WTR's 2007 Year of
Differences
Hi there again from the
Wayfaring Traveler Ranch. This is whit
of tongue, handsome, and debonair Titcomb Basin 7th Wayfarer. But the nickname BJ & Mike have given
me is "Pud". I was
told I had to write the Christmas letter again. That's Ok. I had just
forgotten about doing it. And, as
Mike is a teacher, he prods his students about getting assignments done so
their grades don't go down because of laziness. Me… do that… no never.
Well…. sort-a….. kind-a….. maybe….. ya.
There have been a lot of differences this year at
the ranch. I'll start out with
Mike. He had an operation on the
bottom of his right foot last Dec 13th (No it wasn't on a Friday). It was kind-a funny seeing him hobble around
the ranch. For a while there we didn't
see him at all. I guess BJ said he
couldn't put any weight on it for 2 months and he was getting tired of watching
the "Judge this" and the "Judge that" TV shows. Mike said they were at least better than
the soap operas; whatever they are.
If you've looked at our website you'll see the bad
stuff that happened on the ranch.
"Searcher" the cat, "Kalico" the cat ranch manager,
and "Radar" my cousin are no longer with us here at the ranch. Searcher was just an old lady. Mike said she was somth'in like 24 years
old. Both Kalico and Radar had some
sickness that wiped them out. I'm just
wondering if this global warming thing is some how affect'in us? I sure hope that we have a cold snowy
winter this year!
Hey I should tell you about the day Mike wasn't
around and we found one of the 
4' gates wasn't
latched. Seems that Strouder was
eat'en some stuff by the gate when a big gust of wind blew the gate open and
hit him. He must-a jumped a mile
because there was no human around to open a gate. Matter of fact it was on what you guys call Halloween. Scary, huh! I was on top of the canal berm and saw that Strouder was eat'en
grass in the yard. I yelled, "Ya
hoooooo", and took off run'in. By
the time I got to the gate Breezy was right even with me. We hit the opening at the same time and we
got wedged in. I got in the first spit
and we went back and forth seeing who was the better llama. As Breezy went to bite my legs he made it
so that I could wriggle free. I got
through the gate and kicked at him.
Boy, was he mad! I took off
run'in like heck. Lucky me Breezy
wanted the good stuff from 
the haystack or I would have
been one sorry llama. Any way, we had
the whole green stuff around the houses.
Then I remember see'en Tenacious, Turret, and Strouder walk'in up the
driveway to the front gate to the ranch.
A bit later, when I looked again, because I was so intent on eating the
hay from the stacked hay bales, they were on the main road. Woooooow, so I start heading up that
way. When I get there, there's this
big metal thing in the ground. I guess
it's there to keep those dumb cows and horses from getting out. Well, that don't stop no llama. We can hop over just about anything. So just a little hop, skip, and a jump and
I'm out on the road with the rest of them.
This is coool. I haven't been
outside of the ranch in a loooooooong time.
So the 4 of us start exploring.
About a 1/2 hr later I see this dark thing coming up the road at
us. As it gets bigger I recognize it's the neeeeeeew car BJ & Mike
got this summer (that's another funny story I've got to tell ya). Sure enough it's him and he must have been
mad because the horn in that thing was going crazy. We all scatter in different directions. The car drove over that metal cattle guard
and went into the ranch. I yell at the
others. When we get together I ask what
we should do? The other 3 think we
should run towards our neighbor's big pond and get away form Mike. I'm think'n about the last time I did
something like this and how mad Mike was.
I was by myself for 2 weeks for punishment. Be'in the older of this crew I convinced them we don't want to
be on Mike's bad side. So we hop over
the cattle guard and start head'in back to that open gate. I got them convinced all we had to do was
go back and walk thru that gate back into our pasture. We got through the gate just as Mike was
coming out of the house. Stand'in in
our pasture, look'in at him, I'm think'in this was the best decision I've made
in a loooooooooong time! I think Mike
was set on wanting to kill a bunch of us.
Lukily, ha..ha…ha….ha Breezy was on the losing end of
Mike's rathe. Breeze got chased into
the big corral and we didn't see him for 3 weeks, Ha..ha…ha….ha, got him,
because he's just a stupid bully llama.
Maybe it's time I let one of the other llamas write
some stuff. Sooooo here's "Stroud
Peak 13th Wayfarer" who we just call Strouder.
Ha…Ha…Ha… Hi folks. I'm a bit scared to do this but Titcomb, or as Mike calls him
"Puddly", is going to stand next to me and help me along. Pud says I should tell you that I am Mike's
favorite llama. Welllll, I don't know
if that's all true. I turned 4 years
old last May, just a few days before Mike's birthday. Maybe that's why Mike says he likes me soooo much. My Dad is "Zazu" and my Mom is
"Lilly of the Valley". I'm a
boy llama and my sisters are Maggie and Sensay Su. I've been hanging with my mom and my sisters most of my life,
until Mike put me in with my dad this summer.
My dad, Zazu, has been showing me the ropes for the things guys have to
do. I'm kind-of tall but I don't weigh
much. A bunch of the other guys think
I kind-a look like a girl llama. I
don't like to fight much like Breezy, Titcomb, Granite, and Titcomb's dad
Bridger do.
I suppose I could tell you
about the new dog that is on the ranch.
Her name is "Josephine", but we call her many different names,
"Jo-Jo", "Josie", and "that damn dog". Oh, I'm sorry, I should not say that, and
Titcomb won't let me erase it. Josie
started being full time on the ranch about the last week in August. It seems her former owner, who use to come
and stay at the ranch when BJ & Mike were gone, died while flying a plane
for Civil Air Patrol (CAP), while searching for a lost hiker. Josie is OK I guess for a dog. She is a bit on the hyper side. If some of the other guys are playing
kind-a rough Josie will come real fast and start nipping at our legs to
stop. She doesn't bother me too
much. I try to sniff her. One day, while Mike was standing at the
barn gate we all came down to see what was going on. Josie would walk real fast around and through our legs. At one point Mike gave Josie a command to
sit, and she did! I went up to her and
got real close to her nose. Then, all
of a sudden, something came out of her mouth.
It went all over my nose, mouth, and chin, and was kind-a wet. She hasn't done this to any other
llama. Mike laughed real hard.
I got to be part of the Cody
Stampede Parade this year. BJ had one
string of llamas and I was in Mike's string.
I got to meet someone new at the parade. His name is John Barrasso.
He was in front of us in a car that doesn't have a top. While we were waiting to walk I moved over
to him and tried to smell him. Mike
saw what happened and came up to me and apologized to Mr. Barrasso, but he
thought it was kind-a neat. I found
out Mr. Barrasso just took over a job in Washington D.C. where 100 people meet
and discuss things. Mike says 2
people, from each state, represent us in the USA government, and they are
called Senators. He was a very nice
human and even stroked my neck along with the human girl setting next to him.
Hey, Strouder, you did all right for a 1st
timer. Maybe one of these Christmases
I'll have one of the horses have a chance at writing, but since they are always
bullying their way around…….. na, not going to happen on my watch. Only LLAMAs rule!
Woooow there Puddly. I'm sorry but it's us humans that have the
last say! Hi there folks this is Mike. Well, what do you think of Strouder's
attempt at writing? Pud and I have
been working on him to write and we think he's got some promise for the future. It's my side of things now. It's been a medical year for me. I had the operation on my foot in Dec 06,
as Puddly reported. Then I got a cough
that would rack my body in Jan 07. It
stayed on, and on, and on. I wanted to
have a hernia taken care of that developed from my gallbladder surgery in
1998. The Doc wouldn't operate until
the cough went away. So, saw another
Doc that prescribed steroids. Started
to feel like a weight lifter. Got that
cough under control after 6 weeks of the steroid stuff and had the
operation. My weight dropped back to
normal and I can now substitute as PE teacher in the Elementary schools and
keep up with the kids.
Stayed home most of this summer while I let BJ take
off on a cruise and CAP activities. I
only got to fly down to Colorado Springs in trusty N5545R and attend an Inland
SAR school (Search and Rescue) for a week in May.
BJ and I started a new endeavor. We are teaching English over the computer
to students in South Korea! A new
startup company, called Eleutian Technology, is in the process of hiring
retired & substitute teachers to use the internet to teach 1 on 1 sessions
of English to the South Koreans. We
utilize an internet voice over IP program called "Skype" to talk and
see the student. We have a 15 minute
session with each of them. They range
in age from 10 to 60's. It's kind of a
neat way of teaching. The students
have an on-line program they go through, take quizzes and tests, and we see how
well they are doing and give the 1 on 1 assistance. If you have Skype my name is majcarlsonwy075 BJ's Skype name is bev.carlson. So if you have Skype search us out and call
us. It's a free call to those that
have the Skype program! We've dropped
our long distance phone provider and use just Skype and occasionally a calling
card. It's cut our costs by
$30-$40/month.
BJ here - School and Civil Air Patrol have kept me
busy again this past year so I do not have as much time for the Korean students
as I would like. The state of WY went
and listened to a husband and wife team who convinced them that we needed all
new Special Ed paperwork on the computer.
I thought that our society was going towards a paperless one but not in
this case. Our 6-7 page Individual
Education Plan (IEP) went to 13-14 pages and there are forms (different ones of
course) for everything you can imagine.
It takes 2-3 hours to get the paperwork completed before a parent
meeting and another hour to clean up everything after the meeting. Yikes! I am getting too old for this. It is all on the computer but so far the
state and district have not made it more than one year on a computer
program. This is the third one I have
been trained on and I am sure things will change next year. Luckily, my caseload is lower this year and
I even have some time built into my schedule to do the paperwork.
Last year for Civil Air Patrol I was the Deputy
Commander for the cadet encampment (a one-week of training conducted at a
National Army Guard base here in WY).
This year I am the Commander and right about now I'm wondering what
neurons in my brain got shorted when I said I would assume command. I am grateful to my predecessor for laying a
great foundation for the past two years.
I will not need to reinvent the wheel too much and he is still going to
be on the team for 2008. Wish me luck.
I plan to visit my mom and
sister for Christmas and am looking forward to this activity as Dec draws
near. I hope that everyone has a great
holiday season. Take care.
Wellllll, a Pud, is a Pud, is a
Puddly. Since when are we
bullys'? Oh, by the way, I am Lightening
Wayfarer. Thunder and I can't
help it if you don't get out of our way when you are between us and the corn or
hay. Just because you weigh only 250
lbs you should move a bit faster. It's
hard to deter a battleship once its 2100 lbs is in motion. It's been a long time since I was as slim
and trim as Cheyanne, at least I can pull the plow and hoe equipment. I'd like to see you pull them Mr.
Know-it-all!
Now it's my turn again (Titcomb). "Who let the Horses out?" Now you know why BJ & Mike get madder
at the horses than us; they're the ones that have figured out how to open
gates, not us. Whatever they have in size
(4,900 lbs) we have in numbers (35), and, if I add all our weights it comes to
over 10,000 lbs. So, guess what
HORSES, LLAMAs RULE!!!
YAhhhh, and we can run faster.
Na… Na… Na…NA. And, just
remember, the ranch is named Wayfaring Traveler LLAMA Ranch, not horse ranch.
I'm sorry you folks had to hear that,
but it's a battle all the time around here with those horses. Anyway………….
From us guys (llamas) at the Wayfaring Traveler Llama Ranch
Titcomb Maggie Tymico Jenny Dark Rain Seneca Turret Nichaja Stroud
Peak Titapa Zasu Mt.
Osborn Sinara Esparado Klondike Zorac Ethan
Bridger Bola Groucho Black Knight Spunky Magnus Howard K Coco
Man
Zipper
Torrey Creek Shasta
Chinar Wing Breeze
Boy
Sensay-Su Granite Peak Tenacious White
Knight Mandarin Chocolate Lilly of the Valley
From the barking Hippos: Meiko and Koncho, and the new dog Josie.
From the fat cat - Misha, and the lean 2-Socks.
From the GONZO (not so smart) duo: Thunder and Lightning,
and Cheyanne
Ohhhhhh yyyyyah,
From the BIG Bird: Gertrude
And, can’t forget Maj Mike and Maj BJ who
are OK even though they try to get us to do their stuff, and are sometimes
MAJOR 
pains.
See
ya guys. Have a great Holiday season
and think about 
coming out and 
see us. From the BESTest editor WTR has EVER had: Titcomb Basin
7th Wayfarer
► Wayfaring Traveler Llama Ranch • PO Box 98, 1100 Lane
38 •
Burlington, WY 82411-0098 • (ph) 307-762-3536 •
E-mail: wtr@tctwest.net. • Skype names: majcarlsonwy075
- bj.carlson - bev.carlson.
Visit our website www.tctwest.net/~wtr and see more llama
stuff at the ranch. Bye!
Ohhhhhh ya, I almost forgot. 
Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS !