Glorifying God's rein: Trio to travel across country on horseback
| Friday, Aug 06 2010 03:58 PM
Last Updated Friday, Aug 06 2010 03:58 PM
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This trio of cowboys (one cowgirl) will soon make their way across the United States on horseback. From left are Lynn Tuggle on Freedom, farrier Leif Martinson on Sundance, and Tim Tuggle riding Cher. The Tuggles sold all their belongings and will start their trip from Westport in northern California.
From left are Lynn Tuggle with Freedom, Tim Tuggle holding Cher and Leif Martinson with Sundance. The trio will make a trek across the United States on horseback. The Tuggles sold all their belongings and will start their trip from Westport in northern California.
They're doing what?
Yes, Tim and Lynn Tuggle are leaving Bakersfield, maybe for good, riding horseback across the country without set-in-stone plans for where they'll end up, willing to accept the magnitude of the unknown, ready to go wherever God takes them.
"We believe there's a plan for all of us," Lynn says. "I'm sure we'll find things to do out there."
A day-by-day itinerary hasn't been compiled, but the months-long journey will look something like this:
Sunday, Tim, Lynn and friend Leif Martinson are driving a trailer and six horses to Westport, a coastal community in northern California from which they'll set out Monday or Tuesday.
They'll traverse more than 150 miles of terrain over several days en route to Marysville, a city near Sacramento where one of Lynn's cousins lives.
From there, they'll cross through Colorado, hoping to arrive in Indiana by November to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Lynn's parents.
Then they'll continue on to New Bern, N.C., near where the Tuggles' son serves in the United States Marine Corps.
Maybe they'll even brave the Appalachian Trail to Maine so Leif can visit his daughter.
They'll travel no more than 50 miles each day. They'll sleep under the stars, or at church lodgings if they're available, or with strangers who invite them into their homes.
"We don't have all the answers," Lynn says. "Just the people that God puts in front of us."
Ranch dressing
Tim rests his elbow on the hood of a dark green Chevy truck as the afternoon sun beats down on a ranch near Round Mountain Road. His smudgy button-down shirt is tucked into soiled blue jeans, which travel down to the spurs at his feet.
He smiles. Life, at this moment, is simple.
"None of us can determine God's will," Tim says. "I do what He wants me to do today."
Tim grew up in Covington, Ind., a tiny city not far from the Illinois border whose population is smaller than that of some urban high schools. Lynn was raised there as well, which is how they've known each other since kindergarten. Tim loved chasing her all over the playground, both of them saving some energy to ride horses throughout early childhood.
He and Lynn, both 50 years old, eventually married eight years ago.
"She's my best friend to this day," Tim says.
He moved to California six years ago, mostly because his carpentry skills were in demand. Lynn, a longtime hospice nurse, soon followed. They began renting a home in northwest Bakersfield, keeping the horses they acquired on a close friend's ranch.
The horses -- Cher, Freedom, Sundance, Casper, Toby and Brendie -- have been conditioned over the last few weeks with 25-mile outings in nearby Caliente.
"They better become very good friends," Lynn says, "because they've got 3,000 miles together."
A new Leif
Leif's covered wagon, which won't be taken on the trip because it's not suitable for hilly terrain, stands tall in the sunlight.
On the side of the wagon, the words of Proverbs 3:6 are painted in white on a small wooden slab: "in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Leif, an upbeat 29-year-old horseshoer, has just returned from Maine, where he was visiting his 5-year-old daughter for the first time in two years and reconciling his relationship with his ex-wife.
When Leif settled in Bakersfield last year, he placed an ad in The Californian soliciting work. At the same time, Tim and Lynn coincidentally received the newspaper for a few days by mistake. Tim had been looking for a horseshoer, so he called Leif when he saw the ad. The two have been inseparable ever since.
Leif says he's just grateful to God for the circumstances that gave him such a good friend. And although he wasn't planning on making the trip with the Tuggles, they quickly convinced him otherwise.
"I told him, 'Thank you for trusting us, but you're gonna be there,'" Tim says.
'The most wonderful idea'
It was a warm spring evening at Lake Ming, the setting sun inching slowly toward the horizon.
Tim, Leif and friend Max Koenig were returning home on horseback, taking in the world around them, enjoying the majesty of it all.
They contemplated a trek of life-changing proportions, perhaps expecting the idea to die in the oncoming darkness.
It didn't. The topic resurfaced in May during a conversation between Tim and Leif, who agreed that Lynn would approve of their whimsical dream if it was truly meant to be. She had an answer within seconds.
"I like my comfort zone -- I hate to move," Lynn says. "But I said, 'I think this is the most wonderful idea in the world.'"
Just a few months earlier, Lynn wouldn't have had the same response.
In 2003, a car accident left her with two broken vertebrae in her neck and one crushing new fear of horseback riding. She went years without mounting a horse. Then, a few months ago -- just before she was approached by Tim and Leif -- Lynn regained the courage to get back in the saddle.
At an estate sale last weekend, Tim and Lynn parted with almost everything they own. They sold sentimental collectibles and donated items to charity. They came away with about $1,500.
They kept some clothes, sleeping bags, canned food, fishing poles and, of course, their equestrian equipment. Family pictures and important documents will be kept safe with family.
Tim will still have his cell phone and Lynn her laptop, but they don't seem worried about carrying on without most of their material belongings.
"This is to glorify the kingdom of God," Tim says.
'A true leap of faith'
The Tuggles' plan has been met with a broad spectrum of reactions.
Impressed and inspired. Perplexed and pessimistic. Surprised and supportive. Completely overwhelmed.
Lynn says it's taken some time for friends and family members to wrap their heads around her unusual endeavor.
"When people hear about it they say 'Wow,' but then they digest it and say 'WOW!'" Lynn says. "Almost everybody has been excited and encouraging. Some people don't understand a true leap of faith, but we accept that."
Calvin Guillory Jr., an assistant pastor at The Oaks Community Church, says the Tuggles approached him one day after services to share their plans.
"I said, 'If you really feel God is leading you, I'm not the man to stand in your way," recalls Guillory.
Sure, there will be challenges -- crossing rivers, avoiding rainstorms, finding food and water for the horses, relying on the good graces of others -- but the spiritual rewards could be even greater.
"I'm envious," says Koenig, a local attorney. "It's a neat adventure."
The Tuggles might settle in Maine, or return to their roots in Indiana, or come back to Bakersfield, or none of the above. They don't seem burdened by the weight of uncertainty.
"We'll let God have the reins," Lynn says.
