Goodness! It’s been nearly 5 weeks since I posted last! Bad Eric! Bad! As you know I started off this year intending to post daily… then weekly. I never, however, expected to fall 5 weeks behind.
We do have a couple of excuses, however. So, what’s been happening over these lost 5 weeks (yes, LOST…)
Rendezvous 2012
Every August Scott and I go to Rendezvous in Wyoming. This is normally the 3rd or 4th camping event of our year, so the trailer has been “taken out of mothballs, shaken out, and dusted off”. But not this year. The 10 days following my previous post, we spent preparing for this year’s Rendezvous. There were all sorts of small little tasks, like flushing out the antifreeze from the lines. Kind of hard to do without moving the trailer, but we did it, with plans to stop at the first dump station to actually empty the holding tanks, once our trip started.
There was also the fact that we’ve always had someone to look after Nikki while we were away at Rendezvous. This year, that person is no longer around. And, the people we normally have take care of our dogs while we are away now… well, they ALSO attend Rendezvous! So, we had to spend some time preparing for the great adventure of taking 2 dogs camping!
With all our preparations taken care of, we set off on Saturday,August 4 for our 9 days away. That first dump station? Well, Nebraska’s really not a great place to find one. It was Sidney, on the far side of the state, before we finally pulled in to Cabela’s and were able to dump out the tanks! Fortunately there wasn’t much to dump. But we DID discover that our two part sewage hose was rotted, so a lot of what was in the tanks was dumped on the ground… and on me. ICK! We had to spend a half hour cleaning the area before I felt comfortable leaving. Thank heavens it wasn’t the “black water” tank… that’s the tank that all body waste goes into. You know what I mean. You don’t? Think about it.
Rendezvous traditionally starts on Wednesday, and runs through Sunday morning. We get there the Saturday before just to enjoy a little time of quiet before 400 LGBT descend upon the area. We’re up at 8500 feet in the middle of Routt National Forest, in Medicine Bow, between Cheyenne & Laramie. Wait, what’s that? What is Rendezvous? It is the Pride event for the state of Wyoming. Check it out, here.
Scott and I enjoy our days up there before everything begins. Normally. This year was… eventful.
First, there was travelling with a timid, whining Nikki. Getting her into a vehicle is a challenge. Then, as we drive, she whines. Non-stop. Except, on this trip she didn’t. Before we were out of the Omaha area, she had curled up on the back seat of the pickup and gone to sleep. Ixchel was likewise asleep in Scott’s lap. One of my concerns was Nikki’s “daintiness”. She terribly dislikes being observed while she does her “binness”. You know. Potty. So, how would being confined to the extent of a leash effect her? Not at all! We opened the door at our first stop, let her out, and down she went…. and did her binness.
‘Nough about binness. The drive was a breeze (and the drive home, even easier, as they were exhausted!) We got up to our usual site about 8 or so that night. It was dusk. We began setting up, but had a hard time finding a good level spot. Or even CLOSE to level. Here is where we made our first major blunder! As the sun was setting, we decided to settle for where we were, put down the levelling jacks, and then, move again in the morning. But, we forgot to chock the tires. I had gotten the tongue off the truck, and had 4 jacks down. I was raising one when suddenly, the entire trailer shifted nearly 3 feet backwards… towards me! I was thrown back, but missed being hit by anything thank heavens! Unfortunately, one jack was completely ripped off. (As an aside, after 4 years of owning a trailer, this year I learned those levelling jacks are NOT FOR LEVELLING TRAILERS! They’re merely for stabilizing the thing. Another rant. One I’ll spare you.)
The next day, we got the trailer moved and more or less levelled, even with one jack out of service. We did have one more problem, in that we lost part of the plumbing and had to run down to Cheyenne on Monday for parts. After that, we were able to enjoy our trips, walked the dogs. We all had a huge blast!
Hacked
We got back from Rendezvous on August 12, to discover that our church’s website (MCC Omaha) had been hacked. I’ve spent the past two weeks either at work or focused on cleaning that up. We’re still having problems.
And that, my friends gets you caught up to last Friday. I think I’ll try to post again tomorrow, because this past weekend has been HECTIC!
On The Road II 