I am not a fan of summer heat, but here I am traveling to shows and hauling kids and cattle all over the place in the summer. We recently returned from Beefmaster Junior Nationals, which was held in West Monroe, Louisiana. Besides being the home of the Duck Commander, it is also the home to heat and humidity and giant insects. Although we did not visit Duck Commander and I am still sad about that, we did get to enjoy the heat, humidity and insects-insert sarcasm.
There was a small group of us from Missouri that attended the show, but all traveled separately on the way down because I like to drive at night when there is less of a chance of having a blow out on the trailer. We were packed in the trailer and on top of the trailer and we headed out after midnight to drive across Arkansas. Just south of Little Rock I needed a short power nap and when we decided to head out again, one of the kids noticed a bag of shavings had fell off the trailer. In fact, we had lost a few bags of shavings and some straw as well as the strap that held it all down.
Once we adjusted some stuff, we were on the way again and once we got to West Monroe, we had another mishap with a strap which resulted in losing several more bales of straw and shavings. Thankfully no one behind us had an accident, but we certainly made our arrival known to all. We managed to get to the grounds with 1 of 3 straps, the wheelbarrow which was also strapped to the top of the trailer and a few bags of shavings and 2 bales of straw. BUT we didn’t have a blowout!
We met up with the rest of our crew later that day and successfully set up our stalls and got the cattle settled in and eating and drinking. When traveling in the heat, it is so important to keep the cattle hydrated so we travel with a water tub from home and a water filter. We purchased some fancy Bermuda hay for the cattle to keep the rumen working which is more important than getting feed into them when traveling in the heat.
Now, the kids eating and drinking, that is another story! Although we take a cooler of drinks and snacks, we usually end up going to a drive thru at least once, and we go to Walmart MULTIPLE times. I also need to go to 7 Brew once a day for some caffeine. We shared an Airbnb with another family, and it was nice to be able to prepare some meals at the house because 7 days of fast food is never a good thing.
It was great having a house to accommodate 8 people although it got a little loud in the evenings as the kids were catching their second wind in the air conditioning after setting in the heat all day at the barn. The show facility did have a nice, air-conditioned show arena and the kids spent a lot of time in there throwing around the football and making new friends. I was not a fan of that arena as it made going back out in the heat more miserable.
I will say the heat and humidity were comparable to what it was at home but even those local to Louisiana said it was unusually warm for that time of year. I suppose it was just good practice for the upcoming heat we will endure at Ozark Empire Fair. The cattle have had some time to rest up and relax at home, but we are heading into the stretch of 2 more heat packed shows, ending with the Missouri State Fair. Be prepared for more tales of adventure on the show road!
Debbie Elder is a native of Ottawa County, Okla. and lives on her farm in Webster County, Mo. To contact Debbie, call 1-866-532-1960 or by email at [email protected].
