The weather was supposed to be a little wet on Friday but clearing up by Saturday morning and sunny on Sunday. Well the weather was near constant mist/drizzle all weekend. It had been wet earlier in the week so all the gullies were FULL of water. It seriously limited the troop and vehicle movements during the day.

The drive up Friday was uneventful. I filled up just before I got on Highway 290 and again when I pulled off at Navasota. It was 47.4 miles and the truck took 6.5 gallons of gas so that was 7.3 mpg. I got less than that on the trip to Colorado in my F-250!

I arrived around 4 and it was nice to be able to set up camp in daylight. Fortunately it only takes 5 minutes to set up now. The truck got lots of great comments and compliments. We managed to plug into a power outlet on the side of the Museum so we had the electric heater going all night. It was warmer in the truck than the barracks. Once I get the storage lockers squared away and we don't have to transport all the radio equipment on the floor, it will take even less time to set up. I finished the masonite paneling and the insulation in the walls before the trip up, so it was significantly warmer than Colorado.

The trip down to the combat area was interesting to say the least. I was worried when the ground felt spongy under the truck. 6 ton vehicles don't usually feel spongy. We cleared the low water crossing with a great deal of excitement. I took the gun it and pray approach. The driving once we were across the creek was fine as long as we didn't stop on anything other than a small rise.

The GI's 1/2 track spent a couple of hours pushing/towing the 2nd SS's Ford truck back up the hill. They ended up pulling the bumper right off the Ford. We packed up and headed back towards the low water crossing. It used to be a 3 ft culvert with dirt filled up on either side. By now 1/2 the fill was washed away and the culvert was exposed. It was a dip, a rise over the culvert and then a dip on the other side followed by the climb up the hill. The muck was sticky so I gunned it again and basically crashed my way over the crossing. 1/2 way across the back wheels started to spin and skid sideways so I let off the accelerator to keep us out of the creek itself. This meant we only made it about 10 feet up the hill on the other side before bogging down.

A CCKW owner's site recommended a set of drive flanges for the front wheels. They have the center milled out to let the wheels spin on the propeller shafts. I got a set a few months ago and the road driving is a lot smoother. The site suggested putting the old ones in the box under the seat. It took about 10 minutes to switch them back. This allowed me to engage the front drive and the low range. Neither of which I had tried up until this point. The truck slowly pulled itself out of the rut and climbed the hill without any further problems. The engine was roaring at the impressive speed of 2 miles an hour in 2nd gear. I didn't dare try 3rd until I was nearly at the top of the hill. The Deutschland guys were camped at the top of the hill and watched 11th company struggle up the hill earlier. They gave me a cheer when we got to the top.