Nate The Travel Writer

We rang in the New Year with Jill, Molly, Abby, Jane, and Nate Baerman, from Michigan.  Nate wrote a school report about their trip and shared it with us.  We loved reading about their trip through his 8 year old eyes and wanted to share it with you too.  They are an amazing family with a great sense of humor and we really enjoyed our time with them!   On New Year’s Eve they kidnapped the dogs, snuck into the kitchen, and left a ransom note on the refrigerator demanding Ice Cream for dogs safe return! They were such a hoot! At the beginning of the week Tye put horse manure on the back of Jane’s (11yrs) saddle and she schemed for the rest of the week about how she was going to get him back.  We ended our time with them on Saturday morning by laughing until we cried when Jane secretly tainted Tye’s coffee with pickle juice and Tabasco sauce.  She definitely won the war!  I hope they don’t wait too long before they return, otherwise Tye will have too much time to think about his payback!  Enjoy Nate’s report!

Our Baerman Family Trip to

Burnt Well Ranch

Roswell, New Mexico

December 27, 2014 – January 3, 2015

Saturday, December 27th

We left our house at 5:30 in the morning to catch our flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had to change planes in Chicago. We arrived in Albuquerque early afternoon. We searched around Albuquerque, and found a small restaurant called LOTTA Burger. We all ordered the same thing- the LOTTA burger. It was really good! When we were finished eating, we all got in our car and drove to the Hotel Albuquerque. We went to our room, unpacked, and then took a nap. After the long nap,we went on to a ghost tour of Albuquerque. Right before we went on the ghost tour, we got some frozen yogurt. I got a bunch of flavors. My sisters got some other kind of flavors that I don’t know. After we ate our cold frozen yogurt,we got on the ghost tour of Albuquerque. We left early because it was SUPER,SUPER SCARY! We rushed back to the hotel and got a snack from a restaurant. We ordered Fajitas and warm ice cream with fudge. After that,we went to bed.

Sunday, December 28th

We woke up, got dressed and went to the same hotel restaurant but instead, we got breakfast. I got some plain pancakes. So did Molly. Jane got French toast, Abby got eggs and toast,and my mom got oatmeal. We also got strawberries to split. We got back to our room, packed up, and booked out and hit the road to get to Burnt Well Ranch.

The drive is about four hours. The landscape has mountains and deserts. It looks much different than Michigan. We took Highway 25 South to 380 East. We saw a lot of interesting things on the way along 380.  We passed through Billy the Kid Country (he was a cowboy outlaw), historic Lincoln County,the Smokey Bear museum which had his grave in a garden behind the museum. We also passed through the Valley of Fire which was formed by ancient black lava rock. We also stopped in downtown Roswell,NM which has the International Alien Museum which documents an alleged UFO crash just outside of Roswell in the mid-1900’s.

We arrived at Burnt Well Guest Ranch,owned and operated by Kim and Patricia Chesser, at about 7:00 p.m. Another guest was also at the ranch,Ms. Eileen Nelson.  She is a high school English teacher from Virginia. We sat down for a delicious home cooked meal and then went to bed.

Monday, December 29th

On Monday, we ate breakfast at our bunkhouse and then went on a long horseback ride on the ranch, which is 5 square miles. My horse was named Bruiser. Abby’s horse was named Dock. Jane’s horse was named Chester. Molly’s horse! name was Concho. My mom’s horse’s name was Raoul. And Mr. Kim’s horse was named Mr. Darcy. Mr. Tye’s horse was Poncho. We spent time on the horses in the morning touring the ranch. We had a delicious lunch served at the Chesser’s kitchen table.  Mr. Kim’s wife, Miss Patricia, cooked for us each lunch and dinner. After lunch, we went back out on the horses.

Tuesday, December 30th

On Tuesday,the weather was really,really cold, so we fed the cattle. In addition to grazing on the land, Mr. Kirr feeds the cows large alfalfa pellets to make sure they get the proper nutrients they need during the cold winter months. Each cow gets 6 pounds of pellets. First, they have a large hopper on their property that they pull their truck under. The hopper puts the pellets in the back of the pick-up truck. We then drove out to the pasture and honked the horn. The cows know this means feed time, so they come running to the truck. We then count how many cows are there and the pickup truck has a mechanism to drop pellets in six pound chunks. So if 20 cows are present,then Mr. Kim would push the lever from the truck 20 times (one six pound drop per cow). It was fun to watch the cows run towards us in the truck to get their food.

Wednesday, December 31st

It was still really cold and icy, so we went to town in the afternoon to get snacks for New Year’s Eve. We wanted to visit Carlsbad Caverns, but the roads were closed due to the bad weather. We played pool, checkers, cards and other fun games.

Mr. Tye and his wife, Rebecca and their son Teegan joined us for dinner.

We played with the Chesser’s dogs. They are border collies and Corgie’s. It was really cool to watch them work the farm. They herded horses from one corral to the other and they also herded the cows when they needed to be moved_ to another pasture. Mr. Kim would yell commands at them and the dogs knew exactly what to do.

The dogs’ names were: Biscuit,Gravy,Sassy,Maggie,Dixie and lucy.

Thursday, January 1st

On Thursday, it was still really cold,but we bundled up and went out on the horses to move the cattle to a different pasture. We rode different horses:

Molly rode Mo. Mom rode Moose. Abby rode Gus. Jane rode Sterling and I rode Mickey. Miss Eileen rode Mr. Candyman again. She really liked her horse.

In the afternoon,Mr. Kim and Mr. Tye had to separate cows in the corral. They ran really fast on their horses and separated the mother and baby cows from the rest of the herd. It was really cool to watch.

For dinner, Miss Patricia made beef,lamb,baked potatoes, salad,and for dessert we ate peach cobbler. It was delicious. After dinner, Miss Patricia played her fiddle for us.

Friday, January 2nd

The weather is still very cold and the Caverns are still closed,so we went into the town of Roswell and visited their museum. We ate lunch at the Mercantile Restaurant. I ate fish tacos.

We visited Paul’s Vet Supply so Mr. Kim could buy medicine for one of his horses. He also bought a new lasso rope for his son,Tye. The store had a plastic bull in it so cowboys could test the ropes they had for sale. Mr. Kim showed me how to lasso a cow. He was really good at it. Every time he showed me, he got the rope perfectly around the cow’s head.

In the afternoon, we bundled up and went back out on our horses.

For our last dinner,Miss Patricia made smothered burritos,Mexican rice and salad. For dessert we had pecan pie. It was so good!

Saturday, January 3rd

On Saturday,we ate our final meal with the Chesser family. Miss Patricia made us French Toast,sausage and bacon. The Chesser’s daughter, Hayley,her husband,Reuben and their three week old son Malechi were visiting from lubbock,Texas. We said our goodbyes because we had to drive back to Albuquerque to get on a plane back to Detroit.

This was an amazing vacation and I learned a lot. living the life of a cowboy is really hard work, but you get to spend a lot of time outdoors and with animals.