Snowy Snowy Day with Gene and His Mule Team

I've always wanted to learn more about driving and harness, but the time to do it is not when you are soaked to the skin in the freezing snow.  Of course the girls - Kitty and Kate - were glad to be done for the day.

Keeping an eye on Kitty and Kate from the warmth of my truck. Click on image to enlarge.

I met Gene Glasscock yesterday when he stopped for lunch at the Roadrunner, our local general store (in Corona de Tucson, AZ, about twenty miles southeast of Tucson). I had passed him earlier on the road and thought he might be here for the annual Tucson Fiesta de Los Vaqueros Rodeo parade, but turns out he just happened to be passing through on his way home.  Gene started out from San Diego in September of 2010 on an ocean to ocean round trip journey.  Two years and five months later, with a few weeks out for open heart surgery at the Tucson VA, he's close to the final leg of his journey.

157.8 miles from Corona de Tucson to Ajo AZ. Click on image to enlarge.

We knew we had a bad storm coming in, so when I got a call from Melissa this morning  (another new acquaintance who gave Gene a ride to the VA yesterday afternoon for some post-op blood work) saying Gene was having problems with his rig, I drove over to the American Legion post where he had spent the night to check on him.  (He may be hale and hearty but still, Gene is 78 and recently had surgery.)

Apparently he got things fixed OK and headed west down Sahuarita Road.  His next planned multi-day layover is with a friend in Ajo, about 160 miles west of here.  I caught up with Gene at Vista Feeds where he had just picked up some alfalfa pellets for Kitty and Kate and was filling up his water jugs. The weather had been holding off but the frozen rain and snow started spitting down and in a few minutes became a full snowstorm.  Gene decided to head back the four miles to the Legion post and I would drive ahead and double check that it was OK with them.  As I drove out of the feed store visibility had dropped considerably.

After checking back at the Legion (Post 109 - check out the Phantom jet in their front yard) I went back to the intersection to watch for the wagon.  I don't know how they all figured out that some crazy woman standing in the snow by the traffic light was waiting for the mule team, but almost every driver rolled down their window to shout how far back they were.  Despite the four miles being all uphill and slippery with snow and mushy ice, they made good time - when the wagon was in sight I went back to my truck to meet up at the Legion parking lot.

While I had been waiting, I had stopped in at the Roadrunner where Rose gave me a phone number for a lady who offered to put the mules up, and to come fetch them with her trailer. While the girls would be fine out in the weather, it would be much better if they could be in a safe area where they could run and relax and at least have a windbreak instead of standing tied overnight.

Belle warming up in my truck. Click on image to enlarge.

Unhitching the team was challenging - Gene and I were both wet and cold and our fingers stiff. I was able to figure that anything that went underneath the belly need to be unsnapped or unbuckled, and the bridles weren't really any more difficult to remove than a riding bridle; the collars had me flummoxed until Gene explained how they unbuckled and came apart. All of the harness except for the collars is biothane so could stay out, but the collars needed to go inside the wagon.  By now Gene, his little dog Belle and I were shivering so we went to wait in my truck until Blackie arrived with her trailer.

I think we both felt a little guilty watching Kitty and Kate standing in the snow while we huddled in the warm truck but they both appeared comfortable and we knew their ride was on the way.

Blackie showed up with her two-horse and Kitty went in with just a little encouragement.  Kate, on the other hand, decided no way was she going to climb into that box. So Kitty went with Blackie and Gene to her overnight accommodations while I waited with Kate and Belle.  Kate was clearly unhappy to be left behind and stayed restless until she saw Gene again.  Belle wasn't certain she wasn't going to get left behind - Gene's stay in the hospital must have been hard on her - and was delighted when he was back.

Blackie figured Kate might get in with the divider out which would give her more room but, despite promises of dinner and rejoining her companion, she still adamantly refused. Lead from the tailgate?  This wasn't going well in the now sloppy snow.  By now Gene was thoroughly wet and chilled and maybe getting a bit discouraged with the situation.  After an unsuccessful attempt at simply leading Kate,  Blackie and I agreed when Gene suggested simply tying Kate to the bumper of my truck.  I was a bit leery and had images of being accused of cruelty but Kate seemed quite happy with this solution and contentedly trotted behind at 4 mph.  I suspect she's done this before as she kept slack in her lead with no trouble as I tried to drive the 4 miles as smoothly and consistently as I could.

Several people stopped and offered to get a trailer.  I should have gotten the phone number from one offer of a stock trailer.  We were almost at our destination then but there is still the issue of reuniting the Ladies and their wagon on Friday or Saturday.

With both girls romping in the snow in Blackie's arena, and a cup of delicious chamomile tea and sweet rolls while Gene's wet coat was run through a dryer cycle, we headed back to the feed store for alfalfa pellets and COB.  I'm so used to working with insulin resistant horses I had to remind myself that mules working as hard as these girls do can handle the carbs - obviously they've been thriving on this road diet for almost six thousand miles.  Their coats, feet and attitudes are great and after her four mile trot (after having done twice that pulling her half of the wagon earlier) Kate was barely puffing.

 I currently don't even have a serviceable sofa to offer but Gene assured me he can heat the wagon warm enough and cook there, so I dropped him off to change into some dry clothes and finally warm up.  Will be going back to check on him tomorrow and take him over to Blackie's to check on the girls and maybe do a grocery store run.

I'm hoping to get some updates on Gene's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gene-Glasscock/136070743078910
You can also check out his website at http://geneglasscock.org or email him at longridergene@geneglasscock.org

If you are somewhere along his route from Corona de Tucson to Ajo in the next couple of weeks and have room to put up the team and wagon, Gene would be appreciative.  Email Gene with your phone number or watch for him along the road.  He also needs some welding help for a real repair for the temporary fix on his wagon.

(Expected route starting Friday or Saturday - west from Corona de Tucson on Sahuarita Road/Helmet Peak Road, then north on Mission Road, then west on Valencia to Ajo Highway.)