't sing along to the radio....without it being broadcast to your traveling partners....dang it ;)

View of the river as we took off. There was a guy across the river watching us & I waved. He totally waved back....It was awesome! (wicked awesome is about the only word I used the rest of the trip) This is the portion of the story where you get a lot less talk & a lot more....PICTURES!
Arial view of another elk feed grounds. I think there are 22 feed grounds all togteher. They feed in rows at this one, pretty cool.

Mountain Goats way up in the back country. There are 2 goats visible in this picture. Right after this we landed on a peak, like they would do if Heli Skiing....sorry no pictures...I was to scared ;)
Palisades from above, making our way to Idaho Falls
Idaho Falls Stockyards

The chopper had to get some maintence work done so we spent the next couple hours at Geislers, Cal- Ranch, & Vickers. Hitting up the hots spots & shopping. Well mainly the guys shopped & I told anyone who would listen that "we just heli'd into I.F. for the day"...seriously say it outloud...It's just fun!
Dad & Kevin taking a photo op with the chopper before we take off again.
Me & my Dad, & the heli!

Snake River & the Idaho Falls Temple
Leaving the home country & heading back to Jackson

Heading straight for the Tetons!
Teton Valley ~ love the river views from up above!

Right before the Tetons....this is wicked rough country. Be prepared! The next picture, we are so close to the Tetons they just look like rocks!

This was amazing! I never thought I'd be this close to the tops of the Tetons & after seeing this rugged country....I never need to be again unless I'm in a chopper ;)
Evening light as we get ready to drop back into Jackson

Sun setting on a perfect day!

We landed safe & sound right in his backyard on the other side of the Tetons! What an awesome day! Thank you for the great ride Kevin! You rock! The rest of the trip paled in comparison. A huge thank you to all our friends in the Gros Ventre that made the trip such a great adventure!

In closing here are some pics from the rest of the time with the elk.

Elk at the Cabin


Just to show ya I know what a sunrise looks like ;)

Wolf in the Window ;)

Bucking Bales at Alkali

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Gros Ventre 2~ same place new stories :)

Gros Ventre~ Take 2

After last weekend’s adventures apparently I hadn’t had enough self-torture. I started planning to head back into elk camp again next weekend. Well, as the week went on, Dad was planning on me staying to finish out the season. Hmmm….somehow that idea didn’t sound that appealing but I have a freakishly overwhelming desire to not let my Dad down. (I will deny that when asked) Anyway, I decided to tie up some loose ends at home & J2 and I would go in next weekend. The cool thing about going in with J2 you have a security blanket,….haha (insert evil laugh), he has to be back to school on Monday. Via the foster care system, some nice kids came to stay at Dad’s for a little while. The oldest, Junior, is 11. We were talking about going in & how cool it would be for Junior and J2 to come in for the weekend. Alright, plan…..Go in Friday after J2 gets out of school. Plan, plan, prepare, prepare, procrastinate…..hmmmm! Friday evening rolls around and I’m not ready to go in. We have to come back out in the morning to meet Rita, who is coming up from Utah & Hadley who can’t come until Saturday morning. Well, if Rita can leave at midnight to get there in time….I can certainly leave the house by 5 am.

Just for the record, I was driving by 4:59! ……AND………Getting Up Before 11 Makes for a Long Day! ~Hoggan Family Motto

Rita gets there before me, and I will probably never hear the end of. I will spare you the tedious details of the drive and Rita & I bickering before we finally got headed into the Gros Ventre. J2 & Junior had made the trip in the night before with our friend Mike. The snow had melted so much that snow machines could no longer make the trip in. Mike drove back out & picked up Rita, her friend Andy, Hadley Hoggan, (cousins), and myself.

On the drive in I actually thought to myself that there would be little to tell about this weekend because….same elk & hay bales….different day. Been there, done that. : ) This thought passed quickly! We are driving along, Big beautiful Bald Eagle! We all are looking…..wham! The side of the road sucks us in & the next thing we know we are stuck! The snow on the mountain side is real real deep. The front passenger can’t even open his door. We all pile out. The shoveling begins. (Oscar, my cute shaggy pup, is exhausted just watching all the Shoveling - pictured to right)

Shovel, shovel, shovel….no luck the wheels on the road side just keep spinning on the ice. The engineer in the group in the sets out to work, bringing back loose rocks to put under the tires for traction. Making a little progress, the rest of us start hunting more rocks. This process goes on for over an hour. Making some progress but the rut just keeps us sucked down. Rita brings more logs for traction & the plight continues. Thank the good Lord above that it was a beautiful warm sun shining day! Finally, Rita volunteers to jog to the cabin & bring back a snow machine to go get a tractor with. Kuddos to Rita, the cabin was a little over a mile away & she made it in 20 minutes round trip! Atta girl, Brahmer, you rock!

Not 10 minutes later, Mike was made a big enough path that he finally gets backed up & out of the rut and on the road! Yay! Cheers from the crowd!

INSERT PICTURE OF EAGLE!

~ What was I thinking, Never a dull moment where the Hoggans are involved : )

Nathan, J2, & Junior were actually out feeding a load with the team & SAW RITA running to camp. Ya….saw her & made NO attempt to even see what was happening…..saw someone take their snowmachine….just thought someone was out for a Saturday run……honestly! (moving on…just saying….if you are stranded & those 3 are around….you’re still stranded)

Time to feed elk…..or imaginary elk atleast. The feed ground is completely empty. We ran two teams again this weekend. I drove one and Nathan drove one. The snow had melted so much it was wicked tough going. Our Haflinger team, Nip & Tuck, who had pulled 30 bales last weekend were now scratching to get 15 bales out of the bare ground of the stack yards. I almost scratched them coming back up a bare hill empty. Those lil buggers are All Heart!

Other than that, the day was filled with the regular Hoggan kids & crew antics. Rita & I argue. J2 is funny. Hadley is a rock star! Andy did super good too! Junior, J2, Nathan, everybody was super awesome, tough, and made 200 bales fly by. That’s right, 200 bales fed & not a single elk. Finally at 3 pm a small group started to trail down into the feed grounds and from that it turned into a steady stream across the horizon of elk single file making their way eat.

Insert pictures of elk trailing in

Once again, a huge atta boy to the whole crew! Everybody was awesome! One of the funnest lines had to be by Nathan & J2. For some reason, while loading a sleigh with hay bales, the topic of me & Rita's dating life came up. Nathan was saying....we are us girls are just SO SPECIAL that there is just going to be that 1 special guy out there for us....(it was hilarious) I'm thinking to myself "Ya, specail kind of guy that can put up with our special kind of bs" ;) .......J2 chimes in, ever so seriously, ....."I wonder who it will be?"........Brothers contemplating who you will marry.....priceless!

INSERT pics of boys on Nip & Tuck

J2 & Junior riding Nip & Tuck back to the barn to unharness.

There is now only 1 snow machine running....out of tons. There are 7 of us to freight up to the cabin for dinner. Nathan was going to make trips with 3 at a time. he & the little boys run to Alkali to feed the team at that feed ground. The rest of us stayed & cleaned up the elk cabin. (Or Hadley & I....thanks Had, you rock! ) When the boys get back from feeding, Nathan has the bright idea to hook the cargo trailer to the snow machine & haul us all at once. Great idea...if you are Rita & Nathan riding on the snow machine. Andy, J2, Junior, Hadley, & I all pile on the trailer. Soon Oscar is in the mix & standing on my head....Rita's favorite part is me screaming "Get the Dog off! "Get the Dog off!" Oscar didn't even make it to the barn before his riding priveledges were revoked! Keep in mind that it is a muddy mess! Barely enough snow to sled & we are getting splashed with mud and water as we all cling to each other to stay on! (sounds funny...but not cool....you can laugh...I know you already are) We arrive in 1 piece, soaked & dirty cussing Nathan & Rita. Moving on.

J2 actually provided much of the entertainment for the evening. We were sitting around the living room. There is a big warm fire roaring in the fireplace. The boys have packed in a big pile of wood to keep it warm thru the night. There are some small strips of kindling sitting by the wall. I look over just in time to see J2 lift a piece up above his head......& proceed to pull it down with both hands, full force....right over the top of his head! Quickly followed.....by OOOOOOooooouch! It was HILARIOUS!!! I am laughing so hard I'm crying! He was trying to break the sticks over his head....similar to a martial artist that you would see on tv. I point it out to the rest of the room & he gives it another try!.......SERIOUSLY! Funny every time! I caught it on film this time.

Junior joins in & the crashing sticks over your head begins. This only to be made funnier by Nathan coaching them....."Get mad! When you feel the pain just put it away &......AAAAAA! Get mad! push thru it!".....Hilarious! Laughiing again just thinking about it!...lol...& I was worried I'd have no new stories...hahaha! (there is video on Rita's Facebook but I don't know how to link it)

Sunday, March 14th, 2010
Sunday morning, we thought we were off to a great start....until Casey informed us that it was daylight savings & we'd actually lost an hour! Dang it! I miss the college days when whether you spring ahead or fall back you spending that exrta hour losing sleep out on the town! Dang it! Nathan drove the team up to get us this morning. Much better alternative, I thought. We stopped over to show Andy Mike's awesome pad. Here are some pictures J2 took while Hadley & I waited with the team.

The Team ~ Legend & Bug (or Legend & Ary, as Rita likes to call them)

Hadley & I rockin the bomber hats, chillin on the sled with Oscar & his Dad Rocky

We only ran 1 sled Sunday. Fed 150 bales & then worked on getting everyone packed up to go. Nathan showed me the ropes for running the snow machine & sent J2, Junior & I to feed the horses at Alkali. Sounds simple enough....this is the part of the weekend where the boys lives would flash before their lives. He head out of the feed grounds. It's going pretty well. Real muddy, but were ok. I haven't drove a snow machine by myself very much & never started one. The mud is hard going it jerks you around. The boys are coaching me as we go. We finally make it to Alkali......whew! J2 exclaims that "I'm a crazy driver" as he gets off the sled. We were going all over the place. I thought it was on purpose at first but you're a crazy driver! Haha, ya, I couldn't disagree with that. We get watered, fed, & put the big mares up. This is where is starts to get interesting. The sled started easily before. Now....1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ....10....my arms getting tired. Re-group.....pull, pull, pull.....finally we got it started, hop on & take off. Everything is going good. No snow but we're going.....HOLY CRAP....rut.....something....I don't know......WE ARE SIDEWAYS!!!.....Seriously running on our side.....HOLY CRAP! I just kept on the gas & pretty soon we are back down. I didn't even loose the boys.....how they stayed on...I'll never know! haha....wow, if they weren't scared before...we all were now! hahaha

We made it back to the elk cabin safe & sound. Mike headed back to Jackson with everyone. Don't worry, the boys told Dad as soon as they met up with him in Jackson about our little sledding adventure!

Hmmm, well, home, alone. Dad will be in soon I'm sure so I just stay at the elk cabin. Clean what I can, nap for awhile, twittle my thumbs......hmmm. It's 6 o'clock. Looks like I'm going to have to brave the snow machine again & drive up to the cabin. Wedge a box of Captain Crunch in the back rack & rig the other supplies to hopefully stay in. Starts good. I'm headed out! Real muddy, trying to stay on snow. Oscar is following behind & tell him to jump on as I'm driving but ....shocking....he can't stay on with my driving ;) As we come up over the hill there is couple hundred elk spread out on both sides of the road. I better get Oscar loaded up before he decides giving the elk an afternoon jog would be a good idea. This time I have him job on while I'm driving.....but in front of me.....lol! Ya, that's right....now I'm driving 1 handed thru a herd of elk holding a dog on the front of my snow mobile. I didn't even do any stunt driving this time. Whew, I was soo so happy to shut that engine off when I reached the cabin.

Hmmm, home alone. Don't worry numerous times throughout the day I was cussing Dad for leaving me in there but Monday would make up for it all!

More stories coming soon!

"Thanks for reading my blog. I appreciate everyone's great comments. To say thank you I'm sending out a Lil' Red Roan Prize Package to a lucky blog reader. Just email your Name & Mailing Address to lilredroan@live.com to be eligible for the drawing To get your name for more chances to win, become a "Follower" of the blog! Thanks again & good luck! "

Gros Venture 2010 ~ Feeding Elk

Gros Venture 2010 ~ Feeding Elk

Thursday night rolls around, my friend Jana is supposed to come over for dinner and a beading party. Well, I give her a call and say, How about we load up and go feed elk! Once in a lifetime opportunity to see new country and be up close & personal with a couple thousand elk! Let’s go! Twist, twist of the arm, and we are headed to the mountains!

J2 calls 1^st thing in the morning to confirm his spot on the trip. Off to school & pick him up as soon as the bus drops him off. I’m off to the grocery store to fill the grocery lists needed in camp & cook up a storm! Homemade Taco Soup, Homemade Lasagna, Oreos, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and No Bake Cookies to top it all off! I yi yi! What a morning & if you’ve ever seen me cook….what a messy kitchen!

Clean one mess up, make two more ;) , pack warm clothes, headlights, camera, ….you know…the essentials! Before I know it, the afternoon has flown by, Jana is here, and J2 will be home from school in no time! Running slightly behind schedule….Hoggan Standard Time. Oscar, Jana, & I load up headed to Dad’s. J2, also running on Hoggan Time….is running slightly more behind than me.

FINALLY, on the road! The 1^st stop on the tour is the gas station in Rexburg. I’m rocking Muck Boots, a Carhart vest, head light around my neck just in case. Jana is in a similar outfit. Basically, we’re looking pretty cool. J2 however, is in ROCKING his Christmas pajama pants which put our outfits to shame! He says something to the effect of “shouldn’t go in public like this” It didn’t stop up though. We went in & didn’t bat an eye. (shockingly enough….the cameras never caught a glimpse of this : )

The rest of the trip was filled with playing guess the animal game and J2’s numerous other antidotes. That kid says so many things I’m gonna have to pack a note pad to remember them all. We roll into Jackson & decide that even tho slightly behind schedule, we better get 1 last meal….for J2’s sake. He says If I’d a known we were gonna do all this stopping I would’ve worn some different clothes!

Mike & Dad meet us at the trail head, we pack up and head out! (Mike, good friend to Dad & our family that owns a place just up from elk camp) Gros Venture bound! Yeehaw! Jana & I ride with Mike. Dad & J2 head out on a snow mobile. A quick stop at a neighbors ranch because…well, we are going to run out of fuel. Just enough to get by and back on the road again. About half way down thru the trek there are lights on the trail. Dad has stopped along side the road. One of Mike’s employees, Casey, broke down on his snow machine with a load of supplies. After some mechanical analysis, the guys decide the best decision is to pull the sled in. Never a dull moment! I don’t know how the trip was was for Casey but Jana & I thoroughly enjoyed keep watch to make sure the sled was still behind us. It was pretty wild at times….good watching though.

Home sweet home, for the weekend! Mike let us girls stay at his cabin. It is FABULOUS! Unpack and get settled in. Now, time for serious business…..Playing Cards! I don’t think I’d played a hand of cards since Dad went in to feed. J2 & I were both craving a game! Tyler & Amber have been in feeding with Dad. Plenty of people to start up a game. Mike & Casey even joined for a round or two. They were all subjected to the same amount of trash talk we would encourage our family with. Good times! Good times!

Soon the night is coming to an end. Oscar, Jana & I are sharing a room. After a night of blanket tug a war morning has finally arrived. It’s time to feed some elk! Piling on the layers of warm clothes begins!

Now if you will all think back to last weekend & getting wicked sunburned gathering horses. I got wicked sunburnt. In an attempt to avoid the same predicament I decided to slap on some make-up & SPF. I walk out into the kitchen and Tyler says “Hoagie why ya wearing make-up!” I try to explain the SPF….He’s quite certain and blurts out “It’s to impress CASEY isn’t it!” (rescued snow mobile from the night before) Ya, he is cute….I reply …….geez…..I should wear make-up more often to avoid suspicions!

After Amber fixes a breakfast fit for Kings, we are feed ground bound. The most pleasant surprise of the morning is the team of Haflingers Dad got this winter. They are like a draft horse cut in half. Absolutely perfect size for me and J2 to harness! Outstanding! (or so I think until later)

Nip & Tuck ~ Haflinger Team

Tyler & the Big Blondes

Dad, Jana, Nip & Tuck

J2

Tyler Harnassing

Today is a vaccination day so Dad, Tyler, and Amber set out with a team and we set out with our Haflinger team, NIP and TUCK. We feed about 20 bales from our sleigh. Jana & I got back to load again. Dad’s crew go to vaccinate calves. Oh, did I forget to mention that it wasn’t a solid 20 bales fed. Ya, cuz trying to get through the stack yard I played ping pong down against the fence & stack….managing to knock off 6 bales and our bale cutter. Awesome….as if loading bales once isn’t enough….. : )

Jana & I head back to load 30 bales again. Living the dream! (about know I’m sure Jana is seriously contemplating why she let me talk her into this) Slowly but surely we get loaded & fed. That is more than the other sleigh can say. Vacinating crew…..7 hits, 8 misses : ) ….just sayin

One of the bosses came out and we had to get a count on the herd at our feed ground. About 1,700 that day total that day, 33 spikes, and 3 bulls. Not to shabby.

In case you didn’t hear that…..It is now LUNCH calling our name! All this manual labor has worked up an appetite. If I do say so myself, It was the best Taco Soup I’ve ever eaten….best Kool Aide too, as a matter of fact!

Feed some more, feed some more, and finally the days chores are getting wrapped up. Take care of our trusty steeds & last but not least, run the snow machines up to feed the team at the the alkali feed grounds.

I took on the courageous task of riding with Tyler. I survived the trip. So did our traveling partners on the other sled but they may or may not have experienced there sled bucking them off & driving away….I don’t know…..just a theory…..not my story so I guess we’ll never know : )
Alkali Feed Ground Pics

Mike has very graciously invited us to a home cooked Pork Chop dinner at his home. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Not only is his home the coolest thing I’ve ever seen…..his pet Wolves are pretty fascinating too!

Pictures of Wolves

INSERT PICTURE OF TETONS

Sunday morning services in the church of the Tetons

The feeding begins! Today is an all girl sled: Jana, Amber, & Myslef with the Haflingers. We got quite proficient….Rockin actually! (Don’t worry, I’ll brag on my girls more later)

We are on the 2^nd set of 30 bales. Sweats rolling, getting good and warmed up. Dad hollers over from his sleigh that he won’t even charge me much for the weight loss program. I reply right back “Now if I get all skiny just think of all the boys that will be chasing me…..and we can’t have that!” Haha…I think I’m hilarious. Well….my smile doesn’t last long because Tyler chimes in something about how I’m chasing Casey. SERIOUSLY….he says this in front of Mike…in front of my Dad…..Aaaaaaa! I’m blushing now! It gets worse! Mike follows suit with a “I hate to break it to you but Casey’s been asking about you too!” (seriously, I will admit that he is a nice looking young man…..but this whole thing was provoked by nothing other than putting on make-up!)

Loaded, we head out to the feed ground again. Normally, I would think driving is a great job but these pulling dirty tough little Nip & Tuck have been pulling on me all day! I’m not sure if I’m sweating harder loading hay of driving the team!

As we approach the stack yard, I’ve gotten quite a bit more conscienous about driving thru the stack. We’ve even profected a program of shutting the gate in front of our horses so they can’t adios on us while we load. 90 bales loaded & we head out are getting ready to leave again. All the sudden there is a big commotion on the boys side of the stack. Dad has stepped off to load some bottom bales. Tyler and J2 are throwing bales from the top down. Something spooks the team & they shoot forward in a kind of slow motion rush. Lunging sideways, I will never know how they kept from hitting the gate as they slide by….WHOOSH! They are running away from the stack…..throwing the contents from the sled as they head out! We all are standing in disbelief! I have a team….but really don’t know protical for a runaway team in a country of limitless possibilities. Hmmm, looking for guidance from Dad……? He has us girls wait until the runaways are good & out of sight so they can’t turn around & run into us. We head to the feed ground.

I’m quite certain we are missing some John Wayne STUFF! This is how it went down….(or atleast this is how it was recited to me) Tyler runs back to the cabin & grabs a snow mobile. He & J2 are in hot pursuit! They run the snow machine along side the sled. J2 drives while Tyler jumps to the runaway sleigh! The big white horses bridle is completely off as Tyler grabs hold of the reins! Thank the good Lord above for a gentle Roan next to the wild white horse because he was able to shut the Roan down with a sliding stop into the ground & enough to power down the big white beast! (Dang it, hope you can imagine because that’s the only picture of that you’re gonna have)

Back to stack for our last load, the only 7 bottom bales & some loose hay before we have the haystack row cleaned up. The bottom bales are HEAVY! We team up to get them loaded! There is a light at the end of the tunnel…..oh wait, I spoke too soon! My team is a little trigger happy….I don’t get them shot thru the gap, and run the tongue into the fence! (SERIOUSLY!) No harm, no foul….Tyler got us out & even drove us for our last round.

Unhook the horses & get ready to head in for lunch. We take the snow machines back up to Mike’s cabin so we can pack up our things. Tyler & Amber leave first. Janna, Oscar, & I load up on our sled and make our way towards home. J2 & Dad are left bringing up the rear. I drive really really conservatively especially because I have 2 passengers. It seemed like it was taking forever for to get back but I didn’t think much about it. Well, when Dad & J2 arrived on the same sled we soon learned why. J2 was still crying! He was going to drive a sled back. When he went to leave the yard Dad said “Hock It In Her” (which in our family means hustle or go fast) Well, J2 did just that but he couldn’t get his steering wheel turned enough…….Ran into the garbage can….and then proceeded to slam right into a fence post in front of the cabin. J2 is ok. He whacked his head on the steering wheel but….we’re hard headed & it didn’t do any damage. The sled on the other hand…….well, as Dad put it “If he did it any good I’d gladly pay him for it”

It wasn’t enough excitement to kill anyone’s appetite. We dined on a delicious lasagna dinner. Mi ke met us at the cabin & had a present for all of us! He’d framed pictures for each and everyone of us! They are wicked awesome! One of mine is of two elk raring up fighting! The other is a black bear that Rita & I almost ran over 2 years ago…& we didn’t even see it…(haha….go figure) They were awesome things to remember our trip to the Gros Venture! Thanks Mike!

(Akward side note: While at lunch, 2 of Mike’s employees dropped into say hi. Tyler had been over talking to them on his way back to the cabin for lunch. I was so embarrassed I didn’t even make eye contact with them. Yip, avoidance is my answer. As they walked in the door it suddenly became the most intense game of cards I’d ever played, requiring lots of focusing! : ) …..I know, I act like grade schooler…..ridiculous.)

Let’s review the Gros Venture Adventure. Rescue broke down sledder, bucking snow machine, J2 hitting fence with sled, Mindy hitting sled with team, a team running away, John Wayne rescue and a few close calls in between. Hmmm, in comparison, the trip out was very very uneventful. Tyler did have his hand on the door the entire time ready to jump….just incase. We made it out safe and sound, only stopping to glass the mountain side to see the herds of Mountain Sheep. Very cool.

Back to my cute lil’ blue car and “We’re headed to Jackson” (belt out the Johnny & June Cash Jackson song here) A brief stop at the Dairy Queen for a tasty treat and back over the hill to the farm country we go. Tyler has a new job so we came out with us also.

If you can imagine, our trip home was filled with lots of tall tales. You just never know what you’re gonna here, especially when J2 is involved. For example, J2 informs me that “EVERYONE SAYS I’M NEVER GETTING MARRIED”…..really, who is everyone that is saying this? I ask. He pretty much names off everyone in his immediate family indivisually. Wow! Really! Finally, I ask J2, do I need to get married? He replies , “No”. Could call….buddy. I informed him that if I get married…..that’s just one more big brother to pick on him ; )

Last but not least , Rita has left me a message to report in when I get home. The 1^st words out of her mouth are “I’m calling Dad to see who’s tougher!” No need to call Rita, you are definitely tougher! I don’t even want the title.

I’m a glutten for punishment. Headed in for more fun this weekend! Haha, wish me luck! I’ll need it!

As Good Once as I Ever Was

The phone rings at 7:30 am. Don't these people know it's Sunday & I am not done sleeping in! Ugg...groogily find the phone to call them back and try to sound like I'm wide awake. It's Shelley (my Dad's wife). A guy was coming to pick up horses today & they had everything taken care of, no need for me to go. Well, the phone call comes in & all their plans have fallen apart. Nathan was going to help but had to go back to Utah. Omar, got real sick & couldn't go which meant 1 less man & no pickup & horse trailer. J2 has horses caught....& sounds like they are ready to go...just waiting on me to put together a ride.

I call Reggaroni to see what I can round up. Hallelujah, Regg is an angel. He let's me borrow a horse, horse trailer, & volunteers his services! Regg, McKell, & Ellie all on board to go. Regg & I get saddled, loaded & head to Dad's. I pull in, shocking but the boys aren't ready & waiting at the barn door. I decide to pull in and circle the outfit so we are ready to load. Hmmm, the yard geography has changed slightly, in that their is more broke down vehicles than usual, and 1 of them is right in the midle of the turn around circle. I can still make it...I'm sure. Circle wide & then cut it back hard thru the center...slow down slightly to make sure I don't hit the car to the right of trailer to my left. Dang it, shouldn't have weakened....lug...lug....DANG IT! Call Regg, "Hey buddy, bring down a pickup. I'm stuck" Regg, "Ok, are you sure?" Mindy, "Ya, let me double check... try foreward, spinning, backwards, spinning, turn wheels every which way but loose.....Yip, I'm stuck!"

Oh, did I mention while all this is going on the the boys are....still in the house! Ya, J2 is the only one who was ready. Well, Regg to the rescue again. He gets a chain hooked on to the pickup & I successfully shoot the gap without hitting any of the obstacles placed in the yard to make my life more entertaining. By this time, the boys are ready to go & we've even gathered up more players. Houston, Broc, J2 & I head to Regg's to pick up his crew. If you are counting, yes, we have a pretty decent size load in the pickup by now but we all whole heartedly agree that it is better than riding our horses to Dubois.

We arrive at the corrals at 10:30 am. Gene & Stephanie have already headed out with snow machines. The Montana outfit is already there & waiting. ( I was told they would be there at Noon) The brand inspector was told "be there at 10:30" Nothing like us being the last to show at our own party :)

Unloading horses, piling on the warm clothes, and getting ready to head out. Tall horse & layers of clothes....not exactly the combination for the most graceful display for "getting on a horse". Hmmm....maybe it wasn't an accident that I left the camera at home. :) I take off out thru the snow to blaise a trail. Paint is hot, full of steam & ready to go. Thank the good Lord above, Regg rode Grey because just as I looked back over my shoulder Grey was bucking. What a way to start the morning. (Yes, I still consider 10:30 morning ;)

As we make our way out passed the corrals, I'm realizing there is NO WAY we can load out of these. The snow is knee deep on my horse in most places & deeper where it's drifted. Looks like we are going to have to trail to town to load. Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Single file out across snow covered country, following the snow machine tracks & breaking trail for the other horses. Single file we trail along trying to save as much horse energy as we can. The snow is deep & they are all sweating pretty good by the time we get to the field. No communication from our snow machiners, we listen & watch the horizon for any sight of horses. The distant hum of the interstate, but still no machines.

The field is still full of tall yellow feed full of seeds & nutrient. However, the snow is quite a bit deeper than when we came out the 1st time. Making a game plan while we wait, the horses appear in the top right corner. What a gorgeous sight! Over 100 head of gorgeous horses trailing single file out against the bright blue sky line. Re-group in the corner & get ready to head out. J2 & I take the lead. Regg is going to hang to the back. Single file out across the country, GORGEOUS! Where is my camera! Dang it! Right now would be perfect for pics! (Thanks goodness I didn't have it because later the conditions wouldn't be camera safe)

Trail straight into a trap & head towards the corrals with a line of horses right behind. The corrals are drifted in and really really deep. I needed to circle back around to keep the flow going. Gene gets a gate open just enough for me to slide thru with my trusty steed. We get about 5 feet from the gate....i yi yi! It's deep! I feel like I'm trying to get my horse stuck. (I did take off my breast collar at the pickup, just so I wouldn't break it swimming thru the snow) What a stud! My horse stops in his tracks, starts pawing in front of him, clearing the way until he can make his way through. My knees even missed the Powder River gate & railroad ties as we squeezed through.

Horses in the big pen and the sorting begins. I swear it took hours...lol...but the upside is a herd of 100+ horses can make sort work of a snow drift and soon we could travel easily in the corrals. I brought some sortin flags and we took to working through the horses. We planned, changed plans, planned, and changed plans again. Finally we got a system dow that would work. Regg called me over to his side to sort. Right off the the bat I sorted off a 2 that went! Haha, I'll take being LUCKY over talent any day! :) The coolest wreck had to go to Broc. He was running the out gate. This is the gate where my horse had to paw to get thru. It is really deep over there. Broc steps & his boot sticks in the snow. He falls down backwards. A horse that needed turned back was baring down on him. The gap in for the gate is narrow. The horse darts left, right, zigging, and zagging.....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I will never know how that horse made it out without stepping on him! It was awesome!

Everything sorted up that needs to go. It's time to take the big herd back. J2 had been out in the trap holding the big herd from getting away in case we needed to re-gather. He did such a good job. Riding back & forth keeping the herd inline. I headed out towards the gate, gathering up J2 & we took the lead again. J2 is telling me all about how he had to keep riding and just knew that eventually we would send someone to help him. Lol..he was pretty sure we were just vacationing at the corrals. He did a really really good job!

Trailing back out to the Field of Gold, J2 falls back & brings up the rear. After getting the lead through the gate I slide around and try to get a count, 99 head of beautiful horses, with the occasional pony or burro :) Gene came out on the machine & closed the gate. Thank you! J2 is already headed back in. Paint & I set out back down the path. Well, after an hour of sorting Paint has ALL his air back. I have a snaffle on him & well...very little whoa. I bump him over off the trail so he has to be breaking his own trail through the snow. I'm not to worried. I can ride him as fast as he can go....I think. We are completely under control. High trot now & caught up to J2. As we come over the little knob, it looks like one of the sorted horses is working on escaping! She is headed straight for the gate to get out. J2 & I pick up the pace, or in my case I just loosened up on Paints face a little. Broc is already there. We head back up the fence pushing on our escapee, who is still trying to fade back. Paint is...well, pushing ....but kinda running off. I think I'm in control......Until he trips & is going down. No biggie, running along side Broc, horses trip on occasion. Ya, well, they usely trip, re-gather, and are up again. We are still running full boar on our knees! My feet are dragging in the snow! This crazy horse doesn't have enough self preservation! Uggggg, up out of the snow & going! That made my blood pressure rise a little! Wild rag has came undone & I'm now holding it in my teeth, both hands on the reins, pushing on our renegade horse. The escapee is returned to the herd.

Now the task of loading these horses on a trailer. Trailing to town in voted against. A trap can be made with trailers to load along side the road. Ok....here we go! Go slow. Go fast. Get a few loaded. Re-group & repeat. After following this process a few times.....lol....we had them captured. Not to worry, we still had to unload in town & sort again but at the end of the day we were successful! A huge thank you to EVERYONE! We couldn't have done it with out you! We get home and drop off the boys. Unsaddle, take care of our horses and everyone heads in their own directions. Oh boy, I'm TIRED! Seriously, I'm out of training for this everyday Hoggan lifestyle. Sportin a bright red sunburn from my sunglasses down & bright white from where my sun glasses and beanie were...lol....lovely. My arms are shoulders are sore from plowing my horse, legs just from riding, geez! No worries, it was a great day but if I had to go 2 days in a row.....hmmm, I'm as good ONCE as I ever was......don't push it :)

Lived Happily Ever After.....until the next small farm accident

Monday rolls around, shockingly enough, I crack out of bed in the morning and get to work with Lil' Red Roan duties. Regg & Mckell need a sitter for an hour or so. I decide to take a break while I have Miss Ellie & make some cookies. Sounded like a fun idea. I wanted to send some cookies into Elk Camp for Dad anyway. Ellie & I have a blast. I'm not sure who is messier, me or her. After she leaves, I get a call that Dad's friend Garrick is getting ready to go in to the elk so I head over with the cookie delivery.

I see the opportunity to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Feeding has to be done at Dad's. J2 & I had our hands full last time so I ask Garrick if he will help us hook the team to feed. Houston is home so it should be a piece of cake. Sure enough, everything harnessed, hooked & we are good to go. Garrick lets us go & Houston & I are headed out. Tires dragging behind for weight, our little team is handling really good. We still need to load more hay on though. The wagon with hay is over where I can't get the team pulled up by it. We will have to throw hay down on the ground & re-load it on the team, not very cool. Garrick hasn't left yet so we see if he can pull the hay wagon up just enough so we can get to it. PERFECT! It is in the perfect spot & loading will be easy. Garrick & Houston moved the wagon while I while my team stood quietly waiting. Garrick leaves.

My horses start really nice and easy. Great positioning to load as I say WHOA in that deep I mean business voice. Apparently Penelope didnt get the memo that I was serious! Something spooks her! Not only do we not stop but we hit the hay wagon, sliding metal on metal & sending about 10 bales flying off! My horses are running off as best they can with the tires on & I just can't get them shut down. I holler to Houston that I'm in trouble as I see a hay bale lodged in between Penelope's back feet & the wagon. She's pulling the wagon & in turn pulling the bale into herself and causing more spooking. My guardian angels are always working over time & the bale moves back enough to stop the pressure. We get stopped & Houston runs across the road to get the bale out. Hahaha, I told you the second day wasn't a good idea. We got loaded the 2nd time without further damage to any equipment. Even managed to avoid any yard obstacles :)

Basically, And Then They Lived Happily Ever After.....until the next small farm accident :)

Lil Red Roan Special~

Cabin Fever Cure ~ Cabin Fever is in the air. What a better way to brighten a day than getting a Love Letter! Send a Love Letter to someone you are thankful for!

Hello Blog Friends


The sun is starting to shine a little warmer everyday & the snow line is receding back. To send a little good cheer I'm having running a Love Letter special this week.

~ Grab Bag of Love Letters from the West! ~ an assortment of 10 Love Letters for only $15! (a $15 dollar savings!) Stock up on your "Love Letters" today!

In case you aren't familiar, LOVE LETTERS from the West is a notecard line that I started about a year ago. Love Letters showcase some of my favorite quotes accompanied with photographs taken on the Gypsy Trail. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Enjoy,

Mindy Hoggan
Lil' Red Roan

p.s. Post your favorite Scripture or Quote & be eligible for a free Gift Pack to get the Cabin Fever Cure going :)