Pictures taken April-August, 2008
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Below is a great article from
the Pontiac Daily Leader
Pontiac Daily Leader
By John Faddoul, Staff Reporter
CHENOA — The sign you see
when you pull up behind the
covered-wagon "barn on wheels"
of Lee the Horselogger sums it all
up: "2006 - MONTANA; 2007 -
BOSTON; 2008 - CALIFORNIA;
2011 - ALASKA. WHY? JUST
BECAUSE! YE HAW!"
People eating at or passing by
Chenoa Family Restaurant
between Thursday night and
Monday morning may have
noticed the wagon, the sign-
bearing trailer it tows, three
horses and two dogs that mark
Lee's westward journey along U.
S. 24. In April 2007, he found
similar hospitality on his
eastbound journey on the same
highway as last week, in the
parking area behind the
restaurant.
The outfit and animals that were
with him in Chenoa 13 months
ago— Suffolk Punch draft horses
Max and Tom, Great Pyrennese
dogs Kerr-Mutt and Katy — are
still with him. A third horse, Fey, is
now helping pull the wagon, and
two more will be added before
Lee crosses the Rockies, and,
more daunting for him, the Sierra
Nevada.
Lee, as he strongly prefers to be
called, is working on a book, "So
Far ... So Far to Go: A
Horselogger's Journal." His co-
author is Sally the Writer, also not
using a surname.
Lee was the subject of a Daily
Leader story in April 2007 about
his horsepowered journey from
Montana to New England, where
he wanted to meet with a
childhood sweetheart. In 2008, he
has been taking the same route
on U.S. 24 — westbound this
year — during April and May.
He's been featured in many other
print and TV stories during his
months on the road with his
unconventional caravan.
"Because I want to see the
redwoods," Lee, 47, answered
Monday when asked why he was
heading to California, as he
enjoyed a bacon cheeseburger
and a salad for breakfast at
Chenoa Family Restaurant,
during an interview a couple
booths down from where the
same Daily Leader reporter
interviewed him in 2007, when he
was served by the same waitress
as on Monday, Rachael Sears.
Last year, she brought her two
daughters to meet Lee and his
animals; now she has a third
daughter, 4-month-old Noelle.
Sears and her mother, Denise
Grant, also helped this year on
Lee's Chenoa stop, towing his
water barrel to the nearby Shell
convenience mart to fill it.
"I had no clue you were coming
back this way," Sears told Lee
and the reporter.
People who want to keep track of
the journey can do so at www.
leehorselogger.com. The
volunteer Web master for the site
is Patty Goff, of The Lone Tree
Leader in Onarga.
Lee said it's been "an incredible"
trip and it's sometimes hard to
see that, "because you're
involved in the trip ... you don't
quite realize how amazing it has
been."
Lee, who was diagnosed with
lymphoma in 2005, said he's
feeling more in balance again,
and hoping he can get get back
to feeling, "Wow, I've been across
the country and I'm almost
halfway back across it again.
That's pretty amazing. And we
didn't have any major injuries or
any major problems along the
way, so that's even more
amazing. But that's not why you
do the trips. Not for that 'wow.'
That's just 'wow' after you've
done."
"Figure a few things out and
share them with other people.
There you go," he said.
Seeing the redwoods, he said, is
about connections. "I'm a
horselogger. I love trees. I love
working around trees. I love
everything to do with being in the
woods."
"Just to see Alaska" is the reason
for planning to head there, via
Montana.
At the Chenoa restaurant, eating
his lettuce salad and tomato
before the cheeseburger, Lee
was glad to see the reporter get
out a voice recorder, which led to
his commenting on the media
he's encountered and the
country's public school system.
Lee said that most of the media
he's encountered has seen itself
as part of the intelligentsia, while
being underinformed — and
inaccurate — on many aspects of
his journey, even when copying
information from his Web site.
As for U.S. public education, Lee
said, "I have nothing kind to say
for our educational system."
"I've been around too many
schools and the schools aren't
being run by the parents, they're
being run by, quote,
professionals, and I guess maybe
that's my problem —
Professionals are the last person
I want educating my child or
myself. You want to understand
what this trip is about, this trip is
about getting away from
professionalism.
"I'm not a horse person. I drive
horses all day, make my living
with them. I've handled horses off
and on for the last forty years.
But I'm not a professional horse
person. I'm not a professional
writer. But I'm working with
somebody and we're writing a
book. Life doesn't require
professionals to do things, and
our society has become caught in
this trap of 'If Dr. Phil doesn't say
it's good then it can't be.' Who
the hell is he to say anything
about what's relevant and
pertinent in your life?"
Lee said the book he's writing will
help him learn about himself, and
he doesn't really care if it's a
commercial success. Several
agents are "sort of interested" in
it, he said.
Sally the Writer, he said, sees
"this look of puzzlement," so
often, on people who just can't
understand his trip, a look he's
seen so often he accepts it as
being normal. He prefers to think
"outside the box."
"And then every so often you get
the ones who click, they
understand what it's all about,
and those are the ones you don't
have to explain anything to, when
they ask you why you are doing
this. You just say 'Because' and
they understand. And those are
the fun ones to visit."
the Pontiac Daily Leader
Pontiac Daily Leader
By John Faddoul, Staff Reporter
CHENOA — The sign you see
when you pull up behind the
covered-wagon "barn on wheels"
of Lee the Horselogger sums it all
up: "2006 - MONTANA; 2007 -
BOSTON; 2008 - CALIFORNIA;
2011 - ALASKA. WHY? JUST
BECAUSE! YE HAW!"
People eating at or passing by
Chenoa Family Restaurant
between Thursday night and
Monday morning may have
noticed the wagon, the sign-
bearing trailer it tows, three
horses and two dogs that mark
Lee's westward journey along U.
S. 24. In April 2007, he found
similar hospitality on his
eastbound journey on the same
highway as last week, in the
parking area behind the
restaurant.
The outfit and animals that were
with him in Chenoa 13 months
ago— Suffolk Punch draft horses
Max and Tom, Great Pyrennese
dogs Kerr-Mutt and Katy — are
still with him. A third horse, Fey, is
now helping pull the wagon, and
two more will be added before
Lee crosses the Rockies, and,
more daunting for him, the Sierra
Nevada.
Lee, as he strongly prefers to be
called, is working on a book, "So
Far ... So Far to Go: A
Horselogger's Journal." His co-
author is Sally the Writer, also not
using a surname.
Lee was the subject of a Daily
Leader story in April 2007 about
his horsepowered journey from
Montana to New England, where
he wanted to meet with a
childhood sweetheart. In 2008, he
has been taking the same route
on U.S. 24 — westbound this
year — during April and May.
He's been featured in many other
print and TV stories during his
months on the road with his
unconventional caravan.
"Because I want to see the
redwoods," Lee, 47, answered
Monday when asked why he was
heading to California, as he
enjoyed a bacon cheeseburger
and a salad for breakfast at
Chenoa Family Restaurant,
during an interview a couple
booths down from where the
same Daily Leader reporter
interviewed him in 2007, when he
was served by the same waitress
as on Monday, Rachael Sears.
Last year, she brought her two
daughters to meet Lee and his
animals; now she has a third
daughter, 4-month-old Noelle.
Sears and her mother, Denise
Grant, also helped this year on
Lee's Chenoa stop, towing his
water barrel to the nearby Shell
convenience mart to fill it.
"I had no clue you were coming
back this way," Sears told Lee
and the reporter.
People who want to keep track of
the journey can do so at www.
leehorselogger.com. The
volunteer Web master for the site
is Patty Goff, of The Lone Tree
Leader in Onarga.
Lee said it's been "an incredible"
trip and it's sometimes hard to
see that, "because you're
involved in the trip ... you don't
quite realize how amazing it has
been."
Lee, who was diagnosed with
lymphoma in 2005, said he's
feeling more in balance again,
and hoping he can get get back
to feeling, "Wow, I've been across
the country and I'm almost
halfway back across it again.
That's pretty amazing. And we
didn't have any major injuries or
any major problems along the
way, so that's even more
amazing. But that's not why you
do the trips. Not for that 'wow.'
That's just 'wow' after you've
done."
"Figure a few things out and
share them with other people.
There you go," he said.
Seeing the redwoods, he said, is
about connections. "I'm a
horselogger. I love trees. I love
working around trees. I love
everything to do with being in the
woods."
"Just to see Alaska" is the reason
for planning to head there, via
Montana.
At the Chenoa restaurant, eating
his lettuce salad and tomato
before the cheeseburger, Lee
was glad to see the reporter get
out a voice recorder, which led to
his commenting on the media
he's encountered and the
country's public school system.
Lee said that most of the media
he's encountered has seen itself
as part of the intelligentsia, while
being underinformed — and
inaccurate — on many aspects of
his journey, even when copying
information from his Web site.
As for U.S. public education, Lee
said, "I have nothing kind to say
for our educational system."
"I've been around too many
schools and the schools aren't
being run by the parents, they're
being run by, quote,
professionals, and I guess maybe
that's my problem —
Professionals are the last person
I want educating my child or
myself. You want to understand
what this trip is about, this trip is
about getting away from
professionalism.
"I'm not a horse person. I drive
horses all day, make my living
with them. I've handled horses off
and on for the last forty years.
But I'm not a professional horse
person. I'm not a professional
writer. But I'm working with
somebody and we're writing a
book. Life doesn't require
professionals to do things, and
our society has become caught in
this trap of 'If Dr. Phil doesn't say
it's good then it can't be.' Who
the hell is he to say anything
about what's relevant and
pertinent in your life?"
Lee said the book he's writing will
help him learn about himself, and
he doesn't really care if it's a
commercial success. Several
agents are "sort of interested" in
it, he said.
Sally the Writer, he said, sees
"this look of puzzlement," so
often, on people who just can't
understand his trip, a look he's
seen so often he accepts it as
being normal. He prefers to think
"outside the box."
"And then every so often you get
the ones who click, they
understand what it's all about,
and those are the ones you don't
have to explain anything to, when
they ask you why you are doing
this. You just say 'Because' and
they understand. And those are
the fun ones to visit."
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| Photos are thumbnails; Click on each one to see a larger picture. |
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