Sunday, December 3, 2023 – Long, Tiring Day, But Small Trailer Retrieved!

Hi Sweetie,
What a day! Set my alarm for 6:15, had breakfast and got the horses and Lola fed, and managed to leave around 7:20. Without stops the trip was just over 3 1/2 hours, so I arrived at exactly 11:00. First thing I did was try to start the Buick, but the battery was dead flat, so I put the truck jumpers on and let it charge for awhile. One of the tires (brand new) was flat for some reason, so I got the compressor going and got that one up, plus topped off the other three. Let my sister-in-law know I was there, and she was thoughtful enough to have saved a couple of T-bone steak bones for Lola! They were in a bag not quite big enough for them, so they were sticking out a bit, and would you believe, I put them right on the console in the truck and she never touched them, even though she was alone with them for a long time! What a good girl! Then I went and checked on the little horse trailer, I took out a tractor tire that was in the back, not sure exactly why that was in there, but if it's useable it should stay with the tractor there anyway, and if it's not useable, I sure don't need to be carrying it around! Of course, the trailer is all moldy again, not surprisingly, so washing that will be on the agenda sometime this week. I checked the tires on that and found one that was about 40 lbs. too low, but the others were acceptable without a load. By then, I figured the Buick was charged enough, and sure enough, I was able to start it, albeit reluctantly. It ran, but it stalls out when you take your foot off the gas, just like before, so it will have to warm up for 10-15 minutes before it will run in gear. I did roll it a bit to get it off the same flat spot in the tires, it moved in neutral easily enough. Finally, I hooked up the trailer and headed down the road, but something didn't feel right. I pulled over, and realized I had forgotten the block for putting the jack on, so I ran back (I was only a mile away), and when I got there I jacked up the trailer off the hitch and realized it was only a 2" hitch, too small. So then I went through a whole series of exercises trying to swap out the 2" hitch with my other 2 3/8" hitch, just about killing myself in the process. I got literally no help from my brother, other than him lending me a pipe wrench and suggesting I go to Tractor Supply and buy a new receiver. Well I didn't have time for that, so I finally pulled out another receiver that I had, and that ball came off immediately. Then the light bulb went off in my head. The original configuration of the truck to trailer was a 4" drop with a 2 3/8" ball, but I had changed it to a 2" ball when I used his trailer to move my tractor to his place. That didn't work, though, because his trailer was too low to reach the hitch, so I went to Tractor Supply and bought a 6" drop, which evidently only came with the ball already on it, which explains why I couldn't get the damn thing off, because it had been put together in the factory. So finally I remembered the series of events, got out my 4" drop, and that 2" ball came right off with the first twist, and I was finally able to get a working hitch, which was exactly what the original configuration had been. Whew! I worked up such a sweat, and wasted so much time, it was 1:20 by the time I finally pulled out of there. That would make it a VERY close call to arriving back at camp before dark, which was my goal, though originally I thought I'd be there long before 4:00 if I had been able to stay on schedule. I took one quick stop to top off my fuel tank, just because I didn't want any more stress about it getting low, and another quick stop at a Publix to get a couple of cartons of grapefruit juice, the one commodity I was low on, but that only took about seven minutes. As it turned out, I arrived back just before sunset, so I had plenty of dusk light to get the horses fed. I was exhausted by then! Had just enough energy to finish off my homemade chicken soup (which was lovely but I'm glad it's done, I'm ready for a change), and settled down for the evening. I finally gave Lola the first of her bones, which she thoroughly enjoyed! Unfortunately I chose an excruciatingly boring movie that I fell asleep to, but now I'm more that ready for my shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!