The Gloves Are Off!

I recently received two comments from Bernadette, the ex step brother's wife. You only saw one because she deleted the other, but of course I have a copy since it was emailed to me. Let me share it with you. First the deleted one:

bernadette has left a new comment on your post "A Memorial for my Father":

Joey,

You need to think about things before you write them. You write about how the "ex's" or what ever it is you refer to them as, as being money hungry. There not they loved Doyle as much as you and your borther. They grew up with Doyle and you didnt. Doyle loved them just as much as he did you or your brother. Remember they grew up with Doyle and he raised them as if they were his own. So no matter what you think about them they did love Doyle and Doyle loved them. They never wanted anything when Doyle died all they ever wanted was to be included in his memorial. But you are such a selfish person that you could not over come the relationship he had with them that you had to keep them away. Well guess what they know about it, but knew they were not welcome so they did not go.
Posted by bernadette to Led Zeppelin Mama at 7/31/09 9:08 PM

The comment she ended up leaving on my blog:

no name has left a new comment on your post "A Memorial for My Father"

Joey,
Always remember that the ex step family loved Doyle as much as you and your family did. They never expected or wanted anything form Doyle but his love and they got it. They grew up with him and you didnt they will always have memories of him and you will not. So before you start to talke badly of them keep in mind that Doyle loved them as much as he love you.
Posted by no name to Led Zeppelin Mama a1 7/31/09 9:17 PM

I took these comments as an invitation to make this public, therefore The gloves are off.

Yes I refer to the exes as Money Hungry, because they are. First two sentences out of Jason's mouth when I first arrived in Richfield, not 24 hours after my father passed away were, "Hi Remember me, I'm Jason, your adopted brother. I don't know when you want to talk about it, but I'd like dad's truck when everything is split up. I really need a truck." (As close to word for word as possible) This from a guy I haven't seen in at least 10 years! And about 10 minutes later we show up to Cathy's house and within the first 5 minutes Jodi was placing dibs on the 4 wheeler and/or snowmobiles and trailer. Not Money Hungry? I tend to disagree.

Everyone who witnessed those conversations have all discussed how disgusted they were to hear it, yet not shocked by both comments and their untimely delivery. WHO IN THE FUCKING WORLD starts placing dibs on their barely dead EX-step father's "stuff" before the funeral is even planned? Jodi and Jason, that's who. We all expected that behavior because that is exactly how their mother raised them to be, just like her.

Speaking of their mother Cathy, who already got half of everything my dad had when they got divorced is now legally fighting us for his money. Trust me, there isn't enough to fight for. Apparently she drained him almost dry in the divorce and the fight over the cabin. I expected there to be a good chunk to help us keep up the cabin and condo, he was a construction Superintendent for gawd sake and was by far the hardest worker anyone knew. I had always been told he paid cash for everything, not a bit of debt to his name. While it's not totally true, he did have a credit card and his condo has a mortgage, we were lucky to have enough in his checking to cover the credit card and help pay the mortgage for a bit. Soon Shane and I will be solely responsible for the condo and cabin.

In the meeting with our lawyer right after we planned the funeral, they were all making comments about a quarter of a million dollars, I don't know where they were pulling those numbers out of but obviously out of their asses. They all looked so excited to jump into their new buckets of gold, laughing and smiling. The entire time I was still trying to accept that my father has just died.

My aunt recently asked Cathy why she was fighting us for the money. She told her she was fighting for her kids because she knows Shane and I aren't going to give them anything. So my aunt flipped the situation and asked Cathy if she were to die, are Shane and Joey going to get anything? Of course not. So why is Cathy fighting us for the money? Because she's the Money Hungry EX. The excuse she gave her lawyer, that my dad promised her that money. As if he'd promise money to the woman who had a restraining order against him. Give me a break!

Don't think I wasn't going to go back to..."I'm Jason, your adopted brother". I have never in my life heard the word Adopted thrown around quite as many times as those few days at the funeral. It seemed that Adopted was Jason's middle name. It came flying out of Jason's mouth, Jodi's mouth and Cathy's mouth about a million times. Funny thing was, no one but them had ever heard a word about Jason being adopted. I wonder why? OH because it was total BULLSHIT! As we all discussed it, some of us had heard or remembered comments about Jason getting his name changed and how Jodi wouldn't and how my dad was pissed off which led to Jodi leaving him off her wedding invitations. But there was never any talk about my dad adopting Jason. You think if he were to do that he would have called and talked to Shane and I beforehand or at least my grandma. Who knows why they thought they'd get away with claiming he was adopted, obviously we were going to verify it. But it was obvious Why they would claim it, they wanted to ensure their share of my dad's assets. FAIL.

Just recently Jason called Shane to apologize for not going to the Memorial, stating they didn't know about it. (So either Bernadette is lying now or Jason was lying to Shane) Shane explained to him why he was not notified or invited and Jason claimed to not know he wasn't adopted and not know that his mother was fighting us for the accounts and how he didn't want anything now, that he wasn't on his sister or mother's side and didn't agree with their actions since the funeral. A. Changing your name and getting adopted are two different processes, not to be confused with one another. He was 17 years old when he changed his name, he was old enough to understand what was going on. The paper work is very similar, but the process is totally different. I'm sorry but I don't buy it. It's just another lie.

B. Saying he doesn't want anything doesn't take back the fact that he was placing dibs on my dad's truck less then 24 hours after my dad died. He's only saying he doesn't want anything now because he knows he's not legally entitled to anything.

And I have no idea (yes I do, her name is Jodi and she's bat shit crazy) where you three get this insane idea that I am somehow jealous of Jodi and Jason because my dad raised them. Are you fucking kidding me? Most of my memories with my dad are Good memories because I didn't see him that much. They grew up in a household with two alcoholic parents. Who would be jealous of that? I'm fairly certain Bernadette got this idea from Jodi who wrote in a letter to Shane that I was angry or pissed at her and Jason because they spent more time with my dad. I have never been jealous, angry or pissed at them....honestly I've never even thought about them. My past anger or sadness has always been with my father. He was the adult, the parent that did not make the time for his kids that he should have. It's not about them, it never was even though they like the drama and like to make it all about them. So get over yourselves and move on with life. My father moved on when he divorced Cathy for the 2nd time. You all had been out of our lives even before all that, what's different now?

I can go on all night...let's see what's next. Oh right, let's talk about how Jodi and Cathy stole all of my dad's personal affects when they claimed his body. (That's what you get with Toothless Village police departments...apparently NON relatives can claim any old body and personal affects without documenting a damn thing) Jodi stole his pocket knife and gave it to her son. They stole the gate and cabin keys. Deleted all his text messages on his cell phone, because most of them were from his girlfriend Donna. Jealous much? Oh and let's not forget about how they took the picture of Jack that dad carried in his wallet. Seriously, what's worse then stealing a picture of a dead grandchild from his grandfather's dead body?

With that, I'm not sure it's necessary to continue with more reasons why Jodi and Jason were not welcome at my father's memorial.

Honestly Bernadette, I think it shows clearly what kind of a person you are when you try to hurt me by saying, "They grew up with him and you didnt they will always have memories of him and you will not." not only are you dense but you're wrong. As I've already said, I have great memories of my dad and nothing but shitty memories of their mom. I had the benefit of not being raised by two alcoholic parents.

Maybe before you post an uneducated, incorrectly spelled comment on a website you should know that all comments posted are emailed to the owner of the site giving me the freedom to publish your nonsensical, repetitive bullshit to the world.

To help me get back into blogging

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Before you all call me lazy, we'll start with what time I went to bed this Morning...3:30am-ish and I got up at 11:30 am.

2. How do you like your steak?
Well Done and by done I mean No Bloody Mooing!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Twilight. We don't often go out to Theaters, we're home-bodies. Well Jory is more of a home-body and I just hate people in general. Those of you who know me, know that I'm kidding. Mostly.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
If I have to pick one.........Dexter!

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
My own tropical Island.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Didn't eat breakfast...I've been drinking a V8 all week for breakfast, but not today.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Let's just say my all time favorite meal is chicken cordon bleu.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Vegetables, Don't freak out, I like Salad, pickled beets, potatoes, green beans and corn.

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
FAMOUS FUCKING DAVES, ok that might have been a little too aggressive but I'm pretty sure everyone on the planet knows how much I love FDs!

10. Favorite dressing?
I go back and forth with Ranch and Thousand Island Oh and Honey Mustard!

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
2008 Honda CRV Baby! You can call her Lucy 2.0.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Seriously? Who has favorite clothes? Wait I guess I do favor my Led Zeppelin Tshirts and sweatshirt.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Visiting my dad's cabin this weekend. I guess I should stop saying my dad's cabin since it's technically me and my brother's cabin now. I'd like to go to Koh Phangan, Thailand, Italy, England, Australia, Antarctica, Miami Rocks in the winter time, still haven't made it to Hawaii!

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Who the fuck cares, some days if feels like I've been robbed of the cup entirely.

15. Where would you want to retire?
My dad......My cabin in the summer and Miami or Hawaii or anywhere tropical in the winter!

16. Favorite time of day?
Sunset, sunrise if I'm still awake.

17. Where were you born?
Almost in a car, I think that was me, or wait was I the one that was almost born in the toilet? Or was that Christopher? I don't remember...in a hospital in Logan, Utah.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Favorite...NONE unless is the Summer X Games, I enjoy those and sometimes Tennis, Gymnastics and Beach Volleyball, but it's really rare. I'm one of those weirdos that can't sit still when watching sports, my body jerks because I'm trying to help the athletes out! LOL Because you know I can do a better job from my couch. ;)

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
I'm not really tagging because I'm blogging this so no one.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
Same answer

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Oh Good Gawd!

22. Bird watcher?
Are you for real? While I smoke I guess I watch the birds and rats with wings, but I'm not like going out on a nature hike with my bonoc's and birdy whistle wearin' a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts with a camera hanging around my neck.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
You must be new here...Night person. Me and Insomnia...Inseparable.

24. Do you have any pets?
Yes, Mazzy Star Johnson and Jimi Page Hendrix Johnson, both black Pomeranian Princesses.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
No I'm still not pregnant, thanks for rubbing it in.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
First off you're going to laugh, makes me not want to answer...but I'm a Masochists so when I was little and naive I wanted to be an Actress or a Model. I also thought I had a twin sister and we, yes WE would act out shows in the mirror in my parent's bedroom. WE also did radio shows which I recorded on tape and HAPPEN TO HAVE one of those tapes still in my possession today. You want to listen don't you? Maybe someday ;)
Then I grew up and all the boys in sixth grade told me how ugly and fat I was...even though back then I was a toothpick, I just happen to be 5'7" with big boobs (30 DD) at 12 years old, so I try to tell myself that they were just jealous. OH and for any of you BOYS that tease us girls, we Remember your names and will curse you until the day we die.
In High School I decided I wanted to be a LCSW who would do independent therapy with abused or troubled kids...but I couldn't afford college so here I am, a computer geek who wants to change careers and work with kids, with no degree and no paid experience. It's not looking good. EEK I was just supposed to be answering questions and here I am Blogging...well I guess for those of you who actually stuck around to read my answers, this is a treat for you! or maybe it's not, either way ;)

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Hmmm I don't know if it's the best but it came to mind pretty quickly, how strange, but anyway One of my favorite memories from childhood was going to New York with my mom when I was 12 years old for dancing. My drill team the Logan Stars.....Did she just say Dancing? wait Drill team? WTF JOEY who the F are you? You were thinking that....weren't you? Yes, for Dancing, My drill team...I was a girl at one point in my life ;) LOL! I danced with the Logan Stars which later became known as the Cache Valley Stars for THIRTEEN years! And when I was 12 years old a few girls from our team went to NY to dance at halftime at Giant Stadium for the....something Bowl, I can't think of the name. Anyway that's not the important part. We went to NY a week early to do tourist-y stuff and I had the time of my life! I decided then that I wanted to move to NY and be an artist in Central Park...that of course never happened either, but A Girl Can Dream right?

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
dog

29. Are you married?
Happily, we're coming up on 12 years this September! People always get mad that I say that because technically we didn't get married until our 6 year anniversary, but on Sept. 8, 1997 we professed our love and agreed to grow old together. On Sept. 8, 2003 we celebrated our agreement and made it legal, but that paper didn't override our original agreement...so there's no reason to ignore the first 6 years.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes

31. Been in a car accident?
One, but I wasn't driving....Juli ;) Technically two if you count the time I put the car in reverse and took my foot off the brake and Lucy 1.0 slowly backed into another car that retardedly stopped right behind me, in my blind-spot. It didn't hurt Lucy at all, but crunched the crap out of the retarded lady's passenger door. Even the cop was all...Why the hell did you stop your car right behind her's? The lady was all...I didn't realize I was behind her I was stopping before pulling out of the parking lot and the cop was...Lady. You stopped like 20 feet from the sidewalk, you can't possibly have been stopping before pulling out of the parking lot because you wouldn't be able to see if anyone is coming on either side. Then she admitted she was looking through her date book and wasn't paying attention. Why did I just type that out, who the fuck cares? I don't. Or maybe I did, maybe I felt like that had never been said so I had to say it. oh I'm boring myself now.

32. Any pet peeves?
I get more and more every year. When I was younger it was Teachers who added an S at the end of my last name, Kendricks, There is no fucking S at the end, it's just KENDRICK. Then it turned into Hendricks or Kendrickson or Hendrickson ARGH! Or first day of class they'd call out Joey Kendricks and I would raise my hand shaking my head like SERIOUSLY? AREN'T YOU A FUCKING TEACHER? NOT VERY SMART ARE WE? and they would TOTALLY ignore my hand as if they thought, Oh that girl must just have a question because I'm still waiting for a BOY to respond to HIS name. Most of the time I had to yell out, YO I'm Joey, yes I'm a GIRL, get over it! OH wow, there's some pent up anger! LOL
I'm going to stop with the pet peeves for now because I'm feeling nasty and I don't think people want to read my feelings about Hypocritical Mormons. And I only added "Hypocritical" to be nice. See I'm in a nasty mood now. Way to go Stupid survey, get me all RAGING at the WORLD!
33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Ham and Pineapple

34. Favorite Flower?
It was always daisies but I actually love the tropical, unique looking ones now.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Oreo, Cookies and Cream, whatever same thing.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Currently it's Carl's Jr because they have their Teriyaki burgers and I'm obsessed with Teriyaki sandwiches otherwise probably Quizno's but they're pricey.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
100% on both written and driving the first and only time, Thank You Very much!

38. From whom did you get your last email?
MesaEastAZFreeCycle

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
I don't buy things with our credit cards. Credit is bad, evil, Satan. But what store would I spend someone else's cash in?...The Dancing Cranes in Salt Lake City. It's my favoritest store in the world.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
I spontaneously called my friend Keara knowing full well that she wouldn't answer her phone.

41. Like your job?
Hated my last job, quit to be a mother, that fell through so now I sit at the computer all day looking for a new job, it sucks.

42. Broccoli?
Fuck no

43. What was your favorite vacation?
My last favorite was the trip to Miami for Sara and Carl's wedding.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Keara and her mom I think.

45. What are you listening to right now?
Jory playing Fallout 3 on the XBox 360

46. What is your favorite color?
Green

47. How many tattoos do you have?
Three, but the last one had 6 sittings so I should count them separately. And it's still not done. I have 6 more waiting for someone like Kat Von D or Chris Garver to do them justice.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
Zero asshat

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
1:58 AM

50. Coffee Drinker?
Only in the winter or trips to Utah.

I KILLED our Dyson and it Came Back to LIFE!

It was me...I did it! I killed the Dyson. Take me away boys!

So I've been beating myself up for a couple weeks now about killing our Dyson vacuum. That's $400 down the freakin' drain! If you've been a long time reader, you'll remember the only reason we were able to get a $400 Dyson was because we had received so many Lowe's gift cards the previous xmas. Now is not the time to have to make any large purchases, especially since I'm still not working!

I was really feeling awful, it was my crochet headband that I unknowingly vacuumed up and the next time I went to vacuum, I noticed the suction was weak and then it just powered off. I moved outlets a couple times, nothing! Jory started tinkering and found the headband had clogged the vacuum and I must have burned out the motor.

So I finally got on the Dyson website today looking at that warranty info, assuming the commercials about there being a lifetime guarantee had fine print that says something to the effect of..."We will replace your Dyson vacuum no questions asked, unless of course your distracted wife vacuums up her crochet headband that shouldn't have been hiding under the fucking ottoman.

But instead I went to the support link and followed the instructions on what to do if your Dyson powers off by itself and apparently the smart motherfuckers at Dyson built in a safety system that stops the machine if it's beginning to overheat, mostly caused by blockage or dirty filter. It says to wait an hour, check for blockage and clean filter then plug it in.

It's been over two weeks and we had already cleared the blockage so I walked in the living room, told Jory there was a chance the Dyson might actually be ok, plugged in the vacuum and held my breath. I counted to three and hit the power button and our Smart-ass vacuum powered the fuck on! FUCK YA!

I did what Jory called a chimp dance to celebrate then vacuumed the office and hallway grinning from ear to ear.

People, if you need a vacuum, by a freakin' Dyson! They rule, you really can't break them. We've had ours for almost 3 years now and this was our first problem. It wasn't the Dyson's fault I vacuumed my crochet headband, but the Dyson saved us by being super smart. And no the people at Dyson have not paid me to endorse their product, but they can, or send me their Handheld animal, no not of the furry sort, their handheld pet hair vacuum!

Monsoon Attacks at The Walmarts!

Monsoon winds down my neighbors tree but makes for a pretty sunset!

Monsoon Season...Here we come!

July 2009 Blog Header

A Memorial for my Father

We originally planned my father's memorial for Memorial weekend, but there was still a lot of snow up on the mountain so we rescheduled for July 4th. I've wanted to blog about getting ready for it, but with the money grubbing ex step family lurking around, I had to keep it all under wraps. I appreciate your patience and continuing to come back for more exciting stories in the Soap Opera that is my life.

My brother Shane and I had talked about getting one of those memorial tree trunks with a plaque or even a plaque to put on one of the trees at my dad's cabin, but we found Memorial Estate Boulders online and they looked beautiful. After finally picking one out and coming up with the epitaph, I got it ordered and we waited patiently for it to arrive. Many of you may have followed my tweets and saw that at one point the shipping company actually LOST the BOULDER! How do you lose a freakin' Boulder? Anyway, it was eventually found and delivered before the memorial.



Last weekend we all drove up to Monroe Mountain in Central Utah to celebrate my dad's life at his favorite place in the world, his cabin. My aunts and uncles, a few cousins and of course our Granny joined us.

We left Thursday night around 9 pm after Jory got home from work and I drove straight through the night. It took us about 8 hours to get there, arriving sometime around 6 am Utah time. I took this photo while driving up the mountain, it was so neat to see the clouds below me. I wanted to stop and take a few photos with my real camera but there was a truck following up and it's not really a two lane road.

We went straight to bed and slept until around 2 pm. When we got up, we found everyone already enjoying the campfire and had already taken excursions out on the Rhino, Polaris Rzrs and 4wheelers. Jory and I both had horrible headaches so we took it easy, sitting around the campfire and enjoying every one's company. It's so peaceful up there, it's magical.



LaDawn cooked up some mouth watering chicken and pork in the dutch ovens and gave Scott and Shane the instructions to keep the coals at exactly 350 degrees ;) Apparently sarcasm is in the blood, now I know where I get it from.

The weekend was filled with delicious meals. Scott's dutch oven biscuits and gravy, Shane & Jessi's handmade hamburgers, my strawberry jello salad(my mother's recipe) was a huge hit, especially with my uncle Keith and myself of course! I loved it, so yummy! Even Sunday's leftover dutch oven breakfast, which basically consisted of scrambled eggs and cheese poured over the biscuits and gravy...OH MY GAWD it was good! We seriously ate like the kings and queens.

Saturday Shane and my uncles dug a deep hole and filled it with cement and a chain to lock down the boulder permanently, just in case no one (I wonder who?) gets any ideas. We also planted a tree in my dad's memory a few feet behind the boulder.



We later decided to build a fence around the boulder with a removable front log because the snow will actually fully cover the boulder. Animals like Elk could possibly damage the boulder by walking on it or scratching their horns on it, so this fence should prevent that.



I had a great time taking my newly inherited Honda Foreman Rubicon (4wheeler) up the mountain with everyone. There are some seriously beautiful meadows up there. My dad really knew how to pick a mountain for his cabin!

We took another excursion up the mountain and at one point, Shane & Jessi took off up this really steep hill and headed in to the trees. I knew I could get up there, but with my fear of heights, I didn't want to have to come back down it. So I pulled over and waited for my uncles and cousin Riley to show up behind me and told them I wasn't going up there. My uncle Keith offered to drive the 4wheeler up and back down for me if I just wanted to ride in the Rzr with Jen, but by the time we had the plan in motion, Shane and Jessi were on their way back down. I hate that my fear can stop not only me from going somewhere, but it stopped all the others too. Although, I didn't feel too bad when Riley told me, he wouldn't be able to get his motorbike up there, so it worked out for the best.



We continued up the trail and even though the road got really scary with crazy dips, I was proud of being able to follow. I've ridden 4wheelers before, but really only around camping spots or Shane's house, so I still consider myself quite the amateur. Then of course Shane headed over some freaking trees and I knew at that point, it wasn't going to happen for me so I stopped again. Keith and Jen followed him in the Rzr and shortly returned. They said that they saw the Rhino's front wheels pop up on a huge log, then the whole Rhino slid down to the end of the tree, Shane gunned it and the back wheels popped over and they continued ahead. He's so crazy! After about 10 minutes of listening to them drive around, they finally returned with huge smiles!





The trail we took circles around the valley and it was jaw droppingly(get over it I make up words all the time) gorgeous.

I wanted to stop and take pictures every 10 feet, but the sun was going to be setting and we wanted to get to an overlook of the cabin to take pictures as the sun set.


When we finally got to this perfect spot, you could see the whole valley where the cabin is perfectly set on the mountainside. We thought we could see someone on the balcony (later on Jory said it was him and our cousin Leah). We waved just in case, but it was too far away to see if anyone was waving back. It was the perfect last stop even though we didn't really get a sunset. It had rained really hard twice that day already so we weren't really surprised.






Shortly after getting back to the cabin, while cooking dinner it started to rain again, then hail! It was insane! I was too busy making my jello salad so I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of the hail. I just knew with our luck, it was going to snow, but it didn't. Thank gawd.

Jory had to work on Monday so we were supposed to leave Sunday around 10 am, but we both slept in until then. By the time we had everything packed and ready it was already noon. I went to get the 4wheeler packed on the trailer and found that Shane and my uncles were building a kool fence down the hill in front of the cabin. The trailer still had tree limbs in it. So I had to go down and disrupt their work to take the trailer. We did a quick little training on how to load and unload the wheeler. I was scared shit-less, but Shane was really nonchalant about it and that gave me a lot of confidence to just do it. I drove it up and backed it off successfully! When I was finished and we were tying it down, Jessi told me, she's never even drove one off before! I was glad she didn't tell me that before, I really was scared, I just knew I had to do it and get it done and when I did it and didn't die or get hurt, it felt great! It was funny though, when I was getting ready to back it down the ramp, I asked Shane if I was straight and he said ya, so I faced forward and said, "here we go!" and he said, "it helps to look back". LOL! I'm so glad he was there to help me, he gives me a lot of strength. He's always been there for me, not only like a big brother or a friend, but like a father since our own father wasn't really around growing up. Thank you Shane, I love you!

Hold on, let me dry my tears...

So we got the trailer loaded and hitched up and headed down the mountain in first gear. It took us an hour, but we made it all the way down without hitting a tree or losing our breaks! I have never ever towed anything so I knew the basics as far as taking wide turns but actually pulling into a gas station with a 13' trailer that has a 6' neck on it, is pretty freaking hard. The first gas station in Panguitch wasn't ideal, but we were almost completely out of gas and I was going to pee my pants LOL so I literally pulled in and parked all skiwampus at the pumps. People were trying to back out and three of the four cars and trucks nearly hit me. I was all jumping inbetween my car and theirs so Lucy 2.0 wouldn't get hit and it was one after another after another. I felt like I was playing Frogger but instead of avoiding getting hit I was literally jumping in harms way. LOL!

All the other gas stations on the way home were pretty easy, you just have to take up an entire row. I'm sure we looked pretty funny. A freakin' Honda CRV pulling a trailer that is longer and wider then the car! It killed our gas mileage. It went from an average of 30 mpg down to 13mpg...ouch. But we're planning on selling/trading in the trailer for a much smaller one so that won't be a problem in the future. Obviously the gas mileage will go down even with a small trialer, but it shouldn't cut it in half.

It took us 11 hours to get home...I never imagined it would take us that long, but going the speed limit and having to stop every 200 miles for gas really eats away the time. But we're home safe and that's all that matters.

I can't wait to go back up to the cabin in a couple weeks. Ideally I'd have a new trailer by then, but I know I won't so it will have to be sans 4wheeler :( but getting up there is all that matters to me. The summers on the mountain don't last that long so I need to take advantage while I can.


Love you Dad, miss you!