I love hip hop; real gritty hip hop, the kind that makes your neck and head bob. The kind that just gets deep in your soul! You can’t help but walk with a limp! Let me paint you a picture: Way back in the woods of Utah (arguably the most un-hip hop spot on the planet) I'm sitting on the side of a highway with LeeRoy taking a break.The song A Mill by Lil Wayne (clean version) haha... comes through my headphones...as soon as the beat hits my soul started dancing. I was head bobbin so hard I dang near broke my neck. Before the 3:41 song is over I'm on my feet limpin like a pimp down the road leanin waaaayyyy back. The stride of pride! Haha I put that jam on repeat and rocked it so hard, halfway dancing down the road. In my head I wasn’t in the woods anymore I was walking downtown NYC laced up in Jordan's and a black fur coat. Looked so crazy... A little later I was thinking about that moment. I could not help but wonder what Lil Wayne would think of some crusty goat guy walking through the Utah Mountains rockin his song. I still laugh about it.
Alright let's switch gears, head back to Twin Falls. I left determined to make it to Burly Idaho. I was walking on the freeway and people kept coming out to find me. Bringing fruit and water it was so great. About 13miles into my day I found a traffic sign where we could hide in its shade and rest. It's always so hot. I rolled out my mat put in earplugs had a little food and took a nap right on the side of the freeway. I was awoken by this lady named Kathy Kent. Little did I know what the next few days would be like.. and that is what I love about this adventure. She had brought me some snacks and water. Then before I new it she invited LeeRoy to stay with her and her family, and I gladly accepted the invitation. I stayed with them for about a week. It was AWESOME. Kathy got me into a church to speak, and she also contacted the news and got me an interview.
The coolest part was that I got to spend the day as a farmer, bean thrashing digging potatoes and driving around in a potato truck. That may sound lame to most people but I have never lived a life anything like that, and it was cool to experience it. Her daughter-in-law Amanda drove me all over and I got to see the sights. It was rad.
So a little crazy detail: The pastor whose church I spoke at in Hazelton happened to be best friends with Pastor Mark, the Past St and I met back in Parma. I had shared with him about my blog; he read up on it and then called Mark. It was cool.
After a bunch of days there I finally left and headed on my journey. Only to get picked up by another family about 10 miles down the road. It was wild, two amazing families in a row. I can't remember their names off the top of my head but the husband had done a lot of animal packing in his life and still does. He gave me so much good advice and also quieted some fears I had. He showed me how to take extra care with LeeRoy and a few new tricks of the goat trade. It's hard to find people that have done anything even similar to what I'm doing so his advice was really valuable to me. He shared with me that he had taken extended pack trips into the dessert and deep into the mountains. Most everyone I know has gone for 3-4 weeks, and something I have learned is that even though those people have super good advice they often don't have to push there animal. Well not to the extremes I have to push LeeRoy.(I'm sure that last sentence is going to get me some hate mail.) Never the less I was given some really great info. It's been so helpful. We spent a lot of time talking about winter care for LeeRoy and how to keep myself warm. The difference in what he did in winter and what I tried was he built fires and I couldn't build a fire on the side of the road. So even though I had a little jet boil it was just not enough.
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