Day 30: Unlikely Friends - 0km

Rest day at Jude and Clermont's in Saint Leonard

Had the best sleep ever in the amazing flannel sheeted guest bed with blackout curtains. Even though I set my alarm for a sleep-in of 7, I naturally woke up at 6 and gave the horses some hay. I’ve also been having very vivid, memorable dreams. I figure it’s from sleeping in a different bed every night, I remember the dreams a lot better.

The vet, Charles Mallet was coming at 8:30. I was nervous to hear what he had to say. I’m always thinking about the horses health, and trying to monitor their expressions and body language to see how they’re doing. Being prey animals, they tend to hide their pain, so I was happy to have a professional out. He looked at Ora’s hock, which had been swollen a few days but she wasn’t limping. Both the horses are sound, Charles believe’s Ora’s hock is like a bruise, and just swollen with liquid, so she will be on bute for a few days for swelling, but it’s not affecting her gait. Lux - whom I was worried about had gas colic, was doing well, and basically just gassy so we will monitor how much grass they eat, and I’ve started giving him smaller, even more frequent meals. They are both sound and in good health! We are happy horse owners. Charles is going to hook us up with a great farrier near the border of Quebec which we’re really excited about.

Cler drove Joseph to the library to upload a video, and he drove me to pick up some #purina food, then to get groceries and all our ointments for our “babies”. Sally gave and taught us to use baby oil to keep the bugs away. It doesn’t actually repel them, but they stick to it and die. So we bought baby oil, baby powder for in their easy boots, aloe gel and coconut oil for their sores and carrots for their souls. Cler even drove us around to find the right tires for Joseph, who has completely worn down the tread. The entire three hours we were gone, Jewel was napping. I’m hoping to catch my nap after we eat the pad thai Jewel is making and the roasted cauliflower Joseph is baking.

We picked up our long awaited care package from Mom! Yay, running shoes! No more 30km days of walking in boots!

I had some really great conversations with Clermont while we were in the car. We talked about the fact that the people who seem to have less, and live simply give more and are happier. He talked about how when people try to control everything, it just makes them miserable because you can't. So many things in life are out of our control. He also told me this great story about this man who walked into the motorcycle shop he worked at. His coworker didn't even give him the time of day because he looked too "bumish" in his ragged clothes, he couldn't be a serious prospect to buy a bike. Clermont went up to him and just started talking to him. He ended up selling him the most expensive motorcycle in the lot. "Never judge people based off how they look, or how they're dressed. You really don't know who someone is." It's such a simple lesson, but one that I'm being constantly retaught on this trip.

In a regular day, say when I was living in Montreal, when would I ever meet and hangout with Clermont? It seems this trip has put us in a situation where we befriend unlikely people. But why? Because in normal life I wouldn't hang out with someone that age, like many people we've met on this trip. I feel so much richer for having met these people, and spending so much more time with a different age demographic.

I'm learning it to be more and more true that we learn most when we're out of our comfort zone and routine.

Jewel and I must have gotten mixed up, here's her review of what happened that day;

It was hard to get out of the comfiest bed I’ve ever slept in. But I was excited for breakfast and I knew the horses were too.

The vet was scheduled to come at 8:30am. Katie and I agreed that we would wait until after the vet examined the horses health to see whether or not we would hit the road again. I must admit, we were both nervous about what the vet may find. What if the horses have some underlying issue we don’t know about? And what if that meant not continuing?

The vet (Charles) came and started with Ora. Her hock was still swollen but she was only slightly stiff at a trot. Charles thought she may have been kicked or hit something, causing fluid to build up. He suggested a few doses of bute and a day off would not hurt. Other than that, he thought she was great!

Lux too is in very good condition! The mud fever is gone and he is as sound as can be. Phew! We thought. We can continue with happy, healthy horses. But we decided to take Charles recommendation of taking a day off. We could have kept going but Jude and Cler offered for us to stay and we weren’t sure the next time we would come upon such welcoming, sweet people.

I myself could barely function that morning. I was so fatigued and couldn’t imagine myself waking up enough to do anything else. So I was happy when Joseph and Katie allowed me to take a nap while Cler took them to run some errands. 3 hours later and I felt soo much better!

Meanwhile in town, Katie stocked up on groceries. For those interested, our “vegetarian on the road” diet consists of:

- Oatmeal. Either plain oats mixed with nuts, seeds & dried fruit or prepackaged hot cereal.

- Apples, lots of em’.

- Bananas

- Bread (too much of it)

- Cucumber

- Oninions

- Rice (the quick and easy kind)

- Peanut butter

- Avocados if im lucky

- Crackers

- Granola bars

- Cream cheese

- Hummus

- Peppers

- Trail mix

- Hemp hearts (gotta get that protein right mom?!)

- Annies (mac&cheese)

and I think thats pretty much it. OH and coffee, TONS OF COFFEE!!!!!!

Katie also stocked up on,

Baby oil – for the bugs

Baby powder – for the horses boots so their feet stay dry(er)

Coconut oil & Aloe – for the saddle sores

Katie also bought new tires for Abe. (Josephs bike)

That night, Joseph and I made dinner for everyone. We had some meaningful conversation and felt so at home with these people that were strangers yesterday. Still find that so crazy. How you can go from not knowing someone to feeling like you’ve known them all your life.

Later that night, Katies old roommate and friend from Montreal (originally from NB) came for a visit. I went to bed early but Katie, Joseph and Alex had some time to catch up!