 |
[RC] [Guest] XP 2001/2004 LONG - Ridecamp ModeratorKaren Nelson knelson@xxxxxxxxxxWe found most of our propane at Farmers Co-ops, in addition to campgrounds. Watch carefully in the booklets Flying J and T/A stations put out. They list what services they offer, and propane is often shown. We took extra long showers at the major truck stops when we also did laundry. The worst place to do laundry was Casper, wyo. We could only find one laundramat, and when we did it was very large, etc, but I was surprised for a college town that there was ONLY one.Spent $18-20/wk on laundry alone. There was no problem dumping our tanks, but we kept lots of cash on hand, as ATM's were often difficult to get near with a large rig. Wal-Mart was our best friend, and the supercenters with food were fine. Found everything we needed. Started the ride with 100 foot hose in trailer, 15 foot hose to take water out of tanks, and 25 foot hose which is normal part of camper. We were buying more hose almost immediately, as filling our supplies at gas stations(paying for water-everywhere) meant we needed longer hoses and we had to be polite and not block gas areas for extended periods of time. I came home with a total of 380 feet of hose: 2/100's, and 3/60's plus the 15 and 25. At Fort Bridger, ALL my hoses were in use from the only hydrant, and it took over 7 hours nonstop to fill all the rigs which were in that parking area, about 30+ units. Everyone got out their hoses and hooked them together. I also had shutoffs on every hose, to minimize waste and muddy spots. All my tanks -55/47/45-for horse water and shower water, etc, had spigots on them, and the 15' hose was just moved as necessary. I never ran OUT of water, but we were very careful. We didn't have a camper shower, so we used solar showers and the horse trailer. I stood on the top of a rubbermaid container to shower and sat on an upsidedown 5 gallon bucket to dry off and put on socks getting dressed. No problem as it wasn't too cold, sometimes a bit breezy. I did not take corrals, as I wanted to keep work for crew/driver-one lady- to a minimum. I tied 3 horses to the trailer, 2 on one side, 1 on the other who was a kicker. I arranged buckets on the trailer running board with bungee cords to stabilize them. Worked pretty well, but sometimes got pawed over. I covered wheel openings with custom made Naugalhyde (sp) covers to keep feet out of trouble, but still had wheel covers and even the bearing cap pawed off by one mare. It was her major entertainment. I used 2 halters and 2 lead ropes on each horse in case of equipment failure. I used paper/plastic plates and cups and as much disposable stuff as possible. The camper had a small fridge, so we had 4 coolers by the end of the ride. Keeping hydrated was important.We kept meals simple as possible when camping, and ate out for nicer meals whenever we could. I believe in properly feeding anyone who is working for you, and figured I could cut something else out to accomodate that. It worked. I have a list of the items I took for 9 weeks for 3 horses and 3 persons. One person left after just one week. She missed her comforts of home and her grandkids, and wasn't mentally prepared for the rigors of the trip. I will share my list with whomever. Since our e-mail address get chopped off here, please call me at 530-274-8055 or fax me at same and I will make copies of my lists and send to you. I did have a fair amount of horse/vet supplies left over at the end, but I was prepared for alot of problems. The items are being used slowly, and most were not perishable. When Tinker Hart's horse stepped into a badger hole, I gave her a bag full of bandages, etc, and I had plenty to do just that. I packed everything in Rubbermaid containers, numbered and labeled the top and sides of each, and made a master list in a notebook so that my driver could find anything anyone needed without moving and unpacking lots of containers. The horse papers were in same notebook. Also lists of feed stores, etc. I staged my feed in Elko, Casper, and North Platte, as I couldn't carry it all. I was VERY NICELY treated by all dealers.I had to use a rent/storage unit in Casper, but dealers in Elko and N Platte stored pallets for me for free, which included supplies I had with me.. I tipped the staff who helped us load it on the top of the trailer when we picked it up. More later- have to go to doc and get crunched. Back is out- WAY OUT. and very sore and useless. Karen Nelson =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= http://www.endurance.net/ads/seabiscuit.html Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|