I awoke to the realization
that today is the last full day on the wagon train. This wonderful experience is drawing toward
the end. The routine has become familiar
and it is easy to see how months of traveling in this fashion would revolve
around the daily flow of activities of survival.
After packing up my gear I had
some time to sketch the barn that we could see from our camp site.
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| view to the slough |
The morning passed as
usual. I once again walked after the
biffy break and the road lead alongside of a beautiful body of water. I was told that in these parts they call this
a “slough” in recognition of the fact that no rivers flow into or out of
them.
Today I almost walked all the way
to the selected lunch spot which was on a lovely mown grass area right next
door to someone’s home. I was very
thankful for the shade trees and it was delightful to spread out my picnic
blanket under these tall and stately cottonwood trees.
Today’s lunch: Chicken Salad sandwiches with tomato, lettuce, with some celery and carrot sticks.
After lunch I finished the
“pillow case”. Each wagon received a
pillow slip and we were encouraged to create art to commemorate the trip. Our wagon family decided that our theme was
“where we came from”. I added my “from
Canada” and then Fran added her “from
Washington” and we were complete.
Our lunch stop today also
included the auction. First the pillow
slips were auctioned off. The were sold
from $30.00 all the way up to $200.00 each.
After this there was an apron and a calendar auctioned off and this led
up to the big event, the auction for the annual quilt. Quilting squares have been handed out to all
of us to create art pieces which we return to the Wagon Train Team. They assemble this into a quilt and this is
given to the person with the highest bid.
This year’s quilt was sold for $2000.00. I have already been mulling over what I will
do with my piece of the project and have some interesting ideas in mind.
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| abandoned piece of history |
The final stretch in the
afternoon I rode up front with Duane. It
is interesting to note how different the view is from the front of the wagon as
opposed to inside. Today Whitey and Ike
were a calm team and there was not excitement along the ride. I learned from Duane that hoofs wear down on
a trail like this where lots of the surfaces were gravel roads. The team will need a few weeks of grass
pasture time to allow their hooves to grow.
They grow at approximately the same rate as out nails.
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| the sheriffs clear traffic for us |
There were lots of spectators
along the final stretch of the road and we even had sheriffs monitoring traffic
as we got closer to the town.
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| Getting off the wagon for the last time |
We circled
the wagons at the fairgrounds at the edge of Carrington.
After setting up my tent I
headed to the chuck wagon to present myself for dinner preparation duty. My jobs included: slicing potatoes, slicing the bread and
stirring the scalloped potato mixture over the fire.
Dinner: Scalloped potatoes with ham, sliced tomatoes, green beans, celery and
carrot sticks, fudge brownies with milk.
After dinner there were skits
and singing to be enjoyed by all.
As the sun gradually set in
the west the air cooled off and it was time to head to my tent. The moon was glorious in the clear sky.
It was delightful to settle in
for my evening routine, reading, a couple of Sudoku puzzles and as
the last of the daylight faded from the sky, sleep.
Renate Dundys Marrello
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| view from our camp site |
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| view of prairie grasses |
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