Ah! Finally, the trip begins!

Well, ok, not first thing in the morning, though. Not even second thing in the morning. Actually, not in the morning at all!

Early afternoon, we hit the road! What a grand adventure! The sun overhead, the wind in our faces … ok, windshield … you get the point. The ADVENTURE has begun!

This is going to be SO cool! We’re flying down the highway, not a care in the world! We have places to go, trails to ride! What could be better? What could go wrong? (I hate when I ask myself this, it usually leads to an answer I don’t like).  What’s that noise every time we pass someone? Why did that guy almost go off the shoulder when we passed him? Is the trailer really leaning to starboard? Maybe we should investigate … pull over NOW!

Yup. Not fifty miles into the trip, and we’ve not only flatted, we’ve vaporized the tire, and thoroughly ruined a rim. Cool!

The good part (yes, I was trying to look at a bright side, though it did not shine much at all) is that we were only five miles from Gainesville. Aren’t smart phones wonderful? And there was a Discount Tire on the way! Ok, not a REAL “Discount Tire”, this one was “Discount Tire and Lube”, and they did not have a rim … or the right size, or even kind, of tire. No, we don’t need the square ones, we need the trailer ones, they’re still round, but they’re built better than car tires, to take more abuse. So he points us to T&T Trailer, where we talk to Bubba … but they don’t sell tires, nor do they have a rim … WAIT … they DO have a rim! So sell it to me, and who might have the tires we need? Well, CBJ Tire will, and they do! Not two hours later, we are “on the road again”. Sing it, Willie! Ok, we weren’t really playing it, but I do have it on my phone. I was too rushed to put a soundtrack to it.

Alright, our first (and I hope last) mechanical. The truck has new tires, and now the trailer has new tires, and a new spare. We are good to go, and go we do. Following the GPS directions. Ok, so FINALLY, we get to Oklahoma, and we need to get to Lake McMurtry. And nobody at the Welcome Center has ever heard of it. “You mean Lake Murray?” No. McMurtry. “Lake Murray you say?” NO! McMURTRY! “Never heard of it”. It’s RIGHT HERE ON THIS MAP. “Oh”. Thanks.

Anyway – follow the GPS right? Wrong. You know how people turn left into oncoming trains? Well, we didn’t do THAT, but we did go up a dirt road that ended in a locked gate. Not fun turning around trying not to knock down a fence, hit the gate, or end up in one of two ditches (or, god forbid, BOTH ditches!) Took about ten or fifteen minutes, but we “got ‘er done!”. Whew!

Then we get to the campground, FINALLY (a right-arrow actually meant “turn left”, I’ll spare you the details), and set up the pop-up. And Barri promptly took a header off the railroad ties that are boundaries for our site, knocking her back and right arm on the neighboring site’s railroad ties. Arm swells up all night, and hurts like the dickens. Watch your step, Bear! I’m ok, though, so we’re good!

Here is what the site looks like:

Now, to me, I see the ties, and am very careful around them. Of course, Barri is too. Now.

And this was day one!

Uneventful? HAH!