Another--par for the course Strawn trip-

We have been busy busy busy here--it is so strange--it is not even dark by 10:30--you can get so much done in the evenings.

We have been staying in the camper that Carrie and Doyle bought last year--it still smells brand new. It is so nice to have our own little house, and the air conditioner works great! Then again it was about 45 degrees last nite so we did not need it so much.

Yesterday, Barry and Shayne went quadding for a while, while Carrie and I played with horses. Her oldest daughter Melissa and her boyfriend came out to visit as well.

Then we went to see Gunner and Hyde at the trainers-- I took a million pics that I will post when I am on my real computer. They are both such beautiful horses. We got to see Hyde work some cows and got to ride him--I had to not think about what I was doing, knowing how much this horse means to them, how much his mother means to me, what it was like the day he was born---all of that makes everything seem so important.

Gunner had already worked, so we just played with hi. We will get to see him work some cattle Wednesday morning in Calgary at the Stampede--he is not showing there (too young), but is going for the exposure and experience. That will be fun to watch--him in a real showing situation. The trainer is confident he is going to be successful as a three year old because he is so well trained--lets hope that is the case! He sure looks the part.

Last nite, Doyle grilled steaks for everyone, and Barry got to try moose and elk. I passed, thanks. We had a relaxing evening.

This morning, our focus was on getting the truck into a dealership because there was part of a belt hanging down--we thought the serpentine belt was shredding--it was. We dropped it off, took the boys to play golf and did stuff locally until the truck was done. By then, we had the unfortunate news that the water pump was going and had to be replaced. This is the part of the story that is par for the course--the further we get away from home, the more likely bad shit will happen to our truck. Last time, in 2005, the transmission fell out in Oklahoma, and we had to trade it in to get home, with the trailer.

When I heard it was going to cost $800 to fix it, and Doyle thought that seemed high, I called Mike--my handy dandy dude at the Dodge dealership at home who always advises me when crazy shit like this happens. I wanted a better estimate of what this SHOULD cost. As usual, he got right on it and called me back with the info--then a lightbulb went off and we determined that the whole thing was under warranty~ hallelujah~ that is most-definitely not Strawn like. Not even close.

Convincing the dealership of that when we arrived was not so easy, but we got out for under $200 instead of the $800 they quoted us. What a relief~

We are back now, relaxing and thinking about heading to Calgary tomorrow.

I think when we get there to the hotel tomorrow nite, I will have my regular internet access and can post the jillion amazing pics I have.

Stay tuned!