New truck – old truck
Unloading at Umstead Park
[DEUTSCH weiter unten … ] Saturday, we took Wally and Cleo out on a road-trip for the first time. We borrowed the truck and trailer from friends of ours. We wanted to check out the truck’s towing prowess as we were planning to buy it. We had done a test-run the previous weekend and loaded the horses, took them for a short drive and brought them back home. This time we really took Wally and Cleo out – to Umstead park in Raleigh, which is about a 45 Minute drive. It was quite an exciting outing, and everyone had a great time. There were some other folks with their horses, and Wally and Cleo got to meet some of the other horses. The park was crowded, as there was a big 100-mile race going on, and so there were many bikers and runners on the paths. Wally and Cleo were very, very good. They had no problems with all the commotion – in fact they seemed to enjoy it.
The Dodge will be our new truck
One unusual incident provided even more excitement – at least for the humans. At one point we were warned that some “crazy guy” was attacking people on the path. Since he was between us and our parking lot (which is where our kids were playing) we continued on. We figured that with Wally and Cleo we could probably take on some nut with a stick. Sure enough – that’s what he turned out to be … a wild-eyed young man with a bloody nose and a stick sitting on an embankment next to the path, threatening the passers-by. we passed him at a fast walk and before he could really decide what to do with us, we sped up and cantered off. As we rode off, we saw two park ranger trucks with flashing lights headed down there to deal with the situation.
So the outing was fun – and a little exciting. And we really like the truck. It’s a ’98 Dodge RAM 2500 4WD diesel truck. The interior is pretty comfy, so it’ll be great for longer trips as well, and it pulls the horse trailer without any problems. Perfect … now I just have to get rid of the old, busted Ford.
When we got home, a guy from Virginia was already checking out my old truck. He had emailed me the evening before that he was interested in it, and he pulled up with his Ford F25
0 and a big trailer. After very brief negotiations, I handed him the title, and I got the cash and we got to loading the truck on the trailer. I pulled up alongside his truck with the Dodge, we hooked it to the Ford with a long chain and I carefully pulled the Ford onto the trailer. No sweat.
He said he had backed his skidsteer into his truck and banged up one side pretty badly. So he wanted the bed from my truck for his, and maybe some other parts. So I got a decent price for the truck and he saved a bunch of money.
After he drove off, I took the Dodge back to his owner. We sat down and figured out a price. I gave them the money from my truck as a down-payment, and we’ll finalize the deal later this week.
So now I just have to sell my Mercedes. I cleaned it today and a friend of mine took it for a test drive. He said he likes it. Maybe he’ll buy it!
Letzten Samstag haben wir zum ersten Mal unsere Pferde Wally und Cleo mit in den Park genommen. Wir liehen uns den Pickup and Anhaenger von Bekannten aus und luden die beiden in den Anhaenger. Teil dieses Experimentes war ein Test des Pickups, denn wir wollen den Pickup wahrscheinlich kaufen. Als wir die Beiden endlich im Anhaenger “verstaut” hatten, ging es los: nach Umstead Park in Raleigh, ungefaehr eine 3/4 Std Fahrt. Dort gibt es schoene Reit/Rad und Laufwege. Unser Nachmittagsausflug verlief sehr gut, wenn auch etwas spannender als erwartet. Es war sehr viel los im Park, da ein 100-Meilen-Rennen unterwegs war, mit Radfahrern und Laeufern. Aber die Wege sind sehr breit und Wally und Cleo zwar neugierig, aber ruhig und aufmerksam. Ich glaube die fanden das alles ganz lustig.
Ganz spannend wurde es dann als uns andere Reiter entgegen kamen und uns ganz aufgeregt mitteilten dass da ein Mann die anderen Leute mit Stoecken und Steinen bedrohe. Sie haetten die Park Ranger zu Hilfe gerufen und wollten nun auch die Rennleitung auf das Problem aufmerksasm machen. Da wir allerdings zurueck zum Parkplatz mussten (wo die Kinder auf uns warteten) ritten wir weiter. So ein Verrueckter mit einem Stock kann uns auf den Pferden ja nun wirklich nicht viel anhaben. Kurz darauf sahen wir ihn dann auch … ein junger Mann, orange Muetze, blutige Nase und ein ganz wirrer Blick im Gesicht sass auf der Boeschung neben dem Weg. Wir ritten zuegig auf ihn zu, und als er aufstand und seinen Stock erhob, gaben wir Wally und Cleo die (nicht vorhandenen) “Sporen” und gallopierten davon. Kurz darauf begegneten wir zwei Pickups der Park Ranger die sich mit Blaulicht in Richtung “Tatort” bewegten.
Wenn auch etwas aufregender als erwartet, war unser Ausflug doch ein Erfolg. Die Pferde hatten Spass (glaube ich jedenfalls) und wir auch. Under unser zukuenftiger Pickup hatte ueberhaupt kein Problem wit dem vollbeladenen Pferdeanhaenger.