hello everyone! I returned home Saturday morning after completing a 14,000 mile trip which included the longest transport I have aver done - 2871 highway miles from Santa Cruz CA to south central VA! - about 30 animals, 6 humans, and three vehicles made the trip caravan style in 5 days and a few hours - all the animals traveled fine, the five inexperienced long distance travelers are now experienced, and the process of moving animals and humans into a new country home has begun - it was a thrilling experience to see these five people develop a choreographed procedure for feeding and watering on the road - stops were efficient and each animal was given the opportunity for one on one 'stress' relief counseling - the animals arrived stress free but I cannot say the same for all the humans! - I doubt they will ever undertake this type of adventure again but if they do I will be honored to travel with them again!
I am attempting to put together a mid JUL/AUG trip - at this time I hope to have a west coast loop and possibly even more if the need arises - if you have animals needing to go anywhere please get with me with pick up city/state, drop off city/state, and a description of the animals ASAP - I will see what I can do the price of gasoline has forced me to take a new approach in scheduling - in the past I have started trips knowing that I did not have enough riders to cover my expenses but I expected last minute additions to make the difference - it now costs me $300+ per DAY just for gasoline so I cannot start a trip until I have confirmed reservations to at least cover my out of pocket daily expenses for those of you thinking that gas prices are going to go down and transportation will be cheaper in the future FORGET IT! - transportation is now a major portion of your investment in the next generation of your herd genetics - buying your breeding stock now means you are planning for what you are going to have to sell a year from now! -- PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT MESSAGES BELOW!! questions? Ron - private email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] - 1 - ALL livestock crossing a state line REQUIRES a minimum vet inspection certificate - it may be as simple as a certificate and rabies tag for dogs or as complex as several blood tests for other species - I WILL NOT TRANSPORT animals that do not meet the minimum requirements - go to the IMPORT web site below to find out what is required for the destination state of your animals - then have your vet double check with the destination state state vet office far enough in advance to have time to complete blood test requirements - ANIMAL IMPORT info at http://w w w.aphis.usda.gov/vs/sregs 2 - when I am on the road I DO NOT access my home email - email sent to the [EMAIL PROTECTED] address will NOT be viewed until I return home - if I do not answer your email within 24 hours assume I am on the road - in that case contact me through the Yahoo Travel group - the same applies to my telephone voice recorder at 512.259.5098 3 - if you anticipate using my transport service you need to join the TravelWithRonK group below immediately! by joining Yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TravelWithRonK or by email only (not required to join Yahoo) Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Travel with Confidence with TravelWithRonK! see pictures of my rig at http://TravelWithRonK.com ron keener near Austin, Texas http://TravelWithRonK.com _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info