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Those Damn Ducks!

 I've been feeling pretty ready the last week or so. I've gotten good mileage and elevation in, the weather has been cooperating, and all my weatherproofing material arrived before the rain. My biggest cause of anxiety is the idea that my tent will leak and I'll get wet in the night. It keeps me up regularly.

To avoid this, I carefully sealed all the seams on the fly and gave it a coating of Kiwi waterproofing spray. It needed to cure for 24-48 hours, and the rain we really needed was going to interrupt that time span by just a few hours so I moved the whole tent into the barn to finish curing.  Greg moved it to get the mower out and put it back. No reason for concern, I thought.

I went out after supper to move it back outside. It looked funny, more like a teepee than a tent. I moved it out to it's footprint anyway, figuring it just had to be moved back into shape. It wasn't long before I realized that no amount of moving  would make THIS disaster go back into a tent form- one of the poles, previously damaged by wind, was now deadlined. Two weeks before my departure.

NOW WHAT??? I wondered. My ducks, previously marching in reasonable rows, were now wandering aimlessly around again. I was left with a quandry at 9:00 at night- not my most reasonable hour. New tent? Replacement poles? Repair the poles? I went down several internet rabbit holes, impulse ordered some Amazon items, and finally decided on a plan. Which I changed as soon as I woke up after a mere 5 hours of snoozing.

Here's the latest plan. Greg (a real life MacGuyver) is trying to fix the pole. I can call Johnson Outdoors tomorrow and see if they can get me a pole in the next two weeks. If so, I'll set the tent up and spray it with the hose to assess it's worthiness. Failing that, I can run down to LL Bean and buy a new one. Even at 250.00 it works out to 4.00 a day. Money well spent, I think.

I need to be done overthinking things!


Comments

  1. kateSeptember 14, 2022 at 5:11 PM

    don't forget to pack the butt butter!!!!!!!! I really am quite impressed, how many miles a day are you looking at? I remember training with Ron for his 500 mile Aides Ride, 50 was it for me. Now with these knees, my next purchase is a peddal assist

    ReplyDelete
  2. LydiaSeptember 21, 2022 at 6:34 AM

    We average 60 a day- but there are several 80+ days as we go along. I am keeping the butter industry alive!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 1, 2022 at 1:40 PM

    You are so amazingly resourceful and determined. Debbie

    ReplyDelete

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