Daylily

Friday, July 16 I was out at the crack of dawn trying to figure out where to haul all those trees. In the farm wagon, we've put 8 30 gallon barrels filled with dried fruits and vegetables, and some other food. Actually 15 barrels will fit (3 across and 5 long) but since we only have 8 that gives us an extra row to put the roll of rat wire, one metal garbage can with filled with the long-handled tools like hoes, rakes, shovels, etc., then a second metal garbage can with trees in it. I'll have to take them out of their pots and wrap the root balls with something. Maybe the Rocks have some feed sacks that they don't need. I'm not sure I can get 16 trees in there but I can get several of them. At the back of the trailer, we can put the 2 bee hives, the 3 5-gallon cans of gas, the lamp oil, the chainsaws, and whatever else we can fit in. With the fiberglass greenhouse supports, a waterproof cover, and a sheet of plywood, someone could sleep on top of the barrels or we could just haul our tents, tarps, etc. there. Here is what I know, so far: (1) Linc & Daylily's wagon- 1 piano and 1 cook stove weighing a total of 1600 lbs leaving about 3400 we can add. (2) Rick & Lena's wagon, Fred & Nell's wagon, Paul & Carrie's wagon- 1 cook stove and 1 heating stove, total of 1200 lbs, leaving 3800 lbs per wagon to add. (3) Loren's wagon- 1 heating/ cooking combination weighing 500 lbs leaving 4500 lbs; (4) Anne & Mom's wagon- our heating stove at 500 lbs leaving 4500 lbs. That gives us 19,300 lbs we can add to the wagons. Loren's horses will carry their own saddles; vet supplies, other tack, extra leather and supplies for repairs, small tools, etc will be added to the saddle bags. The Belgians will pull the farm wagon. Our two canoes will be strapped to the top of one of the wagons. The 3 mountain bikes can be strapped on somewhere too. We have lots of totes with lids and plastic shoe boxes with lids for smaller items. I have the totes labeled—hydrotherapy supplies, greenhouse supplies, kitchen, toiletries, sewing, laundry supplies, lighting, etc. There are all the carpentry tools, blacksmithing tools, Rick's water wheel parts and so much more. The beans, grains, nuts, dried fruits, dried vegetables, etc. weigh just a little over 4000 lbs. This does not include the home-canned foods under the subfloor of the one wagon. Another heavy group is the books. The mattresses weigh quite a bit too I guess. We decided to leave the beans, grains, etc. in their sacks and stack the empty 5 gallon buckets together to save room. We can duct tape the lids together so they won't be getting in the way. We had vacuum sealed the winter clothes in space bags before we left so they are just hard slabs now. We can stick them in empty spaces. All this mental exercise was making me hungry but the girls and Nell were fixing breakfast so I thought I'd walk over to the Rock's place and see if they had any feed sacks they didn't need. I called Lady (the dog) and we headed toward the house. Joy Rock answered my knock and invited me in. I asked about the feed sacks and told her what I wanted to use them for. She said she was sure they had some extras, that we'd go out to the barn and see. She handed me a package that had come in the mail yesterday. I was surprised. I hadn't given anybody this address. I saw it was from John's mother and thought Anne must have given her the address. Joy and I started out to the barn and got just to the end of the sidewalk when we saw a strange site coming up their long driveway. It looked like a garden cart of some sort but was being pulled by a pony. It looked like two fairly young kids sitting in the front of the cart. We stood there watching as they drove up. The boy driving looked to be about 12 or 13 years old; the girl beside him looked about 10 or so. Their clothes looked like they had seen better days. He pulled up beside Joy and me and stopped. “Mrs Rock?” He looked uncertainly from Joy to me and back to Joy. “I'm Mrs Rock” Joy stepped forward and held out her hand to shake hands with him. He didn't seem to see her hand and she dropped it. “My sister and I are looking to join the wagon train” he said as he drew himself up and threw back his shoulders. He had an almost defiant look in his eye as if daring us to challenge his decision to join the wagon train. “How do you know there is going to be a wagon train?” Joy questioned. Just at that moment, the boy swayed and started to fall forward. Joy grabbed for him. I tossed my package to the ground and helped her get him down and on the ground. The little girl cried, “David!” and climbed down, running around the cart. She staggered and almost fell on top of him. Lady walked up to her and nuzzled her. The girl threw her arms around Lady, buried her face in her fur and sobbed. Joy yelled for a couple of ranch hands to carry the kids into her house. They put David on the sofa and the girl sat on the floor right next to him. “Has David been sick like this often?” Joy asked her. “Yeah”, she said. “Ever since we ran out of food! Sometimes he would find some food for us and sometimes we didn't have anything except water.” David opened his eyes. In a split second, a look of terror filled them and he tried to get up. “Lisa?” he called. The girl patted his arm. “I'm right here, David”. He sank back onto the sofa cushions. Joy asked, “David, do you like chicken noodle soup?” He nodded. “Well, you just lie right here and rest while I fix some for you and your sister.” David sighed and his face relaxed. I smiled at him. “Where are you folks from?” “Not very far from here”. I didn't want to appear to be too nosy but we obviously needed more information. Maybe they had run away from home and their parents were even now frantically trying to find them. “David, are your parents coming along?” His eyes filled up with tears. He swiped angrily at it with his shirt sleeve. Poor little guy, trying to be so grown up and failing. Lisa sat in silence, listening. Suddenly she spoke. “Our real Mom and Dad died in a car wreck. We were supposed to go live with Grandma but when we got out of the hospital, some ladies took us to a different house. I didn't like it there. They told us Grandma was too sick to take care of us. Then they told us she died. I think they lied. They lied to us all the time, didn't they David?” “Lisa, you talk too much!” Just then, Joy came in with a tray of food for the children. Their eyes lit up but David quickly put on his I-don't-really-care look. Joy spoke to me, “Jacob got out some feed sacks for you. They're on the porch along with your package he found in the driveway!” I had forgotten all about my package! I told Joy I would like to come back later and visit with David and Lisa if she didn't mind. She said it would be fine. When I got back to our camping area, I found everybody busily packing and repacking. Carrie laughed, “What happened? Did you see a rare bird?” My daughter knows me well! “No, I wish!” I told them what happened. Linc looked troubled. “What are the Rocks going to do with them?” he asked. “At this point, they don't know who they belong to or if they belong to anybody so they don't know what to do.” I grabbed a couple of cold biscuits and made cold fried potato sandwiches. I had missed breakfast! Saturday, July 17 Everything is packed and ready to go except the heating stove. I think some of the folks do want to pick and dry some cherries today. I did go back Friday night and visit with David and Lisa. I took Lady too since Lisa seemed to be comforted by her. After several dry runs at conversation, I finally said, “Look David. we can't help you unless we know some things. Can you trust us enough to answer our questions?” I could see mirrored in his face, the many emotions fighting for the mastery. Finally, he nodded. “What do you want to know?” “Do you have any family to take care of you?” “No” “Where have you been living?” David sighed. He seemed to realize that I was going to be persistent. “Well, like Lisa said, we wanted to go to Grandma's but some ladies came to the hospital and told us she was too sick to take care of us. They told us we were going to another place until she got better. The people were not nice to us. They made us work hard and didn't let us eat very much. We decided to run away and that's how we found Mama B.” “Mama B?” Lisa piped up, “Mama B! I loved Mama B but she's gone now.” After much encouragement, it finally came out that after David and Lisa had run away from what was evidently a foster home, they had somehow met an elderly lady they called Mama B. and they had lived with her until she had become ill. Some people had come and taken her away. The kids had hidden until the people were gone. David had fixed up a garden cart so the pony could pull it. They had taken everything they owned and all the food in the house and set out. We were not able to figure out how they heard about the wagon train. David just said “some guys talking”. We don't know if their grandma is alive or where she is. Someone had told them that she had died. After a couple of weeks, they ran out of food and had been foraging, eating out of dumpsters, etc. Today, David and Lisa were outside digging in boxes in their cart. I asked Mr Rock what they were going to do with them. He didn't know. I invited the kids over to our camp for supper. After supper, Rick and Linc got out their guitars and started playing. David and Lisa edged closer. David pulled a harmonica out of his pocket and began to play. Lisa started to sing softly. She had a lovely voice! Gradually we all joined in singing 'Amazing Grace'. Clearly, there was much more to learn about these two!

Thursday, July 15 What a day! Anne, Carrie, Lena, Nell and I got up early and got those blueberries on the drying racks. Anne built a fire and got the big stock pot with the strainer, full of water and on to heat. The rest of us looked and washed the berries. Then we set up an assembly line of blanching, cooling, draining and laying out on the racks. Mom was able to help with that part. We always make sure there is something for her to do that doesn't require much seeing. Fred had a fire going in the fire pit. Rick and Paul made fried potatoes, refried beans and skillet toasted cornbread for breakfast. We all had blueberries for dessert. We managed to get all this done and everything cleaned up before our driving lessons. Before breakfast, Linc and Loren had been taking care of the animals and arranging things in the wagons. Loren had been giving most of the milk away from his cow. He drinks some but there is no way he can use it all and none of us use it. Loren, having much experience with horses, was able to help the instructors so that they were able to move quickly through the class and get it done. First, they explained that a horse needs a good brushing before being hitched up in case there is matted dirt in the hair that could cause a sore by being rubbed by a piece of harness. They gave a demonstration of proper brushing technique. Then we learned how to hitch and unhitch the teams to the wagons. We each got to practice it once, unless we got it all messed up. If so, we had to go through it again. I had to write all the steps down in my notebook because I know me. I can't remember! After we got that down, we all took a turn driving around. They had set up several “stations” where we had to turn sharp corners, drive on a slight horizontal incline, etc. It was interesting and actually quite fun. Paul, and his parents were quite experienced too so the lessons for our group went pretty quickly. Linc, Rick, Lena and Carrie took to it naturally, like I expected. Anne and I were slower and had a bit more trouble, again as I expected! By the time we were done, it was lunchtime and we had nothing ready to eat. I told Linc I really wanted to drive out to that pyo farm and see about picking some cherries. He said he didn't have time to go and was reluctant for any of us to take the time to go. We only had 3 full days and the rest of today left to get everything packed and he wanted at least one of the men to go with me and whoever else went. We decided to take Paul since he's a fast picker! So Paul, Lena, Carrie and I went. I gave Mom my stash of used ziploc gallon bags and the 192 rolls of toilet paper. I told her to put a roll in each bag and told Nell she could stuff them in the oven and warming closet of the cook stoves and any other little spots she could find in the wagons that were packed. Anne could help pack, fix a quick lunch for the rest and put something on for supper. We grabbed some nuts and dried fruits, some buckets and off we went. We found the orchard with no trouble. It was only a few miles from the Ranch with no houses in between. The owners were friendly and helpful. We started picking right away and worked for 4 hours, until 4:30, picking 18 gallons. The owners had shallow boxes to put them in to keep from crushing them. We decided to just get a bushel of apples to eat and not try to dry any more. We were pushing our time limit with the cherries anyway. After paying for them, Paul started loading them in the truck while the girls and I went to look at the trees they had for sale. Van is a sweet, black cherry similar to Bing but firmer. It makes a good pollinator. Rainier is a cross between Van and Bing and is yellow with a red blush. Lambert is a dark red cherry. The owner told us that all three were hardy and productive. We decided to get two of each per household, making 10 trees. We found that he had some Sweet Anne, another yellow that is very cold hardy. We got 3 of those. They told us that the birds don't seem to bother the yellows as much. Then we got 3 McIntosh apple trees. They said this variety bears young and keeps to January with proper storage. The nursery workers loaded them in the truck for us and we headed back to the Ranch. Anne had a super supper ready for us and we had cherries for dessert! After supper, we took some of each variety around to the other campers to try. We told them about the trees for sale too. I don't know if any of them will go out there. One family group already has a lot of different fruit trees and bushes. The older lady said her daughter and SIL are already at the Valley. There are a couple of young guys who I think are brothers. I think they're helping the wagon master and their folks are at the Valley too. We offered to let anyone use our stove and dryer racks as soon as we were done. We just needed to to have the stove cool and ready to load in a wagon before too late on Sunday since we were pulling out early Monday. Linc took one look at the trees and said, “16 trees!!!!!! WHERE are we going to put them? WHAT were you thinking?” “We'll figure something out. They're not that heavy!” I hurriedly explained. “It all adds up.” Linc sighed. This was just like our old tree planting days. Me trying to get stuff in the camper and Linc worrying about the weight. We decided we'd better get a round of cherries drying tonight. Joy Rock graciously let us use her kitchen to get them washed and prepared. We cut them in half and removed the pits. The racks held about half the cherries. We prepared most of the rest and stored them in the cooler the Rocks have. We gave them a bucket full too. By Friday evening, we should be done with the drying set-up in case anybody wanted to use is Saturday. Well, I'm ready for a good nights sleep. Another busy day tomorrow. I've got to figure out what to do with all those trees!!

Wednesday night, July 14 We are finally at the Rockin' J Ranch! Oh how wonderful it is to just be able to walk around and feel safe. When I saw the huge sign at the entrance to the Ranch, I couldn't keep from crying. I tried to describe everything to Mom, since she couldn't see very well. She can see the bulk of things but no detail except a bit out to the side of each eye. We just stopped the vehicles in the road until we found out where the Rocks wanted us to park. They came out to greet us and directed us to a parking area and told us where to put the cow and the horses. Once we got parked and the animals taken care of, Mr Hughes, the Wagon Master came over to talk to us. He told us that any potential drivers would meet early in the morning to have lessons, if necessary. I mentioned the cherry orchard and he said he would tell the others in case they wanted to go and pick some also. Then he told us the train expected to pull out July 19. We were hoping for a few more days than that to get things done! We asked him about our wagons. We had arranged for 6 but with John not coming, we didn't know if we'd get the 6th one. He told us if we had the driver, we could use it. Nell is an excellent horsewoman and is in great shape but at her age, she probably couldn't manage the entire 3 weeks. Looks like we'll all be taking driving lessons and helping Nell! We also have to drive the Belgians pulling the farm wagon. We were shown the wagons and with about 3 hours before dark, we got busy and did what we could. Linc and Rick built a frame in one wagon bed to hold up two 4 x 8 sheets of plywood. The plan was to put quart cans of food on sheets of foam insulation board, pad them with all our washclothes, dishclothes, towels, socks, shirts and anything we could and then lay the plywood in the frame so we could put other stuff on top of it. I had weighed quarts of various foods at home and got an average weight of 2.75 lbs per quart. With the padding in between, we were able to get 540 quarts in the wagon bed. The weight added up to 1485 lbs just for the cans of food. The two sheets of ½ inch plywood added another 100 lb. Linc had to cut about a foot off the end of one sheet so it would fit in the wagon bed but we'll take that piece with us. The foam board weighs very little. We'll decide tomorrow what goes on top of the plywood. After we got that done, we did some calculations about my piano and the cook stove. I was concerned about the piano but didn't want to complain much because I knew the food, tools, etc. were more important. Rick suggested that we put the cook stove and the piano in the same wagon but we'd have to off set them since the combined width is more than 4 feet. The combined weight is 1600 lbs. We will put the piano toward the front, then fill in the other side with stuff. Then we'll put the cook stove toward the back on the opposite side of the wagon and fill in the empty space in the back corner. We want the weight to be evenly distributed so the wagon won't tip over. While Linc, Rick, and I were doing our calculating, the others were doing calculations of their own. Anne and Mom got a fire going in the heating stove, set up the drying rack and put most of the tomatoes on it. They are San Marzano, a good paste tomato and great for drying. They saved a few to eat during the next few days. Then they finished the trays off with bell peppers. Carrie and Nell had a campfire going and had made cornbread and opened a 3 quarts of beans to cook. With some tomatoes, peppers, cabbage it was a wonderful supper. While we ate, we talked about things we wanted and needed to do. Loren said he just wanted a one-room log cabin, just enough room for him and his dog Turbo. He said he didn't want more than he could take care of . Linc and I want a cabin with room for Mom and Anne. Fred and Nell may live with Carrie and Paul this first winter if we don't have time to build a cabin for them. Rick and Lena want their own of course but it depends on how many we can build. We also have to build a barn, outhouses, spring houses, wood sheds, dog houses, a chicken house PLUS plant bit of garden, cut hay and probably a dozen other things we haven't thought of yet. Of course, Rick would like to get his water wheel fixed but doubts he'll have time before the ground freezes. After supper, we went to the a meeting with all the folks who were joining the wagon train. Jacob Rock gave a little talk about the history of the Valley and what to expect on our trip and when we got there. He explained that each adult would get 40 acres. I looked at Linc. Does that mean Mom would get 40 acres too? She would not be able to “prove” her acres; would she even need them? We'd talk to Mr Rock about it as soon as we got a chance. As Mr Rock talked, I began to feel the seriousness of what we were undertaking even more. After the meeting, the group mingled and got acquainted. We didn't get a chance to ask Mr rock about Mom's land. There were some elderly folks and some young children and all in between. It will take me forever to get everybody figured out. But we've got three weeks or so to get better acquainted. Well, time to get some sleep. I want to be rested for my driving lessons tomorrow. I'm also hoping to make it over to the cherry orchard too. Oh my goodness! I forgot all about those blueberries we picked! It's a good thing they keep for days! We'll have to get those dried too.

Wednesday, July 14. I forgot to set the alarm clock last night. Normally, I'm an early riser but this morning I didn't wake up until after 9 o'clock. I could here clanking noises, the rooster crowing, and other animal noises. The men had somehow slipped out without waking me up. We ladies crawled out of our sleeping bags and tried to get our wits together. We only had around 600 miles to go to get to the Ranch. We hoped to be there before dark and well settled in. We, including the animals, were getting tired of being confined! I had the phone number and address of another pick-your-own farm that I was guessing would be fairly close to the Ranch. It was overlooking a lake and their listing had said they would have cherries ripe in July. They have Lambert, Rainier, and Van varieties, Wolf River apples, and (I could hardly believe this) strawberries! I hoped to have a chance to get out there and pick some and get them dried. We still had bell peppers, cabbage and tomatoes to dry. We were thinking about trying to keep the turnips and some of the cabbages over winter or for awhile at least. I'd say we'll be getting pretty hungry for fresh foods before winter is over.

I am praying for MtR and her daughter. I know this must be so difficult for the family.

ON THE ROAD We were scheduled to leave our home at 3 am on Sunday, July 11. Barring any problems, we would arrive at Paul's parents place around 9 am. We planned to just take some nibbles and water in case we got too hungry because Nell and Carrie planned to feed us breakfast. Linc would drive the semi; Mom and her pets would ride with him. (I don't ride semis; I'm too scared of heights!). Loren would drive his big truck and pull the horse trailer. Its an eight-horse, goose-neck trailer but there is still room for his hunting dogs to have a box on the back of that truck. There would be 7 horses and one milk cow. It has all kinds of neat storage compartments for tack, vet supplies, etc. It even has cooler insert for keeping drinks cold. Loren filled the 25 gallon water storage tank, wound up the water hose and stowed it in one of the compartments. Rick would drive our crew cab truck with me and Lena in the back seat and Anne in the front seat (at least until we get out of the mountains; she gets car sick.) The chickens would be in a small cage on the back of our truck along with Lady in a cage. She wouldn't like being away from us but she gets car sick and we didn't want her inside, poor thing. Friday, July 9, we finished loading everything up. I kept walking around the house looking at stuff and wondering if I should pack it! I decided to take our shower curtains and the tension rods and the rings. They didn't weigh much and might be useful. I directed the digging up of several fruit plants. I had root-pruned them back in March because I wanted to move them out of the nursery row. Root-pruning them while they're dormant makes them grow lots of short feeder roots so when you dig them and wrap them in burlap, they tend to survive transplanting better. I had 3 Prince William Serviceberries, 2 pear trees, several semi-dwarf apple rootstocks for grafting, some butternut trees and several grape vines. The potted hardy kiwis, gooseberries and blueberries were already loaded. Saturday, July 10, we met with some of our church family. Most of them had left for more remote areas and some would be leaving the next day. Some would be staying in the local area. We had a nice potluck meal and a wonderful time of fellowship. One elderly lady brought us a bundle of red raspberry plants, carefully packaged. . She was one who was leaving with her family the next day. She also handed me a small package of flower seeds. It's always hard to say goodbye. Late in the afternoon, John and his parents stopped by to say goodbye. We hugged all around and Linc said a prayer with them before they left. Anne and I stood watching them until they were out of sight. She turned and said, briskly, “Well, I'm going to whip up some drawstring bags to put those mini blinds in so they won't be flopping all over the place” and ran into the house. After everyone left Saturday night, we hurried to get our food ready for the trip. Earlier in the week, we had made zwiebach. You slice whole wheat bread (or any kind, we also did Rick's gluten-free bread) and dry it at a very low heat for several hours in the oven. It makes it nice and crispy and it keeps for several weeks. We are total vegetarians (except Loren), meaning no meat, no dairy, no eggs. Mom, Carrie, Rick and I are lactose intolerant; Anne, Rick and I are allergic to onions, garlic and peanuts. Rick has quite a few other allergies: gluten, soy, pecans, eggs, white beans, chick peas, several vegetables. It sure puts a damper on eating at a potluck unless folks know. We have some wonderful church friends who always remember to make us little dish of whatever without onion. We had made “meat” from gluten and soy that we could slice for sandwiches. We had a batch of fresh bread already sliced. We'd picked, washed and spun dry as much lettuce as we thought would keep long enough for us to eat it. We had cucumbers, a few cherry tomatoes and some fresh fruit. I had called the pick-your-own farm in Kentucky and they were expecting us. We hoped to get there before dark this evening. They had armed guards at their farm because they'd had some problems with people stealing from the fields at night. That made me a little nervous but I knew we were heading out into the “big world” where things might get a little tough. We went to bed about 11 pm Saturday night. We slept on the floor and on the sofas in our sleeping bags because our mattresses were packed in the semi. Mom had a folding cot. I lay awake going over and over the packing list, so scared that I had forgotten something we would need to survive. I had a notebook and pen on the floor beside me in case I thought of something, I could write it down. I did add a few things and finally fell asleep. When the alarm clock went off at 2:00 am, I was more tired than when I went to bed. Loren and Rick hurried out to load the horses and the cow. The hound dogs set up such a racket that nobody could think about getting a few more seconds of sleep. Lena cleaned the cats litter box for Mom and got the cats in their cages. They had to each have their own cage because they would fight if we put them together. They got along OK out in the house. Anne and I stuffed the sleeping bags into their stuff sacks and put the pillows and sleeping pads into big black trash bags. I checked my list: get the flower bulbs that are drying on the porch, pack the box of trash bags, get the cell phones, remind Linc to turn off the electricity. We gathered together and Linc prayed for our safety and that of our family and friends who were also heading out today. Last minute trips to the bathroom and we loaded up. Finally on the road! We did arrive at Paul's parents house around 9 am. It was good to see them and to see Carrie and Paul again. They had an awesome breakfast waiting for us. We had scrambled tofu, cashew gravy, whole wheat biscuits, fresh fruit. It was a new experience for Loren, eating all this strange, vegetarian food! He didn't complain and took second and third helpings so I guess he didn't think it was too bad. By the time we got all their stuff loaded it was after noon so we ate lunch before leaving. The four of them rode in Paul's crew cab truck, with dogs and cats in cages on the back. We made it to the farm in Kentucky just at sundown. The guards let us pass and showed us where to park. We introduced ourselves to the farm owners, a very nice family. We ate sandwiches for supper. Loren had some lunch meat in his little horse trailer cooler so he was happy. We planned to sleep in the semi trailer so we had to do some arranging to get our sleeping pads laid out with at least a tiny bit of privacy. It had been a long day and I was exhausted. Tomorrow would be another busy day as we picked and dried sweet corn. They also had turnips, cabbage, tomatoes and bell peppers. They told us that another farm just 8 miles up the road had blueberries ready to pick. The drivers looked over the road atlas and discussed the possibility of staying here 2 or 3 days. I fell asleep as soon as I lay down. Monday, July 12. I am too tired to write much. Some of us picked corn and got it ready to dry. We steam blanched it and spread it out on the trays. We had a good fire in the stove which made it too hot to stay in the semi trailer, so we set up our tents. The farm owner told Loren he could let the horses and cow out to graze so he did. While we were working on the corn, we heard someone playing a piano in the house. Rick winced at the out of tune notes. When we had the corn drying, he walked up to the house and knocked on the door. When the farmer's wife came to the door, he offered to tune her piano. She was ecstatic! While he was doing that, the rest of us went to the other farm and picked blueberries. They let us put the rest of our blanched corn in their cooler while the first batch dried. We gave them a couple gallons of blueberries. Before we go to bed, we'll put the second batch on the racks to dry. Tuesday, July 13. We left early after buying turnips, cabbage, tomatoes and peppers from the farm. Linc had helped the farmer with a couple of small carpentry projects before we left. We decided we'd better drive all day and most of the night if we were going to make it to the Ranch in time to get everything in the wagons on time. Our produce should keep fine until we get there and we can dry it there. Maybe. Paul also had a CDL so he could switch off driving with either Linc or Loren and give them a chance to rest. The rest of us could take turns driving the other trucks. 19 hours later we crossed the Montana state line. No long after, we found a guarded rest area, looked after all the animals, crawled into the trailer and crashed.

BIG DECISIONS The campfire was just glowing coals. Anne half-heartedly poked at them with a stick. The men were deep in conversation about the building they had to do when we reached the Valley. Mom and Nell chatted about various things. Carrie and Lena played with the cats. I watched Anne silently for a few minutes. “Are you sorry you came with us?” I asked her. She looked up. “Sorry? No, I'm not sorry I came. Why do you ask?” “Your thoughts seem so far away.” She smiled. “Maybe they are. Maybe they're far away in the Valley already.” I thought back to those last few days. Intensely, insanely busy. Anne had seemed distracted but I figured she was just a little stressed with trying to get everything done. One morning, while I was picking some lettuce and other vegetables to make a salad for lunch, John drove up. “Hey, where is everybody?” “Oh they're around here somewhere. Anne's not here though. She's gone up to Mom's. Do you want to call and tell her you're here?” “No, actually it's you I want to talk to”. “OK, lets go in the house and we can talk while I wash these veggies.” John picked up the basket of vegetables and led the way into the house, holding the door open for me. “Just set it on the counter by the sink. Thanks. What's on your mind?” John sat down at the snack bar. He twirled a pencil around for several seconds before finally speaking. “Do you think it's true that love can overcome any obstacle? I mean, if you don't agree on things, uh certain things, does that really matter?” “Well, John it depends what those “things” are. If it's something like 'I prefer cornbread, she likes whole wheat bread' you can certainly get past things like that.” I waited for a response. “You know, Anne and I have different opinions about what kinds of movies to watch, what kind of books to read and so forth.” “John, I'm sure there are thousands of couples that disagree on movies and books.” In my heart, I suspected that I knew what he was getting at because I had been in their home and seen bits of movies that I certainly didn't feel comfortable watching. John continued, “Anne and I have had this discussion so many times. She doesn't like to watch the kinds of movies I like. You know they're not that bad. Well, there is some violence, well maybe a lot sometimes. I like comedies too but she doesn't see the humor.” I could imagine. I had to do some laundry at their house once and saw some of the “humor”. I wasn't impressed either! “John, think about this. When you two get married you are still going to want to watch your movies. Probably every night or at least a few nights a week, right? “Yeah”. “What will Anne do while you are watching your movies? Will shel have to go to a different room so she won't have to see or hear them. Do you want to spend your evenings in different rooms all your married life?” John stood up and rubbed his hands across his face. He turned and looked out the window, then back to me. Looking me right in the eye, he said, “One of us would have to change and I wouldn't want it to be her!” He gave me a quick hug. “Thanks for helping me put things in perspective. Tell Anne I'll come by tonight, OK?” and he was gone. Some time during the night, I got up to go to the bathroom and met Anne in the hall coming out of the bathroom. Her eyes were red and swollen but she was smiling. Her face had a glow to it that told me that she had gained an important victory. The next morning, at our family meeting, she told us that John would be going with his family to their ranch in Canada and she would still be going with us to the Valley. She took a deep breath and went on, “All of you know that John and I disagreed on what it means to be a Christian. We do love each other but have decided that we would prefer to just be friends. That's all I want to say about it right now and don't feel sorry for me! I'll work through this in my own way.” Later that day, John's mother called me. She said, “What is going on with John and Anne? John doesn't say much and I know he talks to you. Can you tell me without betraying a confidence?” I gave her the gist of our conversation. She was silent for a long time. “I had the same struggle when I married David. I didn't grow up watching TV or movies. I went against my own conscience because I wanted to be with him. Sometimes I regret that compromise. Sometimes I wonder if I had stood firm if I could have been a better influence on him and the kids. Anne's a better woman than I am!”

Now we have the advantage of knowing what you all wish you had packed Someone mentioned window screening so I added that to my list. I had thought of lots of containers. I have lots of 5-gallon food storage buckets but I'll have to see how many I can fit into our allotted wagons. Also some 30 gallon pest-proof barrels. I'm still trying to get my list organized. I'm measuring things and weighing the smaller items, trying to be as realistic as I can. Wagons Ho has been an enlightening experience for me. I was a little surprised at how much my family got into it. They've been suggesting things we need to pack. DH and DS have talked about building log cabins and tools they would need.

PREPARATIONS—Mid June Once we decided to go, Anne and I immediately started our lists. The rest of the family tease us about our list-making but they have to admit they do benefit from it! Lists of what to take, what to give away, what to sell, what to buy, what to do, who to see before we left, our travel route, a time line we would need to follow, things to do when we got to the Ranch, etc. The men hashed out travel plans and finally decided that we would take Loren's semi truck and trailer, a horse trailer pulled by one of our crew cab trucks and then whatever Paul and his folks decided to take. Based on my calculations of the size of the wagons and the semi trailer (cubic feet), we would be able fill the semi ¼ full from floor to ceiling and still be able to get it all in the wagons. Now weight was another thing we had to consider. Loren's farm wagon would also go in the semi trailer. It was 5 feet from wheel to wheel and was a little over 8 feet long. The load capacity was 3 ton. Once we got to the Ranch, a team of Loren's Belgian draft horses would pull it. We would use some of our fiberglass greenhouse supports to make a frame over it and would come up with something to cover it so we could haul more stuff to the Valley. Carrie and Paul went back home to make their own lists and to help Paul's parents. We kept in touch by phone, updating each other on our progress every few days. One of the first things we had to do was to take stock of our food supplies. We wouldn't be getting to the Valley in time to plant much except hardy greens and cole crops before bad weather. That meant we would need enough food for the trip there and to last until our gardens start producing next summer. By late June we had zucchini, yellow summer squash, cucumbers, green beans, broccoli, green onions, and lettuce coming in. We''d already canned our peas and early greens. We had dried some lamb's quarter and amaranth just to see how they turned out. We thought we could add them to soups or even a pot of beans. The shell beans, okra, tomatoes, bell peppers, cabbage, sweet corn, field corn, and potatoes were not ready and wouldn't be before we had to leave. A couple of years ago, Linc had built a frame that held 12 pretty good-sized screens. It fit over our wood stove and could hold about a bushel of apples sliced. With a good fire, they dried overnight. It was too hot to have the wood stove going in early July but the men rigged up a metal barrel stove with a rat wire cage over the rack outside for drying food. We needed to dry a lot in a hurry! We'd dried squash, cucumbers, green beans and green onions but hadn't tried broccoli. My dehydrating book rated the quality as "poor to fair" but we figured we could deal with it. It was either dry it or not have any. We had dried about half of the 15 gallons of strawberries that we'd picked and froze the rest. We decided to take the strawberries, nectarines, blueberries, and bananas we had in the freezer, blend them up and make fruit leathers out of them. Delicious!! We had to do something will all the food in the freezer. We would also be able to take some with us in the refrigerated part of the semi to eat on the trip. So our days and nights were filled with dehydrating foods, sorting through all our possessions and deciding what to take. Anne and I helped Mom with her things. Daddy was a collector of antiques and family heirlooms. He'd always wanted to open up an antique store when he retired but he'd then he'd gotten sick and wasn't able to do it. He even took Grandma's crocks away and wouldn't let her use them anymore! He was afraid they would get damaged. Everything was carefully stored and going through it all brought back so many memories. We each tried to think through all the things we would be doing in the Valley and list the tools or materials we would need to do that task. We sold what we could and used the money to buy some things we needed. I had time to make one final co-op order before we had to leave and I made an order to the wholesale herb co-op as well. IF we could get them delivered. We had heard news reports of delivery trucks being hijacked but so far it hadn't happened locally. We all had bug suits from our summers working in northern Maine except Mom and Loren. I ordered them each one plus a bolt of mosquito netting, a bolt of cheesecloth and a couple of bolts of tulle to keep the cabbage butterflies off the cole crops and the cucumber beetles off the squash and cucumbers, and prayed it would arrive on time. I also ordered Eliminator binocular straps. I've had one for years. It fits over your shoulders and holds the binoculars in place against your chest. It "eliminates" the banging back and forth of binoculars as you walk or climb. I always have my binoculars on when I'm outside gardening or whatever. I have to be ready to look at a bird at a moments notice! Linc and Lena wanted to try taking some honey bees. I left it up to them to figure out how to do that. I knew that people hauled them from Florida to Maine to pollinate crops so there had to be a way to take them with us. Gradually things got checked off our lists. I think only adrenalin kept us going but we had a time limit and it was getting closer and closer. Paul had said we needed to be at the Ranch no later than July 15 but we wanted to get there a few days earlier because we would have a lot of packing and arranging to do. The men figured it would take us 3 days driving time to get there. I kept thinking about all that sweet corn in the gardens that was not going to be ready when we left. Then I had an idea! I went online to www.pickyourown.org and looked up pyo farms along our route. There was a good possibility that we could get some sweet corn and other vegetables in Kentucky as we passed through and also some blueberries and other vegetables in other states. We decided to add a few of days to our travel time and try for that. Of course, that meant we had to work harder than ever at home. And of course, with things being like they were, who knew if anybody would have anything to sell. The plan was to outfit our wood heating stove with a pipe running out the side of the semi. That way, we could dry the produce at night while we slept. (IRL we had folks on our tree planting crew with stove pipe going out the side of the old school bus they were living in). Hopefully, the folks at the farms would let us prepare the produce there. If not, we would figure something out. Loren brought the trailer to our place so we could pack. He had packed his clothes, and personal things except for what he would need on the road. Then he concentrated tying up loose ends with his businesses (Christmas tree farm, sawmill, horse boarding stables, saddle & tack shop) and preparing his horses, cow and chickens for the trip and packing what he needed for them. He decided to give his siblings most of his chickens and only bring 6 hens and a rooster. I really, really wanted to take my piano. It was the only instrument I could play unlike the rest of the family who can play multiple instruments. My dad got it for me when I was 10 years old. I knew it would help me through the long, dark winters. But...it weighs about 800 pounds! Rick said it would probably make the trip OK without serious damage, or at least he would be able to repair anything that was damaged. In the end, I decided to take it to the Ranch at least. If I couldn't get it in a wagon this time, maybe I could get it before winter. The guitars weigh about 10 pounds and the banjo about 15 pounds including their cases. We picked 14 gallons of cherries and dried them. Our friend, Alex who has a peach/nectarine/apple/Asian pear orchard a couple hours down off the mountain called and said he would only be able to let us have 15 bushels of nectarines this year. That might sound like a lot but we usually get one or two BINS which are 20+ bushels each. We usually put up the 15 and sell the rest to relatives and friends at our cost. We still had a lot canned from previous years so we dried all these. We had kept some 30 gallon heavy plastic barrels that have lids fastened on with metal bands that we used to keep food in when we were traveling around the country planting trees. We also have two gray army boxes that are water-and pest proof that we used for food storage. These would come in handy right now. When we went off the mountain to pick up our nectarines, we took the opportunity to visit Linc's mom, uncle & aunt, another aunt and his sister. It was a tearful and emotional experience. None of them wanted to go for various reasons. His mom felt like she was too old and had too many health problems to make the trip. His uncle and aunt didn't want to leave their kids and grandkids. His sister and other aunt felt like they needed to stay and take care of Mom. We all knew that we would probably never see each other again and it was gut-wrenching. Linc was torn too as to whether he should go and leave his mom. She tried to reassure him by reminding him that we would all meet again some day in a better land. Linc's uncle said he had some things we might could use. He dug up a bunch of small blueberry bushes, wrapped the roots in sphagnum moss and burlap. He handed me a 2 gallon pot of some plant I had never seen before. "What is it?" I asked. It looked vaguely familiar. "It's yacon!" "What in the world is yacon?" "It's a tender plant they grow in the Andes. It makes a big crown and a bunch of tubers like a clump of dahlias. It's really tasty. Next summer, you'll be able to divide the crown and get several plants. Then each plant will make a bunch of tubers for you to eat. They say it needs cool nights". Linc's aunt handed me a paper about it. It said that one seedling could yield up to 15 pounds of tubers and 5 crowns to plant out the next year. Uncle E gave Linc several gallons of waterproof wood glue and regular wood glue, and a case of duct tape. (IRL he works for a recyling/garbage place and does this all the time. Has gotten some neat stuff!) We reluctantly left but wanted to be home before dark. It just wasn't safe to be out after dark on the highways.

Thanks for all this good info! So the elevation ov the Valley is 3000 ft, just what ours is here. I'm sure there are still climate differences though. Our zone is supposed to be 6. We ahve cool nights but not as cool as the pm person said. We start with 50s in August, usually. All the bloopers make me feel better! I don't mind making a few myself since others have I'll probably be trying some things that wouldn't work in real life although I did read a garden blog from Montana to get an idea. Good point about evolving to pastoral. OK, I'm off to try and find out who is on this wagon train with me and my family. I know Mr Hughs is the Wagon Master and there are two ver polite young men P & N I'll find out who MtR's family are.

HOW IT ALL STARTED “I can't believe I'm doing this”, I said to myself as I looked out over the landscape. I glanced at Linc, my husband as he handled the team of horses pulling our wagon. He was doing it like an expert. He always did catch on to everything quickly. He was just intuitive about how things ought to be done. Me, I have to study things out and decide on the best method before I try anything new. That may change out of necessity though! I sighed. I thought back to the weekend that our oldest daughter, Carrie and her husband Paul came to visit. Paul is originally from the Midwest. He and his Dad have talked about going back to farm as long as we've known them. I hated to hear them discuss it because I didn't want him taking Carrie clear across the country where I would likely never see her again. I hate traveling so I couldn't see myself going to visit them! Anyway, Paul was all excited that weekend. He had heard (who knows where from) about a wagon train going West. Something about some wealthy folks supplying wagons and teams to families who wanted to get away from the populated areas and begin new homesteads. I listened enough to Paul telling Linc and our son Rick to know it wasn't for me. Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Linc brought up the subject. “What do you think of Paul's idea?” “What idea”, I asked, playing dumb. “About joining the wagon train. Wouldn't that be great? We could get away from everything that's going on here and be safe! I understand the settlement will be somewhere in the wilderness area of the West. His parents are planning to go” . Linc was clearly very excited about the whole idea. I got that sinking feeling that I get when I don't want to do something and I realize that I'm outnumbered or at least out-talked. Linc is quite a talker! I took a deep breath and said, “I have always told you that I will NEVER, EVER live where there are brown bears or grizzlies and I'm sure where ever this wonderful place it, there are bears! There are always bears in the west.” As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the discussion. But it wasn't. We had a family meeting the next day with Carrie, Paul, Rick and his wife, Lena, and our younger daughter, Anne and her soon-to-be-husband, John. Paul's parents lived in another state. Paul gave us the low-down on the wagon train. As I looked around the group at all the faces, I could see excitement building and showing on each face. Except John. He looked as troubled as I felt. None of the others seemed to notice him or me and our lack of enthusiasm. I missed some details as my mind wandered. How could I leave this land that my great-great grandparents had settled? The new house that we were building? The orchard, the grapevines, the hardy kiwis that were finally bearing after 10 years? I forced my mind back to the dilemma at hand. As I studied each person sitting around the living room, I though how suited they all were to this kind of life, except maybe John. Linc, my dear husband of 38 years and lover of all things old-timey. He had hung around with my two grandpas while they were alive and learned so much from them: gardening, blacksmithing, fruit growing, old methods of carpentry. He used to build houses for a living, does most of our auto repairs and could make practically anything out of nearly nothing. His grandfather built log houses for a living, supervising the building of the last one when he was in his 80s. He had taught our middle child, Rick everything he knew but both are continually learning. They're not afraid to try anything. Rick's wife, Lena, is a sturdy farm girl, used to hard work. They met in college where Rick was working on a degree in electronics engineering and Lena a degree in agriculture. Our older daughter Carrie and her husband Paul were a study in contrasts but got along so well. Carrie was outgoing and talkative like her Dad. Paul was quiet but had a great sense of humor. Both of them were hard workers and very frugal. Our younger daughter, Anne, was quiet like me. She sat listening to Paul with rapt attention. Her fiancé, John watched her with a furrowed brow. Finally, he broke in and asked, “Paul, how do you know about this wagon train? For all we know, these guys could be crooks”. Paul laughed, “One of Mom's cousins and his family joined the first wagon train. They tried to get Mom and Dad to go then but they put off deciding. Now this last one is heading out and it's now or never.” Now or never? I swallowed the lump in my throat. Thoughts tumbled all over themselves in my mind. What about my Mom? She's 73 and partially blind. I can't leave her here. I'm an only child and there would be nobody to help her out. She lives alone about 5 miles from us and says she wants to be independent as long as she can. Would she go? What about Linc's 86 year old mother? He has 3 sisters and a brother to take care of her but how can we leave all his family? I couldn't help thinking about my great-great aunt who went to Ohio in a covered wagon and wrote letters back to her sister, my great-great grandma. She never came back to see her family again. Her homesickness was evident between the lines in the letters she wrote. Linc leaned back in his chair. “Well folks, we have some serious decisions to make in the next day or so. We don't have much time to make up our minds. Let's all take some time to discuss this privately with our spouses then meet back here in the living room in about a hour. OK?” Carrie and Paul walked out to the foot bridge that spanned the creek. Rick and Lena headed toward the apple orchard. Anne and John went out to sit on the back deck. Linc and I walked toward the daylily patch. I didn't say anything as we walked. Finally Linc spoke. “Well, Honey what are you thinking?” “I'm thinking about Mom. Would she go with us?” “Does this mean you'll go?” I nodded. Linc hugged me and I sobbed against his shoulder. I hate being such a crybaby but I don't handle big changes very well. I'm usually fine after I get used to the new idea but it takes some time. We talked about what we would take, and the logistics of getting our stuff to the Rockin' J Ranch. We noticed Carrie and Paul standing in the driveway talking to my cousin, Loren who had driven up. We walked over to say hello. He pastured his horses on our land and had come to check on them and the electric fence. He complained about the general state of affairs and said he wished he could just get out and find some wilderness place to settle and start over. We looked at Paul. He nodded ever so slightly. “Loren” Linc said, “I've got some good news for you!”

I just wanted to comment on the pm person's gardening comments. Here in the SW VA mountains, we can't even grow some warm season crops like okra, eggplant, lima beans, etc. without planting them in black plastic. Our elevation is 3000 ft. (what is the elevation in the valley?) Our nights are too cool and they just don't mature. In fact, lima beans are really not worth planting here. Soybeans do really well. We put in plastic beds: soybeans, other drying beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, summer squashes, melons, cucumbers, green beans (these do fine without, we do it for weed control) and maybe some others I've forgotten. It can make a difference of 2-3 weeks in maturity. Short season beans like Taylor's Dwarf Horticultural will mature and dry without plastic if we get them started soon enough. We don't usually plant beans until late May. I'm bringing black plastic with me!! What about potatoes? There would be time for us to get there in late July and get a crop if they will mature. Also we spent 9 summers (May-early Oct) in northern Maine. There we built grow beds and filled them with good soil (the soil where we were was barely fair ) and built frames over them that we covered with heavy greenhouse plastic. That helped things get an earlier start. We didn't get any experience with keeping things going over winter because we left in Oct. BTW, the pilot isn't coming, but that's giving away the story isn't it? Daylily

We are coming in on the third wagon train. Here is a list of people and skills. I'm still working on my packing list. What a job! I wake up in the night thinking of things I need to add to my list. I need to figure the weight and cubic space things will take up and see if we can fit it all in. I have probably forgotten some skills. PEOPLE & SKILLS Daylily & Linc, 1 dog-a Golden Retriever/Mt Feist mix (Lady) Daylily's Mom (Loren's Aunt Jenny)- 73 yrs old, partially blind; small terrier dog and 2 cats DD1 & SIL-Carrie & Paul & 2 cats DS & DIL- Rick & Lena DD 2 & SIL2b- Anne & John Daylily's cousin Loren He is divorced. (Mom's nephew and Linc's best buddy) & horses, chickens, hunting dogs, cow Fred & Nell (Paul's parents) & 2 dogs All of the women and the men are skilled cooks, the women are good bakers, Carrie, Linc and Paul are skilled camp fire cooks; we all have experience and skill in gardening & preserving; all are musical and play at least one instrument except Mom and Loren; many sing well; Linc, our kids & their SOs, and I have canoing experience; Carrie, Anne, Nell and I have experience and skill in hydrotherapy and other home remedies. Nell is a CNA. I was an EMT about 25 years ago. I know I've forgotten a lot but could probably pick back up on it if I had a book and a mentor. Several of us have knowledge of and experience with wild edibles. I knit, Carrie, Anne & Lena crochet and sew well. Mom did too but can't see to sew anymore; her experience is very valuable though. Skills in addition to the above: Daylily-enjoys studying birds and other natural things—animal & their tracks, trees, wildflowers, etc. Linc-woodworking, can make just about anything he wants to if he can scrounge up the materials ( he sews well too, better than I do!), blacksmithing, beekeeping, watch & clock repair (these are the old wind-up type. He learned this skill from his father who was a jeweler/clock repairman.) Rick (DS)- grafting, piano tuning, electronics engineer, mechanical stuff, woodworking, alternative energy Lena (DIL)- agriculture, beekeeping Paul- farming, guns, archery, mechanical skills Anne- re-purposing clothes, herbs, excellent at organizing things and people John- really into electronics and technology, pilot Mom-lots of experience and many talents but can't see very well Fred & Nell- farming, raising chickens, horses, Fred is a wonderful artist in drawing, painting, wood working and carving; mechanical and handyman stuff Cousin Loren- vet skills, raising horses, training horses & dogs, hunting

Mother, thanks for the reply! No, I was not aware that you have allergies too. I'm sorry to hear that, knowing what a pain it can be. I think I would like to come in on the next wagon train I would like to explore and the preparation and packing part. I might just make the list of people, skills and what we are bringing to post in the comments thread, then just "appear" in the Valley with the train. I don't feel up to writing about trail life. Then maybe I could start in with the homesteading part. Would that be OK? I'm glad to hear that someone will get us down the hill!! When would we have had to leave SW VA to get to the Valley in late July? I'm wondering if fruit trees, etc would still be dormant enough to dig. I guess they would start to leaf out somewhere on the trail. Annarchy, lol about the lifting allergy! I'm sorry to hear about your back. DH has nerve damage to his left side and left arm and wears a rigid back brace. Anothr difficulty to think about when homesteading.

I've been enjoying the Wagons Ho postings. Back in October when it first started, I thought I might join in but my Mom had colon cancer surgery in Oct and I forgot all about it. Later I started reading the Homecoming. Then I went back and read everything from the beginning. It has been much food for thought. While reading the posts about packing the wagons, I got sort of stressed out because I knew I couldn't take everything I needed!! I had to stop thinking about it. I've thought about fats and oils. My family are vegans plus 3 of us are lactose intolerant so that lets out lard and butter. There is no way to store enough olive or other oil to last a long time. I have heard that coconut oil stores well. DS is allergic to eggs but the rest of us could eat them if necessary. He is also allergic to gluten, rye, barley, oats, wheat, soy, sunflower seeds, pecans, peanuts, chick peas, any white bean, and several vegetables. DD#2 and I are allergic to onions, garlic, and peanuts. This does complicate food storage . We store what we eat of course but we can't grow everything. We do plan to plant some quinoa this spring. Anyway, I just wanted to express my appreciation for all the posters and let you know that your stories are causing me to think and think some more!! It's a good thing. Blessings, Daylily

Where is the rest of the story????