Horse Creek Ranch, Hunters, WA
Fast forward for a few minutes to today. You’re probably wondering how I am able to get all these blog posts done & drive. Well I am not! Yesterday we came to Horse Creek Ranch, Hunters, WA to drop off Benz for Steve & Francesca.
We had picked Benz up in Wasilla, AK. He was a pleasure to have on board – such a gentleman. Of course Francesca was not surprised as he used to be her horse! Steve Rother & herself run Horse Creek Ranch here in northeatern Washington. They are located about 1 1/2 hours NE of Spokane. Steve is known internationally as The Horse Teacher. He, along with Francesca, train horse lovers how to train their horses. You can find out more about them & their program at www.horseteacher.com
Here’s a picture of us with Dee, Francesca’s dog, standing in front of their big horse trailer.
Anyways, when we arrived yesterday Francesca offered for us to stay over & get our day’s rest. I had been really frustrated in the morning not knowing where to take the day’s rest. (DOT regs) We had really wanted to go see Michael, Jess & the girls but it was just not going to work out on this trip – too much of a detour because we have to be home by Thursday. (Friends from England are coming in on Friday!) PLUS the kids needed a place to run & play after some long days on the road. Steve & Francesca will probably never realize what a blessing they have been to us but this break could not have been better. They gave us a small one room cabin with beds to sleep in out of the way of the main ranch happenings. We have another horse on board so he is parked close by. The kids immediately found the dirt – this climate is like northern Montana so dry & dusty. The kids were filthy within 5 mins but they were happy & content meaning Michelle & I were happy & content 🙂
Instead of unhooking the trailer Steve & Francesca allowed us the use of their Ranch truck to go to the little town of Hunters half a mile away – another blessing. We headed down there last night to eat at Lora’s cafe. Hunters has a population of 305 & is located close to Roosevelt Lake. The cafe is on one side of the hardware store run by her husband. A very laid back place & the food was great. Actually an old converted Catholic Church:
Last night we ate Fish & Chips, tonight we were back for Chicken Salad & ice creams!
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The weather is absolutely gorgeous & the sky that very clear western blue. We had not restocked the cooler yesterday which was just as well as we forgot to bring the plug for plugging it into the mains so food would have ruined. The Hunters Grocery store is a little limited on choice so we got inventive & still ate well for breakfast & lunch. Breakfast consisted of yogurts, tinned pineapple & apple pie. Nobody complained 🙂 For lunch we had corned beef sandwiches & the rest of the apple pie. The kids played in the dirt all morning whilst I caught up on some emails & blogging and then this afternoon we took a walk up to the lake.
The walk reminded Michelle & I of when we lived in West Virginia – a beautiful but fairly steep climb. There is a row boat up there but I was not about to take 3 “monkeys” out on it without life jackets!
We came back down & headed to Lake Roosevelt. There the kids played in the water & on the swings etc and generally had a great time.
Another view of the lake:
Whilst we were at the restaurant this evening 3 couples came in to eat – us & them nearly filled the place – yes it’s not that big. We all got talking & Daniel soon joined in. Once that kids gets talking there is no stopping him. We had a great meal & some great company. That is one of the joys of this business, we get to meet folks from all over that we would never have met.
Back for showers & bed. Caleb had not taken a nap all day so he conked out on the walk back up to the cabin. It is going to be another starlit night out there. Been a warm day – up in the 80’s but the sun has now gone down & it feels really good out there.
SO Steve & Francesca, thank you SO much for allowing us to stay here. We have thorougly enjoyed our time & you actually made it a day of rest for me 🙂
Tomorrow we need to get a reasonably early start as we have 600 miles to do to get to Billings, MT. So I am going to stop blogging & “chatting” to you all for now, read a book for a while then get an early night ready for tomorrow.
Take care & enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Liz
I so love “traveling” along with you. Very glad you were blessed with this day and this lodging.
Thank you so much for showing all these gorgeous pics. You still amaze me and make me wonder how in the world you do all that you do. Do you ever settle down and just say “whew”?
How funny to see Steve’s name on your post! Steve and I went to college together, and I did his photos for him when he was just starting out. Glad you had a good time! 🙂