West Quest Part Deux - Day 74

Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Grimes, Iowa

Back to Days 70 to 73

Saturday, 22 October 2022

We departed Sioux Falls this morning for Grimes, Iowa where we will be staying at VERITAS Equestrian Center as part of Harvest Hosts.

Here’s how things looked as I walked Maddie and Skipper this morning:

And here’s our departure shot:

When we started this adventure on June 5th, neither one of us had ever spent any real time in Iowa other than Frieda as an infant. At this point, having crossed the state four or five times now, and having spent numerous nights here, we have a fondness for the state we certainly didn’t have before.

It seems windmills dot the landscape everywhere now, especially in California and Iowa. (At least they are turning in Iowa.)

We arrived at VERITAS a little after 4 pm and promptly took a look around.

We met a lot of wonderful horses, including several rescues, but the amazing horse we met was United States Army veteran Jerry.

For years, Jerry served as a Lead Left caisson horse responsible for pulling the caskets of deceased servicemembers through Arlington National Cemetery to their place of burial. When he was retired, VERITAS owners Suzie and John applied to adopt him. This is apparently a very difficult and competitive process. Once the Army narrows it down to three finalists, they conduct site visits to each before deciding who will ultimately get the honor. Earlier this year, Suzie and John were selected and Jerry will live out his life with them. They are also proud parents of a United States Marine. Semper Fi!

We’ve met a lot of horses this summer and without a doubt, Jerry is the sweetest of them all. A true gentleman.

He and I became good friends once I gave him an apple and a carrot.

The horses are well taken care of here with each getting a special blanket at night to keep the flies off of them.

What a wonderful evening here at VERITAS!

Tomorrow morning, we will attend worship service at Cornerstone Church of Ames before heading to Washington, Illinois to spent the night at a winery.

Go to Day 75