Horse-drawn wagon conjures up images of our forefathers

If you happened upon a covered wagon with three horses in the lead on Highway 63 either coming into New Hampton Friday afternoon or leaving New Hampton Saturday morning, you saw “Lee the Horselogger.” Lee the Horselogger has been on the quest of his life for the last 10 years, traveling from coast to coast covering almost 14,000 miles with Dink, age 16; Fey, age 13; and Alice age 12 — the horses doing his job (he said it is not a venture or a journey).  Lee began his “job” on Aug. 9, 2006. Think about that. He’s been traveling for 10 years.He is writing a book on his vast encounters and elements that he has experienced  in his job.  He does logging when he is in logging country and as he travels down the roads, he has learned a great deal about the hospitality of the people who make up our great nation.When I saw his covered wagon coming down the road; I couldn’t help but reflect back to our forefathers doing the same kind of travel when they crossed our continent; undertaking all kinds of obstacles, eating where there was food, caring for their horses and sleeping under the stars .Lee had just spent a couple of days in Lourdes, enjoying the hospitality of the area.   He asked me to say thanks  to Steve and Deb, John and Linda and Russ and Cindy for all the extras they did for him.When I heard Lee was headed for New Hampton, our local saddle club Plum Creek,  invited him to camp at our show grounds.  Our club helped his grocery list get a little shorter. My wife Jean and I supplied some food for his horses and a good Iowa meal for him at a local restaurant.His goal is to reach Alaska in 2017-2018 and settling in to live up there.Lee said to me remember him as “The Fat Guy By the Wagon,” possibly the name to be tagged on his book.Log on to www.Lee the Horselogger for more of his encounters and also find him on Facebook.