Four Wheelin'

An ode to another exciting day on Hicks Ranch.

So I was a little slow this morning and did morning chores while eating a bagel...not something you see everyday! lol Right after chores Tina and Jeff went out to fence, Ross stayed here and did some odds and ends, and Merle and I went out on four wheelers to meet Delbert and get some steers out of the neighbors cows.

When I say four wheeler ride I mean it. We went through maybe five or six pastures (I think?) to get to where we were going. And this is not nice, flat, smooth country, oh no this is like watch where you're driving every single step of the way so you don't roll your four wheeler! Let me just say that I think I gained a year's worth of four wheeling skills in just one day! So, we made it out to the pasture they were in and started looking around for the steers and Delbert (the pasture is about halfway between Delbert's place and here [maybe 15 miles or so]). Since this pasture is only about 8,000 acres...this took a while. But, after some serious searching we found him with the steers and got them moved in the right direction fairly easily. Then, we pushed a calf back to the right side of the fence, and split up with Delbert. Merle and I went back through another pasture and pushed bulls back in with the cows. The dumb things- there are eight in this pasture and we came across four off on their own! ...men. Delbert gave me some words of wisdom about this: (something like this anyway)" God sure messed up when he put nuts on cattle and horses, but boy did he make a great creature when he decided to put them on man!" ...leave it to Delbert to say something absolutely ridiculous like that! lol

So we moved the bulls back with the cattle, well sorta, we had three at one time and only ended up with one, but hey one is better then none. We also tried to sort Delbert's bull back out of the cows but this was pretty much pointless, so we kept on going. While heded home, Merle spotted a weather ballon. I guess you come across them every once in a while out here. It was pretty cool, this one was really beat up though, and all we could read of the date was 2008, but it still had the computer chip and parachute and such. So, we used the little mailing bag and stuck it in the mail with my name on it tonight- ooo maybe I'll get some mail back in my PO box from them! ...and believe me the part that said "FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE" got a nice long ride on my four wheeler- oops! haha On the way back we also brought four horses back to the corrals too, so it definitly was not a wasted trip. But, we rode all morning and I would love to see how many miles we went, it was quite the trip- and really beautiful out there this time of year. But, we made it back without me tipping the four wheeler over (which I thought was a pretty big accomplishment considering my lack of body weight)!

Right about the time we got back we met up with Tina and Jeff, and Delbert came by to pick up a bull. Then, we worked a steer and headed in for dinner. After we ate Tina and Jeff went back out to fill in culverts and tanks while Merle and I loaded out some steers and horses. Then, we left the trailer and went to check some wheat fields for hail- and they missed it, and are looking pretty darn good! On our way back to the trailer we stopped through the neighbors pasture and managed to find two salt blocks we knew we lost somewhere the other day waiting for us on top of a corner post! lol, guess they beat us to the chase! By the time we got back to the trailer and made it home it was chore time.

Everything was fine, although I am watching Joe a little beacuse he sweat quite a bit today, which is a little odd- but his temp was not extremely high so maybe it's just the heat and him running around, we'll see tomorrow. By the time we finished chores there was just enought time to shower and eat supper on the way to town for fire classes. Tonights focus was mainly on weather, which was pretty interesting. We finished part one now, so tomorrow we will start a new unit-cool! O, and we took a test tonight- I think I will pass just fine (open book;). We came back and played a short round of cards- I managed to win 2 of 3 but still had a poorer score :p lol, guess I'm just not gunna be a pro card player anytime soon.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring! O, and I forgot to say that yesterday Dan and I kicked up another rattle snake- we seem to have a knack for that!