Disconnected the pickup from the RV so that we could drop off the van at the body shop, then Hubby and I did some more essential shopping. Still windy, still had trouble sleeping last night because of it, looking forward to calmer weather soon!

Had a rough night’s sleep, as there was a strong wind blowing on and off most of the night, so it felt like we were at sea in a storm. I spent the day running around Carson City getting estimates from body shops for the van, and settled on a guy names Peter, at Battle Born at the south end of the city. He was very helpful, and could take the van in tomorrow, plus he had the best prices, and offered to repaint the left side of the van to take care of the paint that was peeling along the roof line for just an extra $200 for the entire extended quarter panel (not covered by insurance). Managed to get everything approved through my insurance company, so at least that is settled. Looking forward to getting the van back to normal, or even better! Hubby spent the day doing a few chores, servicing the generators, after learning he had put heavier oil in that was called for, which explains why we’ve had a little more trouble starting them than usual. Usually it only takes one or two pulls on these little Honda 2000’s, and we though the trouble was caused by altitude, but we haven’t been in altitude for a while, and were still having the problem. After digging around in the manual a bit, he decided to go with thinner oil, which I picked up while I was out today. Other than the wind, a nice day today!

After our usual Sunday breakfast of blueberry pancakes, I saddled up Apollo and headed out to the arena, with Hubby walking Clio along to watch. We spent about 45 minutes going around at difference paces, getting him warmed up before I was ready to try a canter. On a lunge line, he kept bucking up every time I asked him to go into a canter, but eventually he settled down. Once I mounted, I jogged him around quite a while, weaving him around barrels and along the fence before I finally felt confident enough to canter, but when I finally asked him, he was perfect! I was careful to leave his reins plenty loose, because I think part of the problem may have been me pulling him too tight (not surprisingly due to my uncertainty), which caused him to shake his head and do his little jump. I was also working harder on keeping my feet forward, I think my feet may be too far back and that’s why I lose my balance whenever he does something funky. As much riding as I do, I still don’t consider myself more than an average, moderate rider, but by the end of the session, I felt a lot better about both of us. I plan on doing this again before we leave here, the arena is a great bonus at this place!

Took a ride over to another so-called horse camp just up the road at the Lahontan State Recreation Area, but it was little more than an open parking lot next to a vault toilet with some corrals built behind it. Because it’s right next to the Carson River, I thought it would be an alternative place to try, particularly since they’re kicking us out of the Scout Camp on Sunday for a group that’s coming in on Tuesday (go figure). Anyway, we decided this was not a viable option, because the river is dry and the nearest water would be Buckland Station again, and that’s quite a ways off from there. I started calling around again, and fortunately finally got someone from Washoe Lake State Park who knew what was going on. I had previously called there and had been told that the only overnight horse facilities they had was the group area, and that we would be charged the group rate of $50 no matter that it is just the two of us. This new person, who sounded more like she knew what she was talking about, said they do have an area for single campers at the regular camping fee of $17/night. Finally, an option that will work out well! Lake Washoe has some nice trails throughout, and we could get in several days of riding, depending on how long we decide to stay. We need to stay at least through Tuesday, because that’s when our first shipment of parts comes in to the RV dealer in Carson City, though I just learned our second item wasn’t in stock and will be another week in coming. We were considering skipping it altogether and having them ship the parts later when we settled down, but now we have a place to stay, who knows? We may decide to stay the extra week.

Woke up to find a ranger writing up pay envelopes for both vehicles, had a long discussion with him about it, before he agreed to take my issue (of paying for a full second vehicle) to his boss, who was the one that told me “tow” vehicles didn’t have to pay a fee. Anyway, he did tell me that there was water at Buckland station, which is just over the bridge on the main road, barely a mile away, rather than going all the way into the park to the dump station, so after breakfast, Hubby took the horse trailer and the two portable rain barrels to fill those up, while I spent the day working on the computer and doing paperwork. I have 4 bars of 4G on my phone, but it’s still dropping calls on me for some reason. Internet’s working fine, though, so I got some work done. Had another pleasant evening, looking forward to our ride tomorrow, and finally achieving our goal of having ridden in all 50 states!!

After the constant rain over the weekend, the spigot nearest to us was working well today, so I put a long hose on it and managed to get almost ¾ of a tank of fresh water, which I promptly used to do four loads of laundry under a very breezy, sunny, quick drying day. Eventually the hose didn’t have enough pressure to fill up the tank, but at least I managed to get the job done! Hubby, meanwhile, ran down into town for gas and groceries to keep us going for the rest of the week, and to reconnoiter our exit route for whenever we leave. It’s forecast to be quite chilly until Thursday, then warming up nicely for the weekend, so we’re considering staying until next Monday, since we have all that we need here, and it’s free, and the only downside has been the very cold nights, with even a freeze warning for the next few nights. Just need to bundle up and keep warm!