A Weekend with No Drama - Impossible!

For years I have said "I think I need to write a book", but have never gotten around to it. I read up on it but never moved forward. Too much stuff to do, too many things to research, too much money, etc... So my good friend and crafter in crime (Ms. Hafelehoff) started a family blog and got me inspired. After this weekend, the deal was sealed. A blog it is. SO MUCH DRAMA to pass along!

It all started with another innocent family weekend trip (working weekend mind you, no vacation getaway in Cisco, Texas at our Skinny 80 Ranch). My super project-oriented husband had a 21 ft. metal and wood deerbox/hunting stand to erect on our land that will attract lightning from miles away and had help offered to do so (not my me) from our good neighbor "EA". After hearing days and weeks of planning of how they would erect it with trucks, pulleys, ropes, 4 wheelers, cinder blocks, jacks and anything else they could load onto the trailer, off we went on Friday afternoon of Labor Day weekend. The kids were excited as they always are. We had plans to cook out steaks, make smore's, shoot some dove, play with glow sticks, just have a great time with not much regard to teeth brushing or bathing. We even headed out of town early on Friday after loading several rolls of our old carpet and padding onto the 25+ ft trailer we were towing behind our truck. We decided to stop for a treat at Mary's in Eastland which is known for chicken fried steak, iced tea, burgers, etc.. You get the idea. We knew we were skirting danger when we saw the rain clouds out west but really had no choice as it was going on dinner time and the kiddos were hungry.

Did I forget to mention that we took both dogs in the backseat of the truck too? Cowboy (our non-working cowdog who hates to ride in the car and has arthritis) and our new untrained bird-dog Hazel, who has decided she wants to be a lapdog at 35 lbs. with the legs of a 2nd grader, both of whom despise thunderstorms. So dinner comes and so does the thunderstorm/turd floater. With the carpet on the trailer and the windows halfway down for the dogs. Chuck makes a run to the parking lot to roll up the windows and manages to grab my weekend bag and shove it into the hunting box to keep from getting soaked. Needless to say, wet carpet and pad. No worries, right? It will dry out in the sun. Off we go to the Skinny 80.

The rain has now let up and we are about 5 miles from the Skinny 80 when we feel some sliding. We figured the rain had soaked the roads and we were just really heavy. We stop to check the trailer tires and the trailer load, all is good. We are on pavement so we trudge on. It is now approaching 7:30 PM and just getting to dusk outside when we feel the slide again (we called it floaty) and then it happened. The truck tire blew. Nothing too major, just lots of loud thumping. Ok, time to go to team mode and help do the dirty deed. Kids and dogs stay inside, I get the jack, he takes the trailer load off the truck bumper and starts to work on the lugnuts. About 10 minutes and 12 cusswords later, the lug nuts are still not loose. The guys at Discount Tire are gonna hear about this one, I can promise you. He is sweating like crazy and I am no help. We decide to truck on the last 3-4 miles to our cabin and work on it there where it is safer.

Turning down the gravel road to our cabin, the thumping is getting louder. The tread is almost completely off the tire and ruining the $200 plus rim. Now the tire tread is hitting the emergency brake cable and causing the brake pedal to jerk. Not good, further damage to be assessed later. We now decide to stop and try to change it again, 2.5 miles from the cabin on a dirt road, after dark, with no flashlight. Yes, we broke cardinal rule #1. I have junk food to feed an army and clothes to dress the African Kids Choir but no flashlight. Luckily, in my shopping frenzy on Friday, I bought the kids some fun bouncy balls with floating eyeballs in them that light up when you smack them. Oh yes we did, we used them to change the tire! Jacked it up, banged on the lug nuts until Chuck got them loose. After 30 minutes of this, we decided the colored flashing of the lights was going to send us into an epileptic seizure so I put them away. I then remembered my iPhone flashlight app. BEAUTIFUL! What a great thing! We finished it up and loaded up again. Approximately 1 hour later. We decided Wyatt had jinxed us by asking "how much longer?". No, we did not make him get out.

So we arrive at the Skinny 80, all safe and sound, less one $250 Goodyear All Terrain Radial but all in good shape. The dogs bail out to relieve themselves and we begin to unload. At 11ish, we are heading to bed and we decided to bring the dogs in to sleep on their beds so they - A)won't run off and B)won't bark at the cows/coyotes/snakes/coons/etc... all night. As Chuck heads to the door to bring them in, Cowboy comes in for the night; Hazel does not. He hears her barking and takes the flashlight (we keep at the cabin) off he goes into the darkness. He finds her looking at the ass-end of a skunk. He said he backed away quickly but not before confirming the lovely aroma in the air. Yes, she got sprayed but luckily it was not a direct hit. So the night was spent with the stinky dogs outside and remarkably bark-free.

So the weekend goes on with EA and his daughter Taylor arriving on Saturday after a non-productive dove hunt that morning. I have to say the sight of my 8 year of daughter with a loaded 410 shotgun is kind of scary and exhilarating all at once. The guys head off to erect the lightning rod monstrosity and the kids and I look for things to do inside as it is fast approaching 90 plus outside. My job this weekend was to texture the walls and the lower ceiling (which I did without much drama). The upstairs will be a different story as it is an A frame with a loft and a 25+ ft ceiling. Not on this trip though....

That evening after a day of work for the guys, we start the evening dove hunt. The kids are all excited and it is very relaxing, even with Wyatt involved. The kids love to get the birds after we shoot them (good for me as I don't). EA won with the most birds killed (6, I think) and Chuck had 2 maybe. I will blame my bad shots on my gun jamming and not ejecting every time. It's my blog, I can say what I want!
On the last shot of the evening, Wyatt headed off to the woods to find a downed bird with his dad and tripped and fell into a prickly pear. Should have known there would be an incident today. So in amongst the sweat, tears, snot and red stinging hands, we headed back to the cabin to find the duct tape to remove the stickers. Steaks and smore's were next, but Wyatt couldn't hold out for smore's. He crashed at 10 that night.

So Sunday brings a new day for drama. EA and Chuck manage to erect the lightning rod deer box. A process I was not prepared to watch. I knew when both trucks and the 4 wheeler were involved with ropes, a railroad jack and cinder blocks, AND it hung off the back of our large trailer, I needed to be standing by for the emergency room run. When one of the kids finally said "I see the box standing up in the trees", I knew it was clear to go visit. We watched them for about 15 minutes try to drive a spiral support into the ground that only went in about 10 inches then the kids and I headed back to the A/C in the cabin. The guys came in and after a cool down session and some lunch, we headed back out for some dove hunting. Nothing was flying and I mean nothing. We called it quits shortly thereafter and EA headed home.

We then started the clean-up/load-up routine. Trash, laundry, tools, etc... We also decided to move the carpet and pad into the cabin so it would not get any wetter. It was then we discovered the sour mildew smell so we started unrolling the carpet inside and putting it up on chairs to dry as well as leaving some outside on the covered porch to air out due to lack of room in the cabin. It is now almost 8 PM and Chuck, especially, is whipped. We get the kids, bags, tools, 4 wheeler, welder and other various things loaded and start to look for the 1 dog that has run off. Cowboy comes unwillingly to load up, Hazel does not. We locate her in the darkness and as I drag her through a dried cow patty next to the truck, I realize she has been rolling in what appears to be a fresh one. It is caked on her head, ears and collar. So we wipe her down with baby wipes and hand sanitizer as we are out of water and off we go. We roll the windows down for a while for the smell to dissipate and stop at Sonic to recharge with a cold drink. Over and out.

Oh my, what I would I do with my time if I did not have kids and dogs. So much fun, so much joy, so much work.... I am looking forward to a condo where animals are not welcome and we only have 1 bedroom to keep up and nothing to mow. Ya think? Maybe not.....My mower is calling now as well as the 3 sets of sheets, towels and loads of dirty camo clothes, jeans and socks. So much for the drama today....