Family just has a way of making the heart happy!

Back towards the Midwest for some rodeos and I was sure to make a pit stop at home! It was my first time back in Iowa in almost seven months! When I walked through the front door of my home my folks and my brother were so happy to see me as I was them too! I never thought my mom was going to let go of me while hugging me! After getting settled in for the night we planned out day as mom and I took off the next morning bright and early for McBain, Michigan! As we headed out early the next morning we made the trip up north where we would get to do some sight seeing on our way! We made a pit stop in Traverse City, Michigan. It was my first time getting to see Lake Michigan and it was beautiful! Mother and I stopped at several of the small shops in the little tourist town and enjoyed our time together! 

Once we left Traverse City we made our way to McBain where they hosted Cow Camp! We were welcomed by the entire Hughston family who put on the rodeo. It was such a cool place to have a rodeo! It was a dirt road that lead us to the arena that was located in the middle of a cattle pasture down some back roads! I was up bright and early the next morning for a TV interview right there at the arena! Mom slept of course and got all caught up! It was pretty cold there in Michigan, you would think that I’m used to the cold being from Iowa and all but believe it or not I am not at all used to it! As a matter of fact they all gave me a hard time for wearing my heavy coat and being from Iowa! The first night of the rodeo was amazing! Star Hughston put me on a great horse and I was able to do a quick fly by as they announced me. After that I was able to switch horses and help push back cattle in the arena! The second night was just the same! I rode several great horses and was able to be a big part of the rodeo with some very nice people! Before the rodeo that day they had an open roping event! I loved that and so did my mother! We sat and watched the roping for a good part of the day! 

Since it was a three day weekend we had another rodeo to go to! We packed up and left out early Sunday morning and made our way to Lynwood, Illinois. Mike Latting was the stock contractor there and he welcomed us with open arms and made sure that mother and I were both taken care of! We had a blast, I was able to carry the American flag on one of the most amazingly colored horses that I had ever seen. That’s right I rode an appaloosa and not to mention he was blind!! I used to own my appaloosa who happened to be blind as well so I was not nervous about the ride! Once I was done riding that horse and carrying the flag they had me switch to another horse that  I was able to help push cattle back in the arena. Both horses were awesome to ride and I had a ton of fun on them! Mother sat in the stands and took lots of pictures. Which was amazing by the way because I don’t usually have anyone to do that!

Once the rodeo was over we were not far from home and decided to head back so that I would be able to spend some more time with my family before I had to head back down the road and leave out for my next big adventure!

I had never been so happy in my life to see my family and to be able to spend some time with the animals at home! Of course while I was home I had to unload black betty and reload her for the next big trip on the road! Now that was a chore! You will see why on the next blog! Stay tuned to hear about the next big trip! As I sign off this time remember to hug your loved ones and to always spend time with them when you can. When you can’t or don’t always get to see them it makes it hard and makes the time with them very worthwhile! See you all soon and may God bless you all!