Hi Gram!
We finally made it out of Illinois. Our original plan was to leave by October 1, but my contractors had to finish up the rehab on one of my houses. The house is wrapped up and in the hands of the management company now, we got to spend Christmas Eve with you, all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, and family in the afternoon, then Zibby’s family in the evening, then we posed for family portraits with Zibby’s parents, Brother’s family, and Grammie. With our car packed up and ready to go, we went home from the portrait studio, changed clothes, and hit the road!
Much like Grandpa, I like to do most of the driving. While we alternated between music and podcasts, Zibby worked on some crochet when she wasn’t fulfilling her navigator duties. She makes sure that I have drinks and snacks, looks up the weather, and finds the next truck stop where we can fuel up and go. We made good time across Illinois and Missouri, and got to Oklahoma before we were too tired to continue, around 3am. We pulled over and found a hotel for the night in Clinton, OK. We always look for the roadside motels. They cost less, usually have some character, and don’t have all the fancy frills that we don’t need. Sometimes it’s a bit of a craps shoot, wondering if we’re going to have a comfortable bed, clean room and friendly staff or a lumpy mattress with cockroaches for roommates and staffed by grumpy or dopey. This time, we lucked out with a nice bed, a big and clean room, and a helpful desk clerk.
We slept in until almost noon, then hit the road again. I really enjoyed Zibby’s excitement at the changing landscape. This was her first time going through some of these states, and I was glad that we had some sunshine and clear skies as the plains erupted into plateaus and rock formations. I probably told her a half dozen times, “Look! Nature!” as I pointed out a new formation that came into view around a bend or over a hill. Other times, I would hear her squeak and turn to see her bouncing in her seat and pointing at something in the distance. We had a lot of laughs and good discussions as we let the miles pass under our tires.
We stopped again in Albuquerque, where we stayed at a Best Western that was just remodeled. Dinner was a simple collage of leftovers and snacks, too tired to go find a restaurant. In the morning, we stopped by “Twister’s”, a fast food restaurant where Breaking Bad was filmed. In the TV show, it was “Los Pollos Hermanos” and the restaurant had some memorabilia along the counters. I don’t think the staff was very amused that we’d stopped there as tourists. I bet they get a LOT of tourists who ask the same questions and make the same jokes. Haha. I just got an iced tea (since they ARE a business, and I think it’s rude not to patronize a business if I stop there) and had Zibby take my picture. After the obligatory tourist stop, we hit the road again and made good time finishing the journey at Skydive Arizona. Zibby’s team is training here for a couple days, then we’re headed to Tucson for a month.
Our original plan was to spend the winter in Tucson, learn about the town, and spend time with my friend Bill. Unfortunately, Bill’s house burned down and he headed to TN to visit his brother and assess what his next steps in life are going to be, so he won’t be here to hang out with. We also learned that the carriage house that we were expecting to rent turned out to be a scam. Luckily, we didn’t give them any money before learning that, but I had to spend the day yesterday scrambling to find somewhere. The gem and mineral show will be in town in a few weeks, so most of the short-term rentals are already booked. We found a house on the north side of town through the 29th, so we’re headed to settle in there tonight. Once we’re settled in, we’ll look at our options and decide if we’re going to stay and find another place in February or just hit the road again and go see some more of the country.
Well, I’m going to go find some lunch and see how Zibby’s jumps are going. I’ll let you know all about the house and our future plans next time!