I had booked a tour for the 26 but the people never showed. I guess some people can't always be trusted to say the truth and do what they say they will do. But we had a good time anyway. The 27 we were asked to leave the campground because the neighbors were complaining about the dogs at night and the campers, who worked nights and slept days, were complaining about the dogs in the day. We were lucky to be allowed to stay at the manufacturing plant of Magic Wand Car Washs in Bristol. We had one tire to go flat on the drive from NC because the sidewall got a hole in it and I noticed a second tire starting to do the same thing so we headed off looking for 2 new tires for the horse trailer. We stayed in his gravel parking lot. That Friday 28th it rained and was too warm to run dogs so we headed to an exit on the interstate where there were lots of stores and we went shopping. Saturday morning we were supposed to meet Fayth and her family in Damascus and run dogs but at the 8 am meeting time there was no one there. So I called and woke them up. They said they would be ready and I said lets meet at 10 then. I went off and took a shower only to find they called and were not going to be able to make it at all on Saturday. I hate that Fayth did not get to train with the dogs that day. So I met Bob and Jim and Marcia and we ran dogs from Straight Branch down the mountain to Damascus. Then Kathy and I ran my team back up the mountain to Straight Branch. When we got back to the trailer with the adult team we ate then ran the puppy team up the mountain to the next point that we could reach and back down to the trailer. Sunday 12/30 we met Fayth and ran the puppies from Alvarado almost back to Ironhorse and back to Alvarado none stop. The pups did great. The only issue we had was when we went to open a gate to go through Tucker a trained older leader jumped through a barbed wire fence instead of the gate. The barbed wire was hot so it shocked Tucker and myself as I tried to free him from it. It had been raining so the electricity flowed easlily through us both. We went back to the trailer and put away the pups and Kathy and I ran the adult team from Alvarado to Wautauga and back. We were checking to make sure that the bigger cart will fit through the gates on Jan 19. Kathy decided that she wanted to race with a team of dogs in the 4 dog class on Jan 20 so I showed her what she need to know. I think she will do well. That night Marcia treated the dogs to spagetti and meatballs and yogart. The dogs enjoyed it. On Monday 12/31 we packed up and came home. But just as we got back into SC someone pulled out of the on ramp in front of us and they were going too slow and I had to slam on brakes and gear down to keep from hitting them. This cause my transmission to grind. We barely made it home. Once home I have taken the truck to the transmission shop and they can't seem to find a problem. But I was told it will cost $3500 for a rebuilt transmission and clutch. So we may not be able to drive the truck the rest of this season. I'm still weighing my options.
