Good Rains

Adventure Location: South Llano River SP, Junction, TX

Today was a major surprise since nothing happened like the Team hoped it to happen.  The most important thing is the small restaurant in town next to the grocery store is a great place to eat.  A picture of their sign was attempted and is barely acceptable. However the rain that has been coming down for over two hours now is very acceptable.

The hitch ball on the receiver part of the hitch moved slightly when the Castle was uncoupled yesterday.  That was odd it seemed to me.  Today it was checked out more carefully. Yep it is loose enough to rotate with a wrench.  The Equalizer brand hitch head requires a special socket to tighten the ball.  The ball is supposed to be tightened to 450 foot pounds of torque.  This is the first time in my life a hitch ball has loosened on me.  It is likely that the dealer in Washington did not actually torque the ball properly.  At least it lasted five years.

So the Truck hauled me around to Kerrville and other little towns nearby looking for a place with the correct tools to tighten the ball properly.  We gave up late in the day and headed back to the Castle in defeat.  However the ball could not safely be left until we trailer to some other location.  So it was get to work and figure out how to tighten it some even if it was not as tight as it is supposed to me.

 My 18” adjustable wrench was put to work on the ball.  The base of the ball has two flats for a wrench to mate to for tightening.  The nut is in a recessed part of the main hitch head and is what normally needs a special socket to get to.  Several items were used to attempt to wedge the nut so the assembly could be tightened.  The item that finally worked is the handle that is furnished for engaging the weight distribution bars if you do not know the right way to do it.  The curvy pointed end was wedged into the recess and braced against the framework.  Then the ball was turned by my foot on the adjustable wrench.  Nearly a half turn was required to get the assembly reasonably tight or at least as tight as two hundred pounds of OFM standing on an 18” long wrench could get it.  It will have to do until we get somewhere with the right tools can do the job right.

 After cleaning the tools and me, the tools were put away and my brain had a thought.  When the smoke cleared enough to see what the thought was, it was a great thought.  Get out the light weight rod and reel and try the pond down by the low water crossing in the park.  So the light weight rod and reel was assembled.  The rod and the freshwater tackle box were put into the Truck and away we went.

When we got to the river where it is backed up by the entrance road to the park, the rain had started to sprinkle.  That was not too bad but there was a heck of a big noisy lightning show going on also.  So a quick waddle down the bank to the creek/pond was made to check it out for future fishing.  A few small bass were seen bassing around.  Here is a shot looking down the pond toward the road.  The water is down a good two feet in this picture.

Notice the red flowers in the picture.  They appeared to be flaming like a wildfire so a better shot of them had to be made.
 

It seems fitting to finish a blog entry with a picture of pretty flowers.  It seems to me to symbolize a reward for getting out and trying to have tooooo much fun. TheOFM.