Archives for January 2014

After a slow start to the day, we finally got the horses loaded up and heading out the Pedernales Park, where we had estimated the 8 mile ride would take just under 3 hours, so we carefully timed it out so that we would be finished by 4, so that we would have time to get to my niece’s basketball game. The best laid plans, however… We arrived to discover that the parking area next to the trailhead where the planned ride would begin didn’t allow horse trailers to park there (go figure). We were only allowed to park in the same north parking lot that we parked in last time. The only problem with that was that it added a couple of miles (and thus almost another hour) to the ride, which meant we wouldn’t be done in time. After much discussion, logic and pleading (not to mention the park was practically empty anyway), we lost the argument to a bureaucrat worrying about liability. I thought Texas was better than this, but alas, the liability avoidance routine has spread even here. We got a refund and headed home, spend the rest of the afternoon in mundane routine stuff, then headed to the b-ball game, which her team won (the first win we’ve seen since we’ve been here!) I trust we’ll have better luck riding tomorrow, but it won’t be back at Pedernales!

Dropped our little canine Silly Billy off at the vet for some dental work, picked up the van at L&L Automotive, then came home for a while, before deciding to run down to Walmart for a couple of tires. When they worked on the van, they put the best tires on front, but unfortunately, that meant the drive wheels wouldn’t have much traction, and considering the kind of places we sometimes drive, we need all the traction we can get! After doing a little research, we realized the oldest tires were from Feber 2006, so it was time to change them out anyway, even though they had a little tread left on them. We traded them for a couple of Goodyear Wranger Authorities (a Walmart exclusive) so they would match what we already had, and would now have good traction all around. Also had the oil changed while we were at it, then we headed back and picked up Billy at the vet at 4:00. I have to say, the van drives like new! It’s pulled to the right for so long because of a bad alignment when we got the last tires, we didn’t think it would ever be right, but these guys as L&L fixed it perfectly! Rolls along so well, I’m sure we’ll get better gas mileage, too. The vet cleaned Billy’s teeth nice and white, but also had to remove some of the smaller ones because they were loose or the root was exposed, and they did a nice trim on his toes as well. Still a bit woozy from the anesthetic, but we got him home and he slept the rest of the night. An expensive but necessary day.

Did some running around, down to Tractor Supply for propane and Home Depot for some piping, learned the van wouldn’t be ready until late in the afternoon so we told them we’d get it tomorrow, and had a very delicious chili dinner at my brother’s house over by Lake Travis.

Took the van in to the shop to check the alignment, and by the time they were done inspecting it, it had a bunch of things that needed doing! New rotors, new brake pads, new water pump, new tie rod, and on and on. Not really happy about it, but after 10 years and almost 150K miles on it, it’s time to get a little work done on it, and there’s no time like the present! Even considered looking at new vans, but decided we’ll be slowing down a bit once we accomplish State #48 this spring, and this one ought to be good for another 100K miles. Engine’s good, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed it’s worth the investment. Ran around getting feed, went to Tractor Supply to get our propane tank filled (one went dry in the middle of the night, leaving us to freeze by morning : -), but they were completely out of it. Solved some other problems and did some work on the computer, so it was a pretty full day! The horses spent the day hanging out in the paddock, and since we don’t have the van to connect the horse trailer to, they’ll have to spend the night out there as well. Fortunately, it’s only supposed to get down into the mid 30s tonight, as opposed to the teens last night (their water had an inch of ice on it again this morning), so hopefully they’ll be comfortable enough with their winter blankets on.

Woke up with a flat airbed this morning, my side had a slow leak the last couple of night, which evidently became a big leak overnight! Had to pump it up a few times through the night, unfortunately. Thick ice on the horses’ water this morning that Hubby had to take a hammer to. They’ve been enjoying being in the corral, which is nice to watch, but of course they’ve had their winter blankets on the whole time. Did some running around today, with more to do tomorrow. Weather forecast says warmer temps coming over the next few days, though with an increase in the chances of rain. Still hoping to get a few more rides in this week!

Strong, cold winds came in overnight, again, waking up to freezing weather after our beautiful 60’s yesterday, darn it! Wind rattled around so much it kept us awake during the night for a while. Even the sun didn’t seem to warm it up much, with bitterly cold winds from the north. I can’t even imagine how bad it must be in the northern plains right now! Regardless of the chilly weather, Hubby and I were determined to put up our new electric corral, a kit we bought from Valley Vet and had had delivered last week. We bought the largest portable corral we could, as most of them only seemed to provide about a 30′ by 30′ space, which would be a bit crowded for our two guys. The most time-consuming thing about it was wrapping the polytape onto the spindle provided! We put up the 12 plastic posts in no time, counting about 5 yards between them as recommended, and wound two strands of the poly tape, with PLENTY leftover for even a bigger corral, or extra strands as needed. Despite the wind blowing at about 25 mph, the posts and strands held easily, and it only took moments to stick in the ground post and hook up the charger, which claims to achieve 6000 V with just two D batteries! Not wanting to draw anything off the batteries, we didn’t actually test it by touching it, because the only thing it needs to do is deter the horses, and the strands themselves will do that, hopefully, even without the charger. The whole process only took about 10-15 minutes or so, and that was trying to figure it all out as we went. Now we could easily do it in a fraction of that time. We retrieved the horses from their anchors and put them inside, Clio first, and Apollo got so excited he kicked and leaped and jumped around like a kid, glad to be off this anchor. They spent the rest of the day grazing around the space, which we figure is easily about 60′ by 60′. No one tried to escape, and they seemed quite happy at the whole idea. Now we can easily move the corral around my brother’s big yard every few days, so that it won’t get too worn down, and the “fertilizer” will be more easily spread around : -). Glad to get it finished and get back in to the warmth indoors! Enjoyed some football and dinner with my brother before retiring back to the RV, bracing for 20 degree weather. Brrrr!