Set the alarm for a very early rising, it was still dark when the alarm went off, dawn started cracking about the time we got dressed and made coffee. Out of the campsite by 8:00, a quick stop at the dump and we were on the road by 8:20. Our first stop (after picking up breakfast at a Jack in the Box) was at Terry Peavey's of Voca, TX, a retired serviceman who trims using the Ramey method part time. He did a great, thorough job of trimming the horses' hooves, and the horses did a pretty good job of standing for him. We were there almost two hours, chatting with him and his wife, a very nice couple. Then we moved, making excellent time across country. Suddenly, at about 3:00 (and 30 miles from our destination), a tire on the horse trailer blew out. Fortunately, there was a wide shoulder, and we found a level spot just at the end of a driveway. We pulled out our handy Jiffy-Jack (an invaluable tool that has made our life so much easier so many times already!), took off the wheel, and I ran into nearby Lampasas to a tire store that my On-Star folks told me about. Unfortunately, despite assurances on the phone that they had a tire for me, A-1 didn't have a tire for me, and tried to talk me into a different size, an old tire with a nail in it, which they said they'd fix. I decided to look elsewhere (I really object to these bait and switch shops), and found a tire the right size at a place called Larry's Lube. Not a trailer tire, it was a truck tire, but considering we're planning on getting a new trailer very shortly anyway, it didn't make sense to put one brand new tire on it, so a $29 used tire will be just fine for now. I was gone a bit longer because of that, and got back just before 4:30. We quickly put the wheel back on, and continued on to Parrie Haynes Ranch. Arrived about a half hour before the sun went down, giving us enough time to find a spot to settle in and get the horses settled into a couple of pipe corrals. Dogs are loving it here, because there's no one else here and they're wandering everywhere. Rather surprised there's no one else here, though we discovered that the water here is non-potable, making the cost of staying here higher than it should be, and higher than we normally pay. For the cost, we thought the facilities here would be better, but there's no grills, few picnic tables, most of the sites aren't level unless you want to park in the group spot, which has no trees. A little disappointing, but the trail maps seem promising, hopefully that will make up for it (though the weather forecast doesn't look too promising, rain on Friday and colder on Christmas Day). But that's been known to change at the last minute, we'll wait and see.
