A Trip We Will Never Forget Part 3

After two hard days mixed with some baby fun, we were ready to head home. The fact that we were leaving Roscoe was softened by the fact that we were bringing his older, by 9 days, half sister back with us. Aeres was headed to Maryland to begin her training. So our red head was switched to black for the return trip.

As we loaded the truck, a bit of rain started so I reached for my jacket. I was shocked to feel a pain in my ring finger. Something had bit or stung me. My finger swelled and burned. I took the ice I was using on my ribs and put it on my finger. Yep, time for me to get out of Indiana. Luckily the rest of the load up, including Aeres getting on the trailer went great. We pulled out 2 minutes ahead of schedule.

Aeres and I waiting

We stopped to fill the truck and our own tummies. Aeres and I chatted while waiting. She is a cool mare, but one that is a skittish. We wanted her to be as comfortable as she could be on this trip. She will have a tougher trip since she ends with the mountains. Mom and Peggy came back with food and it was time to begin. Or maybe not. Peggy had to go back in and get our correct order first.
Finally we were ready. As we pulled onto the interstate, the truck started shaking. Oh SHIT, what now? Plus Mom realized she had not plugged in the electric brake. What came next was a bit of comedic relief. I had undone my bra to be more comfortable and was trying to put some arnica cream on. I laughed and said I had to try not to flash the passing truckers. Then Peggy decided to try and hook the electric brake which meant leaning into Mom's lap to reach the hook up. Anyone looking in would have been asking questions, but is was really funny. The not so funny part was looking over at my camera case and seeing a big bee/wasp thing staring back at me. I guess my attacker had crawled out of my jacket. Peggy rescued me by taking care of him. Since she was not as successful with the brake we ended up having to pull off the next exit.
Mom plugged it in only to get an error code. I looked up the code online and found that it meant there was a short in the blue wire. That combined with the shaking truck we called my Dad. We could not see anything with the truck or the trailer. Somehow, someway the electric brake started working. We set off again with less shaking in the truck, but still some unease. At the next gas stop, our unease was justified.
When Mom walked around the trailer she found a tire sheared to the belt with wire exposed.

Not what you ever want to see

Thankfully, the tire had not blown out. Mom moved the trailer to a better resting spot and Peggy called USRider. My Dad had just signed me up for it a few months ago. We knew we could change the tire ourselves, since we have a trailer aid (every trailer should have this), but we wanted someone who could look at the other tires and make sure they were okay for the rest of the trip. The trailer people who did the check up before the trip said the tires looked good even though they are original. USRider texted me the company name and estimated time of arrival for the service provider. 35 minutes to wait. We used the time to feed and water Aeres. Peggy even went into the store to find candy that would appeal to Aeres. The store was great about us hanging about.
A bit late, the service guy showed up in a Malibu. Have to say that did not make me feel good. Then when he asked where the flat tire, uh what, was and we pointed to the trailer we got a blank look. "I've never changed a tire on a cart before." Seriously that is what he said. RED FLAG!!! I handed my phone to Peggy and told her to get USRider back on the phone. Peggy told the guy to hold on while she talked to them. She walked away and told them the situation. Needless to say, we refused to let him work on the tire. USRider was great and arranged for another service provider. I received the text in no time letting us know it would be about an hour. Then they called to say that he might arrive earlier with traffic.

Our rescuers

This time when help came he was in a tow truck. What a relief. He looked at the tire and said we probably hit a pot hole just right to break the rubber. The rest of the tires were still good. He checked their pressure too and made them all match. Mom pulled the trailer up onto the trailer aid and he went to work. As soon as he took the tire off, I saw a frayed blue wire. Remember the electric brake error code. Yep, there was our short. Since we had three more, we would be okay for the rest of the drive. As he was finishing the tire change, his wife offered to call the Walmart just up the road to see if they had a spare we could buy. When they did not, she called the tire place and asked them. That place did, so she said they would come with us to take the damaged tire off the holder and bring it inside for us. Sure enough we headed to the tire place and he went in with Mom. When they came back out we had a new spare and he made the pressure match the rest. This couple went above and beyond the tire change knowing the pay is not very much. Mom and Peggy gave them a generous and heartfelt tip out of our travel cash. Good people who just want to help others are great to find.

Are we there yet?

Aeres, bless her, stayed calm on the trailer during all this. She was munching on her hay enjoying the break. We were glad to get back on the road after the 3 hour delay. And what do you know, the truck was smooth again.

Yum, hay cubes

From that point on, the drive was normal. Aeres did not drink as much as we would have liked, but she did eat the soaked hay cubes with pro bi added. She relaxed and her tummy did not look as tight. She was so tired, that Mom took it slow through the mountains. We drove up Peggy's driveway at 12:34am. Aeres went into the big stall with the attached little paddock. Rosemary glared at us and did not even come see us. Talk about being in the dog house.
Mom and I finally found our beds at about 3:00am. What a trip.

DaVinci checking in with Aeres

The last part was sending Aeres off with her Maryland trainer on Sunday. Aeres took naps in the sawdust and rolled in the mud resting up for her last trip. Unfortunately, her ride came by way of I95 and found our lovely traffic. Once they arrived Aeres was awesome stepping right up into the trailer. It will be great to see how she grows in the future.

Walking back into the barn, we all realized the energy was different without Roscoe. Much quieter. Comrade though is back to breaking out of the stalls. Without Roscoe to burn off his energy, his Cob trouble is showing. If I can get back into the saddle it would help, but it is tough with my ribs.

And that is the trip we will never forget for reasons you now know. Now we have two months till our barn is whole again. I have already received a progress report for Roscoe. Can anyone guess how he is doing?