My cousin and I made it home Monday night late. I meant to write this post Tuesday, but I got wrapped up in the excitement of being home. Then we had calves to doctor and an injured cow to save. To top it all off we were experiencing issues with our internet, which resulted in the amazing upgrade to wireless! So now the story telling begins, it's bound to be a bit scattered, just like the trip.
My cousin Casey is four years younger than me, his sister used to be my best friend, now we've become closer. He's loud and odd and funny and we always have a blast! He agreed to ride the Greyhound just to help me get home safely. That's where his adventure started...
Casey got on the Greyhound in Medford, along with a lot of other people. Right off the bat, the bus wouldn't start. Once on the road it only makes sense with our awful Irish luck that the person in front of him would lay his seat back on top of him. They struggled along to Portland, where he originally had a two hour layover. My dad had previously warned him of the potential perils awaiting, and to find a spot in the corner of the bus station and not let his guard down. Thankfully they were running behind and he only had to wait an hour, with several gang members skulking about and another pacing back and forth behind him(no where to sit on the wall). He was pretty anxious and a little worried sitting there in a cowboy hat and sponsor covered ACTRA coat. He thought for sure he'd be the target of a jumping... Hehe, hey we come from a very small, safe community that is no longer even a town. Needless to say the kid followed a mother and her children on the bus safe and sound.
On the way east it was rumored that there was a huge snow storm in La Grande, and they may have to stay in Stanfield. I was contentedly tucked away in the movie theater watching Breaking Dawn Part II. It was snowing, but not sticking. After the movie I chose to stay awake just in case I needed to drive over the mountain and rescue him. A snowstorm set in and we got a little worried. They chained up over the mountain and got to La Grande an hour and half late. I slept maybe 45 minutes. We got another couple hours before getting up and going to Catholic class. The rest of the day was spent riding horses, ending in a bitter cold blizzard. The next morning we got up early and preg checked/vaccinated cows, in the snow. That night we went out. It soon became my friends personal duty to get him drunk, buying him a Cement Mixer that the bartender made him drink outside. We got home around 5 am. The kid and I passed out in the living room and didn't wake up until 2 in the afternoon. The next morning we set out.
By the time we got all of my clothes loaded, the trailer hooked up, horses loaded and mail sent out it was 10:30. We made good time though, it had warmed up and most of the snow and ice on the freeway had rained off. As we approached the HWY 97 cut off I told Casey to watch for Bighorn Sheep. He had about given up on spotting any, when we see 4 rams! It was awesome. We stopped in Biggs for fuel. While inside, we got iced coffee at McD's, and there was a very attractive foreign(Russian) guy behind us. I promise this has some importance. When we finally make it out of the truck stop, we follow a cop onto the freeway. He takes off, lights flashing. Just a ways down the road, brake lights come on, and everyone starts to merge into the left lane. I see the cop stopped but the Russian in his Toyota and little trailer is right next to my trailer, and I'm trapped in my lane. I brake, but there's nothing I can do. When the road opens up I see large traffic cones all over my lane. There was nothing to do but run them over, but I only hit one. I panic, because I didn't see it come out, and I didn't move over for the cop. Casey tries to reassure me that everything is just fine, but I know better! There's just no where to stop. Next thing I know, the cop is behind me with his lights flashing. Dang it!!! Why me? Why do I Always get pulled over??? Casey's just laughing because he was with me for my last ticket, pulling my trailer. There is no shoulder and we're on the freeway, but I finally pull over. As the officer approaches my rig he stops and grabs something, the cone! There's no base left and it's much worse for wear. He comes up and says that he just wanted to get that cone out, because it was really starting to smoke, I apologized for not moving over, but he saw what happened and knew I couldn't. He was a very nice guy, and pretty cute himself! We made it through Portland without a hitch, and stopped just south of there to let the horses out. I was done in and Casey took over.
Casey has astigmatism, and really doesn't see very well without his glasses. Which he quit wearing because, "they looked dorky". We stopped in Salem for fuel. This is where the magic happened. On our way back out to the freeway we were sitting at a stoplight. Just making conversation he asks if that street sign says Hawhorse. I start laughing hysterically because its Hawthorne. "Oh Lord, I feel like you need a walking stick and seeing eye dog! And not be driving". We're both just rolling at this point, but I wasn't sure if I'd get to sleep after that or not. But I was tired and he promised he really could see just fine, so I slept until Eugene. I want to add in here that my puppy Macie was a wonderful little passenger the whole way. We joked, laughed, made fun of each other and sang pretty much the whole rest of the way. Slid into the truck stop at Central Point with maybe a gallon or two to spare. The tranny got pretty hot pulling the Siskiyous but we made it over just fine. I wasn't sure if we'd make it down the river in one piece though because he pretty much never saw any of the deer.
We rolled into the ranch around 11, unloaded and cleaned my pickup out so he could take it to work the next day. I crawled into bed and thanked God for good family and making it possible for me to come home.
This is probably the longest post Ever, so I understand if you didn't make it all the way through :) If you did, thanks for reading. I'll try to never ramble this much again!
Xoxo Loves,
Me
