I began this journal one week prior to our departure from Florida. I was only going to take excerpts from it, but so many readers have asked that I tell the "whole" story, so here it is...

July 15, 2004- Thursday
Sixteen months of planning, training and preparation are nearly about to come to fruition!
Trish (my farrier), came out today to shoe George for Tevis. I finally decided to go with the Ground Control shoes on the front and steel rim shoes with equithane on his hind. George stood so well for over two hours as Trish made painstaking adjustments.

July 16, 2004- Friday
Trailered over to Darlene Krell's in Brooksville to ride our last long serious training ride.
It was hot, but not as hot as it has been. It was very muggy/foggy in the am, but somewhat breezy as the day wore on. Approximately 92 degrees and humid.
We rode 22.1 miles according to my GPS. We started at 9:09 am and finished at 1:05 pm. We rode a steady 6.5 to 6.9 mph trot, but we "wasted" alot of time at the three water holes we stopped at. I was practicing with George to drink Perform N Win out of my collapsible bucket and sponging him alot. We also ran into other riders that we stopped to chat with, so that took up more of our average time.
I was getting some rubs in places which I'm not used to, and by the end of the ride I was de-hydrated and a little discouraged wondering if I'm really ready...
George did great though while getting used to his new set of shoes. I kind of broke my regular "rule" of not taking a horse on a long ride the next day after getting new shoes.

July 17, 2004- Saturday
Called Roxanne first thing this morning. We yakked about what we will bring, and what we can share (like beet pulp, hay etc.). We firmed up trip plans.
Ken and I went to town to pick up a tarp for Robinson Flat vet check. I hope my crew does not mind toting all my stuff in the shuttle bus!
Spent the day packing my gear and cleaning my brushes and tack. I want to be sure all my gear fits into my tack trunk.
Ken helped me "roll" the toes with a sander on George's ground control shoes on the advice of my farrier (he didn't seem to be breaking over well enough on them yesterday).

July 18, 2004- Sunday
Had to work an opening shift. I rode "Miles" when I got home for four miles (it figures he's sound as can be after my decision not to take him to Tevis 3 months ago!) Also rode George in my Wintec dressage saddle to take as a spare. If I was braver, I'd ride english at Tevis!
Loaded up more gear into the trailer.

July 19, 2004- Monday
Worked opening shift, it rained all day. Beth cancelled out for riding, so I went alone on George. Rode up Laws road on the pavement to see how he is travelling. He was very strong and confident. Rode 5 miles in 50 minutes. Mostly trotting, some canter.

July 20, 2004- Tuesday
Last day of work! Got to leave at 1:45 pm. My boss and co-workers got me a good luck cake! That was really special. Stopped by the audio place and got a CD player installed in my truck. Roxanne and I don't think we can live for the first 1400 mile leg of the trip without that!. Also got my oil changed and radiator flushed.
Body-clipped George.
George Englehardt brought over the Skito dry-back pad he won at the last ride raffle and offered it to me for George.
Called Gerry Ryan the truck driver we are meeting in Iowa- he is all set

July 21, 2004- Wednesday
Anitra and I went out for a nice easy 6 mile ride up the Lake Nellie trail. About half trotting, half walking.
Finished loading all my gear into the trailer.
Ken and I did some final shopping for groceries in the afternoon. Roxanne e-mailed me to say her puppy Mia had gotten loose and lost at the babysitter's an hour away, and she was out all night and the next day searching for her to no avail. She was way behind on packing.

July 22, 2004- Thursday
THE BIG DAY! I headed for Gainesville about 10:00 am. I arrived at Roxanne's around 12:30pm. Settled George in one of her stall/paddocks. Loaded all my gear in her trailer, and hooked her trailer to my truck.
Roxanne got home from work about 2:30, and we got on the road by 3:45.
Wow! We've finally done it and gotten under way. We can hardly believe it. I drove all night and we un-loaded the horses twice about 6 hours apart.
We had a transmission "scare" about 4 am in Oak Grove, KY. I was fueling up and noticed a trail of tranny fluid coming in from the road all the way under my truck. There was about a quart in a big puddle underneath. We got a mechanic on the phone (yes, with the help of U.S. Riders- AAA for horse people), and he said it was probably hot from the trip over Mont Eagle in TN. Fluid had spewed out the overflow valve. I added a quart, and we hit the road again by driving it out of overdrive until we got on flat ground again.

July 23, 2004- Friday
Well one long night and day ran into another, and here I sit on a beautiful farm that belongs to Dane Frazier's sister-in-law Diana. It is outside Columbia, Missouri.
What a day we had too... Shar-Po got a bad cut on his shoulder in the trailer, and we took him to a vet clinic outside of St. Charles, MS for suturing. Fortunately, it doesn't look too bad, and it should heal somewhat by next Saturday.
George was great today. He ate and drank on the trailer very well. Roxanne turned in very early (6:30 pm Central time). I'm sitting out in the beautiful Missouri summer weather looking out over a cat-tail covered pond as I write in my journal. George and Shar-Po are very content in a 30X50 grass paddock.
We plan a 4 am start to meet up with Gerry, as we got set back a half a day today.

July 24, 2004- Saturday
3:20 am-Roxanne and I got up to get an early start to Gerry Ryan's place. (Gerry is my truck driver friend I know from Disney, and he agreed last summer to be our driver and haul us to CA with his truck and Roxanne's trailer). It was smooth sailing from Columbia up to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
10:35 am- arrived at Gerry's and settled the horses in tie stalls in his barn. Since it was so dark when we loaded in the AM, I didn't notice that George was covered with welts all over his body like he had rolled in ants or nettles in the paddock the night before. We decided to give him some veterinary Tri-Hist granules that Gerry's wife had for their animals. We figured since it was over seven days out from the ride, one dose would be OK.
Gerry's wife fixed us a nice home-cooked lunch and we got the truck and trailer switched before getting back on the road at 12:30 pm.
5:40pm (mountain time)-We stopped in Paxton, Nebraska to unload and graze the horses. George's hives are pretty severe and several of them are already starting to fester. We bought Benadryl tablets and crushed them for an oral dose. The horses drank well and seem to be settling into the trip really well.
7:33pm (mountain time)- Just crossed into Wyoming. We called a stable in Laramie and will be putting up there for the night. Ed called to see how we were doing. He's going to post on ridecamp to get everyone up to date.
Gerry's truck thermometer says it's 56 degrees outside!
9:00pm- We put up for the night in Laramie. The horses had a dirt paddock and drank and ate well. We had dinner at the Chuck Wagon restuarant. I think I may have learned a most valuable lesson for this trip over dinner conversation at 10 o'clock pm... Roxanne brought up a couple of instances when I've been under pressure that I was very "snappy" to her. We worked out a deal for her to give me a hand signal to recognize when I'm doing it so hopefully I can overcome it. Sometimes we just need a good kick in the butt!

July 25, 2004-Sunday (39 degrees)
7:20 am-Got up before 6 to get rolling. Laramie, WY had hit a low of 39 degrees this morning! The horses looked great today. I think George's bumps will be OK in a few days. Many of them have broke and festered, so I put Desitin ointment on them.
7:40 am-Driving out of Laramie on I-80 and there are antelope everywhere! Beautiful country-mountains with snow-capped peaks.
9:00 am-stopped for fuel and breakfast in Rawlins, WY. Bought two bales of hay from Gerry's friend who manages the Rawlins fairground.
2:00 pm- driving trhough Utah now. Gorgeous scenery. Red rock mountains and resorviours. Roxanne and I could live here! It's warming up now though- it's 88 degrees.
4:10 pm- driving accross the Utah salt flats. It just hit 101 degrees. Fortunately both horses drank well a few miles back. We decided to push on to Winnemucca, Nevada and look for the fairgrounds.
8:30 pm- Put up at the Winnemucca, NV fairgrounds- we got to use a nice sandy arena. The horses were going nuts trotting around and rolling. They seem no the worse for wear. I spent alot of time cleaning George's welts with prepodyne and Desitin. They are much better now.

July 26, 2004- Monday
5:30 am- Got up early to feed horses. They pigged out! They were covered from head to toe with dust. They had little raccoon circles around their eyes from rolling.
6:45 am- loaded up and hit the Flying J truck stop for fuel, RV dump and breakfast. We actually got on the interstate about 7:45. We should only have about 5 more hours to reach Judy and Pete's place in Pilot Hill. CA!
Nevada is pretty plain, but I think it's really cool with lots of mountains everywhere you look.
10:55 am- passed Truckee CA now- getting close...
12:30 pm-pulled into Pete and Judy's place- horses look great and even got to run around in her pasture. Steve and Dinah had already arrived on Friday.
8:00 pm- went to Georgetown to eat at a Chinese place and pick up groceries.

July 27, 2004- Tuesday
8:00am- After a great night's sleep and a morning 2 mile jog, (I slept in a tent on my air matress so Roxanne and I could have some "space"), Roxanne & I met Steve, Dinah and Hernan in Cool at the Crossroads Cafe for breakfast. They sure have good food out here.
11:00 am- Saddled up for a ride out of Judy's place with her as a guide. We had to ride about 2.5 miles along paved country roads to get to the Auburn State Recreation area. The trails were rolling hills with wide open spaces and woods. Dinah had suggested that we just go for a nice 6 mile pleasure ride, but Judy got kind of carried away and we ended up riding 14 miles with much of it being at training pace. It didn't seem to bother the horses although Roxanne's Shar-Po tripped and fell to his knees near the end and got skinned up. She kept saying she needed to put him in a padded cell until Tevis!
4:00 pm-Went down to the fairgrounds in Auburn to see what was going on. We met Karen Hites, (who I'd been e-mailing with from Michigan since January),and her friend Gail, who was riding also. They had decided not to come up to Pilot Hill to stay with their horses after all, as they had a good spot at the fairgrounds.
7:00 pm- Gerry grilled the steaks for everyone that he had brought fresh from Iowa. Roxanne fixed marguiritas and we had a great meal with Steve, Dinah, Hernan, Judy, Pete, Roxanne and myself. What a way to relax before Tevis! A beautiful California evening, nearly full moon and wonderful company...

July 28, 2004- Wednesday
9:00 am- After a light meal at the trailer Roxanne and I headed down to the fairgrounds for the "Secrets to Success at Tevis" seminar. It was an all day affair featuring Linda Tellington-Jones, Jamie Kerr DVM, a nutritionist from PHN and Mo Livermore (a seasoned Tevis rider who was extremely helpful and a very good speaker).
6:00pm- they held a BBQ dinner for riders and crew. I went back to Pilot Hill to pick up Rachel Aschemyer (my long-time friend and personal crew for Tevis). The dinner was a great way to meet people and hear Tevis tales.

July 29, 2004- Thursday
7:00 am-Got rolling a little early so we could do our test ride of the last 5 miles of the Tevis trail. Gerry and Pete dropped us off about 9:30am. That section of the trail is really beautiful with no-hands bridge and the American River just below. Roxanne and I took some photos and dreamed of crossing it late at night in two days time...
Came back to Pilot Hill and spent the afternoon packing our crew gear for the haul up to Robie Park tomorrow morning. Ed, Kathi and Jackie arrived from their flight to San Francisco around 4 pm. We decided to meet them in Auburn for dinner at 6:30 pm. We ate at a restaurant in Old Town Auburn called Bootleggers.
9:00 pm- We were heading back to Pilot Hill in Rachel's Toyota Forerunner and a deer jumped in front of us. I happened to be driving, and I never even saw it in my peripheal vision. It jumped right in front of us and I didn't see it until it was in my right headlight. We hit it pretty hard and it made a loud crashing sound and slowed the SUV from 60 mph to about35 just like that. I was able to keep it on the road, but Roxanne and Rachel were pretty shook up. We were only less than 2 miles from the farm, and when we made the turn onto their road we knew we had front-end damage. As we pulled up to the gate the radiator blew.
Rachel called AAA, and they said they'd send a wrecker in the morning. (note: as of Friday 8/13, her vehicle is still in Auburn pending being totaled)

July 30, 2004- Friday (day before Tevis!)
8:30 am- We got rolling early so we could head up to Robie Park. I sure could not believe on the drive up that tomorrow we'd be covering all those longs miles through the mountains on horseback. The trip up there by vehicle seems sooo long!
We arrived at Robie Park at 11:00am. Even though the guys at the gate told us to go to the gravel overflow parking, we had just spoke to Ed and Kathi on the cell phone and they told us to come in behind the regisration area. Sure enough, we found a slot and got the best camp spot in the whole park! We were just behind all the vendors and only 150 feet from the vet check area! I immediately felt the altitude with some light-headeness.
Roxanne and I went shopping first (of course), and I got a 20 minute shoulder/back massage.
We got registered and went over for our vet check. There was no one in line! Imagine that on a ride that has 245 horses! We had to put our saddles on a tarp and go to the vet first. After we got all passing marks on our vet cards, we were allowed to go weigh in and get the numbers put on our horses. (they take this ride real serious...). George got all "A"'s and looked real good at vet-in. We had to declare on a paper that he had the anti-histamine tablets and granules a week prior to the ride.
That evening, they served us a big Italian meal, then had a rider meeting directly after. Roxanne got called up in front of about 800 people to sign her release form as they threatened that she'd not be able to ride tomorrow without it! Rachel and I worked out the final crewing details for the next day, and I finally got to bed about 9pm. Roxanne and I cannot believe we are here on the eve before Tevis. Is it finally almost here?

July 31, 2004- Saturday TEVIS DAY!
3:30 am- Wake up call. Roxanne and I got up to feed and eat our own breakfast. I made a list of things to do so I wouldn't get side-tracked.
4:30 am- Started to tack up, but we really didn't leave ourselves enough time. We wanted to start at the back of the "middle" group, and they had briefed us to be at the start line by 4:50 am. We finally got up there about 4:55. George and I were calm and relaxed. I thought the start line procedure was pretty cool. There were three groups of horses seperated by a no-horse gap. There were approximately 75-85 horses in our middle group. There were a few horses that got testy and impatient, and we couldn't warm up, but overall it was very smooth. The moon was up over Robie Park, and the absolute beauty of that sent an incredible feeling of peace and readiness for the task ahead into my being just then.
5:15 am- Exactly at 5:15, we heard a big cheer come from somewhere up ahead in the first group. We all started moving out at a brisk trot and everyone jockeyed for position. Roxanne and I stayed together for a mile or two, but Shar-Po was moving out faster than George so they moved on ahead. George and I settled into a strong 9 mph trot. He was pulling to go faster and shaking his head some, but overall he listened to my requests to hold that pace.
The trail was mostly downhill and fairly good footing for the first four or five miles. We caught up to Roxanne and Shar-Po when she held him back to get him settled. She put him in behind George since he was going so well.
The trail was heavily wooded the first 8-9 miles, then we came out into the Squaw Valley Ski area. It was breath-taking going up into those ski mountains. We just climbed and climbed. There was a water stop and trot-by vet check at High Camp with a gorgeous view of Lake Tahoe in the early morning sunrise. Roxanne had lost her electrolytes from her cantle bag, so I shared half of George's with her.
We continued climbing up to Watson's Monument, which is at 8700 feet. The air was chilly up there and there were lots of people and photographers cheering. It felt so good to be on top of the world that Roxanne and I were doing our share of hooting and hollering!
Just after cresting near Watson's Monument, we headed into the Granite Chief Wilderness Area. The terrain there was steep and full of boulder fields and mud bogs. The going was extremely slow although George was clipping along at a 4 mph walk. Shar-Po was giving Roxanne a fit because he wanted to move out and wasn't paying good attention to his footing. I was able to snap a few photos of the breath-taking views while moving down the trail.
It took us almost an hour to cover the three or so miles in there, but when we came out it was a decent two- track trail on the Lyon Ridge area. After traveling on this trail for a while, we heard cheering and hollering up ahead and realized we were at Cougar Rock. All the people standing at the top were cheering every time someone scaled the top. We decided to let Shar-Po go first as we figured he might rush up behind George. Shar-Po had other ideas though! He started up it, but got about 1/3 of the way up and whirled around and came back down. The look on Roxanne's face was sheer terror, and the look on Shar-Po's was; "you want me to go up that?" He seemed confused by so many of the horses going around the rock on the bottom. After his third attempt, we decided to send ole' George up. He bravely climbed up the near-vertical out-cropping of rock like an old mountain goat. He picked his way up amongst my cries of "get up George" and "yah"! In my photo, I may have a look of determination on my face, but I felt no fear and loved every second of it. I felt only jubilation of finally getting to climb the rock that used to make me scared to enter Tevis. When we reached the top, about a dozen people were there cheering and hollering and I remember hugging George's neck and yelling out "we did it"!
I waited on the top for what seemed like four of five minutes for Roxanne to get Shar-Po up. She had the privledge of having the famous runner Gordon Ainsleigh lead him part way up so so she could drive him the rest of the way over the top herself. We got Gordy's photo with Shar-Po and Roxanne.
Shortly after Cougar Rock, we reached the Red Star ridge vet check at 28 miles into the ride. There were lots of volunteers in there offering help. The pulse-down criteria there is 60, and George recovered in about 5-6 min, so we didn't spend alot of time in there.
After Red Star Ridge, it was about six miles of forest service road into Robinson Flat. Even though the road itself was not real exciting, the views from either side were spectacular. Endless rows of mountains and canyon walls loomed as far as the eye could see...
Entering the Robinson Flat vet check at 11:10 am was clearly one of the most thrilling moments of the ride for me. Hundreds (yes hundreds) of cheering by-standers heralded our entrance. Kathi and Ed were among them, and Kathi took George for me while we walked to our cooling area. They had my sprayer bottle and a couple of sponging buckets set up. George drank well and cooled down in a few minutes. The vet line was long and the pulse criteria was 60 again. Ed and Kathi let George eat in the vet line while Rachel took me back to our hold area to eat. Ed came to get me in 15 minutes when George was ready to go into the vet.
Rachel had cooked tortellini for me and she followed everything on my list to a "T". I changed shirts, took my potassium and Aleve and drank lots of Propel. I was very re-freshed when I left right on time at 12:26 pm.
After Robinson Flat, we rode along another six or seven miles of gravel forest service road. A man named Ron Lear caught up to me on his molly mule, and she and George paced well together all the way to Last Chance. They had water and hay for us at Dusty Corners, which was nine miles past Robinson. Then five miles later we had a gate and go vet check at Last Chance before heading into the hot canyons. Deep Canyon is the first of the three, and I had planned to get off and lead George down most of it. It is two miles to the river at the bottom, so I led about a mile and a half down to the river. I took him in the river to cool him for about five minutes or so and he drank well. As I came out to go onto the swinging bridge, there was a videographer to film our passing. George and I were the only ones on the bridge when we crossed. As we got about halfway across, it moved and George sort of spooked and froze in place for a second, but then he calmly went on across.
Then came the climb- and up and up and up. There were dozens of switchbacks, and those two miles felt like they'd never end. About 1/4 of the way up, Geoge started taking breathers on the switchbacks where he'd stop and blow for about 30 seconds. This went on all the way to the top. Several times we had to let other riders pass. At the top I caught a glimpse of the famed Devil's Thumb, which is a rock that juts out from the side of the canyon. There was a boy scout group manning that station and they gave us watermelon and found me a soda.
A mentally challenged boy held George while I sponged him and answered his questions a mile a minute <G>
I also saw Julie Suhr and her daughter Barb ride into there, and we exchanged greetings. Julie had remembered me from my e-mails, and had even called me by name at Robie park last night. That meant alot to me. We actually passed each other a few times in the next several miles, so I can say I rode some of the Tevis trail with Julie Suhr!
After Devil's Thumb, we had a vet check gate & Go at Deadwood before heading into El dorado Canyon. This section of canyon is longer, but the descent into and the climb out of is somewhat kinder on the horses. The scenery was absolutely breath-taking, and most of the trail on the way down was on narrow ledges with only inches to spare with a thousand foot drop-off. I really trusted George's footing by this time, which was a really good thing!
I rode this section with a nice man from Colorado named Matt Baker. He had a nice grey Arab who was walking down that canyon about 5 mph. It sure kept George on his toes trying to keep up! The climb out of El Dorado was not as steep, but longer, and George was growing weary of the climbs by the time we reached Michigan Bluff. We were right on schedule, running about 20 minutes prior to cut-off time.
We had a gate and go at Michigan Bluff, and some nice people helped me cool George as they could see we were both tiring somewhat. George took about ten minutes to reach 64, and was pretty lazy at the trot out. The vet made us trot again just to make him move out better. Of course he was fine, so I grabbed a flake of alfalfa and led him out of town while he ate. A lady caught up to me and we decided to ride to Foresthill together.
The trail was easy at first, but quickly went down into another shorter canyon for 3-4 miles. As we were coming out of Volcano canyon, George was starting to hit the proverbial "wall", and I had to encourage him to make the climb out on time. I believe at that point he was reaching an electrolyte imbalance since he only had the few ounces I had with me since Robinson Flat and our "snafu" in not packing enough for the canyons.
At Foresthill, we rode in at 8:10 pm, which was still 20 minutes before cut-off. Kathi and Jackie were waiting way down Bath Road to greet us. She radioed to Ed that we were coming, and he and Rachel were ready to help cool George. He recovered in about 6-7 minutes, and passed the vet exam in great shape. Although he looked a little tired, we knew he just needed a break and some electrolytes and hay.
It was then that I learned that Shar-Po was lame and Roxanne had pulled. I felt really bad for her- I know she wanted that buckle bad.
George ate and drank well at Foresthill, and got a double dose of electrolytes before leaving. Rachel took good care of me although my stomach felt quesy and I didn't want much to eat. I changed clothes and that helped too.
My out-time was 9:16 pm, and the full moon was just coming over the tree line. I could tell then it was going to be an enchanting ride on the California Street trail...
I left Foresthill with a group of four riders to the cheers and whistles of the local townsfolk. Not far down the trail, George and I took the lead with no glo sticks. The moon was up and full, so much of the trail was farily well lit. We set a nice trotting pace of about six mph, and George was confident and content to lead a line of about a dozen horses. All of them had glo sticks on...
Nothing could ever have been more enchanting to me than to ride along those canyon walls seeing George and my moonshadow being cast upon the sheer rock face only inches from my shoulder. We just trotted on and on like that. At times we would lose the moon on the "other" side of the canyon, and at times that got pretty scary.
The only thing that cast a "bad shadow" was my sour stomach. I felt dry and thirsty, but only had 24 oz of water and some Gatorade with me. The Gatorade didn't appeal to me at all. I finally took some Maalox tablets I had and that helped for about 45 minutes.
The trip into Francisco's vet check, (17 miles from Foresthill), felt like forever. We had plenty of time for the cut-off, but it was a solid four hour trip without seeing anyone from ride management. Several times into the last two hours into Franciscos', riders passed us and kicked up a heck of a dust.
Finally, about 1:10 am, we saw the lights from Francisco's. George was starving, so I just let him eat since we had arrived 30 min prior to the cut-off. I was feeling really sick to my stomach by this time, and I begged some nice ladies to find me a soda. They brought a lemon-lime soda and a peanut butter sandwich which I could only handle about three bites out of. The soda helped though. I vetted George out and he was fine. I left Francisco's about 1:45 am with 14 miles to go. I was feeling elated, but also still pretty sick. Fortunately, all my physical training paid off as my muscles felt pretty good and I wasn't tired. We picked up some riders right out of Francisco's and made good time down to the river crossing at 89 miles out. The river was beautiful bathed in moonlight, and there was someone camping with red Christmas lights strung up. It looked like a cabana bar or something. One man's horse freaked out in the river and almost bucked him off. George was a real trooper as the river was flowing rapidly and was up past my stirrups. I put my legs up on the pommel and begged George not to trip!
The river road was easy traveling all the way to lower quarry with 6 miles to go. Almost into lower quarry a man had come up on Julie Suhr having some trouble staying centered. The man had helped her and said he didn't need my assistance, so I rode on.
Lower Quarry was a crowded madhouse. There were about 35 horses in there. I was still pretty sick, so I got another soda while I let George eat and drink. He was ravenous by this time, so a lady offered to trot him out for me and she brought him more alfalfa.
I left lower quarry at 3:36 am, giving me an hour and 39 minutes to ride 6 miles. Since George knew the last five, I figured I had enough horse left to do it in an hour and fifteen or so.
At no-hands bridge, I picked up another man whose wife had just been pulled at lower quarry. He looked like a lost puppy, so I asked if he wanted to "trail" George in since we knew the way and I had a pace in mind to finish. This worked for both of us, so away we trotted into the wee hours of the morning.
As we were rounding the last bend in the trail about 200 yards from the finish, I heard Rachel do the "owl" call we had used in the woods over 24 years before in Florida. Was that ever music to my ears. I answered immediately, and heard her, Kathi, Ed and Jackie screaming and hollering. What a way to end my perfect Tevis journey. It was 4:54 am, nearly 24 hours since leaving Robie Park 100 miles behind us!
At McCann stadium, we took George to the vet, and he got an overall grade of "A". He truly looked great at the finish. I did my victory lap, and then we let George eat to his heart's content. Pete trailered him back up to Pilot Hill bout 6 am.

August 1, 2004- Sunday
6:15 am- Rachel and Roxanne took me to McDonald's to get something to eat. I was hungry, but still had no appetite for anything. I ate a little breakfast burrito just to satisfy them. <G>
When we got back to Pilot Hill, I showered and went right to bed. Too much noise though, and I only slept two hours. We packed a few things, then got ready for the awards and banquet at 1 pm.
1:00 pm- Banquet was great, and a few people did speeches. George and I finished 119th out of 245 starters. I received a voucher for my buckle which I mailed immediately out of Pilot Hill on our way back!
7:30 pm- After a comatose nap (Roxanne took a photo of me), we had a nice steak dinner at the house with Pete, Sharon, Rachel, Judy Roxanne and myself. It was a super way to end our Tevis week.

August 2, 2004- Monday
We finally got going and decided to head to the Crossroads Cafe for a last breakfast together. We all had a great time visiting. We loaded up the horses about 10:00 am and headed for Elko Nevada.
4:30 pm- We stopped early in Elko and stayed at Suzy Creek Arabians. It was a nice place nestled in the mountains. The horses had outside paddocks with a run-in shed. We ate dinner at a Chinese-American restuarant and got to bed by 9:30 pm.

August 3, 2004- Tuesday
Met Gerry in town for breakfast and got on the road about 8:30 am. Our plan is to get to Cheyenne if we can find somewhere to put the horses up.
3:00 pm (mountain time) We let the horses out at a truck stop in Rock Springs WY. Not much grass, but the horses drank well.
8:00 pm- Dropped Gerry off at a hotel in Cheyenne. We had contacted a couple in the AERC book who live outside of town a few miles. Their names are Stan Sandick and Sheree Barnes. They offered us a nice pasture for the horses. They also offered us to stay in their downstairs guest area, so we jumped at it! We sure got a good night's sleep with those goose down pillows!

August 4, 2004- Wednesday
7:00 am- Stan helped Roxanne remove some of Shar-Po's stiches. The wound was draining today. We picked Gerry up and had breakfast at the truck stop in cheyenne. On the road by 8:15 am. We should make his place in Iowa by tonight.
5:00 pm (central time)- Arrived at Gerry's place near Council Bluff's Iowa. We put up the hot pen in Gerry's front yard, They had great grass. They drank and ate really well there.
7:00pm- we had a nice meal that Gerry's wife fixed for us. Roat beef and chicken with her excelent potato salad. We all got to bed early.

August 5, 2004- Thursday
7:00 am- Ate a hearty breakfast that Gerry's wife fixed before we headed out for our last two long days of travel. Got on the road by 7:10 am central. Our goal is to reach below Nashville tonight which will be a 700 mile day.
7:00 pm- the truck started shifting hard and the tranny light was flashing on. We pulled into a gas station in Caadiz KY to camp for the night. We found a nice grass field and decided to just put the horses on the hi-ties. I spoke to a mechanic who came by to check out the transmission. He couldn't fins anything so we assumed it might be a computer problem. We'll just try to take it easy tomorrow.

August 6, 2004- Friday
6:30 am- got on the road early. At first the tranny light stayed off, but after 20 miles it came back on. We got off the interstate to talk to another mechanic. He was very nice and said it might just be trash in the valves since it was not hot or shifting hard anymore. He told us to get a can of Lucas transmission fix-it, and head down the road out of overdrive. That worked, although we drove at 60 mph all the way from KY until it flattened out around Valdosta. Then we were able to put it in overdrive and cruise 70 again.
9:30 pm- dropped George off to Ed in Lake City. That liked to break my heart! It was all I could do not to cry. Ed gave me a hug and said thanks for taking such good care of George. I said thanks for letting me ride him- he's a hell of a horse...
10:30pm- Dropped Roxanne off in Micanopy and hooked up my trailer after transferring everything. Got home about 1 am Saturday morning.

Epilogue
If you can dream it, you can do it- that is all I have to say. I don't care how big your dream is, all you have to do is work really hard and make it happen.
Jim Holland told me when we were riding at his place in Blue Ridge, GA this June, that there were some skeptical folks out there just waiting to see if Becky Siler could get to and finish Tevis. Well that didn't bother me at all. I could understand that people might think if "someone like she can do it, I can do it", and that actually inspired me. Don't ever under-estimate what you can do. I had some self-doubt at first because I don't have that much experience riding endurance. But...I do have 24 years of CTR under my belt, and in the end it was that disciplined 6 mph pace that got me through Tevis. And an amazingly tough horse named Gorgeous George, along with his incredibly unselfish owners Ed and Kathi Kilpatrick who loaned him to me.

So, if you want to get to Tevis, save lots of money, train yourself and your horse as hard as you feel necessary, and GET A BIGGER TRUCK!