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Iowa man traveling to West Coast on horsebackALLIANCE, Neb. (AP)--Anyone driving on Nebraska Highway 2 east of Alliance during mid-May probably noticed a man on a horse, traveling west with a packhorse, loaded with supplies, trailing along. Some might take it as a sign of the high gas prices, but Mark Davis said his journey has another inspiration: the Lewis and Clark expedition. Davis, originally from Bayard, Iowa, said he was reading the Lewis and Clark expedition diaries and thought, "Why just read about it, why not see it?" Growing up, his family had taken vacations out West and he had always liked it. Although he is not taking the same route as the famed explorers, his goal is to reach the West Coast by horseback. He is also not trying to complete the entire journey at one time and estimates it will take several summers. It has taken him three separate weeks to get from Iowa to Alliance; this particular leg started off in Mullen and will end in Glendo, Wyo., which Davis said is on the North Platte River, this side of Casper. Once there, he has his pickup waiting for the trip home. His daughter, Emily, and her boyfriend dropped him off in Mullen and then took the pickup on to Glendo. When he's not traversing the country on horseback, Davis lives with his wife in West Des Moines and works as a network administrator. He grew up around horses, on a farm near Bayard, Iowa. His family also raised hogs and cattle, and Davis said he used to come to the Sandhills with his father to buy cattle. Davis rides Chief; his packhorse is named Belle. The horses are unfazed by the passing traffic on the highway, and Davis said they have gotten used to it. Too used to it, perhaps, in Belle's case. He said she keeps crossing the white line on the highway and he has to pull her back. He thinks she would rather be back in Iowa; this is hard work for her. Chief's only complaint is a chapped nose. Davis said he started putting sunblock on it, which he doesn't like. Davis isn't sure if the horse can get a sunburn, but thought about how Chief spends most of the day facing into the sun; at home, he can stay in the shade, or at least face away from the sun. They travel around 30 miles a day, and Davis camps out in cow pastures at night. "The Sandhills are so pretty, very picturesque," he said. Nothing too dramatic has happened to him so far on his journey, and Davis said he enjoys the people he meets along the way. "Everyone is interesting," he said. 7/7/08 Date: 7/1/08
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