Brenda Inman's blog

The sky was cloudy, and the wind a bit brisk when I woke in New Hope. The threat of rain hung over us again, though nothing fell that morning. Its easier on the horse when its cool. After Bill made his coffee I got to making breakfast. I used my Colman stove to cook up some bacon, eggs, and toast. Aside from the hills this was an easy day, as Bill and Blackie only had 8 miles to reach the town of Union Grove, our next stop.

Jonny and I drove straight to town to check out the Fiddler's Grove Campground. Before the trip I had researched possible places along our route to stop. I called the owners to ask permission to keep the horse there; they had no problem with the horse, so we drove down and setup camp.

Shortly after Bill arrived we met with the manager of the Grove, who was a very kind elderly gentleman. We told him about the trip, and later he came back to refund our camp fee (nice! Every bit helps) and invite us to the Cookshack for some family style Bluegrass pick'n. Fiddlers Grove is famous for its “Ole Time Fiddlers and Bluegrass Festival” which will be held May 23 – 25 of this year.

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04-22-08

We made our first stop about 11.5 miles from the Taylorsville Lions Club Fairgrounds. The numerous churches have been great places to stop my rig. There's one about every 10 miles or so and most have large parking lots. Theres no one around Linney's Mill, seems they are closed on Mondays, so we move on.

When we reach the church in New Hope there is a gentlemen mowing the grass. His name is Jimmy; we tell him what we're doing and ask him if he knows who to talk to to get permission to camp. He drives down to Mr. Youngen's house for us and he comes down to see us. We get permission, and that night camp out near a graveyard. We don't see any ghosts.

Bill arrives tired and goes to bed early.

04-21-08

Tuesday morning was sunny and chilly. As we prepared to leave, Lt. Adkins arrived to take us to a place where we can get showers. A good hot shower is always welcome! Back at the church, Bill waited his turn and chatted with some folks. When Jon and I get him to go shower, we saddle Blackie and pickup the panels (Jonny note: gez Bill spent the whole time we where showering talking...). When Bill got back we were ready to go.

Corporal Hardin escorted Bill on this day. The beautiful rolling hills and lush, green vegetation is quite a contrast to the brown landscape we saw in much of the west. We make our lucnh stop at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church. 

Later we find a "Community Club" that we can stay at for the night. We setup our camp. Later that evening Bill and I are invited to a "pick'n and grin'n" with the Golden Valley Crusaders. I got some video of that so hopefully Jon can put something togather with that soon.

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Since our first stop in Tyon, we have camped out everyday. We made our way down 108 on to Rutherfordton. Lt. Chris Adkins with the Rutherford County Sheriff's Dept met Jon and I at a gas station at the intersection of Hwy 9 and Hwy 108. The Lt.  and I learned that the mounted patrol was planning to meet up with Bill at the Polk/ Rutherford county line. Bill only stopped for a brief moment; he took off before grabbing a bite to eat.

Sunday, the 13th of April, turned out to be a beautiful day for a ride, despite all of the weather forecasts calling for rain. When we arrived at our Starting point, Schroader's Honda, there were a few hardy souls who turned out to see us off. We were especially pleased to see Billy Cannon there.

All of my aunts were there to see us off along with a few of our new friends. Larry and Cheryl rode with Bill down the mountian. They were escorted by Dottie,and law enforcement officers from Henderson and Polk county. Jon and I made our first stop in Saluda. By chance, Mrs. Arrington, a member of the Pisgah Trail Riders was in her realty office, right next to where we stopped! She came out to see us and chat for a few minutes.

When the riders arrived with their escort, M. Snipes, of the Saluda Police Department,  Mayor Rodney Gibson came to greet us. Bill had to replace a coulpe of loose nails on a shoe on Cheryl's horse. We had a light lunch and then they rode on to Harmon Field in Tryon.

There we were greeted by Lorna Deever and Judy Shultz who made us feel right at home. They had refreshments for us and anyone who happened to come by. Dana Bergman was there to entertain us with his acoustic guitar and great songs. He had even composed a song for Blackie. My mom was able to record some of it and we hope to post that segment sometime in the near future. We hope you enjoy the photos and will post more video as soon as Jon has it edited.

Jonny note: My Toshiba laptop's sound seems to be damaged now. I'm not sure if its a software or hardware problem, but I'm guessing its hardware. I'm not to happy about this.

On Monday, December 31, 2007 Bill and I renewed our wedding vows. This was a special occasion for us. We were pleased to be able to do this in the exact same place we did in 1980. The folks at Overholdt's Hardware store were kind enough to keep the store open late for us that day. Some of our family, and the friends we made in Tennessee attended. We appreciate all of your support in our journey. Without folks like you this would not have been possible.

At this writing I am sitting in a cabin in Hot Springs NC. No, it's not fancy. It doesn't even have a restroom inside. There are three bunks that will sleep maybe 5 people. There are 4 of us sharing the cabin now. We have limited Internet access which slows our ability to add content to our web site at this time.

We will still be adding data and video's to our web site and I plan to begin serious work on my book as soon as we settle down a little. I will also attempt to spend as much time as possible answering e-mail's. Look for updates to our friends and supporters page. Maybe I can obtain a good enough connection to actually get some work done.

Thanks again for your support and kindness.

During our travel across Tennessee, Bob Frost has assisted us in finding accommodations. One of the places he helped us to find is Birdsong Trail Rides. They are located south of Camden, TN in hill country. What a peaceful, beautiful place. There are great accommodations for campers of all kinds. You can find more information about their facility at www.birdsongtrailride.com. Bill really enjoyed talking with Mr. Fowler about some of his adventures and his livestock. They also have some very interesting and unusual livestock. If you like horses, nature and the great outdoors this is the place to visit.

Friday, December 21, 2007
Today Dr. C. Maben Thompson D.V.M. in Crossville, Tennessee came out to check Blackie. Our hostess, Jennifer Parsons, arranged the visit for us. Since he began to exhibit signs of soreness in his left hindquarter/leg, we have been very cautious and observant of the way he travels. He has not exhibited any sign of difficulty or lameness while being ridden. He only seems to be a little sore when resting. Dr Maben thoroughly examined Blackie and found no sign of lameness or other problems. He injected him with Legend which is a drug that helps maintain joint health. Dr. Maben commented that Blackie's overall condition, and his cardiovascular health was better than many of the horses he examines. When the exam is done, we turn Blackie loose in the pasture and he takes off at a run. No sign of lameness there. We will be adding a supplement of MSM to his diet to further assist with joint health. This is the most difficult part of the journey. The shoulders of the roads are narrow and the terrain is much more steep than any yet. Many of the drivers on the road won't even slow down. Of course the hardest part comes at the end. We will continue to rest Blackie on a regular basis, even if it means riding a day and resting a day. He is our hero!

Thank you Dr. Thompson, for helping us to assure that our horse is in the best condition possible.

Today Dr. C. Maben Thompson D.V.M. in Crossville, Tennessee came out to check Blackie. Our hostess, Jennifer Parsons, arranged the visit for us. Since he began to exhibit signs of soreness in his left hindquarter/leg, we have been very cautious and observant of the way he travels. He has not exhibited any sign of difficulty or lameness while being ridden. He only seems to be a little sore when resting.

The weather is becoming more and more gloomy. They say it is going to rain this afternoon. It’s a good thing that we will be inside tonight and Blackie will have a nice place to rest.  I know the rain is needed here and even though it makes things harder for us, I thank God for sending it. I hope that when it is going to rain or snow we will have a dry place to sleep from this point on. Our trailer is just a stock trailer and can be rather wet inside when it rains. Our bedrolls get damp and it is hard to get warm when trying to go to sleep. Many mornings we wake up to a wet ceiling, dripping on our heads. We have a small electric heater and a propane heater. The propane heater doesn’t do much to fend off the cold. Sometimes it makes the condensation worse and we cannot sleep with it on.

The electric heater is ok, but in order to warm our bunk we have to suspend it from the ceiling of the trailer, close to us. It helps to have electricity too, but that is not always available. We use tarps to try to enclose the trailer and they help a little. I know this is all part of the journey. It makes it hard to concentrate when you don't get adequate sleep. One thing I have noticed is when I sleep inside now I often get too warm. Seems odd that a warm place to sleep can be as difficult as a cold damp one. Six months of sleeping "outside" is really different. It makes one appreciate the simple things in life.