
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Hello from Tucumcari, New Mexico! The first leg of our trip, Wisconsin to Des Moines was JUST NUTS! as Jim was repeatedly describing it - blowing snow, icy roads, you could hardly see the car in front of you going along I-35 much less the cars across the freeway heading north...we crept along at 35 mph for much of the trip...but finally, after Des Moines the roads cleared up - no snow but huge gusts of wind catching the van and trailer combo - all quite exciting! We got to just north of Kansas City last night and stopped for gas in Liberty, KS - it was dark, around 5 or so and we noticed that the lights were off on the trailer -- well, actually, they were off on not only the trailer but the running lights on the van were out as well. Jim checked and replaced a fuse, grinning as he jumped back into the van only to have them short out again...needless to say, we weren't driving through KC with no lights .... so we drove about a mile down the freeway to a motel (Indian run, having a party in the office, curries and all!) This morning we got up to 40F and sun - a Starbucks across the street and life was looking pretty good. Jim checked the fuse again and reseated it and the lights on the van came on. No lights on the trailer but that's okay, we'll stop at night...we drove straight through, stopping near Pratt KS for a mile walk with the dogs (all 5 of them have been great travelers!) and then again in Liberal where we went to "Super Pollo" for outdoor bbq chicken (very good!) and now are in Tucumcari. It was 55F in Liberal where we ate outdoors, the sun shining, the smoke drifting skyward and all seemed right in the world. We have been listening to public radio some of the time, this afternoon we ran across "The Thomas Jefferson Hour" - amazing!!! It is a weekly program out of North Dakota of all places, which has 2 actors, one being President Jefferson - the other the interviewer - and they discuss topics current and historic. It was wonderful. We are seeing lots of hawks of course and waterfowl, some cold looking meadowlarks and a couple mule deer near the roadside; Jim saw a coyote run across the road but I missed that one. We're having good conversations and are enjoying spending time together...tomorrow we'll be in High Rolls!!