Pilgrimage to Jasper

30 September 2006 - Had to see a man about a horse cart on a "ranch" located near Jasper, MO. I estimated the distance at about 300 miles each way. I told myself I was over the post-traumatic stress syndrome from the accident where a Palmentere Bros. semi slammed into the back end of my old red pickup truck Victor. I was determined to drive there and back in one day, but I took my dog with me, just in case and to ride shotgun. All in all it was a pleasant outing, green fields on either side, NPR on the radio, leaves starting to show fall color. There were
odd things on the road, like the "Mule Trading Post" selling life-size replica draft horses. A little further down the road someone had a lifelike but fake Appaloosa tied to their front porch. Yeah, I could see something like that in my front yard but it would be a kid magnet, better not.

I was looking for cheap gas. Gasoline in Belleville IL was going for $2.16 (down from the summer high of $3.09) but gas in St Louis was mostly $1.97. I didn't find anything cheaper as I headed towards Joplin, in fact prices spiked up around the turnoff to Branson. I settled for $1.99 and filled up the tank west of Springfield. As I was pulling back on the interstate, it was one of the Situations of my PTSS nightmares, the one where I'm trying to merge in traffic with a big truck overtaking behind. I dithered, said I'm over this, stomped hard on the accelerator and merged okay. Looked in the rearview mirror and almost had a heart attack. Being dsylexic meant I could read the "Palmentere Bros." logo on the truck behind me. Looked up in front--there was another one. I was in a Palmentere Bros convey. The driver behind me dropped back rather than tailgate. Maybe my suing them has had this good effect; or maybe the driver who tailgated me, hit me twice and then stalked me with crank telephone calls was an aberration.

I got to Jasper, loved the look of the cart and took home one fully assembled, well bungied down in the bed of the truck. I can recommend dealing with Brad and Lynda of Frontier Equestrian. They also have draft horse saddles and bridles as well as harness and tack for minis. I will say that driving home was more nerve-wracking and not just because I was tired. People had to pull right up behind me or alongside, I guess they were trying to figure out what that strange object was. Sad that lots of people have never seen a horse cart.