My Truck grows up

I took pictures but apparently my camera ate them :(. It’s a shame because I got a nice one with the Sales guy with me and him in front of it! I’ll put pictures up with this post tomorrow.

I really liked my half ton Chevy. It was a great little truck. When I graduated from college my parents helped me buy it and cosigned on the load as a graduation present. It has taken me everywhere. It has never given me any problems, but I was overloading it and the miles and towing weight was starting to take its toll. On the way to the dealership I shed tears as I pictured myself saying goodbye to my faithful truck in my parent’s driveway. As I drove off the dealer’s lot in my new ¾ ton, I didn’t give the ½ ton another thought! (How fickle is the women’s heart!)

Matt found this truck for me on Valentine’s Day in Stockton. Halfway through the test drive I let the Sales guy know that I was going to purchase the truck and what my down-payment was going to be. It was really quite easy. I was already pre-approved for the loan, my Dad bought my half ton for my 16 year old brother, and I had already ran the numbers on the financial calculators online, so I knew what my payment was going to be. This is the second time that I have had a great truck-buying experience. I think that if you’re honest and courteous, you will get the same in return. The key is knowing what you want and being reasonable. (I cause Matt stress with this attitude, as he is certain that I will be railroaded into something I don’t want).

I bought a new 2007, ¾ ton GMC, long bed truck. The truck is brand new (23 miles on it). My previous truck was a very basic work truck package, with AM/FM radio and no power anything. This truck feels very luxurious with cruise control, power locks, CD player, and keyless entry. I feel like this truck was custom made for me. It has manual windows, and no carpeting (I hate power windows and carpeting).

So how is this horse-related? Instead of going riding I bought a truck this weekend. The weather was horrendous so this was probably a good thing (I am stubborn enough I would have gone riding if it wasn’t for the truck buying event!). With this truck, I’m not limited by the local of the ride (how steep are the hills going to be? How long will the grades be? Is an extra bale of hay going to be the difference between stopping my trailer and not stopping?). I’m sitting in the service center now getting the finishing touches that will allow me to pull my trailer. After wiring my brake box in, Matt and my Dad could not get it to work with a trailer. After 4 hours (replacing fuses, rechecking and rechecking the wiring at the dashboard, and re-reading the owners manual….) I decided to take it into the shop. It turns out that dashboard wires are not wired to the fuse box under the hood…..I’m glad I took it in. I think Matt was about to kill me as his day off turned into “work on Melinda’s truck day”. While they were messing with the brake box, I purchased a new hitch (needed a hitch that had a larger drop) and moved the tool box from my old truck to my new one. I am going to take a day off work this week to take Farley on the conditioning ride we missed today, and make sure that everything works before we head to Ridgecrest on the 28th.

I must admit I have extreme trepidations about attending this 65 miler. Nothing has gone the way it should this month and as a result I haven’t gotten any riding in (I’m not exaggerating). I hoping that by going slow and being reasonable (ie pulling early if it’s not going well), Farley will get through injury free and we will both have fun. She was so strong at Death Valley and has a good base. I’m hoping with a tune up ride this week sometime, it will be enough. I hear tons of stories of people pulling their horses that have a good base out of pasture and having great rides, hopefully this is one of them.

Thanks to the people who responded on what kind of entries you like. It seems like most people are OK with journal type entries, so I’ll include more of them.