Thanks for the link. The pictures are great and it looks like a great place to hike. beverly

Uh well, hmmm, I am really at a loss for words. My first thought was to say I'm a female and travel alone, but that would make me sound scared. So I'll start by asking are there trees and vegetation that I could "get lost" in? I know there is a lot of desert land. I love the desert but the goats do need shade in the hottest part of the day. Also, will I be frequently visited by the enforcement officials? When I go for public walks in our local farm neighborhoods I receive alot of "are your goats for sale". Goat meat is a pretty good market around here. Thanks for the advice!

Here is a possum recipe from a book they used in researching the play: My son's character is an Oklahoma farmer who is losing his farm to the bank. He starts drinking and become abusive to his children. The dust kills their last calf and the bank takes their last cow and the land. The farmer, his wife and three children, and their two cousins whose mother has just died, take the family's truck and head to Oregon via California. Several other groups also head west. A Jewish insurance broker and his family who are being threatened by Klansmen in Ohio; two black sharecropper children who are homeless after their mother dies and the land is sold; four children who are sent to find their aunt in Oregon, after their parents can no longer feed them; a Mexican family from Texas; and various other ragamuffins (there were a lot of kids in this play!) Some travel in relative comfort, driving across the desert. Others have to ride the rails as hobos, scrounging work and food. Most of them reach a corporate farm camp in California, where the foremen are cruel but the camp store manager is kindly. Fear not, all the migrants reach their destination. Some find farm work in Oregon, some reach Portland, the Jewish family goes to Los Angeles and the Mexican family is reunited with their father in California . My son's character, with help from his strong wife and eldest son, gets his family safely to Oregon where they start a new life. Basically, he plays Pa Joad from "The Grapes Of Wrath", although to a happier ending. I just realized that he hasn't read that book: something we'll try to correct. As a matter of fact, I haven't read it for many decades myself, and I'm guessing I'll find the play parallels Steinbeck's story in many ways. They watched the movie as part of their project.

Wow, I really love Kathryn Ireland's work. I had no idea she did a boot camp. If the extra money spent wouldn't cause your family all that much heartburn I would definitely go for it, even though it seemed disorganized at first. It might be worth the $$ just to hang out and pick her brain. As an aside - I had a somewhat familiar experience at my workplace. There was a woman (who worked in a different locale and whom I'd never met in person) who I needed to do something professionally for one of my research projects (run a focus group). All through the planning she seemed totally disorganized and non-committal. But when the time came to do the deal, she was phenomenal and I learned a lot by watching her. Please keep us posted - I hope you go!!