G'day all,
Our journey through Utah ended when we travelled through the southern tip of Nevada, where we caught up with our friends and manager of Northern Territory cattle station - Idracowra; Tim and Marion Reilly.
Nevada
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| From Utah to Nevada |
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A glimpse of Las Vegas from a distance. Certainly not cattle country! |
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Catching up with Tim and Marion in Las Vegas.. |
Even though our visit in Las Vegas was brief we were still able to get our kicks en route 66.
California
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| Nevada to California |
The kids really had to twist my arm but I eventually gave in and stopped to say g'day to the place where memories begin!
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| DISNEYLAND!!! |
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Braxton and Lawson meeting with a very special friend. |
Disneyland's adventure finally came to an end so we waved goodbye to California and travelled deep into Arizona...
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| From California to Arizona |
Arizona
...but the excitement didn't finish there, after a run in with the wildlife!!
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| In Australia we watch for kangaroos crossing the road... |
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You have to watch where you gather firewood because you never know what's hanging around. |
Grand Canyon – How blessed we are, to be able to overlook one of the world's seven wonders.
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| Overlooking the Grand Canyon. |
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On the south rim of the Grand Canyon - note to all wheelchair users, the Grand Canyon is extensively accessible with a cement path right around the rim. |
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A quick stop for fuel where we caught up with a long haul cattle truck which is the equivalent to Australia's road train. |
New Mexico, Texas and Lousiana
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| From Arizona to Louisiana via New Mexico and Texas. |
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... and yet another state behind us. |
After our quick trip through New Mexico we caught up with fellow Australian scholar, Aaron Sanderson, who was headed north from Texas.
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| Catchup with Aaron. |
On our journey between Texas and Louisiana we drove up on a truck that caught fire on the freeway. Both Texas and Louisiana have currently been fighting bushfires over the last month due to the dry weather. Just when they thought they had seen the last of it, this happens. Luckily nobody was injured.
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| Truck on fire between Texas and Louisiana. |
Our final visit in the USA was at Campti, Louisiana. With Len and Kay Dalton from Dalton's cow dogs.
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| Meeting Len and Kay Dalton |
Len is running an extensive cow dog breeding and training operation, by crossbreeding a 1/8 pitbull with his Border Collie's. He has also just begun crossbreeding border Collie's with Kerr dogs.
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Six dog boxes on the back of lens Polaris (electric) means he'll never be caught short of dogs while out mustering. |
These dogs would be ideal for a large-scale cattle operation, they have the mentality and alertness of a Border Collie and the strength and aggressiveness of the pitbull. Their willingness to please and ability to work, speak for themselves. In my opinion Len and Kay have created and trained the ideal working dog. The Dalton's calm and quiet approach and extensive training have turned man's best friend into man's ideal work tool.
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Len has over 20 years of dog training and breeding experience up his sleeve and here he shares some tips with me after a day of training his numerous cow dogs. |
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Kay and Krystal giving the old chair a once over. |
Texas
And back again to where we started our journey - Dallas Texas!
A special thank you to my cousins Krystal Cook and Luke Cook for helping me with my travels in the USA.
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| And what better way to show my thanks, then a night out at a major-league baseball game. |
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Cheering the Texas Rangers on to victory over the Cleveland Indians. |
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Like always we were the last to leave. But what a night! |
As the sun sets over Dallas Texas so does my time in the USA. Now we have to look forward to a 16 hour flight back to Australia.
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| Sunset over Dallas |
Well, That concludes Stage 2 of my Nuffield travels, stay tuned for Stage 3.
Cheers Rob
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