Road Trip

On Sunday, July 10th, I tossed two bales of hay and a water bucket in the back of our truck Moby, threw a change of clothes and a pillow on the passenger seat, a cooler filled with four Diet Cokes and a 22 ounce Switchback on the floor, kissed Peg goodbye, and headed down the driveway at 10:30 a.m.  A fairly uneventful ten and a half hours later, I checked into a Fairfield Inn in Avon, Ohio east of Cleveland. 627 miles down, 468 to go.

After four lambing seasons with Calvin, we decided last fall to look for a new ram for our flock. While Corriedales are a common breed, we have found few if any other sheep farms in New England that have colored Corriedales.  Our original flock came from western New York in 2012.  Last October Peg reached out to Dick Regnery at Whitefish Bay Farm in Door County, Wisconsin – in many ways our inspiration for choosing Corriedales in the first place. Dick replied that they had stopped breeding their flock when the local veterinarian moved away.

BUT, Dick suggested we reach out to Cindy at Observatory Hill Farm south of Madison, as she and her husband Mark started their flock in 2011 with sheep from the Whitefish Bay Farm flock.  Here is an excerpt from her reply to Peg’s email:

I’d be delighted if you’d consider a ram from my flock.  Right now I’m making those hard decisions about which lambs to keep and which must go.   If you would want to take a yearling ram next spring, it would give me an opportunity to keep back a ram lamb that looks like an excellent prospect, rather than have to take him to market.  I would probably also give him at least one ewe for breeding, so that he might even be a proven yearling.

Now we could always hire Bernie up in South Royalton to transport the ram with his livestock trailer.  He moved the original flock from New York in 2012 and also the Cormos we added in November of 2013.  Bernie charges $3/mile (at least that was his rate back then) – $3,285 to move one ram. Nope. Todd’s gonna do a road trip.  First night, get past Cleveland (to avoid morning rush traffic). Second night stay with Pete and Laurel in the old Wilmette ‘hood, literally across the street from the house that was our home for 14 years. Pick up the ram early Tuesday morning and book it straight through the night back to the farm.

But how the heck am I going to drive 1100 miles back east without stopping?  Back in June I posted this on my Facebook page:

This goes out to my Midwest peeps! Sometime in July, I’m driving Moby – my big white whale of a Ford F250 – back to a farm near Madison, where I will pick up a ram, put him in the back and then hightail it back to the farm – about 17 hours straight through (assuming no construction delays). Anyone interested in a road trip to help with the driving? I’ll pay to fly you back home after AND you’ll get to visit Savage Hart Farm! I can be flexible on the timing to fit into your schedule.

Facebook friend Frank (who lives in Connecticut) gave me this great reply:

I can help both ways if you need. And, no need for flight back – we can drive to/from the farm. Avail most any week in July with a bit of notice.

But longtime Carleton Ski Team buddy Bart came through with a much simpler reply, “Call me.”

Back on the road Monday morning at around 8 a.m., I hit some construction on both the Ohio Turnpike and the Indiana Toll Road, but breezed through Chicago and was in Wilmette by around 12:30. Pete was kind enough to spend the afternoon entertaining me – a few beers, a delicious salad lunch, a dip in Lake Michigan at the sailing beach, Laurel joined us for a quick pizza dinner at a new place in downtown Wilmette, then on to their porch for an evening of catching up with old neighborhood friends and even a few guys from the tennis group that I played with for years before moving East.

Early Tuesday morning, I was back on the road and arrived at Observatory Hill Farm by 8:30.  Cindy and Mark took me to the where they house the rams (the maintenance shed) where I saw about 10 very handsome animals, all with jackets. They sheared later in the year – May – so their fleeces were shorter than our flock. They introduced me to Eros, a particularly handsome 14 month old ram with a remarkable display of wrinkles on his nose.  Corriedales originated as a cross between Merinos and Lincolns, and Merinos are known for having very wrinkled skin – actually makes it more difficult to shear. It appears some of this characteristic has come through with Eros.

Eros' wrinkly face

Eros’ wrinkly face

Before separating Eros from the rest of the boys and getting him in the truck, we had some paperwork to handle. Cindy handed me a folder with the Veterinarian’s report (recommended when moving animals across state lines), a bill of sale (including a “satisfaction guarantee” – Eros successfully bred with a ewe, so he’s got the stuff), and a chart showing his lineage going back to Whitefish Bay Farm.  I wrote her a check for $300 (very fair price) and we were ready to go.

Mark pulled Eros out of the pen, they each grabbed a foreleg, I wrapped my arms around his hips and we easily lifted him onto the tailgate and into the pickup bed.  I opened the screen windows on the sides of the topper for some ventilation, and he proceeded to bleat at the three of us.  After a few more minutes conversation, we said our farewells and Eros and I were back on the road a little before 9:00.

Eros in the back of Moby

Eros in the back of Moby

I get to Bart’s house on the north side of Chicago around noon. He brings out his carryon bag for the flight home, only to realize Moby isn’t a crew cab truck with a back seat.  I tell him we can throw it in the bed.  By now, Eros has been in there for over 3 hours and he’s already made himself at home, if one gets my drift. Bart comes back out with a small tarp, and I wrap his carryon, my bag, and the now empty cooler in the tarp at the front end of the bed, with the two bales of hay standing between our gear and Eros.

Ready to Hit the Road!

Ready to Hit the Road!

I stay behind the wheel for the trip through Chicago – which was remarkably smooth and fast.  Around 4 pm, somewhere in Indiana, I pull off at an Indiana Toll Road Travel Plaza – after literally sitting in traffic for the better part of an hour behind a tanker truck in the left lane that refuses to move even though the lane ahead is clear (the right lane is full of cars, but the left lane is not) – I finally got up the nerve to go around on the median.

This is our first break, so we open the topper door in back and let Eros poke his head out. Bart and I take turns standing at the back of the truck while the other goes in for food/drink/bathroom break. Who knows if he might decide to jump? A family parked nearby asks if they can take a photo of our goat. Bart gets behind the wheel and takes the next six hours of driving. We stop twice during his first driving stint for bathroom/food/gas, and each time we open the topper door. Eros senses a pattern and is bleating each time the truck turns off – he is waiting for us to open the door. The same family is at the next Travel Plaza, shouting something about the goat.

"I like your goat!"

“I like your goat!”

We’re still in Indiana when I notice Eros is looking straight ahead into the cab.  I slide open the cab window. Here’s a quick video…

Eros and Bart

Eros and Bart

After a few more hours, Eros is getting the hang of being in the bed.  He is remarkably steady on his feet, makes fewer bleating noises, starts eating some hay, and even lies down every once in a while. He is often looking forward, but we don’t open the window again, as it gets pretty noisy.

We head into Cleveland as the sun begins to set.  Tuesday night, post rush hour – no need to go around the city, just straight through on I-90.  We’ve got the MLB All Star game on the radio, jumping around between different AM stations to find the strongest signal (ESPN Chicago was on for much of the game).  Being Cubs fans, Bar and I are excited that the entire National League starting infield is made up of Cubbies.

We switch drivers around 10 pm, and we keep driving through the night, switching roughly every two hours. The passenger tries to get some sleep, the driver keeps moving the radio dial trying to find something scintillating. The sky starts to lighten around 4:30 am Wednesday morning, and we still aren’t to the Albany area.  New York is a BIG STATE. Bart takes us north of Albany and into the southwest corner of Vermont. About an hour from the farm he announces his eyes are getting heavy, and I take us the final 40 miles or so up I-91.  We arrive at the farm at 7:30 am.  Twenty-one and a half hours after I put Eros in the truck in Wisconsin, he jumps out of the tailgate into the barnyard of his new home in Vermont. Bart and I head to our respective beds for the rest of the morning.

Here is a screen shot of Facebook Messages from late June between Bart and me about when he wants to fly back to Ohare:

FB

 

Thursday morning, Peg announced that quarantining Eros for two weeks (best practice) was not going to work. He was lonely in the barnyard, and let us know it every time he saw us.  So we put Schuyler the wether with Eros in the barnyard. They bonded immediately and spent most of their time sitting in the shade on the barn floor.

We all had a nice day together on Thursday, including a short hike with Jack on the Appalachian Trail. Dinner was beef tenderloin cooked on the Pit Barrel Cooker, shared with Steve and Maggie. Friday morning I headed off to work, and Peg drove Bart to the airport.

Bart on the AT

Bart on the AT

Bart sent me this great photo of Jack, which is now my mobile phone wallpaper!

JACK!

JACK!

Sunday, Peg and I decided to bring all the boys together. We made a small pen that was about 10 feet by 15 feet in the east field chute. Nash and Calvin kept chasing after Eros, with Calvin trying to lick him.  After about three hours of no violence, we took them all back down into the east field. Eros’ transition to the farm could not have gone any smoother.

Todd

 

2 Comments

  1. Nancy Donohue on July 29, 2016 at 2:31 am

    So what Science teacher muffed up the difference for those children between a sheep and a goat? Outstanding story… happy endings are the best.

  2. Cindy Mackenzie on July 31, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    Thank you so much, Todd! It was wonderful getting to see and hear Eros again — I’ve been missing him. I’m looking forward to seeing the beautiful bouncing lambs that he’ll help make for you, come next spring! 🙂

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