Daylight was calling me out of bed early, just after six, but I got up to consult the internet to remind me of how to adjust the brakes. As I mentioned, it was clear they needed it when we came down the hill from home, and I've been schooled in it from many sources already, but I wanted one last shot at instruction before we started the job. I did some of the other things I needed to do, like checking the lug nuts and the air pressure (all good), and getting out the tools for the brake job. Hubby managed to get up by 8:00, and we organized cereal for breakfast on the road and finally got started on the brake job. We used the JiffyJack to raise each wheel, and I adjusted each brake accordingly (and boy, did they need adjusting, no surprise there!), and it only took us about an hour to get it done. I'm sure it will take less time next time, as today we still had to figure a few things out, but the important thing is, we got it done!! Once we finished that, we had to take a trip to the dump, which is another stupid design they have here. To get it on the correct side of the trailer, you had to either go out on the road and turn in at the end of the other campground, but they had put up a couple of rebar posts quite close to the side of the driveway, so close that I didn't think I could make the turn with the long unit and avoid the culvert as well, or the other option was to turn up by the barn and back all the way down to the dump, which is what we ended up doing. Once we did that it was back to the barn to load up the horses, with Apollo climbing right it (he knows that breakfast is in there) and Flash still giving me a little bit of a hard time, but after a few minutes, Hubby came to the rescue, standing off to one side and then giving Flash a quick slap on his rump at just the right moment, and Flash went in, where he discovered his breakfast waiting, which I trust will be an incentive for him next time! A lot less time today than last Sunday, so I'm sure it won't be long before he'll get used to it and jump right in like Apollo. Off we went, with much more confident in my brakes going down the mountain than I would have had before! Sure enough, we got to the bottom with no problem, and the truck seemed a bit lighter and more manageable than before, so I'm glad we took out the extra weight, it seems to have made a big difference. Our route took us essentially cross-country, right into the route we would have taken if we had left from home, which seemed very appropriate somehow. Since the trip was less than 160 miles and we had a full tank of fuel, we made it with only one quick stop at the Dairy Queen for a couple of BLT's to go at lunchtime, then got to Honey Creek Horse Camp before 2:00, perfect! The site we had been assigned, however, had virtually no cell phone signal, but a walk around the camp indicated a better signal across the bathhouse and office, and there was a really nice long level site there (#8). I learned from other campers that the folks here are pretty laid back, and one of them gave me the cell phone number of one of the owners (who were off-site when we arrived), and he gave me permission to park anywhere we wanted, so we set up in #8 in no time. Perfectly level, all the way around, thank goodness! Most of the sites have pipe corrals in the back, and we were also right next to the barn, though the stalls were pretty small, but we opted to highline our guys between a couple of trees, again, because all indications were the owners are happy with whatever the campers want to do, which is very relaxing! Most of the other campers had dogs, so we let Lola out of the truck and she promptly made the rounds of everyone who was in camp, teaching them how to throw sticks for her. She's a very good human trainer, our Lola! Since we weren't dialyzing today (and in fact, we got permission from the clinic to change to a four day a week schedule, giving Hubby yet another 4 days a month off), I even managed to get up the screen room and get us all settled in, and by cocktail hour we were sitting in our cushioned gravity chairs with our beer and wine, with Lola playing with her machine or the kids nearby, watching the world go by! Eventually the owners arrived, got themselves a drink and sat in a couple of swing seats across from us, surrounded by their pack of little dogs and one lab mix. The husband started to throw a ball to the lab with a chucker, and that was more than Lola could stand, she had to go out and start playing, too, and eventually, I went out and chatted, paid for the 10 days we plan on being here, and continuing to relax for the evening. Wonderful! So glad to be back on the road again, at last!!
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