Prepping for the big haul.

Ah, the thrill of a jaunt out to Grand Island, Nebraska. I’ve heard  it’s grand. After all it’s in the name isn’t it? I’m expecting big things: fresh midwestern air, great restaurants, and exciting nightlife…what’s that? Oh.

We’ve literally been planning this one for months with our friends at Tripping Gnome Farm — we caravan together — and now the time is nearly upon us. Jen was meticulous as we packed the trailer back up at the NAAS not to just throw things pell-mell back into the gooseneck, knowing full well that some 14 days later we’d be heading back on the road for the Futurity. As a result, trailer packing this time around is not as involved minus the fact that we will be traveling with a more exotically equipped first aid kit than we would for a regular weekend away here in the Northeast.  The biggest difference between this run and the North American though is that we are on the road with what amounts to a small herd for roughly 10 days. That requires us to estimate our hay and bedding needs and then round up. We ran low on hay a few years ago while in Oklahoma City and that was not a pleasant experience. Have hay pod, can travel.

On this particular haul the trailer, lovingly dubbed The Beast, will be split into two large compartments which should provide plenty of space for the 30+ critters on board. For two days out and two days back it’ll be like a CCNF barn on wheels. Our son, Sam, is riding shotgun with me on the way out which should be great fun, while the rest of the Lutz and Munro clans, along with our friend Dave Serino, will fly in at the end of next week just in time for the auction shenanigans on Saturday and the walking in circles part which finally gets under way a week from Sunday.

For my part I’m going to try sleeping in a bit over this coming weekend (that equates to 7:30ish around here if I’m lucky) as rumor has it that we are aiming to be heading down the road, fully loaded, no later than 6AM Tuesday morning. Sammy and I are hitting the Huger Games trilogy on the way out in audiobook form to pass the miles and so I can find out what all the hype is about. I wonder what the cost of diesel due west of here will be? Regardless, we know we’ll doing our little part (9 MPG anyone?) to support the stock prices of energy companies everywhere!

Follow me on Twitter @CCNFalpacas