Archives for October 2014

Set the alarm for before the crack of dawn, and dawn was just starting to break as we got up and ready to go. We had decided to pick up breakfast on the road, not even making coffee, so that we could get out early. Managed to get out of the campsite by 7:30, but ran into a glitch at the dump, which we eventually solved, but it slowed us down. A quick stop in Carson City to pick up breakfast before hitting the highway, heading east on 50 to 95A, then south. Roads were good, straight and pretty empty, and things were going fine until after we passed Yerington, when suddenly I blew a tire on the RV. This is the first tire we’ve lost on the Open Range, and it was probably because we didn’t empty our gray water at the dump this morning, a contributing factor at least. Fortunately, we happened to be right in front of a gas station (a rare occurrence on this route, so it was great luck), so we pulled in and got to work. Twenty minutes later, the tire was changed and we were on our way again. When we reached Tonopah about 100 miles later, I found a tire store that had a replacement, so while Hubby has getting lunch to go at a casino just up the road, I got the new tire remounted and back in place under the RV. We’ll mount it ourselves later when we have a little more time. We both finished about the same time, miraculously, and I grabbed my lunch and we headed out again, feeling relieved we had a spare again. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and despite all the delays, we still managed to pull into Amargosa Valley RV Park by 4:45. Glen the manager welcomed us, and told us that we could put the horses inside the fence around the residence, rather than putting up a portable fence. It was quite a large space, though I offered to put the portable corral inside to keep them from wandering too much, but they seemed to think it would be all right, so we let them go. Fed them, set up the RV, and since the horses had a safe place, Hubby decided we could stay an extra day to visit Death Valley National Park tomorrow. That prompted him to set up the satellite dish, which he managed to do just before dark, with a beautiful sunset behind him. Settled down for the evening, nowhere near as exhausted as we though we would be considering the long drive and the extra work of dealing with a flat tire. Guess we’re building up our stamina again! Won’t be long out of bed, though : -)

Spent the day doing laundry and packing up for tomorrow’s departure. Hubby decided to grease all the bearings on all the vehicles, and to check everything including all the tires. Unfortunately, our small air compressor had failed a few months ago, and we’ve had a hard time finding a replacement, but finally I found one at Home Depot in Carson City, so he ran down and picked it up, as well as filling a propane tank and doing a number of other errands. He got back, filled one tire, then went to fill a second tire, and the new compressor broke! He had to run back down to Home Depot again and replace it with yet another one, before getting back and attempting to finish the job before it got too late. Meanwhile, I did most of the packing, and in the end, it was a very long day, only just finishing up hooking up the vehicles at dusk. Finally settled down for the evening, not thrilled that it was such a stressful day, knowing tomorrow is the longest day of driving we’ve done in a very long time. Definitely getting into bed early tonight!

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!