Day 2895

 We woke up at 8, played games, and got up for pet stuff and breakfast about 9.  After that I went out to the backyard gate to figure out how to fix it.  I started by cutting the large branch that was laying on the fence and bending the gate post.  I used the chainsaw to cut it into 3 pieces and threw the pieces over the fence.  Then I tightened the turnbuckle that was already on the gate post to straighten it.  After some messing around I decided a sheet metal plate would do the job.

I verified that Home Depot had what I needed.  Then we left to do errands.  Abby went with us.

The first stop was the county to vote.  Then it was Home Depot for the sheet metal.  The third stop was Tomlinson's for cat food and a dog treat.  The final stop was the new HEB for a bunch of groceries that we'd been putting off buying.

When we got home I started on some of the todo items.  I fixed the gate by attaching the sheet metal, tightening the attachment post, and repositioning the latch.  The next task was moving all of the stuff under the bed in the trailer to the house.  I just dumped the guns in the den, I was too tired to put them away.  Then I cleaned all of the leaves out of the entry way.  They were getting tracked into the house.  Finally I unloaded the trailer basement and moved all of the stuff into the garage.  By then it was almost 5 and I was too tired to do more.  Getting old is a bitch.

Ellen fixed shrimp and rice for dinner.  It was really good.  After dinner was videos.

A note on Abby's behavior:  She's been a bad dog.  She would past the fence and start running around the house chasing the cats and grabbing cat toys.  She would ignore all commands.  Of course she got dumped in her bin when we caught her.  Hopefully she will learn soon.  Just before bed time she and Devon had a close encounter where Devon let her sniff him and nuzzle him for quite a while.  Maybe he and Abby will get like he was with Lucy.

Day 2894

 We woke up at 8 today because I wanted to avoid traffic.  It was cold - 44 degrees with a strong north wind.  That's quite a change from yesterday.  After pet stuff and breakfast we started to hook up.  Things were different because I had to drain the tanks.  That cost us time, and we didn't get out until 9:45.

The trip home was uneventful.  Traffic was moving well all the way.  Unfortunately the wind had shifted until it was almost a headwind.  We got lousy mileage.  We got home about 11:30 or a little later.  We put the cats in the house, turned on the appliances, and started to park the trailer.

Parking the trailer was the pain in the ass it always is.  I am getting a little better at it.  The problem is I get disoriented looking out the mirrors and tend to turn the wrong way. It took until 1 to get the trailer parked.  At least it's in a great position.

After that I unlocked the garage and warmed up the car.  Ellen took the dog out of the truck, let her do her business, and then put her in the house.  After that we went to get the mail and lunch.  I also got some drugs at CVS.

When we got home we started moving things from the trailer.  We got lots of stuff moved including almost all of the food, all of the personal items, the laundry, the electronics, and some of the miscellaneous stuff.  There's still a fair amount of stuff to go including the guns and the basement contents.  We quit about 6 because we were too tired to continue.

I gave Abby a new toy when we were finished.  She loved it and was running all around the kitchen with it.  Apparently she remembers that she can't jump the fence.  She managed to tear the squeaker out of the toy in about 15minutes.  She made a big mess, too.

One bad thing.  The backyard gate doesn't close any more.  That means that we can't let the dog out by herself.  I'll try to fix it tomorrow.

Dinner was pizza left over from lunch.  I ordered more dog food and a gate for the bedroom door.  We went over some of the mail (there's a lot) and then went to bed.

Day 2893

 We woke up about 8 and stayed in bed playing games for quite a while  There wasn't anything to do until noon when it was time to pick up the Perazzi.  Eventually we did get up for pet stuff and breakfast

After breakfast and some surfing I decided to get a head start on cleaning the trailer.  I got out the implements of destruction and cleaned the bathroom counter.  It was pretty dirty.  Then I got out the vacuum cleaner to vacuum the bedroom.

The vacuum turned out to be almost non-functional.  The beater bar was completely encased in Ellen's hair.  In addition the whole mechanism was coated in a paste made up of the remains of vacuuming up wet cat litter.  It was disgusting.  I took it outside and started the cleanup.  I cut all of the hair off the beater bar.  Then I used 409 and a lot of paper towels to clean off the cat litter residue.  It was really sticky and took a long time to remove.

Eventually I got the vacuum cleaned up and vacuumed the bedroom.  Then I got out the wood cleaner and sprayed down and wiped all of the wood surfaces.  I continued with the cleaner and cleaned about half the woodwork in the kitchen and living room.  While I was doing that Ellen scrubbed out the shower.

By that time it was time to go to the club.  We put Abby in the truck and got there about 12:30.  The counter guy said that the gun was being worked on and he'd call me when it was ready.  We went to the clubhouse and watched people taking down much of the shooting stands and signs.  We had lunch there and surfed on our phones until after three.

I decided to go back to Perazzi.  Of course the gun was ready but the guy hadn't called me.  He'd told me it would be $700 yesterday, but ended up charging me almost $1,000.  Screw it.  He showed me where the barrels are coming apart.  It's bad, so I let him keep them to get them fixed.  I'm not sure how much it will be, perhaps as much as $1,500.  They won't be back until Thanksgiving or later.

After that we took Abby over to the grass behind the ammo barn to run her.  It was the same place that we'd run Lucy a few times.  Then it was home.

I lined up the truck to hook up tomorrow and connected the sewer hose.  Then I went inside and finished the woodwork in the kitchen and living room.  After that it was videos until a frozen dinner.

The temperature dropped rapidly after we got home.  It's now 50 degrees at 10:00 and it's started to rain.  It's supposed to get down into the 40's.  It's going to make walking over to take a shower miserable.  Draining the tanks and hooking up tomorrow won't be fun either.  All in all the weather at this year's shoot has sucked big time.

Day 2892

 We woke up about 8, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was a little prepping for leaving before we went to the club about 9:30.

Ellen got a practice card while I stopped by the gunsmith.  He said he couldn't fix the gun and gave me my money back.  I told him he didn't need to, but he insisted.  He said to take it to Perazzi, so I did.

The guy at Perazzi found a whole list of things wrong with the gun.  He promised to fix them all along with the doubling for $700.  I said OK.  However he also said the barrels needed to be resoldered and that would cost $1500 and they would have to be sent back to the factory.  I'm supposed to pick up the gun tomorrow at noon and I'll talk to him them about that.

We went back to the practice field.  Ellen used her 12 ga and I used the CG.  The CG worked great except for some reason I couldn't hit rabbits.  I'll have to work on that.  We found a card on the course and kept it to turn in.

When we were finished shooting Ellen went to turn in the cards and tell the park we're staying another day.  I walked back to the CG store and got the glasses I'd left there.  It was 11:30 and Ellen shot at 1, so we had lunch and killed a little time before going to the course.

Ellen really sucked at the Women's course.  She shot 32 out of 50.  They weren't hard targets, but she kept missing them because she was too careful.  She wasn't happy when she was done.

We went home and picked up the dog.  Then we went back to the club.  We ran retrieves with Abby to tire her out.  Then we went to the clubhouse to watch whirly shooting until dinner.  I checked the Winchester lighted sign I'd bid on in the auction.  It had been bid up to $50 over the retail price.  Idiots.

We had a couple of great talks with people who came by our table to talk about dogs and life in general.  It was fun.  Skip came by at dinner time and ate with us.

After dinner we went to the stadium to watch the pros shoot.  Abby was really excited to be in the large boisterous crowd.  I had to hold her tight.  We left after the first round of shooting because they started wasting our time with speeches and contests we weren't in.  Besides, Abby was way over stimulated.  We did get two "thrown" prizes - a light up foam stick and a package of popcorn.  I think it was because they threw them to Abby.

We fed the pets when we got home and then watched some videos.  Then it was off to bed.

Day 2891

 We woke up at 6:45, did the pet stuff, had breakfast, loaded up the truck and went to the club.  We got there about 7:45.  

The course was a sea of mud, at least as bad as yesterday's.  We started at station 1.  I parked at station 6 so that we wouldn't have as much of a walk when we were done.

I'd gotten my Perazzi back last evening.  It doubled on the very first pair.  It shot the next 8 pairs perfectly.  Then it doubled twice in a row.  I put it away and shot Ellen's gun for the rest of the course.  I shot it better than I thought I would (still not good), but it felt like I was getting punched in the cheek each time it went off.  Added to the mud it wasn't a fun time, but at least it didn't rain.

When we were done I too the Perazzi back to the gunsmith.  Then we went to another RC store.  They had a lot of cars, but almost all of them were RTR.  Then Ellen found a cute 1/32 rock bouncer that was very similar to the RYFT.  We both liked it, so I bought it along with a motor for it.  Then we went home to let the dog out.

We ate lunch at the trailer.  Then I opened the kit I'd bought.  The car is incredibly small.  There's no way my current stuff would fit.  We went back to the RC store and bought transmitter, receiver, servo, battery, and battery charger for it.  All total this thing is cost me $200.  I think it will  be fun though.

After that we went back to the club.  We had Abby do retrieves in the field behind the admin building.  It started to rain as we finished.  The rain rapidly turned VERY heavy with a high wind.  We were pretty wet by the time we got across the street to the vendors.  We spent the next half hour or so in the vendor's tent waiting for the rain to let up.

Eventually we made it to the tent area by the roach coaches.  We sat there for a while waiting for the rain to fully stop.  We got drinks at one of the roach coaches.  The vendor fixed a cup of crushed ice and whipped cream for Abby.  She liked it.

We moved to the clubhouse patio to watch the ZZ bird shooting.  At 5 they started serving drinks.  About 5:30 they had dinner.  Three restaurants had settings: Mexican, BBQ, and BJ's.  We chose BJ's because the food was best for Abby.  We left about 7 because we didn't want to watch the pro shooters again.

When we got back we fed the cats and gave Abby a partial dinner.  Then it was videos until about 9 when we went to bed.

Day 2890

 We woke up before 8 and stayed in bed.  It was raining cats and dogs.  Shortly after we got a text that all starting times were delayed half an hour.  Our starting time was 1:30.

We got up after a little while for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that we went to Wally World.  We bought a shower curtain, bungee cords, and some Velcro.  Then we went home and used them to build a plastic shelter on the gun cart.

The weather had been improving ever since we got up.  We surfed a while and then had lunch.  After that we loaded everything into the truck and went to the club.  It was about 12:30.

While we were driving to the club we went through two cloudbursts.  It was really heavy rain to the point that we couldn't see through the windshields.  The boundaries were amazing - dry road and 100 feet ahead it was a monsoon.

It wasn't raining when we got to the course.  I started to get everything ready.  I got the cart out and Ellen's gun out and then another cloudburst hit.  We were instantly soaked.  Ellen's gun slipped off the cart and went muzzle first into the mud.  The cloudburst lasted two minutes at most, but that was enough to make us miserable.

The course was a sea of mud.  They didn't start the shooting until after two.  By then it was partial clouds and sunny.  We were a B squad which meant we got to wait at every station.  Of course it was Texas mud, so at times I had 2 inches of mud on the bottom of my shoes.  Squishing through the mud made my knee ache.

I shot a mid 70's score.  That wasn't too bad considering the conditions and the fact that it was a very challenging course.  I can't say I had fun though.

When we were done we stopped by the gunsmith to pick up the CG.  It looks like he did a great job.  Of course it started raining as we parked the truck and unloaded it.

Ellen fed the pets and fixed dinner (chicken and rice) while I wiped down the guns, put them away, and got the others out.  After that it was videos.  We went to bed early because we shoot at 8 tomorrow.

Day 2889

 We woke up about 8:30.  It was really nice to sleep in.  We got up and fed the pets.  Then we went back to bed and played games until about 10.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little surfing we left to do some relaxing things.

We stopped at a RC store.  Unfortunately they didn't have anything I wanted.  We had a great conversation with the owner.  He's 81 years old and had several interesting careers - ATC in the military, owned a trucking company, and other things.

After that we headed to a pet store.  We stopped at a burger place on the way (Abby got some hamburger).  We bought Abby a new toy at the store.  She's been destroying them at a high rate, so we got on that was supposed to be "tough".  After that we went to the club.  I picked up the Perazzi and left the CG to have a recoil reducer installed.  Then we went to the shooting vest place to get sizes for vests.

After that we went all over on vendor's row getting the signatures for the vendor drawing.  It was fun.  Ellen ended up buying a t-shirt.  I didn't get anything.  When that was done we sat on the clubhouse porch and watched people shooting Helice.  There was some Mexican food served at 5.  I met Skip in line and he and his son ate with us.  We had a great dinner.

We left about 6:30.  When we got home we fed the animals and watched videos.

It's almost certainly going to rain tomorrow, so we'll take the rain gear.  Crap.

Day 2888

 We woke up at 7, fed the pets, hooked up and left.  We were out a little before 8.  No breakfast again, I was still feeling a little sick.

The whole trip was pretty normal although there wasn't as much traffic going in our direction as I expected.  Also mileage was a little low at 9.8 or so.  That made us stop in Junction for 10 gallons.  There was no need for more since fuel was much cheaper in San Antonio.

Given the crappy ash level from the last regen another was due while were were traveling.  I was having a hard time figuring when, since the ash % to a mile kept changing.  It was going up though.  The regen started at just over 300 miles.  That compares to 240 miles on the last regen even though the initial ash levels were the same and it was all done hauling the trailer.

The regen started just as we got near Boerne.  It cycled between warm and on several times, I'm not sure why.  The regen lasted past the Potranco exit.  We continued to the next one and turned around.  It ended as we were getting back on the freeway.  We didn't lose much as the next exit was before the park. We were at the park about 1:15.

The end of the regen was 9% ash level.  I think the problem with the last regens (and substandard mileage) was bad fuel.  It was probably biodiesel.  Both Arizona and New Mexico have liberal governments.  I bet they don't require biodiesel to be labeled.  Let's hear it for Texas fuel.

We set up and then left for the club.  We took the dog.  The first thing I did was drop off the Perazzi for repair.  It's ready tomorrow.  Then we got our shooter packets and bought some ammunition.  After that we walked around looking at vendors.  Of course lots of people complimented Abby and wanted to pet her.

I guess I'm still a little sick.  I ended up shitting myself because I was a long way from a bathroom.  I cleaned myself up as well as possible and threw away the underwear.  That put an end to the day.

We went back to the trailer and did the wash.  I took a little nap.  There was no dinner, I didn't feel like it.

After some videos it was an early bedtime.

Day 2887

 We woke up at 7, fed the pets, hooked up, and left.  Just like yesterday I didn't eat breakfast because I wasn't feeling good.

I guess that this trip is the trip of traffic jams.  We hit another one between Las Cruces and El Paso.  It was caused by construction that squeezed the three lanes of traffic down to one.  The jam was 4 miles long.  Much of it was "a lot of stop and a little go".  Thankfully about a third of it was slow movement.  The good news was that once we were free of the jam traffic moved freely all the way through El Paso.

We averaged about 4 miles per % of ash today.  That meant that there was a regen about 60 miles from Fort Stockton.  It was screwed up by some hills that caused the regen to go into "warmup" twice.  At the end the ash level was 36%.  I've quit worrying about it.  It seems that regens when hauling the trailer just don't work well sometimes.  It does burn a lot of DEF though.

Other than that the trips was a classic boring drive through west Texas.  We fueled up in Fort Stockton before getting to the park.  That's because the park is 6 miles east of the town.  While I was pumping diesel I noticed that one of my tiedown ratchet straps had come loose and  wrapped itself around the brake cable.  We are really lucky that it didn't pull the cable out.

After we set up we took Abby over to the dog park.  She did a little running around, but I'd forgotten to bring the bumper.  After that it was back to the trailer for surfing and lunch.  I'm getting very tired after the drives and I have one more to do tomorrow.

Just before dinner a really energetic dog showed up at the park.  We took Abby over to play.  They had a lot of fun together.  Unfortunately there was a mud puddle in the middle of the park.  Abby insisted in splashing in it several times.  That earned her a bath with a hose before she was allowed back into the trailer.

Ellen fixed pizza for dinner. After dinner it was videos, a nap, and some surfing.

Day 2886

 We got up at 7:15, did the pet stuff, hooked up, and left by 8:15.  I didn't have breakfast because i wasn't feeling well.

The trip was only 275 miles.  It was uneventful except for a couple of trucks that were pains in the ass.  Some parts of the road were pretty rough.  Others were really smooth.

The truck was on track to do a regen just before we got to Las Cruces.  I was sweating whether or not it would be finished before we got there.  It finished 5 miles from the park.  Unfortunately the ash level after the regen was 37%.  I'll have to have someone do a forced regen on it.  At this rate it will do at least 2 or 3 more regens before we get home.  I hope it doesn't decide to throw a code.

We got to the park at 1:20 our time, 2:20 their time.  We unhooked and the left to fuel up and got to Mickey D's for lunch.  Then it was back to the trailer for videos and rest.  Ellen took Abby to the dog park and had her run with the other dogs there.  That tired her out a little bit.

Interesting note:  While we were unhooking a guy came out of the trailer next door and tried to sell me chocolate cookies with drugs in them.  I told him I wasn't interested.

Videos and surfing completed the day.  I fixed myself some brisket sliders for dinner.

Day 2885

 We woke up a little after 7, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff.  The park was having a Mimosa and muffin breakfast, so we went over for that.  We took Abby with us.

When we were finished eating we took Abby to the dog park.  There weren't any other dogs, but she had fun running around and doing retrieves.  When she was sufficiently tired we took her home.

We got in the truck and went to a gun show.  I had to coerce Ellen to come along.  It was only about a mile and a half away.  It was a good old fashioned gun show.  There were plenty of tables and most were either guns or ammo.  There were also a lot of people.  The prices were pretty high.  Apparently some of the rifles I have from years ago are worth a lot now.  We ended up buying some cleaning supplies and shell bag belts.  It was weird.  For the first time I'm at a show and can afford to buy anything there.  I just didn't see anything I wanted.

We filled up with fuel on the way home.  When we got home we ate a late lunch.  I went to the park's ice cream social.  Ellen watched chick flicks.

That was the end of meaningful activity for the day.  I watched some videos and took a nap.  Ellen fixed steaks for dinner.  After dinner was a few videos and some surfing.

Day 2884

 We woke up about 7:30 and got up to feed the pets and load the shooting stuff in the truck.  Then we went to the club.

The trip went basically the same way as two days ago.  We got 225 targets and a cart for the day.  There was a large group shooting at the same time.  Fortunately they were only using the blue course.  We shot the White course and a few of the FITASC targets.  When we were done we had breakfast at the club and then took another tour of the club on the cart.  Abby enjoyed the whole thing.

I had a 35% off coupon for CVS.  I drove a little out of our way to use it.  Unfortunately it was another CVS embedded in a Target so the coupon was no good.  Then we went home.  The temp was near100 again.

We hid out in the trailer.  I started to watch videos, but that turned into a long nap.

We left and went to Rudy's for dinner.  Of course we bought more for sandwiches over the next few days.  When we got back it was videos and surfing for the rest of the evening.

Day 2883

 The dog woke us up about 7.  Ellen took her out while I fed everyone.  Then we went back to bed to doze and play games.  We got up in about an hour to have breakfast.  Then we took the dog to the park.

The park was empty.  Abby ran around for a while on her own.  Eventually that got boring and she came over to do some retrieves.  After a significant number of retrieves she got hot/tired and went back to exploring the park.  That got boring so it was back to retrieves.  After a few more of those she was tied and we went home.

We left the dog in the trailer and went to the desert museum.  It had expanded a lot since we were there the last time - probably at least 10 years ago.  We spent hours walking through the exhibits.  They are all outdoors and it was hot.  By the time we were done it was 100 degrees.  The coolest thing we did was feed stingrays.  We also had lunch.  Ellen had a good hamburger and I had lousy flatbread pizza.

The truck started a regen on the way home.  CRAP.  We ended up driving an extra 12 miles to make sure it was a full regen.  The regen stopped at 27% ash level.  That later dropped to 24%.  CRAP.  The good news was that the rate of increase in the ash is a lot less than the last time.  We haven't driven far enough yet to see how much less.

We stopped at the trailer to let out the dog.  Then we put her back and went to the grocery store for much needed foodstuffs.  After that it was back to the trailer to hide out from the heat.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was a repeat of yesterday.   Videos, naps, and leftovers for dinner.

Day 2882

 We woke up at 7:15, fed the pets, put the guns in the truck, and left for the club.  The drive wasn't bad at all even though it was rush hour.  In fact, everyone was driving significantly above the speed limit.  It's lucky we weren't going east an Ajo.  It had a mile long traffic jam.  Westbound was fine.

We got to the club and got a card and cart.  Then it was off to shoot.  We shot the red course and some of the FITASC.  They were all good targets and we had fun.  Abby liked it, too.  We let her run beside us once, but she didn't like it.  It was after 10 when we were done and it was getting hot.

We went back to the club and had breakfast.  It was really good and not very expensive.  We had the cart for the whole day, so we went back out and just drove around.  It was hot but comfortable with the wind from the cart movement.  We turned in the cart a little after noon.  It was 100 degrees.

We stopped at a pet store on the way back.  We bought Abby a couple of toys.  She's been tearing them apart in the last couple of days.  We also got her some dog ice cream.  Then it was home to hide from the heat in the trailer.  Abby loved one of the new toys and immediately started tearing it apart.  Fortunately it's built pretty sturdy.

Video watching turned into nap time.  Ellen fixed BLT's with salami for dinner.  After dinner we took Abby on a walk through the park.  It's dark by 6 here because there isn't daylight saving time.

When we ot back Ellen watched chick flicks and I surfed.  It was a good Human/doggy day.

Day 2881

We woke up at 7.  I got up and fed the pets and then went back to bed to play games.  Eventually we both got up for breakfast and surfing.  There was no point in doing anything else because we only had a 2 hour drive and check in time was 1.

About 10 we started to hook up.  Last night I just backed up the truck in the general direction of the trailer hitch.  It turned out I was just about perfect.  I just had to do a small correction and everything was lined up.  It's the quickest I've ever been.  The rest of the hookup went just as smoothly and we were out of the park a little before 11.

The trip down was also one of the easiest we've had.  There wasn't much traffic and NO assholes.  Even the truckers were driving nicely.  There wasn't even any slow down at the freeway construction in Tucson.  There were two small points.  Mileage was only 11 and the ash level was really heavy.  It looks like the next regen will happen at 280 to 300 miles.  That's awfully quick.

We got to the park at 12:55.  Our space is at the far end of the park, away from everything.  It has a private dog park though with grass and a fence.  That's a first.  It was hotter than hell, high 90's.  We set up and then took the clothes to the laundry.  We ate at the park restaurant while we waited.

When we finished the laundry we hid out in the trailer for the rest of the day and evening.  A 8 it was still 86 degrees.  It was videos and surfing for the rest of the day.

Day 2880

 We woke up at 7.  It was already over 80.  We decided that it would be too warm by the time we got to the club, so shooting today was out.  We fed the pets instead and then went back to bed to play games.

When we finished playing games we got up, had breakfast, and did a little surfing.  Then we decided to make it a doggy day.  We started by taking Abby to a dog park.

The park was very big and totally grass covered.  There were plenty of other dogs for her to play with.  She ran around at full speed meeting every dog in the park.  We let her run for as long as she wanted.  That was quite a while.  When she was finished she was really dirty.

We'd planned on that because the second stop was a dog wash/pet store.  She got a nice bath as well as a new collar and a new nose harness.  The cats got more dry food.  After that I got a few things at the grocery store next door and then we went home.

By the time we got home it was in the high 90's.  It got to 100 later.  We spent the rest of the day hiding from the heat in the trailer.  Most of the time was spent on videos with some napping thrown in.

We fied the pets, watched s few more videos, and then went out for dinner.  We drove to a diner place.  We both had breakfast and I had a mango milkshake.  It was great - made like they used to make them.  Then we filled up with fuel on the way back home.

I didn't bother to line up the truck or take down the Starlink.  The trip to Tucson should only take two and a half hours and we can't check in until 1.  I'll just take my time hooking up tomorrow.

Day 2879

We got up at 8 because it was a short day.  After breakfast we hooked up the truck.  We were out of Page by 8:45.

The first 145 miles from Page to Flagstaff went well.  There were a few idiots that couldn't drive and bad pavement in spots, but overall it was an OK trip.  We did have to stop and put DEF in the truck about halfway there.  For some reason the truck used a lot of it, probably because we went up and down several thousand feet.  We filled up in Flagstaff even though it wasn't strictly necessary.  I was happy with the 10.2 MPG we got.

We got on I17 and headed for Phoenix.  We got about 30 miles in when everything went to shit.  We got stuck for over an hour in a miles long traffic jam.  It was caused by the highway going to 1 lane because of construction.  It didn't get better after the merge.  Traffic was still slow for miles.  We were luck we'd filled up in Flagstaff.

The hits kept coming.  After about 20 miles we got stuck in slow moving traffic.  For 15 miles or more the top speed was 40 and most of the time it was closer to 20 or below.  Apparently this was caused by a car fire.  If so we never saw the car.

We eventually got back to speed and made it to the turn off to Mesa.  That's when I noticed that we were about to do a regen.  The truck had been on target to do one when we were going to Tucson.  Apparently the long time spent in traffic jams had clogged up the DPF sooner.  The regen started just before we got to the freeway exit to the park.  We ended up diving an extra 20+ miles.

All the delays cost us 2 hours and 20 minutes as well as a lot of fuel.  This was easily the worst non-breakdown day on the road that we've ever had.  

It continued to be bad at the park.  The space we have has the water and power connections on the wrong side of the parking area.  Also the parking area makes it difficult to position the trailer.  I ended up driving around the whole park 3 times before I got the trailer parked where I wanted it.

When I went to unhook the truck pulled the trailer off the blocks.  I had to reposition it and try again.  I was lucky though.  The truck stayed connected to the trailer even though I'd pulled the release.

After setting up and feeding the pets we went to Lowe's for more DEF.  Then we stopped at Culver's for dinner.  It was really good.  

When we got home we watched videos for a while and then went to sleep.

Day 2878

 We woke up at 7, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then we waited a little while for the eclipse to start.

A group of people from the park gathered at the BBQ area.  It had a nice clear view of the sun.   We stood around talking and looking at the eclipse through dark glasses.  The weather was perfect and we actually got a better view of things than the one we saw at the coast.  It wasn't total, but 94% was pretty entertaining.  There was a small tree nearby and I got some cool pictures of the half circle leaf shadows.

When the eclipse was over I drained the tanks.  It took forever.   There were two reasons.  First I kept making mistakes which cost me time.  Second, there were three hoses in use because the sewer connection was at the very back of the pad.  Eventually it got finished though.

When I was done we took Abby to the park.  There weren't any dogs, so I got in some good retrieves.  There was a lot of activity at the airport next door, so she kept getting distracted.  We ended up walking around the park while Abby ran around.  Eventually she tired out and we left.

We went to the place we'd gone to two days ago for lunch.  The service was much worst than it was before.  There was no one at the service desk, so we couldn't get a seat.  People were standing around and going to the bar with menus.  We gave up and went to another place a block away.  It was good food and they actually wanted to serve the customers.

After lunch we went back to the no-service place for their great dessert.  Again there didn't seem to be any service people working there.

We were planning on going to the bridge, but decided to give it a miss.  Instead we just filled up the truck at Maverick and went home.  I lined up the truck for tomorrow.  Then we spent the rest of the evening on videos and surfing.

Day 2877

 We got up at 7.  At least I think so.  There's three different time here (Mountain, Arizona, and Navajo) and I'm not sure which one to go with.  After pet stuff, breakfast, and a little surfing we left to do a tuck regen.  

We ended up going south on 89, the same way we'll go on Sunday.  I drove out 15 miles and turned around.  The regen ended 5 miles later.  It stopped at 22%, but immediately dropped to 19%.  Not great, but I'll take it.

When we got back to town we drove to the marina that we'd leave from in the afternoon.  The road there had several viewpoints and we stopped at all of them.  Abby whined at each one, but didn't keep it up long after we'd left the car.  Also, she didn't barf the whole trip even though she'd just ate.

The last stop was the dog park.  A guy brought 3 dogs just as we got there.  Abby had fun with all three.  I tried to do a few retrieves, but the other dogs were just too much of a distraction.  Abby was pretty tired when we were done though.

When we got home we had lunch.  Then we packed some water and snacks and went to the marina.  The trip was great.  It was a boat ride that took us down river to the dam and then up river to the canyon of a tributary.  The scenery was fantastic and the lighting was great.  I took well over 100 pictures.  The light faded on the way back though so the picture taking time was over.

We got home a little before 6.  Ellen took the dog out and I fed the animals.  After that we had dinner - leftovers.  After dinner was videos.

Tomorrow morning is the eclipse.  At least it's at a good time, about 9.

Day 2876

 We woke up at 7, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then we hit the internet to find things to do over the next few days.

We settled on a river cruise and scheduled one for tomorrow.  I would have liked to do an ATV tour also, but there's only one operator in Page and their tours are boring.  

That operation took a while.  When it was done we took Abby back to the dog park.  She got a chance to play with some other dogs and then did retrieves.  When we were finished we went looking for a pet store.  There's only one listed in town, and it wasn't open.  I stopped at Ace for some hardware and then we went to lunch.

We wanted to go to a drive in, but they didn't have any inside service and we didn't want to sit in a 10 car line.  We stopped at a bar food place instead.  It turned out to be pretty good.  The "dessert nacho" was amazing.

Our final stops were a viewpoint for the dam and another for horseshoe bend.  They were both great places.

We were both tired when we got home.  We fed the animals and then sat down for videos.  Dinner was leftovers from lunch.  After dinner was more videos.

The truck is at 99% soot.  I'm going to have to drive it around tomorrow morning to get it to regen.  It will probably cost $25 or $30 in fuel to do the regen.

Day 2875

 It wasn't the best of travel days.  We got up at 7.  That's when Ellen mentioned that we'll be going to Arizona, which doesn't believe in daylight savings time.  We fed the pets and went back to bed for an hour.  After that we got up, ate breakfast, and went out to hook up.

Hooking up went well and we hit the road south.  The road itself was good.  Unfortunately there were quite a few morons who couldn't drive the speed limit.  We'd finally get in front of one and in a short time catch up with another.  We still made fairly good time though.  The mileage sucked though, under 9.

Things got worse when we crossed into Arizona.  The road changed from fairly nice to almost impossible a we crossed the border.  The road surface was so rough that I had to slow down to between 50 and 55.  The ride still shook us and the trailer pretty badly.  It didn't help that one of the tire sensors doesn't seem to work which makes me worry about that tire.

Fortunately the road smoothed out after we turned another highway.  There were less idiots and hills, too.  The bad news was the 25 mph headwind.  The mileage got progressively less, getting down to below 7.5.  That's as bad as going up emigrant hill.  We had that wind for 150 miles.  I had to stop for 10 extra gallons of fuel.  At least it was cheaper than in Moab.

We got into Page about 1 their time, two our time.  To top things out a motor home pulled in just in front of us.  The asshole parked right in front of our campsite to unhook his toad.  He couldn't pull forward 15 feet so we could park.  We had to wait until the jackass unhooked and cleared our spot.

We had over 10 gallons in the tank when we got to the park.  The truck had said that we wouldn't have made it without the extra 10 gallons and I believe it.  We only went 275 miles at 8.4 mpg, probebly the worst I've had on a leg with the new truck.  After unhooking we went into Page.  I filled up the truck and then we took Abby to the town dog park.  She had a great time doing retrieves and playing with another dog.  I even got her to do her first fetch.  It wasn't polished, but it was nice.

After that we stopped at a tourist trap just to look.  Then it was home to put up the Star Link.  Then it was videos until dinner (chicken and rice).  After dinner was more videos before going to bed.

Day 2874

 We woke up at 8 and got up to do the pet stuff and have breakfast.  Then we took the clothes to the laundromat.  Ellen stayed there and I went back to the trailer to do a few chores and surf.

When the laundry was done we took Abby to the town dog park again.  This time there were plenty of dogs.  She had a great time playing with the dogs and running around.  We spent quite a bit of time there because we wanted to make sure that she was good and tired.  She was.

After that we went to a roach coach grouping in downtown Moab.  The food was good, and not too expensive.  Then we walked around town a while.  We both bought t-shirts.  I ended up at a dog friend restaurant while Ellen was on the can.  I ordered a mojito.

While we were there the car repair place in Baker called.  As expected there's lots wrong with the Bronco.  It has bad brake lines and radiator hoses, worn out steering and AWD parts, leaking valve covers, a cobbled together exhaust system, and some other faults.  All together it will be $1,330 in parts and $3,000 in labor.  In addition I added $500 LED headlights and an enhanced exhaust system.  At this point it's looking like $5,300. It might go little higher, I don't care.  I also plan on getting new tires.  I think the old ones are too old.

I fueled up the truck for tomorrow even though it may not need it.  When we got home I positioned it for hooking up tomorrow.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was surfing and videos.  Dinner was leftover BBQ.

Tomorrow is a short trip, 273 miles, but it's really crappy road.

Day 2873

 We woke up at 8 and got up to do the pet stuff and have breakfast.  We had 10:00 tickets to enter Arches, so then it was just surfing until 9:45.

We had to wait in line at the gate for15 minutes or so.  When we got in we headed for the parking lot for Delicate Arch.  That's the one that's on the Utah license plate.  The trail is a little more than 2 miles long and climbs almost 500 feet.  It climbs more than that if you count the places where it goes down and then goes back up.

It wasn't particularly hot, but the sun off the rocks wasn't pleasant.  We messed up by only taking 1bottle of water and no food.  We wouldn't have made it at all without the walking sticks though.  The view of the arch was worth the trip though.  We were hot, tired, and thirsty when we got done.  We were also proud to have done the hike.

It too us about 3 hours to do the hike.  When we got back to the truck we both drank a bottle of water and started on a second.  Then we drove a short distance to a viewing area for the arch.  It was cool to look up at the arch with the specs of people around it and say "we were up there".

After that we drove up to the end of the road.  We stopped along the way a couple of times to take pictures.  We only took one more .2 mile hike to Sand Arch.  It was all we had left in us.  The final stop on the way back was to the double arch viewpoint.  We didn't have the energy to walk the .5 mil, flat, trail out to them.

The truck started regen on the way out of the park.  It didn't get past the warming step because of all the downhill to exit the park.  We got on the highway going north and drove 20 miles before turning around.  The regen ended 5 miles later with a soot level of 24%.  SHIT.  It immediately dropped 2% and only gained 1% in the 19 miles back to the trailer. 

We fed everyone a half hour early.  Then we fed ourselves.  After that it was videos until a little after 6.  We took Abby to the town dog park.  There weren't any dogs there at first.  Then one showed up in the other enclosure.  Abby and it ran up and down the fence a lot of times.  The other dog got tired, so I threw some retrieves for Abby.  She's getting pretty good at "drop it".

 We stopped at the grocery store for a few items on the way back.  Then it was videos for a while followed by and early bed time.

Day 2872

 We ignored the dog until 8.  Then Ellen took her out while I fixed the food.  Then we went back to bed and played games for a while because it as cold out.  Eventually we got up for breakfast.

After some surfing we took the dog to the city dog park.  It is a relatively large fenced park.  She went nuts.  There was a husky there and the two of them ran around playing chase for half an hour or more.  Then the husky left and Abby ran around with some of the other dogs.

Eventually there was just us and another couple with their two dogs.  We talked with them for a while and then left.  We went back to the trailer for the camera and then left for Dead Horse Point.

When we got to the entrance to the park they wanted $20 to get in. Oh well.  The park itself was just as cool as I remembered.  We hiked some areas that we hadn't gone to the first time we were there.  I got some great photos including one with Abby up on the rock wall.  We spent quite a while there before going back to the trailer.

We left a very tired Abby in her crate and went downtown.  We walked around a little there and stopped at a restaurant to eat.  The food was good and they had prickly pear mojitos.  After that we walked around a little more and then went home.  We were tired.

We waited until 6 and I tried to order tickets to Arches.  I needed an account.  I tried to get one, but the email confirmation didn't come.  Fortunately Ellen had an account and I got tickets for 10 tomorrow.

After that it was videos and surfing for the rest of the evening.  There wasn't any dinner, just some snacks.  That's what happens when lunch is after 3.

Day 2871

 We woke up at 7, had breakfast, hooked up and left.  We were on the road at 8.

The first 100+ miles were on I15.  The traffic wasn't bad since it was still early on Saturday.  We got 11.5 mpg, not bad.  We turned off to go up Price Canyon at Spanish Fork.  The road from there is a steep uphill.  By the time we got to the top we were getting 10 mpg overall.  Mileage got better as we went back downhill to Green River. We were back to 11 by then.  Overall the road was pretty good with plenty of passing lanes.

We got into Moab about 1.  We parked the trailer, unhooked, and fed the animals.  It was hot - mid 80's.  We went into town just to look around and see about buying lunch and a couple of items.  We drove through the whole town sight seeing.  It's gotten a little bigger, but overall hasn't changed much.  We ended up buying batteries for the tire sensors, a dog shit bag carrier, and some bread.  Then we went back to hide from the heat in the trailer.

We watched videos and fed everyone another time.  It cooled off some and we took Abbby for a walk.  She played a little with a couple of dogs in the dog park.  Then we walked around the park.  We meat a couple with a Brittany and we talked for quite a while.  Then we went back to the trailer and watched videos for the rest of the evening.

Day 2870

 Some asshole junk caller woke us up about 6:50, so we just got up.  I had breakfast and then went outside to hook up while Ellen did the inside stuff.  Everything went smoothly and we left the park at 7:45.

The trip to Baker City went well.  I took it easy.  There was a surprising amount of traffic going to Richland though.  We fueled up at Baker City and hit I84.

The first half of the trip was uneventful.  There was the usual truck caused pains in the ass.  Traffic in Boise was a little heavy, but nothing terrible.  The trouble started at milepost 99 in Idaho.  

Apparently someone had managed to get themselves killed in a car accident.  The freeway was blocked.  We endured a three mile traffic jam as people merged into one lane and exited the freeway for a 15 mile detour.  A couple of miles into the detour there was a small traffic jam as people turned onto a highway that parallels the freeway.  

The real problem was the 5 mile long traffic jam that was at the end of the detour.  People had to make a left turn onto the road to the freeway.  All in all we spent almost an hour and a half in traffic jams before getting back on the freeway.

After that it was smooth sailing again.  We stopped at Declo for 10 gallons of fuel.  That was enough to get us to Tremonton.  Fuel was cheaper there.  We got 10.3 mpg on the 400 miles from Baker City to Tremonton.  That's not great, but not terrible.

When we got to Tremonton I filled up before going to the park.  That way I didn't have to reposition the truck when we unhooked.  We got to the park at 5:30 - 8 hours and 45 minutes after we left Richland.  SHIT.  

A new BBQ place had opened just outside the park entrance.  We walked over and bought dinner there.  It's pretty good.  We ate at home and then watched videos until bed time.

Day 2869

 We continued out training of Abby about morning.  She started crying at 7, but we didn't get up until 8.  Then we did the pet stuff and went to the cafe for breakfast.  After that we went to Dan and Patsy's, but they weren't home.

When we got back to the trailer we took Abby for retrieves.  She did pretty well until she got bored.  I don't think she was really all that tired.  When we got back to the trailer she slept on Ellen's lap while I surfed.

I called Dan, but he still wasn't home.  We continued to surf until 12 when it was time to leave.  I led in the Bronco and Ellen followed in the truck.  I took it slow for most of the way and she did fine.  That's despite some real idiots hauling trailers to Richland.

We got to the repair place a few minutes early.  They were open and we started talking about the Bronco.  It turns out one of the guys working there is a Bronco II fan and has owned 4 of them.  He seemed really excited to work on it.  We talked a little more, signed papers, and then left.

We ate lunch at the Sinclair station across I84.  We also bought 4 lottery tickets.  The jackpot is 1.4 billion (650 million net).  Ellen dropped her wallet at the restaurant and the waitress chased us down and returned it.  I also scoped out how to pull in for fuel tomorrow.  We also stopped at Grocery Outlet for milk before going back to Richland.

We picked up Abby when we got home and went to Dan and Patsy's.  Abby went wild in the yard.  Dan's short hair wasn't thrilled with her.  Dan finished his work without my help and took the dogs to the park.  I sat on the porch with Abby.

About 5:50 Dan and Ellen went to the church to sing.  I went back to the trailer and fed everyone.  Abby pissed on the floor just like last night.  I wasn't happy.  I went back to Dan and Patsy's at 7 for dinner.

Patsy fixed chili.  It was good.  We gave each of them lottery tickets and then watched a little football until about 8.  Then we went home.  I backed up the truck to the hitch and then we took down the StarLink.

The rest of the evening was surfing and videos.

Day 2868

 Abby woke us up early again today.  We decided to just ignore her and play games.  Eventually she stopped whining.  We continued to play games until we felt like getting up for pet stuff and breakfast.

Ellen programmed the dog collar.  The thing is really overly complicated.  Dan had been talking about going fishing today.  However it was below 50 degrees and windy.  We decided to go to Halfway instead.  We took Abby with us.

By the time we got to Halfway it was turning into a nice day.  We stopped in at the coffee place there.  It's been expanded and remodeled.  It's really nice.  We ordered coffee.  The coffee was great.  We decided to sit there, surf, and drink it.  

When we were finished we got Abby out and did the typical tour of the town.  We hit the bank, second hand store, and the art store.  We also walked all around the town.  Abby did great both waiting in the Bronco for us and sitting tied up outside.

We ate lunch at the restaurant that used to not like dogs.  Sitting out on the patio in the warm sun was nice.  Abby learned that she likes sweet potato fries.  We picked up a couple of pizzas at the grocery store on the way out of town.

When we got back into town we took the pizzas over to John's house because they wouldn't fit in our freezer.  Then we went to the ice cream place and had ice cream.  That pretty much fills our need to spend money in town.  I also put a little gas in the Bronco for tomorrow.

We went home and I drained the tanks.  Then we did retrieves with Abby.  We used the collar on her.  I'm not sure I did it right though.  I'm afraid she might be getting hesitant to bring it to me when I want the opposite.  She's getting good at "drop it" though.

After that we all took a nap.  Unfortunately Abby had an emergency when we woke up.  We weren't quick enough and she pissed inside.  It wasn't her fault.

We went to dinner at John's place.  After dinner we played pool.  He has a table in his garage.

We got home a little after 9.  We gave everyone their treats and then watched videos for a while.  Then it was off to bed.

Day 2867

 The dog woke us up screaming at 6.  After taking her out and feeding everyone we tried to go back to sleep - no luck.  Instead it was some game playing followed by breakfast.

After breakfast Ellen went over to do the wash.  I went outside to do some small tasks.  I took cases of ammo and put them in the ammo cases I bought yesterday.  It was a little bit of a pain, but the result was great.  The new boxes are heavy, but they slide on the truck bed easily and they are really easy to get into.

Next I removed the old cup holders from the Bronco and installed the new ones.  The new ones are quite an improvement. All it took was a little drilling and four screws.

After that I went back inside for a little bit and did some surfing.  Then it was outside to do some more work on the Bronco.  I used a multi-meter to show that there was power going to the 12V plug I'd installed.  That took kneeling on the wet gravel and some contorting.  It was no fun.  Some more messing around showed that only one 12V connection on the plug worked.  The other, and the USB connections, don't.  I don't know why, it's one sealed unit.

The plug is wired to a constant on circuit.  More knee pain showed that the fuse box doesn't contain any other open connections.  Crap.  The single 12V connection is why there is a USB cigarette plug in the dead connection.  It can be moved to the live one, but can't be left there because it would drain the battery.  I ended the whole operation by remounting the plug after sing the Dremel to gut off the excess metal of the mounting plate.

By then it was lunch time.  We went to the Shorthorn for sandwiches.  They were very good and not too expensive.  After that we got Abby and went to the park.

We brought the bumper and the 70 foot check cord.  She did at least 20 long retrieves.  Then we walked her all around the perimeter of the park.  When we got back to the entrance she wanted to get back inthe Bronco.

We stopped at Thorny's for sausage.  Then we went looking for Dan at a basketball hoop he'd set up.  Unfortunately Ellen had gotten the location wrong and we ended up just driving around.  That was fun though. Eventually we gave up and went home to watch videos.  Abby was a tired dog and slept on my lap.

Dan called and said to meet him at 6:15 for Taco Tuesday at the Shorthorn.  We had a good dinner and talked until 8.  Then it was home for more videos and bed.

Day 2866

 We woke up a little after 7, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I went over to the storage area.  I put away the charger and cords, hooked up the battery, and brought the Bronco over to the trailer.  We went to breakfast at the cafe.  After that I put a little fuel into the Bronco and then we left for Baker City.

We stopped at the car restoration place in Baker.  No one was there.  We called the phone number from the web and got the owner.  I explained what I wanted and he seemed to think he could do it.  We're going to meet Thursday at 1.

After that we went to BiMart and Albertson's.  We bought groceries at both.  I also bought two waterproof chests to hold shotgun shells.  Each chest holds 20 boxes.  I'm tired of messing with plastic bags.

The last stop was D and B.  They were having a big DeWalt sale.  I bought a work light.  Then it was back to Richland.

When we got back we had lunch and the took Abby out to run retrieves.  After that we waited half an hour, fed the cats, and gave Abby a half ration.  Then it was off to see Dan and Patsy.  Dan was off doing something, but Patsy was there.

Abby was being a real shit.  She got out of the yard and we had to chase her all over.  She would not come when called.  She also would not stay calm in the house.  I sat out on the porch with her for quite a while.  Eventually it got cold and I took her home.

Dan came home and we had dinner and watched football (Patsy fixed the steak and potatoes that we'd bought in Baker).  After dinner we watched music videos.  Dan has really gotten into singing.

We left about 9:30, went home,watched some videos, and went to bed.

Day 2865

 We woke up at 7 and got up for breakfast.  The pets didn't get anything in honor of Abby getting car sick.  Then it was out to hook up.

The normal hookup activities went well.  The extra stuff was a disaster.  It was only 45 degrees this morning.  The waste water hose was so cold that it wouldn't roll up.  I had to fold it into the shed.  The fresh water hose wouldn't come off it's fitting due to corrosion.  I had to get pliers to get it off.  Finally, when I tried to roll up the fresh water hose the fitting connecting it to the hose roller broke off.  It took more plier work to remove it.  I left the broken hose in the car port.

All of this meant that we didn't get out of the club until 8:30.  Fortunately there were no traffic problems.  We even drove through Portland with no problems.  That saved 9 miles and a little time.  The only "problem" was a sin that said I84 eastbound was closed between Pendleton and LaGrand.  Fortunately that turned out to be bullshit.

We filled up in Boardman because they have that truck island that's easy to access.  They only have a $75 limit on fuel though.  We got 11.4 traveling to there from the club and 10.5 from there to Richland.  We got to Richland at 3.

It was 55 and windy at Richland.  We unhooked and then I went over to charge the Bronco II battery.  It was already at 95%.  After that we put up the StarLink.  It's working great.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was videos and surfing.  Dinner as a frozen dinner.  I'mreally tired and planning to go to bed early.