July 7, treatment 2010
I just received an envelope from Dirk and am happy to report that it is intact and includes the picture disk. I will put those pictures up shortly.
Dirk writes:
My travels through Saskatchewan have been interesting. There really is little to no bush. I have met a lot of wonderful people and it has been informative to chat with people who have spent most of their lives around horses and to hear of their experiences. I’ve met old cowboys who performed chiropractic on my horse and others who use natural cures to help animals with various ailments.
Chevy had a little sore, nurse a bump where her saddle sits and this was helped very much by a lady who mixed up some medicinal “mud” that she applied to the sore area. After this, I gave the horse a few days of solid rest just to make sure she was in tip-top shape.
There isn’t so much wild food to be had, but so many people have generously given me stuff from their kitchens and gardens. Also the delicious Saskatoon berry is ripe and ready to eat. I had never had that berry before, but I love the taste of it.
Another remedy I’ve learned on the trail: For swelling (horse or person), mix one litre of apple cider vinegar and add 1 Tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Soak a small towel in the mixture and apply to the affected area. Very easy and it helps a lot.

Finally, viagra buy Dirk has made it more than half way through Alberta. There are new pics from Etzikom, sickness Alberta, story near Stirling, near Lethbridge, Alberta, in the gallery. Watch out for them. Though it looks fair, it is still raining a lot up there and the pics do not mirror the painful storms he had to get through. But it looks like it is getting better. Soon, there will be news from his diary, so keep visiting this site!

June 23, 2010.
Although the boys have met so many lovely, kind and generous people along the way, there’s always a bad apple that spoils the bushel…I received this latest letter in an envelope
that had been ripped open. Seems someone at Canada Post helped themselves to the mini disk inside. So there are no new pictures to share. 🙁 Such a petty theft, but also very
personal. The thief has probably callously erased all the pictures by now, never stopping to think that they may have been important to someone.
Ah well…Dirk sends his horse-scented diary entries to me…
After a long ride, we are getting past Wawa. We looked after the horses and lit a very small fire. It’s a bit risky because there is a fire ban. We also had to put up our tarp as there was a bit of rain. The bugs are still yummy. We took off early in the morning to enter the Pukaskwa National Park http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pukaskwa/index.aspx
We had counted on taking 3 days to get through the park but it was a hungry 3 days as we only had a few cooked beans to eat. We caught a couple of fish which was a welcome
treat. I have to say that northern Ontario is at least 3 weeks behind with the nature, nothing is really growing yet. We are all (horses and riders) very tired, so I am having to force myself to write something. If I leave it for a few days then it is hard to remember everything. We continue the trip to Marathon then Terrace Bay, Nipigon, Loon and Thunder Bay.
I have to say the nights are damn cold. For two days in a row we ate stinging nettles. When they are boiled in water, the sting goes away.
Near Kenora now. Thank God we are almost out of Ontario. The next day we made it to Granite Lake, our last stop in Ontario. Paul and I agree that Ontario is a beautiful province but we would not recommend to travel through it the way we have. It is indescribably difficult for both men and horse. We are looking forward to hitting Manitoba. We don’t care so much about the cold nights anymore, we are just glad to have put one province behind us. Happily we caught a few speckled trout and had a feast…with beans of course!
Next day, we are up very early in order to put a lot of miles in. We are facing a long ride through a wooded area and have been warned about the deerflies. We were anxious to
see farmland again. We made it past Prawda and Dawson Trail. It started to rain, but we kept going until late in the evening with horseflies and deerflies following us all the way. All of us were wet, tired and that night we riders fell asleep hungry under our tarp. The horses though, ate like maniacs! We took of early the next morning to make it to La Broquerie then west past Steinbach. That week we had so much rain…especially at night along with thunder and lightening. It was a wet disaster!
Just before St. Claude, we were on a dirt road when a man stopped us to chat. He was quite amazed at what we are doing. He looked a little like a biker, but he was in fact the Mayor of St. Claude. He told us about a rodeo in town, so of course we had to go. Lots of horses and cowboys…go figure! Our horses were quite excited by all of the activity.
As it happened, we needed a ferrier and this was the perfect place to find one. We were put in contact with a Mennonite man, Abe Friesen who does ferrier work. We put up our camp on his farm and the horses in a fenced in area. Due to it being the weekend we couldn’t get the exact type of shoes that we wanted, but Roo really needed shoes so Abe put them on for us. Chevy was good for another week. We’ll find another ferrier along the way. Thanks so much to Abe Friesen and his wife for their hospitality and support.
We keep going on through Holland, Wawanesa past Souris and straight west towards Saskatchewan.
It’ll probably not be possible to live off the land 100% in the Prairie Provinces so we’ll be counting on the friendly people that we meet along the way for some help in the food department. So far, people have been unbelievable! Just letting the horses graze on their farms or behind their homes has been a great help. People stop us on the side of the road to ask if we need anything. We had one woman stop us in the middle of the road to see if we would like sandwiches. She was ready to run home and make them for us. We thanked her, but said no as we had to make time. We have been offered fresh eggs which we gladly took and hard-boiled. There are not so much green plants around here to forage. Probably like this until Alberta.
So far we have not slept in a bed or been into a store for groceries. We may have to hit up a store for dried beans soon as we are running low. We’ve been through 5 kilos of beans so far. I can’t wait to finish up and have a home cooked meal from my Elli! We still have a few miles ahead, but I dream of it.
The next story will be of travels through Saskatchewan.
So long for now.
I see that Dirk is near Weyburn, Saskatchewan…click here for map link

Sorry for keeping you waiting. Our friend Jane, hospital who usually puts on posts and pictures is very busy at the moment. So, sildenafil I am writing as Dirk has called me yesterday to give some news. A lot has happend: Paul had to return to Toronto for family matters, he has to support them. So Dirk has been riding alone and actually made it more than half through Saskatchawan. Yesterday he was west of Weyburn, on his way to the border of Alberta. In Manitoba he met very friendly people, also some people from Germany who immigrated to Canada 50 years ago. Now he is staying at a farm and is waiting for Chevy to recover. Due to the permanent rain, that was really pouring down for days, Chevy had a hump on her back. Dirk met a wise lady who mixed some herbal mud – that really helped! Of course, she didn´t tell him the recipe. He is always meeting people, offering food, but mostly denies it, because it is meat. Yesterday the sun was shining and everything is drying pretty well. But the moskitos are even worse now. Chevy enjoyed the abundance of food and is recovering quickly, the hump was nearly gone. Dirk thinks he will make the rest of the trip in about 5-6 weeks. He has met a reporter from Weyburn who will write something about his trip. As soon as I know it, I will put the link on. Dirk has also sent some photographs to Jane who will put them on as soon as possible. I have put on 2 pics. That´s all for today, stay tuned, Elli

Dear Dirk, viagra buy

have a good trip and enjoy it. Elli has just told us about the adventures you already had. We hope that the bugs don´t eat you and we will meet you again in sound condition 😉 All the best to you and have fun – and a 1000 hours of sun!

Hang on and take care, greets and all the best!

Viele liebe Grüße & all the best !

Sandra, Ingo & Jasper

Hi:
just so you know, sickness we are following your progress from Toronto and sending you lots of good vibes to help you on the way to Vancouver.
Radika & Robbie

Hope you had a good time at the rodeo in St.Claude. Did you find a farrier? Sorry I missed you when you were in town I would have liked to talk to you about your trip. Good luck on the rest of your journey.

The Mayor of St.Claude

Dirk and Paul stayed at our farm this weekend and we had a wonderful time with them learning about their adventure.  They are very brave to attempt such a trip on horseback.  My husband is a farrier and he put shoes on Paul’s horse.  Our farm is located about an hour west of Winnipeg.  It was very interesting to learn about Dirk and Paul and how this has been a dream for Dirk for many years.  They left here Monday morning a beautiful sunny day to ride and were hoping to get to Holland Manitoba for the evening.  I will send a few pictures I took as they left our yard.  I enjoyed seeing the website and learning more about them and their trip.  Kris & Abe.

Dirk writes:
As you know we have been eating a lot of fish and beans. We also have dandelions and fiddleheads on our menu, The thing with fiddleheads is that if you overcook them, they get rubbery and the water gets dark, perhaps due to the iron content.
We have been able to find cattails and although it is said that they are completely edible, we have been sticking to the roots.
We have been able to find Indian Cucumber roots which is edible raw and actually does taste like cucumber. You’ll find a picture of the cattails in the second batch of pictures but mostly we forget to take pictures of food or it is too dark when we eat. We are doing well and so are the horses. After 2.5 weeks (when this diary entry was written…as of today, June 2, it’s been 1 month!) we are in top form. Dirk and Paul

Way to go guys – you are really making fantastic headway. Hope you are enjoying the bugs (I take it you broke the ‘we don’t need bugspray’ rule fairly early on), they are quite bad here in Southern Ontario at the moment so I can only imagine what they are like up north (bigger than vultures)!!! We wanted to let you know that we are following your progress and hoping the weather and the locals treat you kindly (here’s hoping they are sharing the odd bottle of beer with you too). Emma wants to send Paul a big kiss and a hug (don’t worry ladies she’s only 3).

Have fun in Manitoba, and good luck

Nick, Chris, Ben and Emma