Lewis and Clark end of trail

We are in Washington State. 

We just passed the end of trail and are heading East along the Columbia Gorge. Beautiful! 

Whew

Jon has gotten a break from driving and we have been as far West as you can possibly go, without going to Alaska.  The Jetty in Florence, Oregon. Now we are making the turn today to visit a farm in Washington State and head back east.  More pics to come later today.

Sitting on the Beach at the Dunes National Park, Oregon

Enjoying 75 degrees, blue sky and surf 

Siuslaw River - Oregon

Today Jon's sister, her husband, David and I started our Kayak at Bender Landing on the North Fork of the Siuslaw River looking at some cattle in the shade along the river.  We then saw:  Racing ducks, blue herons, an eagle, a deer swim across a narrow part in the river, and several seal playing and eating. We went from the North Fork Siuslaw to the mainstream of the Siuslaw and watched lots of folks digging for clams.  Looked like hard work to me!   As we made our way to Florence,on the Siuslaw River,  to look at the boats docked, we saw another seal waiting to be fed from the fishermen.  Such a perfect day to be on the water.  The tide and weather made for a wonderful 4 mile trip. So peaceful and just out observing nature.

Oregon Coastal Trail

We have hiked on one of the strenuous pacific trails. This was the view from the St. Perpetua Trail.  We had many more beautiful views.  Hiking along the pacific presents a different view around each turn.

Today we will take a kayak in the  River and end up in the below location in Florence. It is a perfect day for it.  77 degrees and sunny skies!

Made it to the West Coast

We've reached the Pacific Ocean and I (Sylvia) have already been in the ocean. I went to dip my toes in and ended up with water up to my waist - unintentionally.  The surf in Florence Oregon is a bit more than what I experience in Little Gasparilla Florida.  I still loved it - soaked pants and all.  I can't wait to swim in the Pacific tomorrow.  We are going to be visiting Jon's Sister and her husband for the next few days.  We will be kayaking, hiking and living in a bigger space for a while besides the camper.  After the drive here, Jon "rested his eyes" a bit and now we are settling in to an awesome seafood feast, one of my favorite things about visiting this coast. Crab and Smoked Salmon are two of our favorites.  The next farm we will visit is in Washington State.  We'll  post a few fun pics till then, taking a little driving break.  A thought - 'So at this point starting last October, we have been coast to coast :)'

Sweet Home Oregon

Jon talks Belties with Michael Polen and Carla Green in Sweet Home Oregon. 

Sweet Home Farms newest addition.

We enjoyed getting out and taking a walk up to the Field of Daises.  We have met so many nice folks on our journey west.

The Oregon Trail

Which Ride do you prefer on the Oregon trail? 

Idaho

While in Idaho, we had the opportunity to see a wonderful herd of Belties at the Circle W ranch, with an awesome view of the mountains in the background. It was a beautiful day for the visit. We really enjoyed the time we spent visiting.

Location differences

You know you're out west when there are cattle bars on the entrance ramps to expressways. 

Out of touch

We have been in Yellowstone and with no phone or Internet. We have seen Bison, Bighorn Sheep, lots of hot springs, Old Faithful,  and wide open spaces as well as the snow peaks. It has been awesome. Now on to Idaho through a tick of Montana.   Can you say what road we're on?

Jon's favorite spot

This is where we put in for the kayaks today and couldn't resist getting Jon's picture here. 

Jon and I enjoying a day of kayaking from Cattlemans Bridge site on Oxbow at Tetons

Big Piney, WY

We are visiting Gary Rees and what a view for the Belties here. 

Helicopter taking off. A good sign

We watched it take off. Only @ 200 yards away. 

Stopped on 90 stat flight

Looks like we will be here a while. Hope the parties involved recover

Nebraska

While visiting a the Freisen's Farm in Nebraska today, the cattle just posed on their own for a picture, without any grain encouragement.  If any of you have ever wanted to live off the grid.  Here is family that is actually doing it.  We were impressed with their farming operation providing meats, vegetables, fruits, and eggs to the local community.

Cabelas campground. YEAH.

Sylvia is in heaven now!  Nice campground and shopping tomorrow!  

Where in America are Jon and Sylvia

We are on the border of NE and CO and not far from WY. What is the interstate intersection?

Lunch at Mt. Aye IA

After our morning hike and visit to the Honey Creek State Resort park and swim park, We found some shade and a nice spot to eat. No Fast Food on highway 2 to Nebraska. Suits us just fine! ;) 

Beautiful Belted Galloway in Iowa

The above photo is from near Iowa City.  The Belties are enjoying a snack. We enjoyed the Iowa farm scenery and visiting with the Wagner family.  Our next stop was at Greg and Pat Hipples. Everyone is trying to catch up on making Hay due to the wet weather they have had in Iowa.

As you can see, we had a beautiful day for farm visits. Thanks to the Hipples also,  for the great job they did in putting together the Belties Unlimited show.
Tomorrow we head to Nebraska to visit another Beltie farm on Tuesday. Any suggestions on sites to see on Monday in Iowa or Eastern Nebraska?

Bussey IA

Well we have made it to the mural in Bussey. The story behind the mural is what's pretty amazing. 

Iowa farm visits

We are here with the Wagners in Iowa. Enjoying awesome scenery. You should see the handling facility/barn they have. I think Jon is now wanting to make some new plans for our Henry county farm. 

Belties Unlimited Show in Iowa

Illinois River Peoria

Illinois

In Indiana. On the way to Iowa for the Belties Unlimited show.

Travels and such before the blog

 The above is from the Pike Valley Farm in Kentucky, which was the first farm we visited on our tour.  It was amazing to me the size heard that they had on their family run farm. We had said that we would like to come back to visit them at the end of Jon's two year Presidency of the Belted Galloway Association just to see it again, as our starting and ending point on the tour. Though, I don't think we'll ever want to stop touring farms :)

 I really enjoy taking pictures of all animals, not just the Belties.  This picture is from Sha-Ron Farm in Indiana.  These two were comfy and cozy for February 2012

 Jon and I have enjoy looking at old Barns.  This one is from Hunts End Farm in Ohio.  A beautiful example of preservation.

 A picture from one of the homes we visited during our West Virginia Trip.  I particularly love this because of the history involved in this Bread Basket area of Virginia, this being the first homestead.  Traveling the farms during the touring has provided more history than visiting the normal county's tourist locations and we have seen and hiked some of the most beautiful parts of our country.

 I really enjoyed how these fine feathered friends know who feeds them.  This was on The Charm Farm in West Virginia.  Pam can hardly walk around without them following her to peck on her boots.

In August of 2012, Jon was awarded our State of Kentucky's Master Conservationist award.  He was so honored to receive the award.

Welcome

Welcome to our Belted Galloway farm travels.

Our goal is to cover 48 states in two years visiting Belted Galloway Farms across the country.  So far we have visited 24 farms.  Over the next couple of weeks, we will post some of our favorite pictures from the first 24 farms.  Then in mid June of 2013, we are "on the road again" to cover eight to nine more states.  http://www.beltie.org/newsletter/newsletter.html is the Belted Galloway Newsletter site where you can find information about the breed as well as more extensive articles from our travels.

We began our Belted Galloway farm with a Father's Day present of three heifer to my husband and have expanded our herd and now are in the beef business - Sherwoodacresbeef.com.

We travel in a Lance truck camper, with the goal of being able to easily get to many areas, plus to be self sufficient in our vehicle.

We love to hike and kayak also, and this is our more personal account of our travels, including the many places we will hike and kayak.   We try to stay at National and State parks whenever possible.  We enjoy conservation sites and stop frequently to visit preserves due to our interest in conservation and seeing the practices in place.

All trips begin from home, so I'm going to share one of my personal favorite Belted Galloway pictures from our home as our starting point.