Chapter 10

We were sitting at the kitchen table, having put our animals in their barn. We had four pads of legal-size writing paper. We were each making notes. The air was thick with our shouting and gesturing, as we reminded each other of items to take along.

We were surprised as the sun peeked in the windows. Jan and Krista started breakfast. No one was tired. We were too excited and focused on our tasks.

Dan began our first task. He called a member of his dojo who had a full-size reproduction Conestoga wagon with a four-horse team. Dan asked to borrow the set up for a 'couple' days. The owner assumed it was for the round up and was quick to agree.

Dan had driven the wagon during the last Deadwood Days parade. He was familiar with the current team, and they were familiar with him.

This wagon was sixteen feet long by four feet wide and four feet deep, with the billowing white top adding perhaps eight feet. Those four matched dapple-gray Percheron draft horses would be capable of hauling everything we could fit inside. We now had ample room for our 'first' load.

As we ate breakfast, we refined our lists, pulling them together. We made one 'master' list to be kept by Krista as a guide for our buying and packing. Krista continued our journal in her green book.

Krista and I took a short break to clean our guns. We were shooting Pyrodex powder instead of black, but even so, cleaning them immediately after shooting is a good policy.

Dan had one more task. He called a neighbor, Jerry, who was a contractor. Dan knew he did lots of work in the 'boonies' away from electricity. Dan asked him about his solar drill battery charger.

The contractor had built a custom solar photovoltaic charger that kept his truck battery charged, while also charging half dozen batteries for his Rigid drill, hammer drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw and work light. He even had a charger connection for his Streamlight flashlight.

Dan asked him if he could build a solar charger for us. Things were slow in construction right then, and the contractor named a price. Dan told him to include one set of the Rigid tools. Dan also asked for connections charging the battery for tools we already had. Dan's neighbor Jerry was excited about this 'fun' challenge and would have it done today!

Dan and I went to retrieve the wagon. We each took a pickup. One of us would haul the flat bed with the wagon, and the other would be hauling the four big horses.

I met Ben, who owned the wagon and team. With Dan doing the heavy lifting, we had the wagon on a trailer and hooked up to his pickup. The four horses were of pleasant disposition, with excellent trailer manners. They loaded nicely into Krista's horse trailer, towed by me.

We were soon back at the B&B, where J and K were unloading the four Percherons, while Dan and I unloaded the wagon from the flatbed. Okay, Dan unloaded the wagon, with me staying out of his way.

The pace picked up now, with the wagon waiting to be filled. Dan and I went to the nearest hardware to buy necessary 'non-electric' hand tools. We would also be buying fasteners and miscellaneous hardware.

Krista went to visit a local doctor she worked with when she did her RN/EMT gig at Deadwood events. She was going to persuade him to write her some 'scripts' for drugs and medical paraphernalia she had to have to be comfortable on the Frontier.

Jan was on her own buying expedition. I'm all for authenticity, but I told her soap and toilet paper were high on my list! She lost a good friend to AIDS, making Jan an advocate of 'safe sex'. I had no doubt we would see a quantity of modern condoms going back to the Deadwood whorehouse.

We were all back by lunchtime, loading our booty into wooden crates and boxes before it went into the wagon. While we were working Jan said, "Don't forget to empty out the garden shed, honey."

To K and I she continued, "Dan's been buying a shit load of Pyrodex and regular black powder. We've got it stored in our garden shed with the C-4 and Dynamite."

Dan laughed as he admitted that before last night he thought he was 'overbuying, ' and maybe even 'crazy, ' but now he knew we would need every bit of our supplies. He added, "I have extra cartridge cases for all our guns and primers, of course. I bought ingots of lead, with lesser amounts of antimony and tin. I'll take all my reloading and bullet casting equipment. "