Monday, August 10, 2020 – Travel Day to Whitewater Memorial-What a Day!

Hey Sweetie,
What a day! Lola kept waking me up all night, it was a miracle I got any sleep at all, then when I got up with the alarm, it just started pouring with rain, which last half an hour, but then started clearing up nicely, so I waited it out, having breakfast and getting the inside of the trailer ready to travel. At 8:00 I started calling tire places, and finally on the fourth call I found someone who was only about 10 miles out of my way, a Firestone dealer that had a Hancook tire in my size. I figured since it was only a spare it didn’t need to be the same as the rest, I’ll order on of those online and have it fitted later. So I got everything packed up, and was leaving the dump by 9:30, a little ahead of schedule, which I needed to do. I arrived at the tire place (Pomps in Monticello), and they went to work almost immediately, and I was out of there in about an hour, thank goodness. The modified route actually took me on more interstates, so that was a plus. And my brakes are working MUCH better, though there was a time or two when a light changed suddenly that made me buck a little. There was a lot of construction, but it didn’t slow me down too much. I arrived in Richmond (I know, this all sounds like Virginia, but I’m in Indiana!), I stopped at the Meijer’s and did all my shopping. I found most of what I needed, and got a couple more bottles of Joint Juice (I’m determined to have a good supply since they’ve become so hard to find!), and I would have gotten more but that’s all they had. Finally, at around 4:00 I was heading to camp, arriving about 35 minutes later. All went well with my check-in, and then I headed back to the horse camp. The roads were very narrow, one way and lots of old trees, quite lovely but a little tricky. Then I found my spot and started to back in, but I had a big tree to go around, and I missed the gravel, of which there wasn’t much, by about a foot, and after several attempts to get it right, I ended up getting stuck. Right next to the gravel it was very muddy, and there was no way to turn that sharp (well, I was concerned about how hard it is on the tires, making 90 degree turns), and then because the trailer wheels sank into the mud on one side, then the bottom of the trailer started scraping along the asphalt, then my truck tires started slipping because I was off the asphalt trying to make that sharp turn… Well, long story short, I got stuck. I couldn’t move at all. So, I unhooked the truck and straightened it out and tried to move it in a straight line, and that didn’t work. Then I unhooked again and drove up to the gatehouse to see if they had any equipment, like a tractor or something, that could help move me. They said they weren’t allowed because of the liability. Then I remembered that my insurance policy on the trailer included road service, so I called them, and within 5 minutes they had a wrecker on the way! They arrived about 45 minutes later (about 30 minutes ahead of a huge storm that was moving in), and after a couple of tries, we managed to get the trailer back on the road, me hooked up to the trailer, and then I managed to back it up into the spot perfectly. Too bad I couldn’t do that the first time! Oh, and meanwhile, I was arranging to sell the little trailer during that whole mess! Busy, crazy day! I have a couple of guys and an older woman camping next to me, and they had a lot of fun sitting on a picnic table watching what was going on. They weren’t expecting so much entertainment! They seem nice, I had chatted with them before, they were our riding when I first arrived and came back to see the road blocked with my trailer. They offered to help, but I had already arranged for the wrecker, which was safer anyway. By now it was starting to get dark, both because the storm was getting close, and because it was after 9:00, but I managed to do most of my chores while I was waiting for the wrecker. Got a fence up, fed the horses, cleared out the back of the trailer, filled up with water, all the usual mundane stuff, then once the trailer was in position, I did my indoor stuff, which isn’t much. So late now, and I’m pretty tired (and my back is still giving me an occasional twinge when I move wrong), so I’m off to shower and bed pretty quick here. Good night, my darling! Love you!