Colorado

The prairies and farmland of Colorado have been beautiful and have gone by very quickly! We have been fortunate that as the ride progresses and our fame is more widespread, farmers and ranchers hear about the trail ride moving northward and open their gates to our ride. Otherwise, we would be riding along the roadsides, which is less interesting.

One of the evening camps was near a small community named Kaylan, where their entire school system consists of 55 students, which has had a senior class of from 1 to 13. They invited the community to our campfire at one of the teachers homes where we were camped at the Smith Cattle Co. He told us about their school district's internet school system of about 200, which is great revenue for their regular school district.

The Atwater Cattle Company was very welcoming and allowed us to stay for 2 nights. Larra Atwater bestowed upon our 88 year old rider, Nate Brown from Wyoming, Cowboy of the Year for 2009. He will be carrying the Cowboy of the Year Flag with him for the remainder of the ride to Canada. He is a lifelong cowboy and they felt, and rightfully so, that Nate represents what a cowboy is. That organization is trying to preserve the lifestyle of the cowboy.

Woodrow, CO, population 13, was a one day stop at a Southern Baptist church. They had a potluck, a short vesper service for us and then we had a fire-less campfire with our resident cowboy singer Del Shields singing for the local crowd and for us. He is a really good singer. I will put a link to his website on this blog for you to look up. Actually you can find his website through the http://www.bestofamericabyhorseback.com/.

One night we stayed in Stoneham, CO, which has a population of around 20. Don't let that fool you though. It's a busy place. There is a post office, 3 churches, a restaurant, a home-based flooring business, community center, 4 or 5 homes and a grain elevator. But, the surrounding farmers and ranchers come to town all the town for community activities.

One of the hightlights of Colorado was in Limon when my college friends Lyda and Steve from Gunnison came to visit. I have not seen them in probably 20 years. It was soooo good to see them!!!! Thanks for coming over.

The other highlight was seeing Beth from Colorado Springs. Beth who started out standing about 4 feet back from the horses and by the end of the day was getting her picture taken petting them. Beth is a friend, orginally from Jackson, and we keep meeting up every few years. It's great. She is attempting to sell the camper that we started our trip with and had to leave in LaJunta NM. Thanks for coming over and you get a bunch of gold stars for trying to sell the camper. Thank you.

Right now we are staying at the Colorado Cattle Company near Kimball, NE. So, just after the July 4th holiday we will be leaving Colorado. This is a beautiful location. Jim is out on a cattle drive as we speak with some of the other riders and some of the guests of the lodge. One of the repeat guests is from Germany, which is often the case out West. People from Europe are fascinated with the American West and come over and over again for vacations. That is what keeps these places going.