“I was born under a wandering star.
“Wheels are made for rolling, mules are made to pack. Home is made for coming from.”
Those lyrics, choice lines from the Lee Marvin song, Wandering Star from the motion picture, Paint Your Wagon, seem to fit this travelling man to perfection.
Mick Grabowsky paused for a few moments on Saturday to chat and to ask where the Alkali Lake store was as he passed by Alkali Lake Ranch as he was ‘getting short on grub.’
His long horseback journey began in the Kootenay lakes district in April and three-and-a-half months later he was on his way through the countryside from Lillooet to Williams Lake.
Everything necessary for life on the trail is in the four pack-boxes on his two spare horses. Companionship on the journey comes courtesy of the huge black dog he calls Pi, so named for the mathematical sign visible on the dog’s chest.
Pi also provides security, peace-of-mind and protection. He has already earned his grubstake in a couple of close encounters with bears.
Grabowsky’s final destination? Unknown. He’s just out for a very long ride.
Grabowsky took two days to make the trip from Alkali Lake to Williams Lake with his quartet and then rested up for a few days at the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds before continuing his journey.