Saturday, May 2, 2026 – Crossing Guard and Bridge Duties, Plus New Tire

Hey Babe,
A better night sleep, surprisingly, but not long enough! Woke up with the alarm at 5:45, had a quick breakfast and chores, including feeding Gayla’s horse next door, then was at my assigned post by 7:15, though no horses showed up until after 8:15, so I was wondering if I was in the right place after awhile! Stayed there until 11:00, about an hour after the last horse went by, then came back to the trailer and walked Lola. Originally I was going to go directly to the bridge and relieve Steve, so that he could take advantage of a rare photo shoot with the Biltmore Mansion in the background, a special commemorative offering because it’s the 30th anniversary of the ride, but he had someone else with him that said she could take care of it, so not to come. I picked up lunch and was at the bridge at my assigned time of 12:00, and was there until a bit after 2:00, when Steve came back and insisted I go get my tire, which I learned had been delivered earlier in the morning, so I headed out to do just that. Arrived at Discount Tire, which happened to be right next door to a Walmart, so while they were mounting my new tire, I ran over and picked up a couple of things that I needed to get. Before I even got to the checkout, I got a text that my tire was ready, so I headed straight back and picked it up. Stopped in town and topped off with diesel, even though the price here in NC is over fifty cents more per gallon, but it should be enough to get me to my next stop. Got back to camp just before 4:00, and moments later, Art arrived and took Lola for a walk. I then went about replacing the tire, but first I had to fix my bottle jack. It had been leaking, so it wouldn’t lift as high as I needed, so I had to revive it with some transmission fluid, though I should probably get some actual hydraulic fluid and change it out. Anyway, that fixed the problem, and by the time Art came back, I had the tire changed. I noticed a wire that seemed to not connect to anything, thought maybe it was for the brake, but I couldn’t figure out where it might go at the moment, may have to revisit that. Got a couple of the Biltmore gals to help me get the spare back in, and this morning, I ordered two of the same kind of tires from a Discount Tire in Indiana, near where I’ll be in a couple of weeks, so I’ll finally be back to a full set of identical tires with just about the same age on them, so hopefully, I can avoid any blowouts for a few years. Did some packing, put all the hoses away, filled up my trailer water from the truck, and topped off the horses’ water, which will hopefully be enough to get us through Monday when we leave. I also put the horses’ blankets on, since the forecast is for temps in the mid-30’s tonight. Thankfully, it never rained today, despite forecasts all week of certain rain, though it was chilly and windy all day, good conditions for an endurance ride, but not so much for hanging around on the edge of a road as a crossing guard. Spent most of my time in the truck trying to stay warm, even though I had about six layers of clothes on. Finally asked about our so-called “pizza night” which I was told I would be notified about and never was, only to learn that almost all of it was gone, but if I came down to the mess tent, they had a couple of leftover pieces I could have! I lit up the oven before I went down, and re-heated two slices when I got back, which was enough. Still couldn’t get anything on the TV, so I ended up watching Melania, which I had downloaded onto my tablet before going to Africa. A bit self-serving, but an interesting take on the behind the scenes lead-up to Trump’s inauguration in 2025. Anyway, had a couple of celebratory bourbons, now I’m headed to shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!