Well guys I pretty much finished everything up this afternoon. Man was this a bigger project than I had originally thought. Anyways I did have to remove the torque converter cover to make anymore progress. I finally broke the bolts loose and from there on out it was pretty smooth.
I attached some pictures so you can see what things looked like (as if you all have never seen it

) but I figured as long as I'm under there I might as well snap some shots.
I replaced the gasket (and yes, the dip stick end was in the bottom of the pan!) and then I bolted everything back together (trying not to go too tight but snug enough to make a good seal) and I think that it all went pretty smoothly.
One problem that I do have though is that I can't get the dipstick tube back into the hole, I can feel the hole with my finger but I can't get the tube to go back in. I'm planning on ordering a new tube and stick (obviously, the stick is in multiple pieces now

) and then I'll install it again. I moved the truck to get it out of the driveway and put it back in the street but since the tube wasn't in it splashed over and started leaking a little. My heart sank when I saw a few good sized drops hit the ground when I got out but I dove under the truck with a flashlight in hand and luckily as I said it just splashed over. I didn't see anything coming from around the pan/gasket/block area. We'll see, hopefully it will all be okay.
1. What was in the bottom of my pan, these three things and some sludge
2. The pan after I cleaned out the sludge build-up
3. The gasket that was in there was a one piece but it was cracked and not installed properly
4. Underneath showing the oil pump and torque converter
5. rods, bottom of pistons, etc.
-Avery
