Hiya Babe!
Another good night sleep, followed by a busy day! After chores and breakfast, I arranged for a hay pickup, and learned that my tires had arrived at Discount, so worked that all into the afternoon schedule. Meanwhile in the morning, I outfitted my new saddle, which took some imagination since it doesn't have a horn, which meant my horn bag and both saddle covers, which had horn straps on them, had to be figured out. It feels a bit smaller, but I think that might be a good thing, since the saddle I've been using was the bigger of the saddles we had. After I thought I had my configuration, Flash and I headed out on a short ride just to see how it went. I made a few adjustments, but was surprised by how steep the trails right out of camp were, and I didn't bother to put on his breast collar, which I soon regretted. Fortunately, we went less than three miles, but part of that was on a trail that was apparently closed, and we had to work a bit to get around some downed trees, but managed just fine. We only went less than three miles, but it was enough for my purpose. Got back to camp, got him put away, then went about removing the two tires I had planned to changed today. Getting the spare off was no problem, but once I jacked up the right rear and started to get off that old tire, I ran into some problems. The first couple of lug nuts came off easy, then got a little harder, until I had all the nuts off except for one. One bloody nut that just refused to come off. I tried everything I could with the tools I had, but I needed either an air wrench or a breaker bar, neither of which I had. In desperation, I headed down to the other campground, where I asked the hosts if they had either of those things, and unfortunately the answer was no, so I headed to the office to pay for my stay, and also to ask for those things. Sorry to say, the girl at the counter was quite unwilling to help, even told me they wouldn't help folks even if they did have the tools to help! Sad commentary on the stewards of "public" lands. Anyway, at that point I called my insurance company, since I have road service coverage and was desperate, then headed back to camp so I could meet them there. After playing robo-round with their phone service (very disappointed in you, Progressive!), I was told the service provider would call me, but they never did. Not long after that, however, the campground hosts from the other campground came around, having discovered something that would serve as a breaker bar, and before long, we had that final lug nut loose! Yay! I managed to make my appointment to pick up hay (which I was in danger of missing due to the delay), and then headed down to Discount tire to get my two wheels changed out. That took longer than previous stores, but I wasn't in any hurry, and they got it done. He also added a warranty to the tires, so apparently if any of the fail during the next ten years, they'll be repaired or replaced for free! Sweet! I hope I remember that next time one fails! Got back to camp and started to put the first tire on, when the campground hosts swung by again to see how I was doing, and came to help, which was much appreciated! We got the two new tires on in short order, though once again, there was ONE lug nut that wouldn't come off, but with the breaker bar, we managed it pretty quickly. The biggest problem was with the spare, we couldn't get it on the spare rack without deflating it down to about 30 lbs., so I'm going to have to fill it back up at some point. At least that job is done! All four tires are new and manufactured within a few month from each other, so hopefully I won't have any more tire problems for four or five years! The hosts left with my thanks, then I unloaded the six bales of hay and put them away under the gooseneck. I only bought six because the haymaker said he'd be baling new hay starting tomorrow, so I'm more than happy to wait for that! Turns out he's a friend of one of the managers at the ride I'm working in a couple of weeks! Small world! Anyway, finally finished off the day, settled down for the evening, ready for bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
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