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[RC] Tevis for the Mechanically Challenged + Suzy - Dabney Finch

WARNING:  This Post About Suzy and My Tevis Trip is Lengthy.  If you are Tedium Averse, or Easily Disgusted By Those of Us Incapable of Learning to Operate a LQ Horse Trailer, and/or You Were Not One of Those Who Requested This Story, you May Wish to Quit Here. 
 
Wednesday Afternoon Before Tevis:
Didn't have time to pre-chill the refrigerator because the  horsetrailer's jack replacement work ($811) was only finished Wed am. 
 
(It isn't until Friday afternoon in Robie Park that I realize the refrigerator isn't broken after all, because it took that long for it to finally start to cool down.)
 
Gary had reminded me a bizillion times to be sure to put air in the tires and check the lug nuts.  (That's one of the numerous "mechanical" things he usually does, but he didn't have time due to the last minute repair of the broken jack.) 
 
When the third air pump we've purchased in as many months  also refuses to pump air into the tires, I finally figure out it's my cigarette lighter in the Acura, which the air pump is plugged into, that is malfunctioning.  No big deal.  I can fill the tires up at Suzy's when I go there to pick her and Cayenne up.
 
As I pull out of the driveway, I forget to check my right mirror before turning onto the road and wonder why the trailer is starting to lug. 
 
Oops!  That stucco pillar at our entry hasn't just put a ding, dent, or scratch along the side of the trailer (as have the other stationary objects with which the trailer has come into involuntary contact while I've been driving it).  This time there's a big hole on the side of the trailer in which I can see pink insulation and wood construction.   That is really more of the insides of my trailer than I had ever wanted to see. Well at least it's unlikely to rain on our way up to Tevis.
 
At Suzy's I discover the stucco post had also taken a chunk out of one of the trailer's tires and we have to switch to the spare, which Suzy informs me isn't looking so good either. 
 
 Suzy  advised me not to "ruin Gary's weekend" by telling him about the trailer mishap until after Tevis. I considered this excellent advise and was fully prepared to follow it.  Unfortunately, however, Gary noticed some tell tale signs of the impact on the stucco pillar as he entered our driveway Wednesday evening; he telephoned me at Suzy's seeking further explanation.  Not wanting him to worry needlessly, I told him I hadn't noticed anything amiss.
 
We left at twoish Thursday morning.  Surprisingly, the directions we were following from the last time I'd done Tevis (only ten years ago) were no longer correct, so we ended up doing some circling and back-tracking through the beautiful Sierras before happening upon Robie Park Thursday afternoon. 
 
Chuck (Linda Morelli's husband) did an excellent  duct tape repair of the trailer's side, which provided much entertainment for my male endurance buddies, and consoling hugs from the females, as they asked me whether Gary knew about the accident yet? 
 
The following morning, Friday, I awake to a dusty, pissed off Suzy Kelley, "We're completely out of water.  I'm never travelling anywhere with you again." 
 
  (Poor Suzy had tried to take a shower after having been up for hours already, doing more hard labor around our campsite than I could have accomplished in an entire day.)
 
Turned out we had run out of water because when I was filling the water tank, I had thought  it was full but it was really just one of those danged air bubbles.
 
After we had begged water from one of Tevis' big water trucks, Suzy (who during the water fiasco had discovered where the trailer's indicator lights were) announced our black and grey tanks were full up and we'd have to figure out some way to get to a dumping  station without running into all those huge horse trailers making their way up the steep dirt single tracks into Robie Park. 
 
More male assistance later (thank you Chuck and Fred Beahm!), it turns out the tanks are actually empty, and it's just the indicator lights that are broken.
 
Of course the emptiness may have been due to the two leaks Suzy  found in the tank's pipes.  Suzy (the most mechanically competent woman I know--which is saying a lot in this sport!)  showed me where "someone" had already tried to repair the leaks, inappropriately using electrical tape instead of the glue specially made for living quarter horse trailer tank pipes. 
 
That's when Suzy started what  turned out to be a single-spaced 3-page list of all the things on the trailer needing attention, maintenance, repair, or replacement. (Because as she pointed each item out to me, I'd tell her I'd never remember it and to write it down.)
 
Thank goodness I had a break from hassling with the trailer on Saturday.  Riding a fresh, conditioned, and very competitive mare 86 miles in record breaking heat and humidity over the notorious Tevis trail was a cinch (and a joy).
 
On the way home on Sunday, as we were heading up the grapevine into LA, one of the trailer tires blew out. 
 
It was a good thing the AAA tire repair guys had brought two tires with them, because as it turned out, the one next to the bad one was getting ready to go too, so we needed both.  (Or maybe they just said that to sell us the other tire--but what're you going to do?  Precious Cargo.)
 
Was my horsetrailer humiliation in front of the Great Suzy Kelley worth being able to ride her mare Cayenne as far as Francisco's?  ABSOLUTELY! 
 
We had a great ride.  Cayenne was so on her game (thanks entirely to Suzy's conditioning) that we worked our way up steadily during the ride and were looking at a nice finishing placing if it hadn't  been for the pulled shoe on the hard rocky road into Francisco's.
 
THANKS SUZY!  Not just for letting me ride Cayenne, but for at least attempting to teach me the proper care and feeding of horse trailers, and for your patience and good cheer through it all.  You're the BEST!