Pharo Cattle Company

On the trip I was taking pictures with my iPad to blog with but I also took my camera and took lots more pictures with it.  It is a little more convenient to carry a pocket camera than an iPad. 

 I still can't get over what those cattle in Colorado were eating.  Kit was showing us the pasture and explained that with this drought about half of the grass is dead, but wouldn't take long to recover if they got rain.

 With his pasture management he was able to winter this herd without any feed, just pasture.

 I still have a hard time telling what the grass is.

 In contrast, this is the pasture some of ours are on now.  They have to actually eat more of this due to the high moisture content. (and the landscape is totally different)

 Kit's cows were plenty fat,

 and the calves looked great.

He has also started using a cafeteria style mineral feeder.  The theory being that the cow knows what it needs and will only eat that. 

 It looked like they didn't have any trouble finding what they wanted.

And apparently, a visit to PCC wouldn't be complete without a visit with Max the pack mule.
Thanks PCC for a very educational tour.

Home

We made it home last night.

We only had one unplanned stop, on the West Virginia turnpike for over 2 hours.

There had been a tractor trailer accident.

Traffic was backed up and at a standstill for over 15 miles.

When we got home we had traveled over 4000 miles.  J estimated that was about 60 hour of riding in the car.

Now back to work.  There had been 4 1/2 inches of rain here since we'd left, the driveway has washed and the cattle guard is full of gravel.  The garden has doubled, in size and weeds.  I have to that the rental car back and J has all of the cattle to check.

4R's Family Vacation, Day 8

We left a very iffy motel in Hays, Kansas and were really not that surprised to see a bird walking around in the hall.

E was particularly glad to leave this motel.  Just goes to show you can't always trust a name.  I thought  Ramada was better than this. 

We drove through a windmill farm in Kansas.  They looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

We only made one tourist stop today, in Abilene, Kansas at the Dwight Eisenhower presidential library and museum.

We saw his boyhood home,

Toured the museum,

And visited the library.  It was a very educational stop.  Made it to Grayville, IL for the night.  We will probably make it back home tomorrow.

4R's Family Vacation, Day 7

The Garden of the gods was right across from last night's motel and it was free! So of course we went there this morning.

It is a city park based around unusual sandstone rocks.

Balance Rock may be the most famous. A photographer in the early 1900's set his camera up there and took tourist photos.  We did some hiking around the park and saw a couple of groups touring on horse back.  I still think that would be a great summer job for V next year if she could get one.

We then started on our journey back east.  Eastern Colorado has been in a drought for several years.  Then landscape is pretty depressing.

We had some postcards to mail so we stopped here in Yoder for that errand.  Hope they get to where they are going.

With the drought conditions it makes you wonder what these cattle are eating.  Some of the pastures are in really rough shape due to overgrazing.

And here was J's favorite stop, PCC.  J has gotten four bulls here over the last few years.  The owner, Kit Pharo, was gracious enough to give us a tour of his ranch and cattle.  He has a low input philosophy which has served him well during this extended drought.  The group of cattle that he showed us were fat and had made it though the winter with no fed other than the managed pasture.

That helps explain this sign in front of his office.  Quit following the "bigger is better" herd and develop a low input sustainable herd.  Spending the night in Hayes Kansas.

4r's Family Vacation, Day 6

Happy 4th of July.

We got up this morning to a great breakfast in Lusk, Wy.  Everyone except me ate in the restaurant area.  I waited until the chuck wagon was ready and had a mimosa and a fresh made omelette.  It was delicious.

Driving through Wyoming was beautiful.  It's difficult to take an iPad picture from the car that would do it justice. 

We stopped in Cheyenne to see if we could find a good western store.  We found this Boot Barn that was having a tent sale.  J got a new shirt and railroad style winter hat.  V found a good deal on a pair of jeans.  E and I came away empty handed. 

After leaving Cheyenne we got our first look at the Rockies.  We headed to Colorado Springs to go up Pike's Peak for a closer look.

J was a little tired of driving so I took us up to the top.  I missed the sign at the entrance that recommend at least a half a tank of gas.  J had barely let it get lower than the 3/4 mark for the whole trip so I didn't think twice about heading up the mountain.    Once we made it past the tree line E was having second thoughts.  When the lightning started she was ready to turn around.  I couldn't take my eyes off of the yellow line long enough to see anything.  And when it started SNOWING, my knuckles where turning pretty white.  Almost at the top around a bend a motorcycle was stopped in the middle of the road.  The driver was walking ahead dragging his foot to clear the 1-2 inches of snow and slush that was covering the road.  What a scary place to start slipping and sliding.  Thankfully, we made it past and to the top.  It took about 5 minutes before I could stop shaking.

The temperature swing went from 90 degrees down to 36 at the top.  The weather cleared off enough for the snow to melt and J drove us back down.  Finally I could look out and take some pictures.

Then the fuel light came on and J couldn't do anything but worry about that.  When we got to the bottom and to a gas station it took 17.2 gallons to fill it.  I looked up the tank capacity, 16.6 gallons.  We were past running on fumes.

We then ate at a wonderful restaurant in Manitou, P.J.'s Bistro.  We even got a chocolate mousse cake, delectable.

4R's Family Vacation, Day 5

We left the grain bins of western Nebraska for the Indian Reservation of South Dakota.

The scenery was beautiful but the living conditions of the Indians was depressing. 

We then drove through my favorite, The Bad Lands.  Who cound get tired of this.

We hiked the Notch trail, 1.5 miles total.  The views are stunning everywhere you look.  J, through all the different terrain that we have been in so far, has continued to comment on what it would be like to ride Jessica in it.  I think he would really like to go on an endurance ride out here somewhere.

Can't bypass Wall Drug, well maybe I can if I ever make it out here again, pretty over priced.

Then Mt. Rushmore!  This time I could actually see it, no fog.

It really is amazing.

This was the historical overlook.  I think this is where I had my picture taken the last time I really saw The faces, when I was three.

We happened to catch a hoop dancing demonstration by a Lakota hoop dancer.  She was a two time national hoop dance champion, very impressive.

We then left South Dakota and headed to Wyoming .

Spending the night in Lusk.  No idea what we are doing next.

The clerk at tonight's motel was wearing a cowboy hat.  She originally priced the room at $149.

I asked if there were any discounts and she said the standard, AARP and triple A.  I threw out the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Paint Horse Association.  Guess what, she had a paint horse and finally knocked the room down to $99.  Every bit helps.

4R's Family Vacation, Day 4

The Internet was restored to Nebraska this morning and V was able to resume contact with others of her kind.  Her AT&T cell phone has still yet to work anywhere in the state. Luckily, E had added $10 to her page plus plan so we have been able to call and check on the farm. 

Today we tried a family activity that we have never attempted before, canoeing.

Going down the Niobrara river is a very popular activity in Valentine. 

The river is moderately wide and smooth, perfect for learning how to canoe.  V and E started out together with V steering in the back.  After much fussing and fuming and getting stuck on a sandbar, we shuffled spots and V got in the front of mine and J got behind E.  Later we stopped and E and J switched spots so E.could learn how to steer.  I think V and I might have had the more relaxing ride.

But after 4 hours and 18 miles I think everyone was ready to get out.  (I was only able to take a picture with my iPad for the blog at the end.  Maybe when we get home and I can go through my camera pictures I'll be able to post some on the trip down the river.)

We then tried to rush to Merriman to see the Artthur Bowring Ranch which is a working Hereford ranch State Park.  It was only open for 15 more minutes by the time we made it but the park ranger went ahead and gave us his talk but we didn't get to see anything else.  I guess we'll have another reason to come back to Nebraska again.