SHOT Show 2018 Preparation

Well, it's THAT time of year again! SHOT Show 2018 in Las Vegas is next week and are ALMOST ready to head out this Saturday. Just like last year we will be driving and pulling our travel trailer with us! The trip last year was really enjoyable and we saved a ton of money by staying in our RV at the Oasis RV Resort in Vegas. The only problem with this year's trip is we have been faced with a few unexpected obstacles that have really hampered our ability to plan and prepare for this years trip!

We have actually gotten a lot done that we have been wanting to do to prepare for the trip after some of the lessons that we have learned after last years trip and after a solid year of a lot of camping trips. In planning a trip of this magnitude [pulling a travel trailer from Austin, TX to Las Vegas, NV and back] we not only have to prepare our truck, which is a 2014 Ford F150 Super Crew twin turbo V6, we also have to prepare our RV, which is a 2011 27' Palomino Puma travel trailer. If you follow us on Instagram then you are familiar with them both since we post a lot about our camping trips....a lot!!! So, with all of the regular planning and preparation comes some unexpected obstacles. 2 weeks ago we had problems with the truck's steering which turned out to be a problem with our control arms and also an alignment was needed. 2 days in the shop later and it was done! The only problem with this was it delayed us from getting airbags for our rear suspension installed. The place that we had the airbags installed were gracious enough to squeeze us in and they got it done in a day. The airbags are a great help since our truck is lifted and the rear end squats a lot with the weight of the trailer put on it. We have also been needing to adjust our weight distribution hitch which would also help with the sagging.

Now I am generally very eager to break out the hand tools and tackle a job like this but that brings me to the next obstacle that caused our plans to stall. At Christmas, my Mom came down with a strain of the Asian flu and was hospitalized because of it. Unfortunately, I came down with it the day after New Year's day. It came out of nowhere and it hit me hard. I felt like I was on the brink of death for several days and ran a fever almost the entire time. As you know with the flu, you will start feeling better and then BAM...it knocks you back down. This past weekend I finally built up the courage to make the necessary adjustments to our hitch, and then I paid the price later once the exhaustion set in. Every year we pray we do not get sick right before SHOT Show and every year we have been fortunate enough not to get sick. Christy started coming down with something but she recovered quickly. This flu has totally wiped me out and I have been not been very helpful when it comes to getting ready. Thank God I am married to Super Woman and she has kicked it into overdrive after coming out of the busiest season at her job.

Other than needing an oil change, the truck is done and now we move onto the travel trailer. We have been having problems with the electric brakes on the RV and it turned out that the brakes were okay but the wheel bearings were shot and needed to be replaced. That was a major expense that was unexpected but it had to be done. Next, we had to replace the tires because they are original to the trailer and were really starting to look worn. At least Discount Tire Company worked us out a deal on a new set of tires which helped our budget! Even the spare tires on the back are new, but I can only hope that we do not have the opportunity to use them!

One thing that actually was pretty effortless for us was ordering extra shooting jerseys to wear at SHOT. G2 Gemini Jerseys really came through with us and sped up our order so we could get the jerseys in time. We joined the Team Tuff shooting team [sponsored by our friends at Tuff Products] this past year and we are excited to be representing them and our other sponsors at SHOT Show! We can't wait to meet our other teammates as well.

Finally, the biggest and worst thing that we are dealing with right now and that could cancel our trip altogether is our sick dog, Heather. We found her as a stray in 2005 and she has been a huge part of our family ever since. She is a small cocker spaniel with a big heart! She is the Momma dog and she has taken care of us, protected us and loved us every day since we found her. She became sick about the same time that I did [ironically] and has been feeling really bad and we are having a hard time getting her to eat. Three trips to the vet, bloodwork, an ultrasound, and a ton of medication later they still aren't sure what to do to make her feel better. We are taking this really hard especially since we lost our boxer, Cooper, around this same time two years ago. We are praying that she can pull out of this and soon since we are supposed to leave this weekend. She is our baby and we do not like seeing her like this. She is the most important thing to us right now and whether or not we actually get to go to Vegas this year is totally dependent on how she is doing by this weekend. Any prayers that y'all can send would be greatly appreciated.

And did I mention that we STILL have our Christmas decorations up? Maybe we need to hire an

assistant!