WAKE UP! WE'RE OFF TO WISCONSIN

OK. All my writing tools are packed. Most everything is in the car. I just have to finish up here and we're off. Coffee. I must have coffee. If I have time tonight, I'll finish this, if not....

*****

We finally set off on our journey at around 8:30 AM. It would have taken us longer than that if HTP hadn't loaded most of the stuff in the car last night. We hit road construction right off the bat. Not even out of Chandler and we hit a detour. I wonder if the roads will be done by the time we get to Arizona in November. Probably not.

Our first stop was a Safeway for breakfast I got a bagel. One of those Everything bagels. MMMM...carbs.

The second stop we made was for gas in Payson. The coffee was kicking in plus, we just needed to gas up the Gator. I'm not fond of all the winding, hilly roads. Pretty but...I never liked rollercoaster rides. It's a control thing. I'd be find if I were driving. I wasn't. I took a dramamine. I started my crotchet project but I think I'll have to wait to work on it when the road straightens out.

The road from Payson to Heber was a frustration. We got caught behind a car carrier going REALLY slow. No passing zones. Argh! And, of course, should you encounter a passing zone, said truck speeds up. Woohoo! We passed him! Divided highway! At least for a short while. Long enough.

We were going to eat at the Red Onion in Heber but it was too early for lunch. We stopped in Holbrook instead and sampled the fare from Jerry's Restaurant. Very good! The fries passed the wimp test.

I drove from Holbrook to a rest stop halfway between Gallup, NM and Albuquerque. As I pulled in to park, HTP and I smelled the ominous odor of anti-freeze. Sigh! We had anti-freeze leaking out from under the car. Copious amounts of anti-freeze. HTP took a look but couldn't see the problem. We went in search of water to fill the reservoir as a stop gap measure. Not an easy task. The days when gas stations offered a water pump must be over. HTP finally got a gallon jug from a gas attendant and filled it with tap water from their outdoor hose bib. He topped off the reservoir and kept a gallon more of water in reserve. We crossed our fingers and continued on our way to Albuquerque.

We arrive in Albuquerque at around 5 PM...their time. We lost an hour. Time change. HTP again checked under the hood of our car. Blink. No more leak...or if it is leaking it's really slowed down to almost nothing. Regardless, we'll be having it checked out tomorrow morning. We got in too late to have anything done with it tonight yet.

After checking into our hotel, HTP called around and found a place to get our car checked out tomorrow morning. Early. He plans to be first in line. With that out of the way, we drove over to our favorite New Mexican Restaurant. El Pinto. We deserved our margaritas. We deserved our good food. We deserved our sopapillas.

HTP stood guard while I walked the dogs one more time before bed. Tomorrow, I'll stay here in the room while HTP takes the car in. It looks like tomorrow is going to be a long day. We plan to drive to Sterling, CO tomorrow. Hopefully, we actually arrive there before midnight. Wish us luck.

Murphyism of the Day

Reece's Law

The speed of an oncoming vehicle is directly proportional to the length of the passing zone.