If It Wasn't One Thing Then It Was Another

Yes. I messed up! Let's get that out first. But it certainly was fun trying to fix my mistake with friends! This might be long but it should be worth it. (it was for us:)

Carson, Scott and I headed up to the cabin to "check it out" and to do some snowmobile cross-training. Up in the Uintas in the winter we have to snowmobile into the cabin about 2.5 miles. With all the snow we've been getting- it was DEEP! The adventure started with it taking over an hour of getting up to the cabin with the snowmobiles. It's good to have friends that do as you tell them- and extra. We were in some deep stuff and there was a section that I told Carson he would have to "gun" it- and he did-more than I expected. He jumped over 20 feet and buried the sled! Finally, between dodging downed trees and getting Unstuck we were wet, frozen and spent by the time we got up there. We were ready for some heat. I went to turn on the furnace and nothing happened. I went outside to check on the Propane tank with a bad feeling in my gut. The 500 gallon tank was empty! Why? Well I guess I had left the heat on 3 months ago when I was last there! If it was anyone else up there with me we'd have turned right around and headed home. But no, the guys were ready to rough it. We got the fireplace going and huddled around trying to dry off and get warm. Well we at least had water which I had just turned on.

Once warm, I went to the fridge to get dinner ready, opened the door and a wall of water came gushing at me! I had forgotten to put the water filter back in after winterizing the cabin last time. Do you know how cold your hands get cleaning up a flood in a frozen cabin? &*%$#! COLD! Yes, we were off to a great start, but it didn't end there.

I had to figure out a way to get heat to the cabin for our families New Year trip next week. Dot was NOT going to be happy and I was dead meat! We brainstormed some great ideas cuddled together by the fire. I knew I was up there with some good friends when many of the ideas were LIE, LIE, LIE! And they were willing to vouch for me! In the end I told them I would find a way to get more propane up there to heat a whole cabin covered in over 3 feet of snow. There was doubt in their eyes. Thank God Dot didn't call that evening to check on us! The plan was not yet fully implemented.

We all slept in front of the fireplace (details will not be divulged) taking turns stoking the fire (except for Scott- somehow he slept through it all) and awoke ready for a mission. I called my dealer- Propane dealer that is. Unfortunately, his wife answered and I had to admit to her I had a guy problem and she got her husband. Us men concocted a plan to drag up 4 170 lb tanks of propane; in 2.5 miles, up a big *ss hill in 3-4 feet of snow. The guys were ready for the challenge! I went into town to pick up the tanks and Carson and Scott cut all the downed trees, packed the trail and even did the dishes! I love you guys!

So what else could go wrong? Well I got to the truck and someone had broken my R side mirror! And the truck was stuck! I managed to get out, find the promissory note from the guy who broke the mirror, got the tank, and my buddies were waiting in the parking lot to help me get the tanks in. AND they were still smiling! We installed the tanks surprisingly without TOO much difficulty and the heat was ON!

We even had time to hit the powder! For over an hour we plowed through tons of powder, got stuck, dug out and did it again! I think that finally put them over the edge and they weren't smiling anymore once we got back. We were exhausted, but, yet, no words of complaint were emitted.

We headed home, hit a rainstorm, and rush hour traffic, but that was nothing compared to the challenges we had overcome without one whine. That was a good 24 hours with the guys.