Journey for Jonathan: We are oh so ready to see mountains!! But, we are waiting patiently!

Day 50 – Thursday, May 1, 2014

We had a lot of wind last night but it seemed to settle down. I can tell you that West Texas doesn’t have anything on these crazy winds in the Colorado Plains! Only when a hurricane is coming have I ever seen winds like the ones we have seen so far in Colorado. We heard that it was going to be cold today but a little less wind early in the day so we decided to leave and try and get to Lynette and Greg Colvin’s before it got too bad. I went in to tell Stacie goodbye and to offer again to pay for our RV spot and the stall but she wouldn’t take it and she said they were honored to be a part of our journey. I hugged her goodbye and told her that I hoped we would see her again one day. If you are ever in Lamar and need an RV spot or a place for your horse, please give Stacie your business at the Lamar Sportsman RV Park and Horse Motel. They were so kind to us and we will miss Stacie!

Our hearts our heavy for the town of Lamar as we head out knowing that they will be having funeral services for Janea today. I know that they will celebrate her life today the way that she lived it….thankful for every minute that they had with her. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of her friends and family.

When we got onto the road, Lynette had told us about Country Road 3 that we could get off of 287 about 1 mile up and go all the way to their place on. It was a great road and hardly any traffic. The wind and temperature were deceptive today since the sun was out. There was a bitter cold wind coming from the north and Winston was riding right into it. It was good that it was going to be a short day today. Cory from KVAY called me and said he had been running our interview and information and wanted to know if we had started moving again and what they could do for us. I told him that we were headed north of Wiley tonight and we were looking for places in Eads and Kit Carson next. He said he would put the word out on the radio for us and we were so thankful!

We made great time and Durango seemed to be feeling good and wanted to move forward today. We passed a few pastures and he checked out the other horses. There was one pasture that all the horses moved in a line across the field to come check him out. But, we eventually passed them. We were surprised to find some really big trees on this road. We haven’t seen any this big in a long time. Unfortunately, a lot of them were dead. When I would step out into the wind to give Winston something I didn’t know how he was able to stand the cold wind today. The wind was just biting right into you and it was hitting him right in the face. Too bad I asked him to shave that mountain man beard when we were in Lamar! It would have helped him today but it was just too shabby looking! We moved forward knowing that we would soon be to our destination for the night.

We made it to Lynette and Greg’s house and got DB settled into the round pen. Lynette has a beauty salon in her house so she came and greeted us and then told us to make ourselves at home while she finished her appointments for the day.

I got a phone call from a lady named Robin Darnell who had heard about our journey on the radio and called to see if she could help us with places in Eads and Kit Carson. She is a breast cancer survivor and she said she thought she could help us out. She said she would call me back and let me know what she had found.

Then Ben Masters stopped by to meet us on his way to New Mexico to take care of his horses there. He is busy working on editing their movie, Unbranded and it will be completed in January. We know this is going to be an amazing documentary and please support it when it comes out! I promise that you will not be disappointed. We have seen a preview of some of the footage and it is amazing! Ben looked at Durango and said he looks great!! He told us that several of his horses on his journey had sore spots a lot worse than Durango’s and that we were doing great if we had kept them like they were. He also said he had trouble keeping weight on his horses but thought Durango looked lean and muscular. I have to say that Ben’s vote of confidence looking at Durango with his expertise of riding mustangs 3000 miles certainly made us feel good. He is interesting and funny and we really enjoyed visiting with him. He also had his dog Ruby with him and Hart loved playing with him.

Robin called back to say she had a place for us in Eads and Kit Carson too!! We are so grateful to Robin for taking the time to call us after hearing about it on the radio and helping us out. She easily could have listened to our story and thought it was a great thing but not have done anything to try and help us. She took time out of her busy day to make calls and find places for us on the road and we will never forget the efforts she made to help us. These are the kinds of things that make me realize that good people are still out there and it is so refreshing. I think in life we all sometimes just hear things that we think are good causes but then we don’t actually make the time to do something about it or to help make it better. The people that we have met along our journey have taught me that a lot of people are still out there who want to help and who want to make a difference even if it is to a total stranger and they will take the time out of their schedules to do it. And like I have said before, they are only strangers to us once and then they are our friends. We have such a string of friends built up now across Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado that I know that we would never have a problem in this part of the country that could not be solved easily with the help of all of our new friends. We don’t take that for granted one single day.

Greg is an alfalfa farmer and they also have a diner in the town of Lamar. We enjoyed visiting with him when he got home and then Lynette was cooking dinner for us and we were so excited about a hot meal. Their son, Trevor, also came to eat dinner with us. We had a delicious meal that Lynette cooked for us and we enjoyed visiting with these kind Christian people. We learned that they all ride Harley Davidson motorcycles and they have a wiener dog named Jazzy and a horse named Taz that Lynette rides. We had so much fun telling stories with this family and we laughed and even shared tears talking about Jonathan and about my brother and about the journey. It is funny how you can share so much with a family that you just met and just really appreciate the time you spend with them. We had such a great time talking to all of them and laughing and we knew we had made more friends that we would miss when we moved on. We took showers in their amazing bathroom. It was a huge, tiled, walk in shower with two different shower heads shooting at different directions! It was awesome! Trevor and Greg had designed and built this bathroom. It reminded me of a shower that Jonathan had built for Lindsey’s parents that was also amazing! We headed off to the RV to go to sleep. They had offered to let us sleep inside but we like to keep an eye on Durango through the night and then it is easier in the morning because all of his food is right there next to the pen.

Happy Birthday today to our young friend Keldon Allen in Dalhart, TX who turns 6 today!! We love you Keldon and hope you are having a great birthday celebration!!

Day 51 – Friday, May 2, 2014

We woke up this morning to a gorgeous day! It was sunny and the air was crisp and hardly any wind! It was going to be “a good day to ride!” Greg had told Winston that he could cut across his alfalfa fields to get back to the highway. Lynette had fixed us a goodie bag to take with us of fruit, granola bars and yogurt and some of her amazing dessert we had last night… “chocolate éclair layered dessert!” You could gain weight just looking at it and I didn’t care one bit! I had every intention of eating some more today when we stopped for lunch! It was decadent and delicious!

We took photos with them and then headed out towards Eads. Winston cut across the fields and I went up to the next street to head to the highway to meet up with him there. It was so beautiful to see Winston and Durango heading across these green fields of alfalfa. We had not seen that much green in a while. I took a bunch of photos of them in the field and then we headed north towards Eads.

We had a few state troopers stop to see if we were okay. One trooper Brian Williams pulled over and told me that his house was up at 3 mile curve close to Eads and that if we needed water for the horse we could come into the yard and get it. Another man named Edwin Wacker and Barb also stopped and talked to Winston and said he had seen the article about him in the Fencepost Magazine. He just knew it was Winston when he saw the horse and rider on the road. He loved the story and thought it was great he was doing this in honor of his best friend. He gave Winston a donation and told him that his best friend Johnny had passed away a while back. Johnny had been in a high line accident and was a quadriplegic for 38 years. Johnny told Edwin that when he died he was going to come back as an eagle. The other day Edwin was sitting on his back porch and an eagle flew into his backyard. He had tears in his eyes just telling Winston the story. I believe that was a sign from Johnny that he is alive and well and soaring all over this big, beautiful country of ours. And I know he visited Edwin just to let him know he was okay. Johnny had no more need of his arms and legs when God gave him wings!

We have a new system at lunch. I try and find a spot that has some kind of pole that we can tie Durango to so we can take his saddle off, hopefully let him take a nap, eat our lunch and then clean the sore areas again and reapply medicine. It seems to be working well for all of us! He actually takes advantage of the rest time for a few minutes now.

Robin came and found us on the road and I was so happy to meet her! She had her daughter Tabatha with her and her grandkids Taygen, Brea and Braxton Ferris. They told us they would meet us up at the place we were staying tonight. Robin told me that her granddaughters both ride horses and compete in events. They are 9 and 5. I told her about a horse movie that I worked on that just came out on DVD and I thought they would love it because it was a sweet story. When I said the name of it and told her that I was the Costume Supervisor/Key Set Costumer on it she said that her granddaughters already own it and they can recite almost every word of it. She said they would be so excited to know that I worked on it.

We plodded along and then I went up ahead to meet Robin at the place where we were going to spend the night. The pens were owned by Deb and Bob Kliesen. Robin had called Deb to see if we could put the horse here. When I met Deb I thanked her for letting us stay here. I learned that Bob is going through radiation treatments right now for lung cancer. His last treatment is on Monday. Please send your prayers out for Bob that this is the last treatment that he will have. I hope they get good news that all of the cancer is gone and that he will be on his way to recovery. It seems they caught it in the early stages so I know that is always better. Deb was so nice and told us that she had a vacant apartment on the grounds too that if we wanted to take a shower or wash clothes we were welcome to do that. Her daughter Jamee lived in the apartment next door. I got to meet all of Robin’s grandkids and they were so adorable! The girls were so excited that I had worked on Dakota’s Summer. Taygen had such interesting questions about the movie including continuity questions about why the lead actress’s clothes were a certain way in the movie! I explained to her about my job and told her about some of the people in the movie and how they were all so nice! She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and asked me for my autograph!! How cute is that?!? I wrote her a sweet note and I told her that I would get her mom’s email address and send her some of my photos from the movie when I got back to Louisiana. She was so excited!

Winston got stopped a few more times on the road so he was a little behind me. When he passed the state trooper Brian’s house he was talking to Brian and his wife when something came running around the corner and scared Durango so much that he jumped about two or three feet to the side. It was an enormous pig!! He came up to the bottom of Durango’s stomach and was as long as the body of Durango. And he outweighed Durango by quite a bit!! Winston said he has never seen a pig this enormous in his life! He was sorry that I missed seeing it!

When Winston got to the pens we got DB set up in the pen and visited with Deb and her daughter Jamee and Robin, Tabatha and all of the grandkids! Everyone was so nice to us and we felt so welcomed here. When it was time to feed Durango we pulled the RV up by the fence so we could get his food out and all of their cows lined up by the fence thinking we had treats for them!! They also think the RV is the taco truck just like Durango! I was sorry that I didn’t have anything to give them. Robin and Deb told us about a place called The Windmill Saloon that was really close and had great food. Jamee told Winston that she wanted to treat us to dinner. Bob is her dad and he was just diagnosed about three months ago with cancer and she loved what we were doing so insisted on treating us. Jamee works at an assisted living facility in Eads and was on the night shift so we went to eat with her before she had to go to work. We had great pizza fixed by Larry and Larry, the two bartenders! They were so fun and sweet! Robin texted and told me that Taygen wanted to take a picture with us for her autograph book. So, Taygen and her mom Tabatha and her dad Brandon came and met us there. Winston picked out some theme songs on the jukebox! He played, Against the Wind, Rocky Mountain High, Wide Open Spaces, On the Road Again and Wildfire! That about sums up our life right now! Taygen picked some of her favorites which was a lot of Katy Perry and mostly songs that we didn’t know but she knew every word of! We had so much fun visiting with all of these lovely people. We are praying for their families and especially for Bob that he overcomes his cancer.

We said our goodbyes and then headed back to take showers and wash some clothes and hit the bed! It is supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow too! And Brandon told us that we might see mountains off in the distance tomorrow or the next day!!!! That is great news to think about when we put our heads on our pillows tonight!

Day 52 – Saturday, May 3, 2014

We packed up and got DB fed and saddled and I cleaned him up and put medicine on his sore spots which really just look like the hair is worn away. They don’t look inflamed or infected and he still doesn’t even flinch when I touch them. Today is supposed to be hot so we are hoping they don’t get irritated from the heat. Deb stopped by to say goodbye to us and we were so happy to be able to thank her again. I told her that we would be praying hard on Monday as Bob has his last radiation treatment and we will be hoping and praying for great news for them. She was so glad that they had been able to help us and she wished us safe travels. I sincerely hope that we see all of the nice people that we met in Eads again one day. Robin texted to let me know they would be back and forth all day from Kit Carson to Eads if we needed anything and we were so appreciative.

As Winston was heading out, he wanted me to go back a few miles to see the gigantic pig! I told him I would but when I got there the pig was sound asleep in his “pig house”. It was similar to a dog house but it was a giant version of it!! All I could see was his pinkish pig ear sticking out and it was easily two times bigger than my hand! While I was standing there our friend Cheryl Webb from Springfield drove up with her friend Dottie. I couldn’t believe it! Unfortunately she was on her way to her stepmom’s funeral in Denver. I was so sorry to hear that but she was very ill so Cheryl said she is in a better place now. We will pray for her dad who I am sure is going to miss her a lot. I told Cheryl where to look for Winston and then I drove on to meet up with him.

We had a few people stop him before he got out of town to ask what we were doing and then we finally made it onto the road outside of town. On this road the bar ditch is hard to walk in because it has soft sand or dirt and it is sloped but it a lot safer than being close to the road. The heat today is really bothering Winston with the blue jeans and the boots. But, he has said many times that even on the very worst days he knows it is 1000 times better than what Jonathan or anyone going through cancer treatments goes through on a daily basis while they are having the treatments. He has walked a lot today to help Durango in the heat and to help him as well. We have to go about 20 miles today to a place just south of Kit Carson that Robin set up for us. The place belongs to MarkWienad.

As we move forward on this journey we are reminded of the people who were our original backers on our Kickstarter.com campaign. Although we have received a lot of donations since then which have helped immensely with unexpected expenses that were not in our budget and we appreciate so much, without our original backers this journey would not be happening at all. These people donated to us and believed in this journey before we even went one single mile. We will never forget their faith in us and we are eternally grateful because this journey is one that Winston and I will remember for the rest of our lives. And this journey and the book Winston is going to write are a legacy to Jonathan that will last for eternity. I would like to recognize our original backers and thank them again from the bottom of our hearts….you made this journey possible. I know Jonathan’s family joins me in thanking you as well. They are listed in no particular order and they are listed the way they are listed on the scroll that has been carried in the saddlebag for over 700 miles so far! Thank you, thank you, thank you again!

Kelly and Ann Chance

Rick, Kristi, Kody and Maci Shipley

In Memory of K.C. Chance

The Daryl Fink Family

Mike Miller

Jonathan, Stacey and Erin Patin

The Eudy Family

Pepe, Cointa and Ila Mae Avitia

Wind River Ranch and Ministries

Randad and Mama C Wolff

The Zeigler Family

Austin Tonroy and family

Janet Harton and Grandmother and Papa Little

The Maynard Family

Mandy and Danny Bradford and Family

Mark, Stacy, Camille and Claire Brown

Fisher Early Childhood Development Center

Don and Sara McIntyre and family

Andy and Connie Debbane

The Wallace Family

The Cook Family

Carla Donaldson “D”

Steven Perez

Kurt and Jennifer Salisbury

Dan Kusnetz and MJ McGrath

Charlie, Angela and Caleb Hancock

Pepper Meiler, (your ol’ Franklin buddy)

Robert J. Brown

Phillip R. Zeigler

Johnny Lynch and family

Pete Cuiry

Cody Bruner

Ron and Paige Crosby

Ben Wilson

Tim Hall

American Legion Charles Jagler Post #42

David, Theresa, Kyle and Grace Glantzberg

Jason, Ginger, Caleb and Collin Murray

Chris Wilson

Lizzi, Jon and Graham Howell

Burt and Jan Greer

Lowrey and Mike Simon

The Roberts Family

Alison Parker (April and Alison BFF’s since 1983)

Bob and Linda Farnsworth

Patty Smith and Jennifer Bissett

The Kuoni Family – Denver, CO

The Sides Family (Jesse, Emily, Witten, Arri and Josie)

Tammi and Terri Harmon

Rich and Heather Pipech

The Vedros Family

In Memory of Alex Vedros

Dana and Chris Hayes KW

Richard and Debby Kennedy

Brenda and Chris Stone

Peggy Spilker

Mike and Melissa Barnes and family

Da Twins! Lynn and Lee

Daniel Orlandi

Jackie Gondrella

Thomas C. Haymore

Rey and Nanette Navarro and family with LOVE

David, Diana and Brett Fincher

The Day Family

Carrie Darrah

Suzanne Stuckey Bickham

Paul and Holly Adams

Ashley Terrel

Melly Hocking

Erin Holloway

Lowell and Kitty Lovell

Sky Gerdel

Daniel McClellan

Becky Blanchard

Rob Brown

The Compton Family

Markita and Skip Gumble

Keane and Lauriebeth Byrom and Terry McKinney

Dan and Sue Loerwald

Yumiko Takeya and Peanut together forever!

Sarah Hall

Vicki and John Lybrand

Candi Baize

Linda Hall Nelson

Sandy Rushing

Cindy Romsa

Jimmie Tidwell

Dana Whisenhunt

Matthew Keim and family

Adriana Brown and family

The Gann Family

JoLisa Hoover

Katherine Treppendahl

Brad and Haley Laskowski

Molly R. Nolden

Meagan, Kevin and Keaton Luster

Camille Argus and Andrew Posey

Elaine Goldman In memory of Betty, dearest friend lost too soon

Heather Jeans

The McCalman Family

Patrick Redding

Janet Bouso

Chastity Jones

Chris and Stephanie Fadal

Aaron and Katie Palmer

Joyce Morrison

Meriwether, Wende, Jed and Cole

Stephanie Hester

Chris Gruszeczki

Julie Anne Domokos

Malin Forsgren

Rance and Meredith Rainer

Todd Haberkost

Lauren Fincher Dreyer

The Sabo Family

West Coast Love from Marylou Lim

Jay and Megan Littlefield

Deborah Moody

Meredith Drake and Family

Mary Stewart

Jim Dotson and family

Liz Landers

Shane and Keegan Webb

Jan Quatroy

Ben Masters

Dana Anderson

Linda Gardar

Beth Kloes

Chuck and Bernie Dare

Terry Mooney and Family

Heidi Glantzberg

Jackie Lindsey

Jennifer Pike

Vikki Blust Blanchard and Karl Geislinger

Douglas A. Shehan

Susanne and Chris Andrews

Kelly and Matthew Gonzales

Evelyn Savage and family

Antha Guidry and TJ DeLong and family

Sarah Wills Knight

Clint Richards

Carmela Cortez

Colette Badeaux

Ann Salzer

Laura C. Sherman

Kim and Sue Maurer

Jud and Amanda Wolff

Becca Key Hobbs

Faye Sevilla Smith

Logan Settoon

Vicki Ford

Marianne Mack

Shannon Manieri

Rose Morgan

Krista Barron

Jennifer and Taryn Bissett

Clint and Kayla Talbott

Eunavae Tonroy

Marie Hickey

Mary and Aubrey Adams

In Memory of Kimberly Adams

Jenn Proske

Collette Bakken

Mary Wasson

Alan Heusdens

Marcie Smith

Marshall and Shannon Estes

Debra McGuire and Family

Mischa Farrell

Barbara, Pam and Chelsea

Erin Patin

Victor and Lane Olvera

Jillian Kreiner

Kim Howell

Becky Huff Terrien

Lisa Magee

Bobbie Tippitt

Charlie Landers and Family

Tom and Donna McGann

Shannon Olson

Amber Adair

Lisa Downs Flynn

Cassie Catalanotto

Ann and Ted Auschwitz

Ann Walters

Megan Weeks

So Durango has been moving pretty well this afternoon. He did four miles in under an hour after lunch. We will probably get to our resting place around 6 or 6:30 pm. The last 6 miles Durango decided to trot almost the entire way! Winston may not survive but he doesn’t want to stop him since he tries most days to get him to go faster! We arrived at the Weiand Family’s house at about 6pm. Mark greeted us and then we met Lori, his wife and their two sons, Brock and Rocky and their dog, Millie. They were so sweet and accommodating. Mark and Winston got Durango set up in his pen and got him some hay. They had hookups for the RV and it was the first time we used the air conditioner in the RV! Winston put his saddle on a snowmobile in the garage and it looked hilarious to me! They were cooking a roast and carrots and potatoes and asked us to join them for dinner! We had a lovely meal with this family and were entertained by their youngest son Rocky and enjoyed hearing stories from their oldest son Brock. He is 12 years old and can drive almost all of the farm equipment his dad farms with. Mark farms 20,000 acres!! We learned about all kinds of equipment and some of these pieces of machinery cost $350,000!!! They have a bunch of this machinery to farm their land. It is a huge investment and like the other farmers we have met, they are being hurt by the drought too.

We tried to get to bed by 10pm but missed it by an hour. Not too bad. Still haven’t seen mountains yet. Mark told us that sometimes it is hazy and you can’t see them unless it is really clear but he thought we would be able to see them soon.

Day 53 – Sunday, May 4, 2014

We woke up this morning and had a great breakfast with the Weiand family. Brock told us that he would read Winston’s book when it was finished and do a book report on it. We got packed up and said our goodbyes and were headed to Wild Horse, Colorado with our wild horse!! Robin had asked Mark if he could find a place for us in Wild Horse and he found us a pen with a man named Curtis Schrimp. We heard that Curtis is 99 years old and he still writes an article about News from Wild Horse for the Cheyenne Wells newspaper. We can’t wait to meet him!

We kept looking off to the west for mountains but still haven’t been able to see any. We had a pretty uneventful day. The morning was beautiful and then the wind picked up later but we only had to go about 16 miles today so we were hoping to be there by about 5 or 6pm. We went through the town of Kit Carson which is where Mark and Lori live. Winston and DB picked their way across a lot of dirt ditches that were like big sand dunes. It was hard walking through it. We got to the town of Wild Horse and of course we wanted pictures with the sign! We tried to get Durango to buck like a wild horse (just kidding!) but Winston simulated what it would have been like if he did buck with him on his back! Luckily Durango just played along and didn’t throw Winston off his back! I guess after the Oklahoma dance he just expects anything from Winston.

Our directions to find Curtis were, drive into Wild Horse and his house is the only one on the right side of the road. That was easy. We met LeeAnn, Curtis’s daughter who lives in the country of Norway. And then we met Curtis who was so sweet. I can’t believe he is 99! He just stopped driving 6 months ago because of a hip problem. And he still writes for the paper. LeeAnn told us that she was sure he would write about us. LeeAnn had us follow her to the farm house so she could show us the pens. We learned that her sister Marty had lived in this farm house and she was going to retire here but she got stomach cancer and passed away two years ago at the age of 61. I am sure Curtis never thought he would outlive his daughter. Curtis told me that she was a one of the good ones but that cancer is a bad thing and they missed the diagnosis originally so when they found it, the cancer had spread. He told us that she loved her time at the farm house she had bought. LeeAnn asked us about Jonathan and we told her all about him and she said she knew Winston must miss him. We enjoyed visiting with LeeAnn and she told us that this land sits on the same ground where Indians once lived and as a child they used to go look for arrowheads on the land. There is an old log cabin that a homesteader built here and she told us that they used to have water in the Sandy Bottom creek right behind the land but now it is only sand and dead trees. The town originally had wild mustangs roaming here because of the creek and that is how it got the name Wild Horse. Every place we go the tumbleweed is so out of control. I don’t even know how it can grow that fast! I am talking hundreds of thousands of tumbleweeds. It is crazy how it piles up! No one lives in the farm house right now so we don’t have water hookups or power to hook into but I fixed us dinner and we may go to bed early. We are tired!

We will probably rest tomorrow but unfortunately there are no restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores or laundromats in Wild Horse but we may still rest here anyway. We have a safe place for Durango with a nice field for him to graze in and LeeAnn and Curtis told us that we were welcome to rest here. We will probably get going again on Tuesday still on Hwy. 287 headed north towards the town of Hugo. We won’t make it all the way but we are hoping to find somewhere safe to camp along the road.

Any day now we are hoping to see mountains! I have been making a list of all the counties and cities or towns that we have been through and it is quite a list! In Texas we have been to these counties: Coryell, Lampasas, San Saba, McCulloch, Concho, Tom Greene, Coke, Sterling, Mitchell, Scurry, Garza, Crosby, Floyd, Hale, Castro, Deaf Smith, Oldham, Hartley, Dallam. In Oklahoma, Cimarron County and in Colorado the counties so far are: Baca, Prowers, Kiowa, and Cheyenne.

Durango’s sore spots are still losing a little hair but are starting to look better. Donna’s Horse Nurse Service seems to be helping! I have been cleaning them and treating them three times a day. And his hooves have been dry from all this dry sand and dirt we have been going through since Texas so Winston treats those two times a day. Getting Durango ready for the day and ready for sleep at night takes a long time now! Winston had a dream the other night that we were going to stay at someone’s house and they said they had a spot for him and when we got there the lady showed him into a bedroom in the house. In the dream Winston said, I don’t know if he will do well inside the house and I am not sure he will sleep in that bed. She even had pajamas laid out for him. A dream interpreter would have a field day with that one! Maybe it means we think about Durango even when we sleep! One of my sister’s favorite books when she was a child was about a horse who wore striped pajamas and lived in a house and slept in a bed but I can’t think of the name of the book but she loved it! I will tell you this…. if Durango is coming to sleep in this tiny bunk bed with us then that will be my last day!

Well time to hit the hay so to speak! Thank you for all of your love and support every day and most of all for your prayers. We feel safe and protected every day and we feel sure it is not only all of you praying for us but also all of the angels we have watching over us from above. We are thankful for every one of you.

Love, Donna (Winston, Hart and Durango too)

Day 54 – Monday, May 5, 2014

Well, I didn’t get to post the update last night. I couldn’t get my hotspot for internet service to work at the place where we are. We did decide to take our rest day today. We are going to go into Kit Carson today and dump the RV, go to the grocery store and I will try and find internet service! Durango had a big field to graze in and we hobbled him just in case he would take off running since we weren’t sure whether the fence went all the way around their property. While Winston went to walk the perimeter, Durango decided there was better grass in the back of the pasture so he decided hobbles couldn’t hold him back. He started running with the hobbles on!! It was hilarious to watch his creative way to run in the hobbles. Meanwhile, Hart took off running after a jackrabbit and Winston had to do a 500 yard sprint to catch him because he was running towards the highway which we weren’t sure was fenced or not. So, on his rest day Winston did more physical activity than a day of riding. Boy, was Hart in trouble because he didn’t stop when Winston called him! Winston felt like he was going to throw up when he got back. Hart didn’t seem fazed by it.

Well, headed into town! Hopefully we will get everything done and get to rest some more! So, we were in town a total of five minutes and we got a surprise visit from Da Twins!! Our friends Lynn and Lee from Estes Park drove out to surprise us! I have actually never met them in person so I was so thrilled to finally meet them. These ladies have not missed one single day posting a message for us on this journey. And when Jonathan was sick, they also did not miss one day sending a message to him. They did not even know we were resting today and they were riding looking for us on the road. They had already passed where we were staying and had we still been there, they wouldn’t have been able to see us because we were off the road and down a hill. Then they rode through Kit Carson and there we were at the RV park dumping the RV. Amazing how God works sometimes. We were going to get lunch so we asked them to join us. They insisted on treating us to lunch. It was so great to finally visit in person with them! Lee had a video that they made for us of photos from our journey and photos of Winston and Jonathan and Wind River with the song Love is Unstoppable in the background and we were both so emotional watching it. It reminded us of all the miles we have traveled so far and that we are so close to our final destination. I hope when we are able to get a copy of it, we can share it with all of you because it is really special and beautiful. We had a great lunch and then went back to the land so they could meet Durango. The twins had two bags of goodies for us and we really appreciated them thinking of us and coming to visit us. We walked to the back of the property where Durango was grazing and sat under a tree and talked for over two hours. LeeAnn and Curtis came out to see us to check on us and so Curtis could see the horse. He told us that he turned in an article about us that he and LeeAnn wrote for the county paper. We thanked them again for letting us stay here. Curtis told us how much his daughter Marty had loved this place. I had a pang of sadness again when he mentioned it for all that she wanted to do on this land in her retirement. If there is something you really want to do in life or have always wanted to do then do it. Find a way to make it happen. Life is short. One of my favorite quotes and one that our friend Randy Wolff sent to us the other day is, “the older we get, it is the things that we didn’t do in life rather than the things we did do that we regret the most.” Live your life so that you don’t have regrets. Get out there and do the things you really want to do. Even if you fall short of your goals, you will not regret trying. Winston and I both have said that if anything ever happened to us, we want the other to know that we lived life to the fullest every day and that we have no regrets. I think that it is important for everyone to live that way. Don’t let a day go by without telling the ones you love that you love them and spend all the time you can with them while you have the chance.