Nothing would thrill Shawn more than dreaming about going out west. "The two times Uncle Ire and Vicky came to our house, I can almost tell you every word my uncle told us about the west. He seemed to be speaking just to me. My insides burned for days after he left and my mind has been full of pictures of green open plains, high stark cliffs, Indian horses running free, great herds of buffalo and cattle, and rivers running wild."