Out where the West begins

Yesterday coming through the part of Palo Duro Canyon called the
Caprock, I was struck by how much it looks like parts of northern New
Mexico, and had a surge of coming-home feeling. Big sky... red dirt...
mesquite and scrub pine... deep gullies, canyons and rolling hills...
only thing missing was mountains.

past the canyon, past Silverton, it gets flat 

Across from the H.'s. This highway has become a ghost road since they recently closed a big meat-packing plant. 

Abandoned store. Once a booming corner.

Mule parking is okay

Last night at Clint and Aubrey H.'s, camped out in the cattle pen,
blessedly free of security lights, no nearby cities, the night sky
glittered with billions of stars. The Milky Way splashed across the
heavens in all it's glory.

Walter wanted to see the stars from my vantage point, too. I had to
rope off my tent area after he walked over and stuck his head inside.



Walter tried to crawl into my tent in this corner...

The H.'s, a teacher and game warden and son Zane, were wonderful
folks, Clint even delivering hay at 10 pm. Another good ending to a
driveway night.

We rode 10 miles that day, plus another 2 on detours looking for
shelter. This morning Sir Walter was fine - no soreness or complaints
- and eager to get back on the road.

It turned out to be a much farther ride than anticipated. At 10 miles I stopped by a bridge and
stripped the packs and tack off Walter to give his back a breather.

We watched, and luckily saw none

A service truck pulled up and two young men got out and approached,
introducing themselves as Allen and Adam.

"And you must be Katie!"

Imagine my surprise! Turns out once again, I was following Sea's
route. Allen knows Jay S. ... who helped Sea last year ... Jay follows
Sea's blog where he read about me and unbeknownst to me had been
following my blog ... Allen called Jay and said "Guess what, I just
passed that Long Rider lady Sea on the highway"... Jay told him no, it
was a different Long Rider - me ... they drove back and stopped to ask
if I needed anything ... I said yes, a pen for Walter for the night.
Allen calls Jay,.. Jays calls friends... after a few miles through
fields we end up at friendly and welcoming home of Marcus and Jamie S.
Enjoyed evening of good conversation about all sorts of things. And
now with Walter safely tucked in, I'm off to bed as well.

Jamie S.