Saturday, November 24, 2007

Time Flies When You're Having Fun(?)

Wow! Six weeks in Colorado went by fast!
First, getting settled in at our son's home was fairly quick. But I did not get a major goal accomplished while there - the permanent electrical service didn't get done. Maybe I'm just getting old (hmmmm?), but my re-arranging the basement bins in the rig did the trick on my back. Sore back=no digging. So that project will become a spring chore (in April). The temporary service worked out fine, and at least the wire has been purchased for future installation.
Next, we celebrated our 38th anniversary (see the previous post).
Next, Todd and Victoria got married!! Wooo-hooo. We have a new daughter-in-law! Welcome to the family, the newest Mrs. Thalimer!!
T & V did all of the wedding planning and arrangements themselves, and they did a fantastic job. Family from both sides converged on Colorado. My Dad flew in with Donna's sister and husband, and Jenna and Josh (and Bea and Livey) flew in from San Jose. We all stayed at a hotel in Parker. Dad even learned how to play Euchre with Victoria's family.
The day of the wedding, I ducked into the groom's changing area to see Todd before the ceremony. He exclaimed, "I can't find my tie!" After I rechecked his garment bag, we realized it was nowhere to be found. So, I stripped off my tie (it was black and formal), and he was ready to go. Luckily, Eric, one of his groomsman, lived close by, and he went home and brought me a substitute tie.
The ceremony was beautiful, and the dinner afterwards was fabulous. Donna and I were tasked with picking them up the next day and getting them to the airport on time for their honeymoon flight to DisneyWorld. After that, it was house (and animal) sitting for a week. What did we do with all of that spare time? What do we do every time we come to Colorado? Work on reducing our storage. I put about 20 items on Craigslist. A bunch of it sold. Storage is shrinking, but we really needed to sell at least one of the bedroom sets so we could reduce the size (and cost) of our storage. We came close this time, but there are a lot of people who promise but don't come through. We're confident that more will sell in April.
Due to the slope on Todd's property, we had the front end of the rig up real high, necessitating the use of an additional portable step by the entry door. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Donna was exiting the rig to go into the house, and the step broke - it collapsed, and she fell down hard onto the step on her back and side. Her head hit the ground and she heard a crack before seeing stars. Luckily, her injuries were limited to a very sore back, some bruises, and a slight concussion. She's doing much better now, and we are all thankful that she is recovering OK.
The Colorado weather "almost" stayed perfect until we left. Two days before Thanksgiving, the weather was in the 70's. Then Wednesday came and it snowed. Thursday and it was nice (as was the dinner prepared by T & V!). Friday, our day of departure, it was foggy, drizzly, and snowy. A storm from the south meant we changed our route to head east out I-70, rather than south down I-25. We didn't want to risk going over Raton Pass, at the Colorado-New Mexico border, in a snowstorm. We didn't beat the storm - it followed us down I-70. The only benefit to our new route was that there were no mountains or passes to contend with. All I can say is: it's been cold, very cold. And to boot, we ran out of tank water at T & V's - it was too cold out to refill. So our primary source of heating (AquaHot) couldn't be used. Doh!
While Thanksgiving is still fresh on our minds, let's give a cheer for all the stupid drivers out there! We had an encounter with one today. I'm cruising along in the slow lane, doing about 60, and this idiot who was stopped on the right shoulder decided it was time to rejoin traffic. I was about 200 feet from him when he pulled into the slow lane, doing about 10mph. Luckily, there wasn't anyone in the fast lane, so I did a quick swerve, missing him by a few inches I think. Donna and I both thought "oh no-accident", but the sound of two airhorns and the shadow of a 43' bus must have brought the guy to his senses. Somehow we missed each other and we will both be telling this story for some time to come.
Tonight we're in Thackerville OK, about 5 miles north of Texas, and right off of I-35. Tomorrow we're heading down to Athens, TX, where we have an appointment Monday for the auxiliary brake installation for our tow vehicle. After that, we'll be at our "home" in Livingston for a week or two before heading off to Florida.

3 comments:

  1. Glad to hear your trip to Texas is going ok, except for the one idiot, may he be the only one you encounter on your travels to Florida...

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  2. Hey dude, you can use the Aquahot for heat without having any water on board to heat....your Ahot makes hotheat/water off your engine too as you drive down the road...now maybe yours if diff. than ours but I doubt it as far as the basic way it works. Can always call "MIke" at Tech Support at Ahot, he and I talk all the time as I do my own work (ANNL)so I know the system when and if it quits as it did last winter. We'll be in TGO tomorrow for about 10 days and will look stuff up about Christmas dinner etc and advise. Have fun in Livingston. Also remind me about your Ahot when we get together next month so I can advise you of some pontetial problems you can prevent with knowledge.

    Tom & Roe

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  3. Have fun on your trip! It was good seeing the both of you again! Stay away from snow and idiots and have loads of fun!

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