The Gang's (Finally!) All Here

So, I got my Ravelry invite today! Username: likelyyarns (info there, none). Figgered that was as good a push as there is to update my blog.

Well, we are here -- have been here for a week and a half, and we're just as in love with the city as we were the first time we visited. My car arrived yesterday -- thus the post title. It finally feels like we're all here and mostly settled. M starts work on Monday, and then it'll really sink in that we're not just here on vacation.

But first, Texas. I do not heart Texas in any way, shape or form. We only traversed the panhandle on our way, but it was enough (that was day five, the day after my last dispatch actually written from the road). First of all, it's a whole lotta nothin' to look at for miles and miles, though there was that "largest cross in the western hemisphere" thing. [photo courtesy of my mother -- the link, well, it's the people responsible for the cross; click at your own discretion]
Add to that the 40-mile-an-hour winds coming straight from the side (forget Ooooooklahoma -- Texas is where the wind comes sweeping down the plain), tons of 18-wheelers traveling well over the posted 75-mile-an-hour speed limit, and a slide topper on the RV trying to unroll itself as we drove, and you have a recipe for a really lousy day.

It looked for a while like it was getting better when we got off the highway onto an access road which was essentially the old Route 66. Less wind since it was below the level of the highway on the leeward side; no trucks (in fact, we had the road to ourselves); and we could go a little more slowly. All was going well until the road just ended. Dead ended. Did I mention that my parents were in a 38-foot RV towing a car? You can't back that puppy up, and it takes a wide U-turn. No problem, as M and were trying to figure out if we were strong enough to move the horses blocking the road to allow a U-turn, Dad went off road. Yep, off-road in the RV. Up a dirt track and back onto the highway -- oh, back onto the highway in a closed lane, but no bother -- just wait for a break in the oncoming traffic that coincides with a break in the traffic cones, and voila -- back on the highway and on our way to Tucumcari, NM. I was never so happy in my life to see both the change in the surrounding landscape and a sign welcoming me to any state that isn't Texas.

Suffice it to say it'll be a long time before I go to Texas again -- I know, never say never, but it'll be a while if it's up to me.

But if you ever find yourself in or near Tucumcari, NM, I highly recommend stopping by Del's Diner. The food was excellent; the service was great; and the prices were very reasonable.

Well, I need to go concentrate on the Red Sox game (6-6 in the 8th). More on our arrival and settling in tomorrow (or the next day...).

No comments: