Holyoke, Colorado

Monday, May 21st, after 31 days and nearly 400 miles WE DID IT!

Jesse James

Jesse James usually holds his beautiful ears straight up. The ears sagged as the miles passed and near Fleming his ears were horizontal and poor Tut was stopping every mile to gander at the cows or the trash in the ditch. Anything for a rest.

East of Ault

After weeks of snow and rain, our challenge on the eastern plains became heat and lack of water. We began to carry water and the boys would eagerly drink from a plastic bag.

Near Ted’s Place west of Ft. Collins

Bill and Kit Link offered, not only “room at the inn,” but they graciously took care of the boys while I returned to watch Scott graduate from Mesa and Jean E. rested in Denver at her sister’s home.

Outside Ft. Collins Deer Valley Ranch

Both Jesse and Tut enjoyed socializing on the journey. They became very bonded to each other. When we took them out of the small holding pen to let them rest in a bigger area they remained very close.

East of Ft. Collins

We stopped at a rodeo grounds to eat our sandwich and all of us took a nap. You can barely see Jean E. in the grass. Before we reached Holyoke both of us were nodding off to sleep while riding.

Outside Walden

After the blizzard (previous post) when we went to saddle the boys, they wouldn’t come out of the barn. They had been wet and cold for more than 200 miles. The barn was warm and dry. They formed a union and went on strike.

South of Walden

One of the many blizzards on the journey. We could barely see the road that morning. The wind howled. I called the Sheriff’s Department in Walden to get a weather report and it was grim. The dispatcher offered her barn.

Books on Main Street in Sterling

The boys behaved themselves at the book signings, except at a signing in Steamboat Springs. Jesse kept jerking away, pawing and pushing. Jean E. and I both got very impatient with him. Suddenly he quit trying to communicate with us, cut loose and urinated all over the sidewalk.

Between Craig and Hayden

After the first week, Jesse and Tut seemed to know we’d be traveling between fifteen and twenty miles a day. Each morning they stepped out to the challenge.