February 3 - Day 3.  We left Stanley, NM early (7:00 am) so we could get to Buckeye Equestrian Center in the daylight. We fueled up in Casa Blanca, NM, and we were running on fumes by the time we reached Flagstaff. We were very close to running out of fuel (note: fill up again - it's pretty desolate between Casa Blanca and Flagstaff)! The drive from Flagstaff to Buckeye had an elevation change of 6,000 feet and a 40-degree temperature swing. Beautiful snow the higher elevations that resembled parts of MN and WI, and then, desert with cactus. The Ram has an exhaust (engine) brake and it was pretty much on during the downhill descent from Flagstaff to Phoenix. Our last leg was about 8 hours and 500 miles; we spent $161 on diesel. Breezy and Gin actually drank a little, but Pippa still held out. We rolled into the Equestrian Center around 4 pm, found our RV/trailer spot (A-11), found the stalls for the mares ("Ropers Barn"), and then made a list of items we needed at Tractor Supply (shavings, more buckets, chains, tank cap, etc.). Chad put the wheelbarrow together and got the trailer set up and unhooked the truck. My Uncle Bruce and Aunt Gai drove down and had pizza with us. We had a great visit sitting outside!

Costs: Full RV/trailer hook up at Buckeye is $550 a month (water, sewer, electric) and our smaller stalls (12' x 12') are $150 a month. There are larger stalls (16' x 16'), but they run $275 a month.

Funny stories:
  1. Chad is like "Grandpa David" - always has to have snacks (at every truck stop - seriously). At the Casa Blanca truck stop, his bill was over $40. Turns out Matalyn had chosen an $18 package of beef jerky! I did bring snacks, but they broke into them at 103 miles into the trip (so, basically southern Minnesota). 
  2. As Chad was setting up the trailer, he put water in the tank (in case we needed it on the road). However, the water just leaked out. Turns out our tank cap is back home in the 06 Dodge that used to pull the trailer. We both remember saying that keeping in the truck center council was a good place since the trailer would never go anywhere without the truck. Enter the "new to us" Dodge Ram!
  3. We pull into our RV/trailer spot and the spot next to us had MN plates! There are at least 4 of us here from MN, currently. 


February 4 - Day 4. We started the day off by taking Chad to the airport. Without my main trailer hooker-upper, fix-it man, know how to run everything, and backer-upper, I'm going to have to put my big girl pants on and figure all this out (and there are alot of things to know and figure out)! When I got back from the airport, the girls gave the horses a bath. The mares are settling in and looking better every day; it was a long trip for them! 

We then decided to explore Buckeye and Googled "top things to do in Buckeye" and Historic Gillespie Dam Bridge was number one on the list. We took a drive and it was just a bridge - LOL! But, we saw some huge dairies and alfalfa fields for as far as the eye could see. We finished the day by walking the horses around the facility and grilling some Leaning Pine Farm hamburgers. 

Fun Fact - we were able to get high-speed internet at the trailer ($65 for a month). While this may appear like a vacation, I am still working and the girls still have school. 

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