Linchpin or Barrel Nut?

Gorging Dogs, Dust, and Uncooperative Wildlife

Our Big Baur Road Trip adventure starts with a missing barrel nut, otherwise known as the linchpin. As Geoff removed the cargo box from the top of the car to fix it, the nut dropped off the box and bounced off his shoe. That was the last we saw of it.

To all of you who know Geoff, you know traveling with him is eventful. Not because of him or anything he does, it is simply what happens to him or to those involved with the adventure.

To give you an idea, here is a recap of some of our past trips:

1. Gorging Dogs - Roadtrip to California in late 1990's was made interesting by the fact that our dogsitter was thrown in jail the day we left and our FOUR dogs were left unattended with a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers. The dogs adeptly learned how to open the fridge, eat til they puked, and pooped until there were no available spots on the carpet.

2. Dust - Same roadtrip to California was made challenging due to an unexpected highway closure for 5-6 hours because of....... dust. We were between exits and we and hundreds of others simply sat roadside until said dust cleared.

3. Elk and Sheet Metal Hazards -  A trip to San Francisco almost ended on the way to the airport as I say, "How can one hit an elk, they are so freakin huge. How can you not see something so big?" And then, stopped in the middle of the highway was a huge elk. We just barely missed hitting it head on, going 70 mph. Then on the way to Colorado on another trip, a piece of sheet metal almost decapitates us as it flew off the back of the truck in front of us.

4. Wildlife - Let's just say, who has had a squirrel ricochet of their head? Or who has gone on a whale watching trip and looked the opposite way of each and every breeching whale? Uh, Geoff has.

SO, as we embark on a trip across and through 13 states for three weeks, I felt the need to document it. Especially since unpredictable and unexplainable things happen when Geoff travels.

Imagine what our neighbors were thinking yesterday when the four of us are on our hands and knees combing our tiny frontyard for an HOUR looking for this thing. Without it, we have no roadtrip. And as of yet, we have no barrel nut.