If all goes according to plan...I won't have to make that trip again until April. Which is good because by that last trip down...I was baked. I even took an extra day because it probably would have taken a gun pointed at my head to force me back into a vehicle...and even then I might have said, 'Just pull the trigger.'. LOL.
I was mad at my cat too. I was planning on bringing him down when I brought the 2nd load of horses, so I could just put him in the LQ for the ride. But I couldn't find him that morning, so he had to come with me this last trip. I was not expecting it to be a very pleasant trip. Ya'll know how cats can carry on in a vehicle. Meowing and yowling...on and on and on.
Well, Deuce decided that this trip was okay with him. We got rolling down the road and he was stressed out for the first 50 miles or so, but then he decided that sitting in my lap was the place to be. After awhile he eased into the backseat and laid next to his buddy, Red Dog. When I stopped for fuel, he got up, got back in my lap and sat on my leg, looking out the window for a long while...
Then he fell asleep....
And that is where he rode for over 200 miles. Good kitty!! But finally my arm couldn't take it anymore and I had to move him. He was perturbed, so he went in the back and overed on Red Dog's spot...
Red Dog was like, 'Mom, he's in my spot. Mom, mom, mom, mom...'.
I guess RD must have finally given Deuce the heave-ho though because before long, he was back up front. My arm couldn't take anymore of him hanging on it though, so I told him he was going to have to find someplace else to look out the window.
So he did...
And that is where he rode for the last 150 miles. Crazy cat!!
Now it's time to get busy on these horses!!
I saw a couple of questions on the last post;
#1-The first load of horses I brought down, the Dodge got 10.2 m/gal. The 2nd load of horses, I got 9.4 m/gal. I was pretty worried about that horrible mileage, but MH reminded me that this pickup is brand new. He said the mileage would get better. If I remember correctly, my Chevy only got 9-10 m/gal. until it hit 10,000 miles and then it got better, 10-12m/gal, then at 50,000 miles it jumped again, to 12-14m/gal. Those are all loaded miles/gal. I always got great mileage with the dually when it wasn't pulling a big honking trailer, like 18-20m/gal. I would probably get a little better mileage in the Dodge if I didn't drive so fast. LOL. I do push it when I can and normally run 5-8 miles over the speed limit. But hey, I haven't had a speeding ticket in 20 years, so I can't be driving THAT fast. ;-)
#2-These new pickups come with automatics, but also have a 'manual' feature. The shifter column has buttons on it with + and - signs. In the Chevy, I had to manually drop the shifter one more notch, from 'D' to 'M' to engage the manual option and then the display would tell me what gear the pickup was in, in the Dodge all I have to do is hit the buttons and the display pops up to show me what gear it's in. Once you select a gear the pickup will not ever shift to a higher gear. It will however automatically shift to a lower gear if it needs to and then will shift back up to the gear you have it set at. It's like having a shifting for dummies built into your truck...and no clutch! LOL. In the Chevy I pretty much always towed in the manual setting and set it to 5th gear. 6th gear was just too high for it and it would drop in and out of 6th gear all the time, which sucked fuel like crazy. On small hills I never messed with changing the setting, the pickup would still shift down when it needed too and then shift back up to 5th gear. But on big and/or long hills, I would shift down to a lower gear(s) and that way I could keep my rpms and pulling power steady and the pickup wasn't constantly shifting up and down on it's own. It makes for a lot steadier ride for the horses and keeping the rpms steady encourages the clutch fan to engage when (if) the engine temperature starts to rise. In the Chevy, because it lacked the engine brake feature, I very often used the gears to help slow the rig down/keep it slow going down big hills. I don't have to do that with the Dodge, because it does have the engine brake option and have only used the manual shift option when pulling up a big, long hill. The Dodge has a slightly lower geared rear-end than the Chevy...don't ask me what it is exactly though, I don't know other than MH got the Heavy Duty version rear-end because the regular rear-end isn't strong enough to hold up and people have had problems with that on the Dodges. So in the Dodge, I have been able to run down the road in 6th gear and when pulling up big hills, I noticed I only need to shift it down to 4th gear vs. having to gear the Chevy down to 3rd gear on the same hill.
But this is the last, boring, omg-I'm-still-moving-crap post. Tomorrow, it's back to the horses and enjoying beautiful Arizona in the winter. I gotta get a hustle on because next weekend I'm taking Frosty to a gymkhana. He's not in shape, but he can't run fast enough to hurt himself anyway...so we are going. LOL. I'm dying to get out and have some fun.
8 comments:
Thanks for this post.
The photos really made me smile.
A great way to start my day.
:D
I used to ask my cat if he wanted to go for a ride and he'd get all excited and meow when I put his harness on. He'd sit in the front seat and look out the window... Then I got a dog who took that front seat so the cat decided he's terrified of being in the car even in a crate. Go figure.
This post answers my question that I posted in response to your comment over on herdlife. Yes! you are here!
I just spend a day with CNJ and we were wondering if you were all done with your shuttling.
Our dodge only gets 6-6.5 when towing which truly sucks. its got about 22,000 miles on it. However it is not a dually like yours. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
If you are going to be at any events on the east side of the valley let me know, I'll come cheer you on. I'll shoot ya an email with my phone #, would love to get together some day and go for a trail ride or something!
Finally made it there! Love that cat he sure travels well, my aunt and uncle had a cat who would jump up and sit on the middle console every time they left the yard. They took him camping every weekend, he was a goof!
Looks like a cool cat! good that he behaved well on the trip, now there is nothing for you to do but ride lady!
Glad you made it and are getting settled in. Good info on the Dodge. We are looking to replace our '95 Dodge with a newer one and it's good to know about some of the newer options that ours doesn't have. I love having an automatic, but always hated going down the mountains hauling the big trailer, even with trailer brakes. With that manual option on the autos, it's like the best of both. I have an overly active imagination when I see those huge valleys and such...and I was sweaty, exhausted and my whole arms would ache at the white-knuckling that I did sometimes. Hated that!
Glad to hear you made the trips and you're now officially here. I'm sure you're enjoying the weather! LOL
I'm game on trying to get together again this year. Last year didn't work out so well, so ya wanna give it another whirl?
Welcome to Arizona! You're going to love it...until the 115 degree temps. hahaha. I love the pictures of your cat, especially on the dashboard. Your cat looks a lot like my Temecula.
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