Hemmet Bound! PART ONE

We rolled out of Rexburg on Thursday, destination Hemmet CA. It was 2:30 in the afternoon. We had to make a quick stop in Idaho Falls to take a core for a tranny in to get the core charge for Virgil. He just replaced his tranny and it would be four hundred dollars that he'd loose if he didn't take the core to where he bought the new tranny. We pulled into Idaho Transmission Warehouse and explained to the folks that we wanted to get the core charge, but Virgil wanted to get the old tranny checked out, if it was worth it to fix it, he'd have it fixed so he could have it as a spare. This request sent the whole office into an uproar. They had to get everyone that was involved in the paper trail and ask them what to do. What should have been a fifteen minute stop turned into a hour long detour. Finally Virgil decided to leave, in disgust.
Back on the road. We headed down to Burley to pick up some road supplies that my mom had purchsed for our little adventure. Mom is great, she bought sixteen 32oz. bottles of Gatorade, boxes of Goldfish crackers, apples, granola bars and some rice cakes. Somehow the ricecakes and the granola bars didn't end up in the truck. She also had some burgers in a bag waiting for us. I decided to grab some other supplies at the local Ace Hardware. We got a couple of flashlights and I decided to get a 3/8 inch drill bit. I don't know why, but I thought it would be a good thing to have.
With our purchases and dinner loaded and ready to run, we hit the freeway, en route to Gooding. The reason for going to Hemmet in the first place was that Virgil drives a rig know as a "hotshot" rig. It is just a normal pickup, but he hauls laden trailers (new trailers that are going from the factory to a dealership). There is a dealership in Hemmet and they wanted a couple of trailers from Gooding. Gooding is the home to Kiefer Built, a trailer company. Virgil hauls the trailers for the dealer and gets paid on a per mile basis. This is why we were headed to Hemmet. Of course, there is more to that reason. The other part of the reason is that we wanted to go to the National Finlas Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada. It just so happens that I-15, the best way to get to Southern California from Idaho goes right through Las Vegas. We would have to pass through there twice, why not stop on the way down, or back, to watch the rodeo? Sounded like a good idea to us, thus the adventure.
We pulled into Gooding at 8:30 PM. We had a hitch that we had to attach to one of the trailers so that we could pull doubles (one trailer right behind the other). That is why I had been inspired to bring the 3/8" drill bit. We measured the hitch attachment and I comenced to drill. The next three and a half hours would show just how resourceful we were. My drill died half way through the first hole. Who did we know in Gooding that could provide a drill? As we thought of people, my phone rang, it was my dad calling to see where we were in our journey. I explained the situation and asked him who we know in Gooding. It just happens that one of his cousins, Lanna, and her husband, Larry, lived in Gooding. I called them and asked thier help. Our family is not the most tight knit, but we help each other, and they came to the rescue. Unfourtunatley the drills they brought gave up thier ghosts before the job was all the way done. Luckily, Virgil had a friend from his equitation class whose parents live just south of Gooding and have a nicely equipped shop. We thanked Lanna and Larry for their help and hooked up the lead trailer to head for the shop.
The shop was sweet. I have never been so thankful to see a corded drill in all my life. We drilled the needed holes and attached all the parts that would allow us to hook on to the trailer. It was now midnight. We went back to the Kiefer Built lot and hooked on to the second trailer. We thought we were home free and good to go. Never count your chickens before they get squished by the tires...