Looong trip to Rapid

I'm quite glad that today is now over with!

This morning, I did chores like normal and didn't have much problem at all. Merle had called around six and said that I should bring his pickup into Rapid between ten and eleven and then I could ride home with him and Sharla. Easy enough for me. So, I did chores and still had about an hour to kill before I needed to head out so I filled oats. This took me a little longer than I expected, but I still figured I could make it in by 10:30. I changed and cleaned the pickup out and went up to fuel it before I took off. While I was up there, Jeff yelled for me to come over to the rake tractor that he was putting the alternator on and look at the door. ...the door that we put on yesterday, the one that was fine, with no chips or cracks was now completely shattered from one end to the other. There was not a lot of sign that anything hit it, we finally decided that the frame must have gotten just a little sprung or had just enough pressure that when we put the door back on and it sat for a while, it eventually busted from too much pressure on the glass. So, basically that made me frustrated right from the start. I was already late, so I hopped in the pickup and took off.

When I got to the hi-way (only like 15 miles from home), Merle called and said that they were done in town and would be ready whenever- o how wonderful, I was only an hour and a half away yet! Apparently Sharla had left a message on my phone but I couldn't understand it and didn't get it until way after I needed to- dang reception. But, they didn't sound too worried and said to keep coming, so I did, until Interior. I didn't have much of a choice when I came up on this stop sign, I knew the clutch was weak in the pickup but I had to stop. I went to take off and...yep no clutch, nothing, not even an ounce of pressure. So there I am sitting on the hiway at a busy intersection stuck. I got some cars to go by me and eventually got the dumb thing into first long enough to cross the road and park at the gas station. I couldn't get it to stay in gear once I got it in one. I waited at that gas station for probably fifteen or twenty minutes until I got ahold of Marva who got alhold of Sharla who gave the phone to Merle- kinda had the run around! He said that if I could get it to stay in gear I should try to keep coming until Country Corner (filling station about ten miles out of Rapid)...right about then I got it shoved into first and took off. I had a little trouble fishing my way around but eventually free shited back up into overdrive to get there. When I pulled in they were already there and Merle showed me where to park so that a tow truck could get to the pickup and take it the rest of the way. There are too many stoplights in Rapid to go much further. I have never been happier to get out of that pickup! Talk about stressful...but I got there and then hopped in with them and headed straight back home. I had feared that clutch would go out, I just hoped that it wouldn't right there on the hi-way, oh well I guess!

When we got back I kept on working on some odds and ends, moving branches, cleaning out pickups, other random stuff. After an hour or two, Merle came down and we took off the broken tractor door and strapped it back onto the pickup. I took the flat bed and he took the fencing pickup and we headed back up to Phillip. On the way there, the pickup I was driving decided that it was pulling a trailer and beeped most of the way up there- now it has indicator lights on and all sorts of crap. Me and pickups... We dropped that fencing pickup off at the welders shop to have the fender put back on and the frame looked at and then went to Case IH to drop off the door. While we were there, one of the service guys suggested that he price out a door instead of just the window pane because it's likely the same thing could happen again. A left front glass door for a 5250 International costs...$3,440. Seriously. That is absolutely ridiculous- we opted to pick up another 400 and some dollar window pane.

We left Phillip and headed towards Interior to pick up some pellets for the calves at the Ranch Store. Afterward we just went home through the park and decided to stop and eat at Cedar Pass Lodge. It was pretty darn good, and a lot easier than scrounging around in the fridge! We finally headed home then.

When we got back it was time for chores. Got them done, put the pellets we bought away, and worked on some things around the house. Later I managed to lose a game of cribbage- but just barely, it was totally close! lol, anyway, it's past my bedtime. I hope tomorrow is full of fewer minor disasters! ;) Not sure if we will hay or pull bulls.