HOME! tis Nancy

* Summerbreeze being put to bed.
* La Platas and Black Ridge without dust.
* Spring's Seaglass Mosaic

As we go south each year a wonderful phenomenon happens. I get younger and thinner. My lines and wrinkles disappear as we head toward Florida’s humidity and huge population of retirees. On our return migration, the opposite happens. I rapidly get older and fatter, my skin scales before my eyes, and the thin air makes me puff when hiking! So, the past week at home has aged me tremendously, especially in comparison to the active, younger and thinner Coloradotangs. I feel OLD!

Geo did her best to get us home safely. We had to push her out of the field where she was stored for the winter. Once on pavement, she started right up. But, that began a week of pushing. We quickly learned that she starts easily if I do the pushing and Jim the clutch popping. We thought the starter was bad, but after a week of pushing, she started herself. People stared at us as this old lady got at either end and barely got her moving so Jim could pop the clutch. Stick shifts are wonderful.

I don’t have the statistics on gas etc. for our return. The novelty had worn off, but the lowest price we saw was $1.84 in eastern Texas. We had a strong head wind from Austin on, so I wonder if we got our 50 mph.

The condition of I10 into Houston was awful as seems to be the norm. I hit several potholes and began to notice a new sound in the front of Geo. Even Jim, who generally thinks I hear demons, agreed that we had a new rhythmic sound. We listened the whole way to Austin and couldn’t ignore it when we got there. Geo went straight to the Chevy garage and had $700 in ball bearings and wheel stuff done. The mechanic was surprise the wheel hadn’t broken off! The pretrip new shocks, put in the front of Geo before heading south, were okay. So, we got to spend extra time at Brooke’s and watched the Texas Relay where Moppie and Shelby officiated. Geo’s value is increasing and she’s gone over 150,000 miles now.

4/7/09

38 MPH of wind! I can’t stand it! The noise! The gusts are much higher! We need to turn on the anchor drag alarm to check our position. Wait! We are in Durango, but I can’t see the La Platas, and Black Ridge, less than a mile away, is barely visible. The dust is heavy, our noses and eyes burn. Welcome home to SW Colorado!

4/11/09
Things looked thirsty as we reached New Mexico heading north, but by today, climate shock! It’s raining and occasionally snowing. Trips to town show much of the road work must have stopped when it got cold as we left town last November. Major bridge projects seem to be right where we left them. Town looks good, “For Sale” signs not too numerous.

Back to the fun grind! Aaaa… the working life.