Wednesday:
Lincoln, Nebraska to Kearny, Nebraska..our first day out. 13 degrees, snow, 40 mile an hour wind..near blizzard conditions at times but we press on.
Thursday:
Sterling, Colorado. Six below zero.
It’s coldest weather I’ve experienced in years. Car groans to a reluctant start in motel parking lot.
(Thought I’d write something for the blog but the free wireless internet..one of the reasons we chose this motel..isn’t working.)
Friday:
Gallup, New Mexico. Minus 2 degrees. Our second night out and I’m wondering how much closer to the equator do we have to get before it starts to warm up. (Tried to write on blog but, in spite of assurances at check in, wireless service goes down before I get a chance. I won’t mention the motel chain but it’s the one that one that claims you’ll be comfortable "INN." It’s a good thing they have free waffles in the morning or I’d really have been ticked off.
The car slowly fires to life and I’m thinking about that guy at the quick lube place last week who suggested a new battery.
Battery? I don’t need no steenking battery..I’m going to the desert where no extra cranking power is needed.
Payson, Arizona..90 miles from our destination and it’s still only in the 30’s with snow on the ground.
Fountain Hills, Arizona. We’ve made it. It’s sunny and 48..headin’ toward the upper 50’s. Maybe even the low 60’s this week.
I know, I know.. stop complaining. Look at the weather back home.
But people down here are superstitious. (They even have a mountain range called the Superstitions.) It was near record cold when we were in Arizona last year and much the same on this trip. These folks are starting to believe that Linda and I are somehow responsible.
We’re getting dirty looks..especially from fellow Midwesterners who, like us, have saved long and hard in order to buy a few weeks of freedom from winter’s icy grip.
Linda and daugher Christy (still able to smile after the bed incident) enjoying a few moments on her patio. Just to the right(out of view) is the eight foot tall outdoor propane heater that eases the evening chill.Speaking of icy things. You should have seen the cold look on our daughter’s face when I plopped down on the bed in her guest-room.
There was a loud crack and the next thing I knew my head was about 9 inches lower than my feet.
Sunday morning was spent shopping for a proper metal mattress frame (which we found) and looking for a doctor who will perform a gastric by-pass for me on an out-patient basis.