Day 2166

 We got up at 8, did the pet stuff, and had breakfast.  Then it was hook up the trailer.  It took some extra time because of having to deal with draining the tanks and putting the hose away.  Still, we were out by 9:15.

The drive up was nice.  Traffic was pretty nice due to it being a Sunday.  We  got home about 11.

The first things to do were put the cats in the cat room, turn on the refrigerator and hot water, and turn on the pump all of that went well.  Parking the trailer didn't.  Before I could begin I had to get out the weedeater and cut the grass around the boundary stones and the stones by the trailer parking.  The grass is 2.5 feet high and we couldn't see them.

It took at least an hour to park the trailer.  I just couldn't get it right.  Ellen alternated between being a help and a hindrance.  When I did get it parked I had to bring down a load of gravel to level it off.  Did I mention that by that tie it was over 90?

We spent the next hour moving stuff from the trailer to the house.  We moved clothes, drugs, electronics, and some food.  We've got a lot more to move.  By then we were so tired that we couldn't do anymore.  We both took showers.  I got the car started and we went to Cheddars.  It was 3 in the afternoon, but we had to wait half an hour for a table.  I blame Biden.

After Cheddars we went back home.  We moved some more stuff from the trailer.  All of it was basics like cat food and the rest of the electronics.

After the move I tried to get the TV to work.  It turns on, but it won't recognize a signal.  At least I think that's what's wrong.  The Blu-ray play appears to have crapped out, so I can't confirm it.  I tried pulling the power.  That's worked before, but it didn't work this time.

I had a talk with Dan.  Tony had called him ranting about the condo.  He also said he was coming to Portland, which worried Dan.  I told Dan not to worry.  I'll call Tony in a couple of days when things settle down.

I spent the rest of the night surfing.  Our internet isn't super fast, but it's a lot faster than Verizon.

Day 2165

 We didn't get up until 9:30.  That still gave us just enough time to have breakfast, do pet stuff, and get to Ellen's match at 10:30.

She didn't shoot really well, but better than the other matches.  Mike Wilgus' daughter was on Ellen's squad.  She ran the 50.  She powdered almost every target.

When we were finished we went back to vendor's row.  We didn't buy anything, just looked at stuff.  Then we walked down to the roach coaches.  The pizza place was gone, and I don't like the Mexican place.  I did buy a $10 "healthy" milkshake.  It sucked.  We walked back to the clubhouse and had hamburgers.

After lunch we went to the practice field and shot 75 rounds or so.  It's probably the last we'll shoot in a while.  Then we went home.  I planned on draining the tanks, resting a while, and going back for the banquet.  Hah.

The sprayer in the black tank wouldn't work.  Also, it seemed like the drain pip was partially blocked.  I gave Ellen the spray stick I built and had her put 20 gallons in the tank.  That didn't seem to do much.  So we did another round with 30.  The helped a little.

We changed tactics.  We filled the shower tank with the hose and used it to back fill the black tank.  There was improvement, so we did it again.  I checked the sprayer and it was finally working.  Yeah.  We decided to flush the sink tank.  We filled it with water twice and drained it.  Finally, we filled all three tanks with 20 gallons of water and put in tank and sensor cleaner.  The whole thing took 3 hours.  So much for the banquet.

Instead I took a shower.  I really wasn't hungry, so I ate a snack.  Then I surfed and watched videos for the rest of the evening.

Day 2164

 We got up about 8, played a little games, the got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then we loaded up the truck and went to the club.

We each shot a box of practice to get accustomed with the 20 ga guns.  Then we went to the course.  We were a little early and sat in the truck for half an hour.  It was really windy.  We watched one of the trapper's umbrellas sail across a skeet field.

Ellen didn't shoot really well.  I sucked.  It was under 60 when we started.  I wore a sweatshirt.  I didn't notice that it was slick, and so was the butt pad.  The sun was slipping on my shoulder every time I shot.  It took me 4 stations or so to recognize the problem.  By then I was toast.  I still had fun though.

When we got done we stopped at HEB for bananas.  The ones we got at Target a couple of days ago were all rotten.  Then we went home.  I was looking forward to a nice lunch followed by a couple of small maintenance items and then rest.  It was not to be.

When I lifted the bed it came completely apart.  So much for my earlier fix.  At the same time Ellen announced that she'd left her purse at the HEB restroom.  We jumped in the truck and hurried back.  Of course it wasn't in the restroom and no one had turned it in.

We went back home.  I told Ellen to start cancelling things while I surveyed the damage to the bed.  She came in shortly to say that she had her purse.  I didn't say anything.  I took the bed apart, stacked up the mattress, and unpacked much of the stuff under the bed.  Then I made a repair plan and a list of things to buy.  Then it was off to Lowe's.

We bought a 2x4, three hinges, the hardware to attach everything, and a handsaw.  I had to get the saw because Lowe's saw was broken.  We had to take back ways home because of all the early rush hour traffic.

When we got home I cut the 2x4 to length.  I replaced the broken 2x2 that caused the problem.  It was a crummy piece of wood that should have been put in the scrap heap, not in a trailer.  Then I installed three new, heavier, hinges to replace the two pot metal ones that had been there.  When everything was finished it seems to work great.  We'll see.

By then I was hot, tired, and my back hurt like hell.  I took a shower.  It felt really good.  After that I sat in the recliner and watched TV.  I was too tired to eat even though I hadn't had lunch.  I finally had a sandwich about 7.  After that it was more TV until 9.  Then it was bed.

Day 2163

 We woke up about 8 and stayed in bed for a little while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was surfing as we killed time until it was time to go to the club.  We shot at 10:30.

It was pretty windy today.  The K-cup is in the trees, but there were still stations where the wind mad quite a difference in how the targets flew from pair to pair.  The targets were also a little more difficult than in some years past.  Ellen wasn't happy with how she shot, but she didn't do too bad.  I didn't shoot very well, but I'm not likely to ever again.

When we were finished we decided we wouldn't eat at the club.  Instead we went to Rudy's.  We bought brisket and sides.  Then we took them home and made sandwiches.

The rest of the afternoon was surfing.  We both took showers and got dressed for the awards banquet.  I think it's the first time this year I've worn a shirt with a collar.  The food at the banquet was great.  The speeches afterwards were kind of boring.  It didn't help that I couldn't understand some of the talkers.

Skip got the largest ovation of the evening.  I think he had the best speech, too.  To top it off he ended it with "Let's Go Brandon".  After his award they started giving out "high target awards".  Everyone who shot 10,000 or more targets got a plaque.  The called each name and the person walked up for there plaque.  There were 53 of them.  It was 9:15, so we left after the first three.

We drove home and did a little surfing before going to bed.

2162

 We woke up about 8, but didn't get up until 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After that we loaded up the truck and went to the club.

We shot about 75 rounds a piece of practice.  It was a nice day, but pretty breezy.  It was cooler, too.  That's because a thunderstorm went through last night.  There was heavy rain that woke us up a couple of times.  I even got up to see if there was any hail.  There wasn't.

After practice we did a little shopping and met some people from Salem.  Then we went to HEB for milk and Freddy's for lunch.  The last stop was Wells Cargo to replenish our cash.

I just wanted to rest for the rest of the day.  That went well.  Hooch called.  Yo had called him about the condo.  Dan wanted to update me on what was said.  Basically it's the same thing I told Yo, only Yo is confused because he's lumped paying off the note with the liens.  I don't know how to fix that.

Dinner was leftover BBQ.  We still have a little sausage left.

I sat down to watch TV for the rest of the night.  About 8 a friend of Yo's called.  He's also Yo's accountant.  He wants to get involved and wanted to get some background about the condo.  I told him what I knew.  He also wants to facilitate getting Tony financial assistance.  It was great to talk to an adult.  I hope this works out.  I emailed him the info we'd gathered on sources of assistance.

After that I took a shower and went to bed.  We shoot tomorrow at 10.

Day 2161

 We got up a little after 7, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then we loaded up the truck and went to the club.

Our first stop was the CG dealer.  He gave us a good deal on the Blazer, so we traded it inn on the CG.  then we took both of Ellen's guns to the stock guy.  We had him shorten the old gun a little and cut the new one to match.  He said he'd have it done by 2.

After that we left to go look at hobby stores.  We went to three.  The first had a lot of RC stuff, but nothing we were interested in.  The second was a model/train place.   We picked up some figures for the nieces to paint and a Chessie gondola car.  The last place was wall to wall RC.  We bought a bunch of paint and some stencils.

We decided to take the long way back that was suggested by the nav system.  I didn't notice it, but that was a good idea.  The truck did a regen while we were going back.  It finished with 13% soot.  I never noticed it happened.

We stopped for lunch at a Cajun place we'd never been at before.  It was good.  We ate too much.  After that we stopped at Target for vitamins and Best Buy for a massager for Ellen.  Then we went back to the club.  We got there exactly at 2.  We picked up the guns.  Ellen was complaining, so I had her get a massage while I bought a case for the new CG.  It came in a two gun case with one side not finished.  Who knows.

We rested a little bit at the clubhouse and then Ellen tried out her new gun on the practice field.  She didn't shoot very well, but that was kind of to be expected.  Then we went home.

We did the wash when we got home.  I'd purchased so many new t-shirts that we ran out of hangers.  Neither one of us wanted dinner, so we just ate a couple of snacks.

I watched 3 episodes of a spy series on HULU.  Half the commercials were for hard liquor.

Day 2160

 We woke up at 7, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, and hooked up.  We left at 7:55.  We didn't get far.  Just as we passed through the park gate the truck said the trailer wasn't connected.  I spent 10 or 15 minutes reconnecting the cable, connecting it to the other socket, and restarting the truck.  Nothing worked.  Finally I shut off the truck, waited for it to completely shut down, and then started it again.  That fixed things.

After that the trip was smooth.  More than half of it was on Texas highways.  Most of it was 4 lane.  It was nicer than an interstate, not traffic.  It was slower because of going through some small towns.  We still averaged about 59 mph.  We got good mileage, too.  We got 11.5 on the flat and 10.5 on the hill coountry section.

We got to the park about 2 and were on our way to nationals before 3.  We registered and bought ammo.  Then we walked vendor's row getting signatures.  Two places have the gun Ellen wants and one will take a trade in.  We'll probably buy from him tomorrow.  We also found a place to mod the stock.  Of course we bought a couple of things, too.

We were just about to leave, but decided to stop at the clubhouse and have something to drink.  We were hot and tired (it was 90), but we wanted to get acclimatized.  While we were there they set up some snacks.  We had a few.

Then we went home and went through all of the stuff in the goody bags ans shooter's envelops.  A lot of it got thrown away.  

Dinner was leftover BBQ.  It was great.  After that it was TV and bed.

Day 2159

 We woke up at 8, but stayed in bed and played games for quite a while.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  Windwalker didn't open until 10, so we spent the rest of the morning surfing.

We packed up and left for the club about 11:30 and got the club just after it opened.  The good news was that all three courses were open.  The bad news was that every station was a variation of two machines on the left, two machines on the right, or one machine on each side.  Most of the time the machines were within 30 feet or so of the stands.

The stands made up for it though.  They were all really inventive.

When we were finished we drove back to towards the park.  We stopped to top up the tank and get a late lunch at a DQ.

Trouble showed up when we got home.  When I lifted up the mattress to put the stuff away one of the hinges ripped out.  we had to take the bedclothes off the bed and stack it to the side of the bed.  Then I had to get out a lot of tools and search through my repair items for larger screws to attach the hinges.  Luckily I found them.  I didn't want to have a trip to the hardware store.

We finally got the bed put back together and everything put away.  Then it was surfing and TV.  I took an early shower.

We had snack again instead of dinner because we'd had such a late dinner.

Day 2158

 I woke up at 7 (really 5 my time) got dressed and drove to the GMC place.  I got there at 7:20.  I waited until they opened.  I had an appointment, so they took me first.

They looked at the truck and the service writer came to tell me the regen would be $300 because "it was a maintenance item".  I was pissed, but said OK.  I waited another hour or so, getting more pissed.  When they service guy came back with the bill I asked why it wasn't covered under warranty.  He went back to the tech, who said it was because I had a tuner.  I emphatically informed the service guy that it was a glorified OBDII reader, not a tuner.  He went back again and came back saying it was covered under warranty.  Yeah.

The soot level was at 0, but it quickly went up to 21%, and later to 25%.  After that it started dropping.  This is something I saw last time they did a forced regen.  I'll be watching it closely.

When I got back I had breakfast.  By then it was 10.  We loaded up the truck and went to Windwalker.  Ellen got us on the wrong road, but eventually we made it.  Shooting there was fun.  They've expanded the clubhouse and it looks great.  Only 1 and a half courses were open, but they were entertaining targets.  I took pictures of all of the stands.  I shot well, Ellen not so much.

We finished about 1:30.  Ellen found a BBQ place that was highly recommended by the locals.  We went there.  It was great.  It was situated well, too.  Afterwards it was a short drive to cheap fuel (we needed 30 gallons) and an HEB.  From there it was a straight shot to the RV park.

I sat down to watch TV when we got back.  I ended up taking a long nap.

I didn't really fell hungry for the rest of the evening, so some small snacks sufficed.

I did adjust the recoil pad on Ellen's gun.  Luckily I happened to have the two Allen wrenches required.  We'll see if it did any good tomorrow.

Day 2157

 We got up at 7, which was really 6 our time because of the time change.  Then we did pet stuff, had breakfast, and hooked up.  I'm not sure exactly when we left.

We left I40 today and started going SE on New Mexico's lousy secondary roads.  At least I didn't have to deal with trucks.  Instead we had a bunch of little towns to go through.  Some of them were almost ghost towns, a couple were pretty good size.  I don't think we averaged 55 mph today.

We had a regen at only 430 miles today.  It ran a full time towing at 65 mph.  It stopped with a 31% soot rate.  It gained 1% more every 3 miles we went into Midland.  That's trouble, the same thing that happened coming up that set the engine light.

We got to the park about 3 and set up.  It's just a gravel lot, but it's nice enough.  After setting up I took the truck to a GMC dealer.  I explained the problem.  They said it probably needed a forced regen.  I made an appointment for 7:30 tomorrow.

We stopped at Wally World for DEF and toilet paper.  We didn't really need the toilet paper.  Ellen just hadn't looked for what we had.

I wanted Rudy's for dinner.  Ellen looked up Rudy's and we drove 4+ miles to it.  That included going directly through downtown followed by a tour of the low rent part of town.  When we got there it was some dive place with the name Rudy's.  I looked it up later.  The closest Rudy's is in Lubbock.

Ellen fixed Korean stir fry from Costco for dinner.  After dinner was surfing and TV.  I looked up how to get to the club from here.  It's 25 miles and won't be easy.

I went to bed early.  I have to get up at 7, which is 5 in the time we were living in before we left Arizona.

Day 2156

 We woke up at 7:00, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, hooked up, and left.

The road quality on I40 was almost as bad as it was yesterday.  The trucks were worse because there was more of them.  I think FedEx only hires assholes for drivers.  There was one that I passed 4 times.  Each time he passed me he was only going a foot or two a minute faster than me.  That meant he created big traffic jams, at least until we got to a hill.  Then he slowed down and had to pull in behind me.  He finally passed me, pulled in front of me, and drove the exact speed I was going.  I passed him and did 70+ until I was half a mile a head.  The I dropped down to 65.  It took him quite a while to catch up.  When he did I pulled ahead of him again.

There was a whole lot of road construction with at least 3 one lane sections.  We had to wait awhile at a couple.  West bound traffic there was a mess with miles long jams.

We had luck with a regen.  Soot production has gone up.  We did a regen at about 550.  Luckily the regen started just as we were pulling into a gas station.  I filled up and the regen started when we got back on the freeway.  It finished just as we got to another single lane.  Unfortunately it only cleaned down to 23%.

Santa Rosa is a shithole.  Most of the place is closed up.  We had the best park in town.  It was lousy.  The electrical pole was so crapped up that I didn't want to hook up to it.  They wouldn't give us another place (there were plenty).

We order dinner from a BBQ delivery place that Ellen said had good reviews.  It was expensive, over $20 a plate with dessert.  The food sucked.  I had "brisket".  It was some sort of boiled beef that had never seen a smoker with some BBQ sauce on top.  The beans came out of a can.  They weren't even BBQ beans.  The baked potato came with fake butter only.

Even the cable didn't work well.  All of the broadcast channels were unwatchable.  We went to bed early.

Day 2155

 We woke up at 7:00, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, and hooked up the trailer.  We left at 8:15.

The trip itself was OK, the other people on the road sucked.  It started with someone who cut me off on the Vega freeway.  We came very close to crashing.  After that it was a nice ride until we got to Kingman.  That's where the trucks started in earnest.  We also stopped at the Petco which was a mistake.  Their pump didn't take a card so I had to just buy and estimated amount of fuel.  Then they charged Ellen $25 for a container of DEF.  I left there pissed.

For the next 150 miles it was non stop pain in the ass trucks.  I passed some of them 3 or 4 times.  A couple of times an asshole would pass me at the bottom of a hill and I would have to pass him immediately.  One asshole drove beside me for over a mile pinning me in the lane while a truck was coming on an entrance.  

About half the distance the road was really rough.  In some places there were strings of actual pot holes.  In others there were deep depressions in the pavement.  I hate trucks.

One the good side I got a little more than 10 mpg to Kingman and 11.5 for the rest of the trip.

We got in about 2.  We set up with no problem.  Then we got into a long conversation with a couple from Alaska parked next to us.  Eventually we left to explore the town.  It's a lot bigger than we thought.  We drove all over looking at the old buildings left over from the glory days of Route 66.  Unfortunately most of them were abandoned.  There was an old 50's Dairy Queen that was still in business.  We stopped and had ice cream.

After that we went home.  We fed the cats and watched TV.  Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner was TV and surfing.

Day 2154

 We woke up at 7:30, did some game playing and then got up.  We did the cat stuff and then started the laundry.  I had breakfast and then went out to drain the tanks.  It was the normal pain in the ass.

When the was was done we went to do errands.  We went to Hobby Lobby to get a replacement for the screen door latch.  Ellen had found that they carried them.  I bought 2.  Costco was next door, so we got water there.  Then I drove back to the gas station where we made a u-turn when we came in.  It had the cheapest diesel around.  It cost 22 cents less than the other places we'd seen.

I had originally planned on dong something Vegas like today, but I just didn't feel like it.  I decided to drink instead.  The bar tender at the cafe made really good mojitos.  I had three.  Then I went to the pool and sat surfing.

It began to get cold so I went back to the trailer around 4.  I sat in the recliner and fell asleep (surprise).  Ellen woke me up at 5:30 to got eat at the cafe.  I was still pretty drunk.  It was taco night.  They were good.

When we got back I tried to watch TV.  There was no guide, so I just kept flipping through channels.  Eventually I decided there was nothing on, turned off the TV, and watched videos on my tablet.

Day 2153

 We woke up at 8, played some games,and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that we surfed until the range place opened at 9:30.  I called them and confirmed that I could show up when I wanted.  So we left to go there right away.

The range was a lot of fun.  I shot three firearms - MP5, Thompson, and BAR.  They were all great.  The pace had a great collection of WWII and later armor, including a tank that had been at Iwo Jima.  We spent quite a while looking at them.

Eventually we decided to go to the strip.  We parked at the Linq even though we had to pay.  I wasn't sure the truck would fit in any of the garages.  The first stop was the Flamingo.  I didn't get a t-shirt, but we did have fun looking at the animals.

We walked down the strip from there.  We stopped at Jimmy Buffet, Hard Rock, and Coke.  We bought trinkets and t-shirts at all of the places.  I also got my mojito at Caesar's.  It was a long walk.  The weather was a little chilly, low 60's.  That was fine for walking, but pretty cold for the almost naked women on the street trying to get guys to take pictures with them.

After getting down to Coke we had to go back.  We walked through the Aria and rode a shuttle from Crystal to the Bellagio.  By then we were very tired.  We wanted to find a place to sit and drink there, but everyplace was either closed or booked.  We did sit down at a Moo slot machine.  We put in $5 and left with $22.75.  I guess that was a good substitute.  We were still tired and ended up back at Caesar's where we had a really good Italian dinner.  After that we trudged back to the Linq and went home.  We were very tired.

We got home about 6.  We fed the cats and collapsed into the recliners.  That's where we stayed for the rest of the evening.  All in all it was a good day.

Day 2152

 We woke up at 7:30, but stayed in bed to play games.  We eventually got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was surfing.  We only needed an hour an a half to get to Las Vegas.  That meant we couldn't leave until almost noon.  We hooked up and left at 11:45.

The trip down to Las Vegas was uneventful except for one thing.  The truck was getting very close to a regen.  By the time we got off the freeway in Las Vegas the soot percentage was 100%.  Ellen did her usual stellar job of navigating, telling me to take the wrong turn.  That put me on a busy 8 lane street with no place to turn around.  I drove about a mile and fortunately found a gas station to turn around in.

By then the regen had started.  That meant back on the freeway.  We continued south.  We had to be careful.We couldn't go more than 20 miles or we'd be in California.  The truck was still doing a regen when I took the last exit.  Unfortunately I had to stop at the stop sign at the end of the exit.  That caused the regen to stop at 24% soot.

We drove back north to Las Vegas and the park.  We checked in.  We'd paid $5 extra a night for a site "upgrade".  They gave us a sight on a corner.  It wasn't possible to get into it without driving the wrong way down an adjacent row.  When we parked we found that a big electrical box blocked where we wanted to put the door.  The site itself is shorted than the adjacent ones and barely fits the truck and trailer.  On the plus side it just across the street from the showers and laundry.

We unhooked and set up.  I also connected the sewer hose because I need to dump the tanks before we leave.  The first three days after we leave will all be 300+ mile days.  It was almost 3 when we finished.  We went to the park's cafe for lunch.  It was good and not too expensive.  I had 2 mojitos.  They were really good.

After that we went back to the trailer.  I fell asleep surfing.  Ellen watched TV.  We didn't have dinner, just some snacks.

I did look into shooting some automatic weapons tomorrow.  The online signup is a little confusing, so I'll call the tomorrow.

Day 2151

 We woke up about 8, played some games,and then got up for pert stuff and breakfast.  After that we surfed for a while waiting for it to warm up.  About 10 we loaded up the truck and went to Purgatory.  The drive up was fine, only a brief slow down at the construction.

Apparently it's the first day they've been open since the the senior games.  There were quite a few people there.  In fact, we almost didn't get a cart.  We ended up shooting the "hard" course and the super sporting course.  I shot pretty well.  Ellen sucked at the beginning, but she got better.  It actually got a little warm by the time we were through - mid 70's.

It was after 1 when we got finished.  We decided to go to Hurricane for lunch at Arby's.  It turned out to be a good decision.  Diesel was much cheaper there.  We filled up the tank for $5 less than it would have cost in Mesquite.  We also stopped at Ace.  We found another candidate for a screen door latch.

The drive back was cool.  We actually got almost 25 mpg for the 50 miles from the gas station, to ACE, to I15, and down to Mesquite.  Speeds were 70+ on I15.  Of course Mesquite is over 1,000 feet lower than St.George.  There was just another slow down southbound at the construction.  Traffic was backed up for over a mile northbound.

We didn't do anything except surf and TV when we got home.  Dinner was leftovers.  We only have 80 miles to go tomorrow, so it will me a late start.  We probably won't leave until a little before noon.

Day 2150

 We got up at 6:50 (their time), did pet stuff, had breakfast, and left for the ATV place.  We got there about 15 minutes early.

There was only one other couple.  When they got there we all filled out paperwork and left.  The other guy was a good driver.  That meant we got to cover a lot of really nice places and some really gnarly terrain.  We also got a chance to see places we'd never seen before.  The weather was perfect and it was damp enough to keep the dust down.  It was easily the best trip we've had.

At one place we stopped and watched a group of really built up jeeps.  We got to watch them up close and personal doing some incredible things going over obstacles.  I was really tired by the time we were done.  We did a lot more driving and a lot of it was pretty strenuous.  I was very happy though and would do it again for sure.

It was 2 when we got done.  We stopped at Home Depot to look for a better screen door latch.  We found something that might work. Then we stopped at Freddie's for lunch.  We also stopped at Lowe's for a latch, no luck.  The last stop was a drug store to pick up stuff we'd ordered from Amazon.

We were making good time going home until we got to the construction that slowed up yesterday.  There was a lot more traffic and it took us a lot longer that yesterday.  At least we weren't in the northbound lanes.  There was a miles long traffic jam because some jackass had been looking at his phone and rear ended people at the construction site.  The jackass's car was on its side.

When we got home I installed the new sensor for the rear temperature display.  It works well.  Then I unwrapped the shower head bracket I'd ordered.  It's no improvement over what's there now.  I probably won't install it.  I set up the new clock/temperature display for the bedroom.  It works well, but I'm concerned the battery backup isn't working.  Installing the sensor was a pain because I couldn't get the old one off.  I finally got it to work though.

Dinner was BLT's.  After that was surfing and TV.

Day 2149

 We woke up at 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast, and hooked up the trailer.  We had no need to hurry, so we didn't leave the park at 9:15.  It was raining, so that slowed things also.

The first 100 miles or so involved rain, and sometimes rain and snow mixed.  We passed through a lot of country where there was snow on the ground.  Fortunately none of it was on the road.  Nothing out of the ordinary happened except for the left mirror camera going nuts.  Other than that it was a boring trip (that's good).

We got to the park about 1:30 their time and 2:30 our time.  The park is small, but pretty nice.  We set up and then drove into town.  The latch on the screen door had broken, so I stopped at ACE for parts.  We also stopped at the grocery store.  Mesquite doesn't have much of interest in it.

When we got back I fixed the screen latch.  I don't really have the right stuff, but what I got was workable.  Then it was TV and surfing until dinner.  Dinner was a Cuban pizza we got at the grocery store.  It was really good.

After dinner was more TV and surfing.  We have to get up at 7 their time, 8 our time, to go to Washington to ride UTV's tomorrow.

Day 2148

 I'm not sure when we woke up, but we stayed in bed for quite a while.  There was no point in getting up because it was too cold to go shooting.  Eventually we got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  The rest of the morning was surfing.  It was sunny, but not warming up quickly.

A little after noon it warmed up enough (48) to consider shooting.  We loaded up the truck and left for the club.  It was about 30 miles away.  Half of that was on I15 and half was on a 4 lane arterial.  The last two miles were on a rough dirt road.

Traffic on the highway was annoying.  It was a little crowded and people were switching lanes all of the time.  It got worse when we turned off the freeway.  The arterial was packed.  There were a lot of lights and everyone was a backup.  To make it worse there were lots of construction trucks that slowed everything down.

We got to the club.  It was nice.  It does both sporting clays and bird hunting.  There were two bird groups while we were shooting sporting.  The course itself was pretty nice.  It did have more than its share of dead machines, probably due to the cold.  It was a little cod and windy at first, but we were pretty comfortable most of the time.  On two stations there were deer down range.  They just kept grazing while we shot at them.

The drive back was much nicer.  The traffic on the arterial was light and people were driving 5 - 10 over the speed limit.  Better yet there was an In-n-Out at the freeway entrance.  We had a late (4:00) lunch.  Then we drove back in the HOV lane.  It wasn't faster, but it was less stressful.

On interesting thing.  Yesterday when we came in diesel everywhere was $3.59.  Today it was $3.75 everywhere.  Fuck Biden.

We just watched TV when we got home.  We didn't have dinner because of the late lunch.  We did have a few snacks.

Day 2147

 We woke up at 7:30.  There was no reason to, but the weather woke us up.  The weather was nasty all night.  There were high winds that shook the trailer.  It was also cold, with some snow.  When we woke up we stayed in bed for over an hour.  There was no reason to get up.

When we did get up it was for breakfast and pet stuff.  After that was a little surfing.  About 10 we decided to get ready to leave.  The process was miserable.  It was still cold and the wind was so strong that the guy next to me was considering not leaving.  At least it had warmed up enough (40) to melt the snow.  The water hose was too cold to roll up.  I just stuffed it in the basement.  I planned on throwing it away anyway.  It was so cold that I had to stop halfway through and go back inside to warm up my hands.

We hooked up and hit the road.  The wind was bad at first, but it was a tail wind.  It died down a lot over the first 20 miles.

The drive itself was OK except for the usual games I have to play with trucks.  There was a fair amount of traffic.  Any way you cut it 100 miles of fairly crowded urban freeway is a grind.

We got to the park about 12:30.  We got a little over 12 MPG.  Of course there was no gas stop.  It was raining when we got there, so we got to set up in the rain.  After that we did the laundry.  Ellen was pissed because the dryers took $4 to dry our clothes.

While Ellen was doing the clothes I did repairs.  I had to put a lock washer on the clamp I'd put on the drinking hose reel.  Then I had to replace the screws with bolts holding the TV cable hook up.  That was a pain in the ass.  I had to remove part of the basement wall.  It didn't help that the basement is full, so I had to lean in rather than crawl into it.

It was cold and rained off and on for the rest of the day.  We watched TV and surfed.  Dinner was frozen stuff.

Day 2146

 We got up at 7:30, did the pet stuff, and breakfast, and hooked up the trailer.  We were on the road by 8:30.  It was cold (45 degrees) and windy.

The good news about the trip was we had a strong headwind virtually the whole way.  We averaged about 12 MPG.  The bad news was it started snowing just after the Pocatello split and didn't stop until we were almost to Tremonton.  Luckily the snow didn't stick, but it did cut visibility a lot.

The truck ran low on DEF, so we had to stop in the snow storm to put in some.  It was 33 degree with the wind blowing the snow hard.  There was also good news on the mechanical front.  The truck did a regen that took the level down to 10 percent.  The regen ended 4 miles from Tremonton.

We got to Tremonton a little before 2.  We unhooked in a cold wind.  When that was done we went in search of DEF and fuel.  We got fuel at the cheapest place in town and DEF at an auto store.  They's just received a shipment.

We stopped at a old drive in on the way back and had a hamburger.  It was pretty good.

The trailer was really cold when we got back even though we'd turned on the fireplace.  We sat there surfing (no TV here) for a while until I remembered we had another heater.  It worked great.  We were toasty in no time.

Ordering my slippers at Caldwell went so well that I ordered a couple of things to be delivered to a place in St. George.  Mesquite doesn't have any place.

I watched a couple of shows on HULU.  They have a new one that's a lot like Lost, except it's full of "woke" characters.  Also, you have to watch commercials just like a regular TV show.  I won't be doing much watching of them.

We went to bed at 11.  There's no need to get up early tomorrow.  It's only 117 miles to Provo tomorrow.

Day 2145

 We got up about 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold and raining, so there wasn't an question about going shooting.

We surfed for most of the morning instead.  That got boring, so we walked around the park looking at everyone's rigs.  By the time we were finished it was warm enough to consider shooting.  We loaded up the truck and left.

We stopped at yesterday's diner, but it was closed for Sunday.  We ended up at Carl's Jr. instead.  Then it was off to the club.  It was fun enven though they had things set soft for a tournament.  It didn't matter.  The floaters made it difficult for me to hit anyway.  There was one station with an easy incomer that I missed 3 times because my brain shot at a floater each time.

We stopped at a grocery store on the way home to pick up some much needed stuff.  We also filled up with fuel.  Then we went home.

Dinner was pork chops.  After dinner Amazon texted Ellen that my slippers had been delivered.  We drove over to pick them up.  The place was only 3 miles away.  When we got back I backed up the truck to the trailer so it would be easy to hook up in the morning.

The rest of the evening was games and TV.  I was watching a football game, but it was delayed because of bad weather.

Day 2144

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I went outside and put the Bronco away.  I'm going to miss it.

When that was done I positioned the truck, but didn't hook it up.  Then I washed the windshield.  It was filthy.  After that I started to get the trailer ready to leave.  That took a lot longer then usual because Dave Artoff wanted to talk.  He's next to us and has been alone for several days.

It was nice to have plenty of time to do everything.  I even drained the shower water from last night.  When I hooked the trailer up it connected perfectly.

We left about 10:30.  The trip to Baker was business as usual.  When I got to Baker I had to wait for the diesel pump.  When I got to it the pump was pumping VERY slowly.  It must have taken 15 minutes to pump 20 gallons.  The trip to Caldwell was more business as usual, including a few games with semis.  We got to the park about 2:00 (1:00 our time).

Setting up went smoothly, too.   There were no problems unhooking.  When we were all done we went in search of lunch.  We ended up at a local drive in about 2 miles away.  It was really good.  We might go back there tomorrow.  When we were finished we went to a CVS.  I had a prescription to get.

After that we went home.  I was a little tired.  We have cable TV here, so we turned it on.  I fell asleep.  When I woke up I had frozen food for dinner.

After dinner was more TV.  There's no guide, so we kept switching channels any time there was a commercial.

Day 2143

 I'm not sure when we got up, but pet stuff didn't happen until after 9.  We didn't get to the cafe for breakfast until about 10.  That's because Ellen spent about 45 minutes on the phone with her sister.

We had breakfast and picked up a dozen cinnamon rolls.  Then we stopped at Dan and Patsy's to deliver them, but they weren't there.  The storage unit was the next stop.  I did a little looking at the stuff we have there.  I'm amazed.  I also set aside the stuff I'll want to pick up when we come through in the spring.

When that was done we went back to the trailer.  I started to drain the tanks.  Did I mention that it was in the low 50's and raining all morning?  While I was draining the tanks I also put a charger on the Bronco battery.  I didn't trust the alternator.  It turned out that the alternator is working fine.  It took quite a while to drain al the tanks because I wanted to really clean out the black tank.  I also washed out the clear tube on the outside drain.  lt was getting so dirty that I couldn't see the water flow.  that's when I discovered that the hose nozzle in the trailer had disappeared.

I was cold and wet, so I went inside and surfed.  About 4:15 we decided to go into town.  I wanted to by a hose nozzle and we were going to stop by Dan and Patsy's.  They still weren't home, so we just went home.

We surfed some more and then left for dinner a little before 5:30.  The dinner was very good.  We had to wait a little bit for the food because they were so busy.

After dinner we went to Dan and Patsy's.  We gave them the rolls and talked with everyone for an hour or so.  Then it was time to say our goodbyes.  They have to get up in the morning.  We don't because we've only got 125 miles to go tomorrow.

We did a little surfing when we got home and then went to bed.

Day 2142

 We got up about 8:30, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then it was a lot of surfing until lunch time (a sandwich).

After lunch we went to Dan and Patsy's.  We talked for a couple of hours.  Then Patsy's son showed up with his two sons.  Dan was in great spirits talking with his grandchildren.  He gave them a couple of nice guns and fitted them with shotguns for the hunt on Saturday.

The talk and show and tell went on until time to run the dogs.  Dan took his crew in the Ford.  We followed in the Bronco.  We went down Snake River Road to the river.  Halfway down we stopped and let Sugar out.  She flushed a covey of quail.  The drive down was no fun for me.  Dan was driving really slow.  I couldn't use my brakes all the time, so I ended up going down in first.  The highlight of the trip was three sheep.  Two were rams.

We spent a little time at a boat launch on the river and then went back up.  That drive was OK until we got to the top.  Of course we're going down the same amount we went up, the road is just better.  Dan was still driving slow and riding his brakes  Back to first gear.  A mile before the pavement an old pickup pulled up behind us.  He couldn't pass until the pavement.  He wasn't happy.

We left Dan at that point and went home for leftovers.  Adfter that was surfing and games.

Day 2141

 We woke up about 8 and spent an hour playing games.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I spent some time writing emails to the HOA board.  One was in opposition to halving pot bellied pigs on the property.  The other was working to block subdivisions in the development.

When that was done we left for Halfway.  We stopped at both grocery stores and bought a few things.  The most important were bacon and bananas.  We also stopped at the second hand store and the art store.  We bought small things at both.  The last stop was the fancy restaurant.

We drove back to Richland and stopped at the cafe.  We made Friday dinner reservations and ordered 12 cinnamon rolls for Friday (it was the minimum).  We got some sausage art Thornys and then went home to put everything away.  

I drained the shower tank and then we went to Dan and Patsy's.  Their vehicles were all there, but they weren't.  We played with the dogs briefly and then went home.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent watching videos on the tablet.  Dinner was sloppy joes.

Day 2140

 We woke up at 8 and got out of bed about 8:30.  Then it was pet stuff, breakfast, and starting the wash.  Ellen did the wash while I went back to the trailer to surf.

I was planning on leaving when the wash was done.  As we were getting ready I remembered that I needed too modify the hose reel.  Fortunately it didn't take long.  I got out the drill, screwdriver, and pliers.  I drilled a hole in the reel and installed the hose holder.  It was all done quickly and easily.  That doesn't happen very often.

The trip to Baker was great.  No traffic problems and the only slowdown w as a 10 minute wait for some road work.  The Bronco ran great - as good as I remember it ever running.

When we got to Baker we bought another knife.  Then we walked around downtown.  That was about 4 blocks up and down the main street.  We stopped at a brew pub for lunch.  The halibut fish and chips were great.  We also stopped at ACE for a couple of things the Richland hardware didn't have.  I need a new phone display shield.  Neither of the two phone stores in town had one.

The trip home was a little more stressful.  I had to pass two truck ans several cars.  At one time I had the Bronco up to 80.  At that speed the wind noise is LOUD.  We didn't have to wait for the roadwork though.  I pulled up just as they were letting traffic in our direction through.

We stopped at Dan and Patsy's and talked for a while.  Dan wanted to walk the dogs.  Patsy came with us.  I took Ellen to the trailer because her asshole was giving her trouble.

We walked a road traversing the hill across from the boat launch.  It's the first year Idaho Power has allowed access.  There should have been a lot of birds, but it's been too dry.  Sugar did get up two coveys though.  We didn't get home until almost 7.

I went over and bought some dinner things from Thorny's   He didn't have much, it's not that type of store.  Then I picked up Ellen.  Patsy fixed dinner while Dan sang us the song he's composed.  He's very proud of it.  It's a religious song and really pretty good - Cowboys, Puppies, and Butterflies.

We watched a show about the battle of Midway while we ate.  It wasn't over until after 9.  We said our goodbyes and went home.  We did a little surfing, made the bed, and went to bed.

Day 2139

 We didn't get up until at least 9 today.  Then it was pet stuff.  After that it was breakfast at the cafe.  It was really good.  Then we went over to the hardware store so I could get something to fix the new hose reel I installed.  I also picked up a couple of other things like Stabil.

When that was done we went over to Dan and Patsy's.  We sat out in the yard and talked for hours.  Dan needed help putting on a boat cover and relocating a winch on his kayak trailer.  I did both.  He also complained that it was hard for him to work the boat trailer winch.  So we ordered him an electric winch for Christmas.

After that it was time to walk the dogs.  We went back to the area above the water pump.  Sugar was doing a great job on birds.  She pointed two pheasants and two or three coveys of quail.  Dan's new wiener dog did a great job following us and finding us in the high grass.

When we got back it was time for dinner and football.  Ellen and I went over to the Shorthorn to order dinner, but they were closed.  So we bought pizza and ice cream from Thorny's.

We watched the game.  It was fairly interesting, but Ellen wanted to go home in the 4th quarter, so we did.  We'll be on our own tomorrow because Dan and Patsy need to go to the doctor's.

After we got home it was videos until bed time.

Day 2138

 We got up a little after 7:30, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then it was outside to hook up the trailer.  All of that went well.  I didn't look at the clock when we left.

We only had 300 miles to go.  The trip went without incident and we got 10 mpg.  We filled up in Pendleton even though I think we could have made it all the way to Baker City.

Unhooking gave us a little problem.  The handle wouldn't latch.  I had to hold it while Ellen drove the truck forward.  Other than that it went well.  I even got the sewer hooked up.  It turns out Dave Artoff is next door to us.

When we were finished I went over to the storage area and put the battery in the Bronco.  That took a while because I didn't have the right tools.  Also the battery holder doesn't really hold the battery well.  I got it in though.  When it was in the Bronco started right up.  I immediately took it over to the gas station and filled it up.  $4.45/gal.  It was $40 for 8.5 gallons of gas.

I took the Bronco on a short jaunt to ix up the fuel.  It ran pretty good.  When I got back Dan and Patsy were there.  We sat at Dave's table and talked until 6.  Then everyone broke for dinner.

Dinner was leftovers.  After that it was surfing and videos for the rest of the night.

Day 2137

 We woke up at 8, but didn't get out of bed until after 9.  After pet stuff and breakfast we mainly surfed.  I did go out and replace the duct tape I'd used on the trailer trim with friction tape.  It looks better.  I hope it holds as well.

We went over to the gas station and filled up the truck a little after noon.  then we went to the diner for lunch.  It was crowded.  We had to wait half an hour for our food.  When it came it was very good.  Bradly texted me to say he'd be by about 2.  I replied OK and we went back to the trailer to wait.  Bradly was punctual.

Brad took us back to his place because he needed to talk to his son William.  We also stopped at the shop and he described a moisture meter that he wanted to build to attach to his bailer.  I gave him some ideas and told him we'd look into components.  

After talking to William Bradly took us on a trip to his various operations.  He has several fields in the area, mostly irrigated with pivots.  I think he said he had over 9 total.  When we were done we ordered dinner at the diner.  While we were waiting for it we went to the bar for a quick drink.  The diner was closing at 6, so we went to the golf course to eat on the patio and talk.  We sat there until it was dark and getting cold.

We said our good byes.  Bradly asked us to come back and see him again.  I hope we do.  And, as Bradly said, "don't die".  That's a concern when you are as old as we are.

We went home to the cats and some game playing.  After half an hour Bradly called.  I'd left the camera in his truck.  He brought it over.  Bradley had William's fiance with him.  She's a nice girl who thanked us for giving them the number of a lady we met who needed hay.

After that it was more games until time to go to bed.

Day 2136

 We got up about 8 and then did pet stuff and breakfast.  The clock/temp in the bedroom broke on yesterday's trip.  I tried to revive it without success.  I think the jarring of the trailer broke something inside.  That sucks because we've become dependent on it displaying the time on the ceiling.

We surfed for a while until Brad called about 9:30.  He told us to drive over, so we did.  When we got there he and his wife showed us their house.  It's a total remodel of the old broken down house I remember from college.  It looks great.  He also showed us the studio that he built for his wife.

We did a lot of talking at his house and later while we were sightseeing with him.  We talked about medical stuff (we're old).  He brought us up to date on all of the things he's done in the last 40 years.  He's been a farmer and also an entrepreneur.  He's worked as a farm chemical salesman and also in partnership with another guy making biodiesel and DEF.  His farm is pretty successful and he runs it now with his son.  We swapped a lot of stories.

We left his house around noon.  Ellen packed a lunch which we ended up eating at the golf course because a train was blocking the road Brad wanted to take.  It was there for at least half an hour.  Eventually it moved and he drove us to Coulee Dam.  That's an impressive structure.  I hadn't seen it since I was a kid.  We toured the museum and then left.

The next stop was dry falls.  I'd been there as a kid, but didn't remember it.  The force of the water from the ice lake was incredible.  Again we went to the visitor's center and I took pictures.  The center was selling a hand made wooden wall plaque of a lighthouse.  I bought it for Patty.

The last sightseeing stop was a short trail walk up the side of the gorge to a cave that had been used as a shelter by the Indians.  It was a little steep and Ellen had some trouble.  It was getting dark by then and we drove to a Mexican restaurant in Elmira for dinner.

After dinner we drove 44 miles back to Odessa.  It was almost 9, so we pretty much just said goodbye.  Brad couldn't work today because it rained last night.  We told him to work out a plan for tomorrow with his son, and to put us last in priority.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.