We're with Ron ... won't you join us?

Casey's First Tattoo ....

So I totally did it and got my first tattoo. The tat is inspired by Miss Lindsey from church. Expect her tat is in Arabic and quotes John 3:16. Mine is in Greek (the original language of the New Testament) and reads "I believe in God." Followed "Acts: 16:31" which is Believe in the Lord and you and your household shall be saved.

PS - Courtney was with me :) She also got a tattoo.

My first Tat

Friday a very special friend and I are going to get tattoos. While she has a few already, this will be my first. The tat will go on my left arm, on the underside between the wrist and elbow. Above is a concept pic to give you an idea as to what it will look like. The words are Greek and they translate into "I Believe in God." Followed by ACTS: 16:31 which reads, "Believe in the Lord and you will be saved."

Coming Around The Mountain ... Or Down It!

Last weekend, I went on a 3-day pack trip in Riggins, ID. The plan was to ride the 7 Devils Loop with Mom and her co-worker, Bob. Along with our saddled animals, we packed our gear on two mules.

The trip started out the way all my trips do ... with me running late. Gator was absolutely impossible to catch. When he pulls the hard to catch game, I always have to wonder if it is a sign to not go. Turns out, it just might have been.

I met up with Bob at his home in Nu Acres and we drove to Weiser to pick up Mom and Jericho. The drive was several hours to Riggins and it was uneventful. Just outside of Riggins, there is a turn that takes you to Windy Saddle which boasts a fantastic view of the 7 Devils and is also the staging area for hunters, backpackers, and horsemen. The trip UP is about an hour long or 18 miles. Once on top, the sun had set and we found it a bit difficult to find a parking place. Turns out a lot of bow hunters were out and about. In all, there were about 30 rigs on top of the mountain. That night, Mom and I slept in the neck of Bob's trailer. Bob slept on the picnic table. That sounds weird ... but he had a fabulous view of the stars and it was a relatively warm evening.

The next day we prepared to head out. Once on horseback, we road about 1/4 mile to a spring fed water trough that was a bear to get too. In fact, it was probably on of the scarier parts of the trip!

Once we watered the horse and came back up the trail, we stopped and repacked one of the mules because something wasn't sitting right. Then, we headed to the trail loop. Along the way, we came upon a Forest Service building and there were several mules and horses there. One mule in particular caught my eye. He appears to be bred out of a Belgium mare. He was very stout and had draft bones. I tried to convince Bob and Mom to bring him along ... but Mom just said "no" and muttered something about a federal offense.

Moving on, the ride officially began and the scenery was to die for. There was a lot of fire damage from an 06 fire, but there was an equal amount of baby trees sprouting up. For the Most part, the loop consisted of a trail that has been cut into the mountain. The trail averages 2 feet wide and is not for the faint of heart.

For the most part, I hung back from Mom and Bob so I could sing at the top of my lungs and talk to myself all I wanted :) Behind me was July, one of the mules. She was pretty sweet expect for the brief moment that she decided to lay down and roll in a pile of dirt along the trail. Luckily, I caught on before she managed to push onto her side and got her up. Bob's remark was, "Well that would have done the eggs in." LOL.

By this point, we had been on horseback for 7 hours. By my count, it was only 3 ... but I'm hardcore like that. Then the entire trip went to crap. We were almost to Horse Heaven, which was where we were to set up camp. All we had to do was go up this pass that was 1/4 mile of solid rock slide. I didn't think much of it as we entered the pass. In fact, I was taking pictures - LOL.

But Mom wasn't too sure. She felt like the animals were too tired to make the trip up the hill in the rocks. Her comment was, "If a horse goes off the side of this, we will have to put a bullet in him." We would later learn that our Pastor from Weiser lost a horse in this very spot. It took them 2 days to get his horse out. Finally, Mom suggested we turn around and go back to a dry camp we had spotted a few minutes prior to the rocks. Now this idea I did NOT like. Not only did I have to turn my horse around on death's door, but I also had a mule behind me that I would have to turn around. And quite frankly, I wasn't willing to leave the side of my horse to turn the mule around. After all, my horse was not about to go sliding down that mountain!

I managed to get off my horse (which was far more challenging then it sounds) and I was contemplating how on Earth I was going to get my crew turned around when I heard Mom yell, "NO!" I turned just it time to see Jericho headed down the slide. He was on his feet, but I could tell he was going against his will. Then, from the other side of Jericho, I saw Mom rolling down the rocks.

Both stopped about the same time. Mom was about 30 feet from the trail and Jericho about 15 ft. Bob was hollering at Mom. I figured nothing was broken because she wasn't screaming. So the other two options were 1) she was OK or 2) she was dead. Either way, she wasn't going anywhere, but that horse just might. So I called Jericho and he turned parallel to the trail. But that was it, he wasn't moving and wisely so. I crawled down to him and got a hold of his rope. Then, I started pulling him up the hill. He fell down on his side (dang near on me) just as we reached the top. Then, I got back on the trail and pulled until he crawled back onto the trail.

In the meantime, Mom started crawling back to the trail. When she got to it, I pulled her onto the trail with a lead rope I took from one of the mule's halters. We got all the animals turned around and headed back to dry camp where we set up in the dusk.

Camp was neat. It was the first time I had ever done something like that - packed all my stuff in and set up home. Mom cooked dinner and breakfast. The view was the best and if I had my way ... I would have never left.

Needless to say, Mom was pretty beat up the next day. She smacked her head on a rock and dang near broke her nose. Her body was covered in bruises and she was stiff. We opted to ride back to the truck and trailer (which took all day) and cut our trip a bit short. I was disappointed, but you have to go with the flow.

The ride back to the truck and trailer was easy going. We stopped and talked to several people along the way and the weather was gorgeous.

Surprisingly, this story does not end at the trailer. And I could go on to tell you all about how we smoked the brakes all the way back to Riggins, I nearly hit a coyote with Mom's truck outside of Nu Acres, and I had to stop at the in-laws in the middle of the night and ask Ted to siphon fuel from his truck into mine because I was out of gas. I could even tell you about getting pulled over in Wilder because apparently the wiring on my trailer has gone to crap and I no longer have lights of any sort. And let's not even get started on how many horses I had to chase around Jake and Telori's when I was trying to get my rig into the pasture and drop Gator off. And, of course, the highlight of the evening when Gator decided he was tired of my chasing loose horses and tried to exit the trailer via his window. Nope ... I won't go into that. At least not today :)

At the end of the day, I am reminded of a trip I took with Kathy to Keithley Creek. That too was a challenging journey and in the middle of the chaos, Kathy turned to me and said, "We pay to do this sh@t!" And we do ... but somehow it's worth it.

Cheers to the American Ride :)

If Laughter Equals Happiness ...

She has nothing to worry about

New e-mail addresses

The time has finally come! I am cutting the umbilical cord with Earthlink which means letting go of my e-mail address that I have had for more than 8 years. I'm not one for change, but I need an Internet connection that functions more than 25% of the time.

My new address effective immediately is casey@caseyclarkney.com

James also has a new address, james@ncexcavation.com

Maurice W. Ford 1916-2009

Maurice William Ford, 93, of Union and formerly of Payette, Idaho, died March 13 at his home. A celebration of life service will be held at a later date. Loveland Funeral Chapel and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

Maurice, also known as Morris or M.W., was born Jan. 22, 1916, to William Bucy and Della (Cartwright) Ford in Washington Court House, Ohio. He was the second oldest of six boys. He graduated from Madison Mills High School in 1935.

Being an adventurer, he left Ohio, first traveling east. Upon meeting a new friend from Idaho, he headed west to Idaho in 1936. He worked various farm and ranch jobs. Those who knew him say he was a very hard worker, and capable of handling large teams of horses and any and all farming equipment.

In 1937, he began working in the Grande Ronde Valley from Island City to Elgin and up into the Enterprise area. He returned in the fall to southern Idaho working there and traveling.

In 1941, he married Frieda York in American Falls, Idaho. The two of them bought and ran various ranches in the Rockland Valley, Salmon area and at Parma and Weiser, Idaho. At each ranch they would work together to clear and level the land, provide new or improved irrigation and plant new crops. In 1970 they moved to Payette, where he started a land leveling business, Ford Soil Movers.

He enjoyed fixing up his cabin site, writing his memoirs and having them published in “Adventures of An Idaho Cowboy.” He enjoyed his grandchildren, working with his horses and mules, fishing, hunting and just scouting about. He was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed visiting and was involved at Prison Ministry at Snake River Corrections in Ontario. He was a longtime member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 2002, he and his wife moved to Union.

Maurice is survived by his wife, Frieda of Union; twin brother, Charles R. and his wife, Betty Ford, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio; son, William “Bill” and his wife, Marilyn Ford, of Payette; daughters, Karen and her husband, Jesse Westbrook, and Gayla and her husband, Steve Skeen, of Union; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and other nieces, nephews and relatives.

He was preceded in death by his brothers, Howard, Bob, Dave and Kenneth Ford, all of Ohio.

Memorial contributions may be made to Grande Ronde Home Health Hospice in care of Loveland Funeral Chapel, 1508 Fourth St., La Grande 97850.