The Clampett's...er-r-r...Presley's go to Corpus Christi

Well, as you know, I went to Idaho to see family and friends and then bring my wife back to the Carbon Copy..."cc"...or Corpus Christi. The seeing the friends and family went well, but I wasn't so sure the trip back was going to follow suit. It ended up being a pretty good trip, but it didn't start out well.

Starting out, I think you will find some similarities between the Clampett's and the Presley's. We both overloaded our vehicle, we both took our dog, and we both used an obscene amount of rope to keep it all on (I had, no kidding, 200 feet of rope securing my ramp that laid of the roof racks and the luggage that was on top of the ramp). At times I definitley felt like the Beverly Hillbillies, but at least we got everything down here that we needed to.

We took some time trying every possible configuration to maximize the excess space, but luckily we didn't have to leave too much behind. I kept trying to tell Candi that the cats were taking up the most space and that we should leave them behind, but they are now residents of CC. I guess I need to work on my negotiation skills.

The trip started out with me getting 17.3 miles out of Boise (five hours later than planned) and having to stop because 75 feet of the 200 was following us, causing its previous location to come undone and the tarp to act as a sail. I had to stop one more time to retie the rope before our first stop for gas. The first stop for gas was an experience in itself. There I was cruising along at 169 miles into the trip with over a quarter of tank of gas...then there I was at 207 miles with the gas light on and in between somewhere and nowhere. A few quick calculations and reading of the owner's manual, we figured out we had roughly 227 miles on the 16 gallon tank at the current burn rate....only one small problem....the nearest exit (hoping it had a gas station) was going to come up on the left hand side at about 233 miles. I know I can forget to carry the one sometimes, but I still think my arithmetic is decent and I was sweating bullets. We said a quick prayer while I went over the scenarios in my head on how to hitchhike for gas and how to minimize the chance of someone getting kidnapped by the crazies that inhabit the lonely highways. Long story short, we made it on fumes and prayers and we put in 15.902 gallons into the 16.000 gallon tank. Carrying the one or not, that is cutting it close.

The pets did a lot better than we thought during the trip, although they put up a little bit of a struggle to get them into their carrier. The medical professionals think they will be able to salvage Candi's arm, but she may never had full use of it in the future.

I also found that a quick way to get a 70 pound, fat dog in your lap while driving was to hit the rumble strip on the the side of the road. Trust me, driving with a face full of dog can be a bit challenging in traffic.

Fortunately, after the bad start, things went pretty smoothly for the rest of the trip. I had to stop many times to retie the rope and keep the tarp on the hillbilly pack. We stopped in Green River, UT the first night and El Paso, TX the second night. The weather couldn't have been better for the trip, although the first clouds we saw where 100 miles from CC and by the time we got there it was starting to rain. I thought CC was suppose to be the nice weather place. However, it is a lot warmer than Idaho. It froze the night before we left in Idaho and it was 70s and 80s when we got here.

I checked in on Monday and had a lot of in processing things to do, but everything went off without a hitch. I take that back, at first they tried to tell me that I couldn't start until sometime in May, but then they came to their senses and put me back into the April 20th class. We have been burning money like kindling, buying a new king bed, bed frame, chest of drawers, dresser, sheets, stands, shelves, etc. We need Candi to find a CEO job just to pay for the spending spree, but I got tired of sleeping on the floor next to all of the piles of clothes.

I know your A.D.D. is probably kicking in, so I will wrap this up, not to mention mine is in full swing. All is well for the Presley's in CC and we look forward to getting settled in and seeing the area before I start class and Candi starts looking for that high paying job to support her spending habits. Thanks for reading, we will keep you informed of all happenings. C-YA!