Nov 1-4, 2009
Nov 5-11,2009
Nov 12-15,2009
Nov 16-Dec 2, 2009
Dec 3-6, 2009
Dec 7 -, 2009
Trip B West - December 3 - 6, 2009
This trip was fairly smooth - well, until Kansas.
And, on this segment, we spotted 25 rigs like ours - a box truck pulling a car on an auto transport.
Thursday, December 3
We had the alarm set for 6 am. I got up a little earlier than that.
After breakfast (standing up in the kitchen - the table was in pieces), we continued packing and cleaning. Once the sun came up, we returned to loading the truck.
By 11, the truck was loaded and most of the throw away stuff was out of the house. Carl took off with the truck to pick up the auto transport and I loaded the back of the Forester.
While he was gone, I also took some photos of the empty spaces for the realtor. So, here's what some of the empty rooms looked like:
The photo on the left shows our back deck and hot tub. The center photo shows the front door from the yard and the photo on the right shows the front door from the inside.
The photo on the left above shows a view of the living room. The other two photos show views of the kitchen.
The photos above show my empty office.
The photo on the left above shows part of the upstairs bedroom. The center photo is the upstairs closet. And the photo on the right is the upstairs bathroom.
The two photos above show the downstairs bathroom.
The photo on the left and center above show two different views of the downstairs bedroom and the photo on the right is about half of the downstairs closet.
He soon returned and we drove the Forester onto the transport. One more sweep through the house to verify everything was out and we were on our way. We pulled out of the driveway at 2 pm.
The photo on the left above shows the Forester loaded on the auto transport, ready to go. The photo on the right shows Carl loading the bicycles onto the back of the Forester.
There’s no rain today, but there is a solid overcast. It was a quiet drive to Clarksville, TN. We’re in a Comfort Inn there tonight. Dinner was at Applebee’s, just a short walk away. We’re both beat. It’s been a long day. And a cold one. Unfortunately, I left my warm hats and all my gloves in Colorado!!!
As one truck pulled around us, I noticed that the back of the cab had the words “Built by Amish Mafia” written across it. I have no idea what it means, but it struck both of us as very funny.
Friday, December 4
It was another nice day. A little on the cool side, but not too sunny and no precipitation.
We pulled out of Clarksville, TN, about 8 and headed north on I-24 to I-57. Lunch was at the Cracker Barrel in Mt. Vernon, IL. We managed to arrive about five minutes before a bus!
We continued onward around St. Louis, taking the northern bypass again. We stopped at the Missouri Welcome Center, just over the Mississippi River. It overlooks the river. Nice view! We teased the people there about the crooked Christmas tree they were putting up...
On into Columbia, MO, for the night. It’s still cool - about 30 out there this evening.
Dinner is at TGI Friday’s again. We even opted for dessert tonight. Carl ordered an ultimate brownie with two spoons, one long handled and one regular. The waitress took him literally - one teaspoon, one iced tea spoon... When I pointed this out to Carl, we both broke up (g).
Saturday, December 5
The breakfast room was full of teenagers again. This time, it was a swim team from North Dakota.
The internet at this hotel only seems to work in the lobby and the breakfast area. I reported it. Will it get fixed? Will I ever find out? Do I care?
We pulled out a little after 8. It’s really cold this morning. I wonder how the plants in the Forester are doing...
We continued west, taking the bypass south of Kansas City and having lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Topeka, KS, again.
Other than the cold, there wasn’t much out of the ordinary today. We’ve discovered that the truck cab temperature is hard to control. It’s either very hot or very cold...
The weather has us a bit concerned. The forecast for Sunday shows snow the rest of the way into Denver. No idea how much or what it will do to the roads, however. A quick check of the NOAA website shows that it shouldn’t be a problem until we get almost to Denver. Once again, it’s the last 50 miles that will be the most problematic. Looks like there may be 1-2 inches of snow accumulating. As long as it blows off and/or the clearing crews are good, it shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll see in the morning...
We stopped for the night at the Sleep Inn in Hays, KS. Dinner was at the Applebee’s almost across the street. Our waiter tonight was pathetic....
Sunday, December 6
We got up earlier than usual. The roads appear dry, but the wind is blowing very steadily and very strongly. So, we decided against our usual Sunday breakfast at IHOP in favor of getting an earlier start on the road. As a result, breakfast was in the lobby.
We were loaded and pulling out of the parking lot a little before 7:30, despite the yokel who parked a pickup with a trailer directly in front of the Pearl... Carl was able to back up enough to pull out and the yokel had left just barely enough room for us to get past him. Carl hit the curb with one tire, but that’s all.
The morning was relatively uneventful. Almost no traffic on the interstate, but the wind from the North was fierce. After a while, we started seeing ground effect snow - where the wind pulls enough moisture from the vegetation to make it look like it’s snowing. Nothing was sticking, however.
I almost had Carl stop as we crossed the border into Colorado - the welcome sign looked perfect - Welcome to Colorful Colorado with an evergreen of some kind behind it and snow falling all around. It would have made a good picture. Oh, well, it’s a good mental picture...
Lunch was once again at the Arby’s in Limon, CO. We almost had the place to ourselves. By then, it was snowing lightly and the wind had dropped to around 10 mph.
We didn’t really encounter snow on the roads until we were almost inside the Denver city limits. Then it stuck well... The snow plows were out in force, however, so the roads were very passable and the drivers were using common sense. Well, all except the one we spotted upside down by the side of one turnoff...
We pulled in front of the apartment a little after 2 pm. Everything looks fine inside, but we quickly bumped the thermostat back up to a more normal setting...
We unloaded the front of the Forester, then pulled on down the street and drove the Forester off of the auto transport, driving it back into the driveway of the apartment. It’s home.
There, we unloaded the rest of the stuff that was in the car. I think I’ve lost all of the plants that were inside. They didn’t like the cold temperatures. I’m letting them sit in various locations around the apartment to see if anything survives.
Oh, well. The good news is that I may not have to figure out where to put them all!!!
We got the auto transport returned, then parked the Pearl in front of the apartment.
Then, a quick trip to the grocery store and over to my sister’s house to retrieve the mail that she’s picked up for us. We didn’t stay. We’re both exhausted and really wanted to get back before it got too dark. Besides, it was still snowing and the snow plows had quit for the day... The Forester’s thermometer said it was 12 out...
So, back to the apartment to unload the groceries and take care of some quick paperwork. Carl fixed scrambled eggs and heated a small loaf of fancy bread for dinner. Our first dinner in the apartment!
After cleaning up from dinner, we assembled a set of shelves that will go into the closet, then hit the beds. I think we both had lights out by 10. We were tired.