Our pioneer trek

About ten years ago we, the Larry Vance family, went on a pioneer trek. The preparations for the trek started before we left Littleton, Colorado. I purchased a coupled used bicycles and some steel tubing to make a cart. I opted for a design a little different than the type that was used by the handcart companies that traveled the Mormon Trail. Our cart was a four wheel cart. I engineered the cart. We all pitched in to construct it.



We loaded up our provisions and our cart, along with our 9 family members into the old Ford Clubwagon and headed to Manassa, Colorado. It was time for the Mormon Pioneer Days in Manassa. We laid out our trek to go ten miles to the Rio Grande where the old bridge crossed the river. We had Kent, my brother, drive us to the point where we started our venture into the (not so) wilderness.

The first task was to extricate ourselves and our provisions, along with the cart, from our van. We then began to assemble the provisions into the cart and secure everything.



The cart was heavy with the provisions.



Loaded and secured, we are now getting ready for our ten mile trek to the river.



Only Eric gets to get a ride. The provisions are weighty. The wagon is highly stressed under the weight.



As we started off along the road (we did not go cross-country) we all took turns pushing and pulling. Looking off in the distance behind us, we started back beyond those trees on the horizon near the hill.



Looking ahead we cannot see our destination yet. At this point we had already stopped for lunch and we were having some problems with our cart. As we rolled along, the spokes in the wheels loosened. The looser the spokes became, the more skewed the wheels were with the direction of travel. If you download the image below and note the rear wheels on the cart you can see that the wheels do not point in the direction of travel. This was a problem that we thought was going to stop us from going on to our destination. We stopped and made some adjustments using wire and a loose fence post as a lever. On we went.



We saw little evidence of wildlife out here. The most noticeable animal we observed was the buzzard that was circling in the sky. Further along the road we saw a carcass of a cow.



Debra was making her contribution.





Our destination is finally in sight. There is a dark spot that the road crosses in the distance. That is the Rio Grande. It is now downhill the rest of the way. The cart is doing much better with its wheels pointing in the right direction.



After we arrived we unloaded our wares.



Then we pitched camp under the old bridge. I had been here before, as a boy scout. When I was 12 I camped under this old bridge.



The river was refreshing.



Jeanette prepared the provisions and many of the activities for our trek. We made butter.



And we had our trek booklets that Jeanette constructed for each of us. Here Brian and Anita are using their books as we read a story or sang a song around the fire.



The cart did not fare so well. As we came down the road to the river banks we could hear an audible hiss. Two of the 4 bicycle tires went flat. The cart was under-engineered. It would have been nice to have a better cart.



Our original plan was to have somebody rendezvous with us after our trek back at the point of departure. Since our cart was ailing and some of us did not tolerate the ardors of the trek well, we decided to terminate our trek after only one leg of the trip.

I think it was a learning experience, and we had the opportunity to commune with nature. I sure do appreciate my waterbed and my little pickup.

FHE

One thing that our family has done since we were married is to have a regular Family Home Evening (FHE). Early on we divided up the responsibilites for the various tasks. One person would give the lesson (as Julie is above), one the opening prayer, one the scripture, one the activity, and so forth.

One of the responsibilities that was rotated around the family was conducting for the week. Whomever was conducting would have the privilege of asking those present at prayer times to give a prayer. There were occasions when we would hear "I am in charge!".

The past few days we have been going through some of our old photographs because Jeanette has had them scanned into digital media. It has been fun to look at the pictures and remember back on some of the good times we had as a family.



There was the time that we made torches from cattails.



And sometimes we would do something for an activity that would take up the whole time for FHE. We would go to concerts or maybe some activity specifically for FHE, like bowling.



There was even the time when we made a cart from bicycle wheels, loaded up wares for two days, and headed on a ten mile trek. Our family struggled with the cart. It did not fare well. We pulled off the road to the Rio Grande and a tire went PSSSSSSSSST flat. My brother Kent had our old van and brought it to us.

We cooked out and played in the river. We loaded things in the van and left instead of going on the reverse 10 mile trek.