We're Back

What a wonderful trip.  I can't thank L and T enough for farm sitting.  It really gave J some peace knowing everything was being taken care of so expertly.  It might take me awhile to get through the entire trip, looks like I took 750 photos.  It is very difficult to pare that all down, but I will try.

So, we left the beautiful mountains of southwest Virginia and drove 500 miles to Valdosta, GA.  Google maps took us right there.  J didn't think he could have used a regular map to create the route that we took.  Maybe he is starting to appreciate technology some now. 

The next morning we went to the Blackwater Cattle Company.  J had lined up a tour with the owner.  They are having a big bull sell (240 head) next month.  We have purchased some cattle from another breeder that got their stock from Blackwater, so J thought we might just go right to the source.  

There is no way for us to estimate acreage when everything is so flat and open but it looked pretty expansive.  The owner said he could sell for $10,000 an acre.

The bulls had already headed for the shade, but we drove through them on a little side by side.  

J had already studied the sale catalog some and had several that he wanted to see in person.  

We were there for about 2 hours but J said he could have spent all day there.  I'm sure the owner had better things to do but we appreciated how generous he was with his time.

I did have an interesting neighbor in the truck we drove around in.  

They had a very nice sale barn, pens and office area.  

There was also one field with an artificial shade area.  I'm not sure how many animals they run, but he said they feed 5000 rolls of hay along with carrot culls.  That was something I had never heard of.  He gets them free but there is more labor in feeding them.  Learn something new every day. 

J has two weeks now to study the catalog and online videos. 

Up next, Okefenokee Swamp...