Weekend Update

Lessons learned in cowboy country today:

• Eat all of the food provided to you.
• If you drive a diesel, you should practice priming the fuel pump so that this is a fluent exercise when the time comes. 

I'll see if I can mentally track back to Saturday for an update.  I know, it's only 2 days ago, but somehow each day has provided so much activity that it's getting difficult to keep them separated in my mind.  Saturday was going to be a wind-down working day on the ranch:  Mr G wanted to finish up a few things before returning to his year-round home in Houston.  There was still hay to be bailed and straw to be hauled - but first, we went to Eva's for a breakfast visit.

While we were there, Eva mentioned she might need help "trailing the cows" down from the mountain - essentially, an old-school trail ride to move the cows from pastures up on the mountain down into the corrals for winter.  I jumped at the opportunity to ride horseback for 20 miles down-canyon trailing cows.  After further discussion with Eva (based on the trail and my years of non-experience) we decided it would be best if I didn't join this ride.  She did have some great suggestions to further a riding interest, though.  Mr G has several horses down at the ranch, and one is an old mare that I've ridden before.  After talking with Eva and Mr G, I have a multi-faceted opportunity:  find a saddle that fits me (there are 4 to choose from here), learn how to bridle and properly saddle up the mare, and ride her around the property on a regular basis.  There is also a local woman who is known for her horsemanship skills and can provide training.

Alright -back too Saturday morning - Mr G wanted to work on some items at the shop, so I opted for the homestyle breakfast whipped up by JoAnne at the Hyattville Cafe N Bar. (Incidentally, I've bought a few squares on the matrix in the bar to win a nicely tricked out rifle and scope - it's on display just above the bar, which is joined to the Cafe).  For a price less than the pain of visiting a Denny's or IHOP, I was able to chat with some of the locals and Mr G's brother, Mr D.  I also ordered a basic breakfast plate.  What I received was 6 (!!) long rashers of thick bacon, a pile of hash browns, 4 pieces of toast, and two scrambled eggs and an endless mug of coffee.  It was all delicious - but I was full by the time I got to the hash browns, so left most of those behind.

Now, here in Wyoming, folks don't like to waste things. I've known this, but it's different to keep in mind as a new resident, as opposed to being a neat little attribute of a vacation trip.  So, wasting a serving of hash browns really should be avoided if at all possible.  JoAnne told me this when I returned my plate to the counter - she's the only one working and it was bustling.  She said that she'd downsize my future portions accordingly, but to let her know in the future if I won't be able to eat all the food I order.  We struck a deal - I would do that, provided she let me know if I was getting in over my head with some sort of jumbo sized servings.

I eventually made my way to the ranch and helped out with some auto work for the morning.  The afternoon plan was to head over to Manderson, about 15 miles away, and pick up some bales of straw.

Did you know:  hay and straw are different things?  Hay is essentially a type of seeding grass that has been cut and dried, and is used as a food source for livestock animals.  Straw, on the other hand, is the stalk remains of grain plants - wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.  These grains are harvested from the plant for livestock and human consumption, among other things - leaving the stalk of the plant to dry, which becomes straw.  As a secondary product of cereal grains, straw provides extra bang for the buck.  It has tons of uses - but in our case, it provides two benefits for ranchers: food and bedding.  As a percentage of the feed for livestock, straw provides roughage and generates heat from the digestion process, maintaining body temperature during winter.  It is also used as bedding for the livestock.

In our case, the bales of straw we were going to pick up were those giant round ones you see in the fields.  The process was fairly straightforward - we went to Allen's farm, weighed the Diesel truck and flatbed gooseneck trailer first, then went to the straw stacks for loading.  Allen rode with us to the stack, and then operated the tractor to lift a total of 8 giant straw bales onto the flatbed trailer.  We returned to the weigh station at the farm, measured the difference (over 4 tons!!), and then headed back to the ranch here in Hyattville to unload the bales.

We needed to make one more run before the end of the day, and the afternoon light was fading fast.  We returned to Allen's farm in Manderson, where he loaded up another 8 bales of straw, and started on the way back to the ranch.  The fading daylight was gorgeous - golden dappled light here and there in the hills, good company and conversation.  Then, a dashboard light came on.  It was the low fuel light.  Mr G mentioned this, and said that the truck had a 20 gallon tank, so we were discussing how many  remaining gallons of fuel there might be (1? 2? 5? plus a reserve?).  Then the engine started to lose power, and we stuttered to a halt along the side of the road, with 4 tons of straw, in nearing darkness, about 7 miles from the ranch.  Mr G borrowed my cellphone and climbed the adjacent hill to see if he could get a signal.  He could, so he called a few folk that might be able to help - to no avail.  Everyone he was calling was out and about, starting their weekend, or headed off to their hunting camps.  

Fortunately, Rebecca was home - and her home was literally right across the road (and set back about a half mile).  She hopped into her truck and came to help us out - we rode back to the ranch, grabbed some tools, paper towels, hand cleaner, and a 5 gallon jug of diesel fuel. 

Did you know most farms and ranches have a small farm/consumer type tank of gasoline and agricultural diesel fuel for their equipment.  This was great for our purposes, because we only needed to fill up the 5 gallon container and head back to the truck.  

Rebecca kindly drove us back to the waiting, empty diesel Chevy (cough cough) truck, whereupon we promptly added 5 gallons of fuel.  

Did you know that when you open any portion of the fuel system on a diesel engine, you break the requisite vacuum seal?   In this case, it turns out that we had to find the fuel pump, loosen a screw (thank goodness we had a flathead!), and push down on the manual primer.  This basically pumps the fuel line, purging out the air that we allowed in by running the tank dry and then adding fuel.  When priming a fuel pump, you'll get an outpouring of tiny-bubbled diesel foam.  It may take more than one attempt at this before you'll be able to get the engine to not only turn over, but to keep running once it does.  

By this time, Rebecca's husband James and a friend had arrived to help, and we had a whole repair complement:  flashlight holder, manual reader, driver, and fuel pump primer.  We were able to get the vehicle up and running strong again, thanked all our helpers, and returned to the ranch.  Once there, Mr G called John and Mary - neighbors and founding family members of Hyattville - to advise we'd be late meeting them for dinner.  Turns out, they had some company and were hosting a Mexican themed buffet dinner at their house.

After returning to the house in town, letting the dog out, and each freshening up just enough so that we no longer smelled like diesel fuel, we joined the dinner party.  I think I walked in the door for the final time on Saturday at about 11:30....it was a long day, but remember, I had that nice break where I had breakfast and a return check on my animals.  Mr G hadn't stopped all day!  I suppose I have to admit - I do not have the physical strength or aptitude to keep up with a retiree.  

Yet.

Sunday was a wind down, finish unpacking, do laundry, catch up on email,  and a trip to "town" (or, Worland: 30-ish miles from here) for groceries / supplies (typically a 3 hour event).  Afterward, I finally turned on the television.  It was after dark, and the eerie electronic glow felt strange and somewhat blasphemous.