Stuck Inside of San Jon, With the Abq Blues Again

So, It's Monday night, June 7th, and we're boondocking at Terry's Truck Service in San Jon, New Mexico.  Old Gal is sad and wheezing, we are exhausted, and none of us is going anywhere anytime soon.  The only one who seems relatively cheery is Freddie, our sweet 13-year-old pooch, who has no idea what's going on, but is going with the flow.  The owner of the shop let us plug in to the building, which means we had enough electricity to turn on a few lights and possibly watch a video on our little 9-inch TV-VCR combo, but not much else.   We fell into bed and prayed for sleep.  

The next morning, we used their restrooms to wash up, made a space for Freddie in the back of the car behind the driver's seat, and took off in search of a way to spend the day.   On the advice of a mechanic, we went to the only major 'city' in the region, Tucumcari.  We set off west on Route 40, and 20 minutes later we came to a town whose most striking attribute was a mountain with a giant "T" painted on it.

We found a great diner on Old Route 66, found a spot to park the car in the shade, opened all the windows wide, and left Freddie to get some breakfast.  It was hot hot hot, in the 80s already in the morning, and I was very concerned about leaving her.  But I checked on her every 10 minutes and I can assure you she was happy and cool in the shade!   

Unfortunately, breakfast can only last so long, and we soon found ourselves driving around trying to eat up some time.   We drove the entire length of Old Route 66 through Tucumcari, which had many of those classic kitschy motels that made 66 famous.  Well, it used to have many of those motels.  Now most of them are mere shells, long closed, neon signs dark and windows broken.  There is much nostalgia about Route 66, but no one seems interested in maintaining its character.  And even if these motels did get new owners who spiffied them up, would anyone want to stay there instead of a Days Inn?   Nostalgia or no, there seemed to be very little thriving commerce on Route 66.  It was kinda depressing.  

After a thorough tour of Tucumcari we reluctantly drove back to Terry's Truck Service.  We were hoping that they were close to fixing Old Gal, but found that they hadn't even brought her into a service bay yet.  Clearly we were going to be there for the entire afternoon.  What to do?   We explored San Jon (at first I pronounced it San "John", but later learned that it was pronounced San "hone").   This town was like something out of a movie - it had one traffic light, one crumbling motel, a small school and a tiny post office.  There were a few streets of modest houses, and a gas station/truck stop just off the highway.  The entire town is located just south of Route 40 & Old Route 66, except for Terry's and a convenience store, which were across the highway to the north.  Much of the surrounding landscape was made up of cattle ranches, though we rarely saw any cattle.

We checked out a wind farm up on a mesa to the south of San Jon, then went north for about 45 minutes until we reached Ute Lake State Park.  What a beautiful lake!  It was surrounded by a light rock that looked a bit like limestone, and had water that was bright turquoise.  Wow!   By now it was 105 degrees outside, and we were hot and cranky, but all that changed the second we saw the water.  There were a few people swimming and they looked so happy that we decided to go in in our clothes!  

Two words - pure heaven!  The water was crisply cold and refreshing, and made me happy beyond reason.  Freddie even loved it!  She's not usually a big fan of water, but she walked right in up to her neck!   After that she proceeded to roll all over the sandy beach until she was one big yellow ball.  That's a happy dog!  It was a wonderful way to spend the day!


We got back to the truck shop in late afternoon, but had to sit and wait until 8pm for them to give us any news on the RV.   Once again the mechanic said he found the problem, then realized he hadn't when he and Jimmy went on a test drive.  I was upset by their seeming lack of concern over the amount of time it was taking or the quality of work by their mechanics, but where else were we going to take it?   It was getting harder to keep our spirits up. 


Another day passed waiting for them to fix Old Gal, and again Jimmy went with the mechanic on a test drive at about 9pm.   Jimmy didn't think the problem was really fixed, but Old Gal was running better, so we paid them a whopping $800 and finally continued down the road toward Albuquerque.   On our way again!   Only 200 miles to go!

We made it about 20 miles, to just outside of Tucumcari, when Old Gal sputtered and died by the side of the highway.   We had to call Terry's to come and tow Old Gal back to the garage, which took an additional 2 hours.  For the third night in a row, we were stuck in San Jon, with Old Gal no closer to being back on the road.   We took showers in the truck stop across the highway and felt dejected and depressed.   


We had been going like gangbusters since January when we bought Old Gal!  Jimmy drove her up to PA from Florida, we cleaned her, fixed her top to bottom, sold all of our stuff, did research on Albuquerque, planned our route and our job-hunting strategies, moved into our house on wheels,  and drove 1,700 miles cross-country  - only to get stopped dead in our tracks 200 miles from our destination.  Unbelievable! 

The one bright spot in being stuck in San Jon was the little take-out place in the convenience store next to Terry's Truck Service.  When we first walked in to get some water, we were greeted with the unmistakable and delectable aroma of Indian food!   I mean East Indian food, like you can find all over New Jersey!  My brain wasn't quite able to comprehend these exotic spice smells coming from this store in this town.  And it tasted as good as it smelled!  Delicious samosas and tandoori chicken as good as I've ever had!  What luck!   There's not a single restaurant in San Jon except for one that just happens to feature Indian cooking!  The people were friendly and all the food was made by a woman who seemed to be the elderly matriarch of the family.  If you ever find yourself near San Jon and you're feeling like a nosh, drop by this place for a great meal.  I don't remember the name, but trust me, it's easy to find...

We sputtered into Terry's on Monday afternoon and were finally out of there on Friday afternoon.  By Friday morning, they finally decided to switch mechanics, and the new one seemed to get it right.  We left San Jon at about 2pm, but without the same feeling of joy and anticipation we had the night before.  However, Old Gal was able to make the trip.  We had to stop every hour or so to let her rest, because she was still having trouble getting up hills.  


Finally, finally, a few hours later, we saw the Sandia Mountains up ahead, and we knew we were close to Albuquerque.  We had reservations at a campground outside of Abq in a little town called Tijeras (pronounced "Ti-herr-ahs") and we felt like the Hebrews must have felt after their little 40-year-hike around the desert.  Ok, so instead of 40 years, it took us 11 days.  But we too had reached our Promised Land, and we were grateful. 

New Mexico Here We Come!!

Sunday morning.  We woke up outside of Carthage, Missouri to cooler temperatures and lower humidity.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and we were excited to get back on the road.  We spent the day driving through Oklahoma.  

There were so many cattle!!   Lots of ranches but not all that much to see.  We stopped at an awesome tourist trap called Cherokee Junction.  They had all manner of Route 66 tchochkes, leather wear, and Native American style artwork, pottery,and woven baskets.  It was a fun diversion, but also a little depressing.  I love big tourist traps, including South of the Border and any Stuckey's, but there's a whiff of desperation and sadness about them too.  This place was supposedly run by the Kickapoo Nation, but I can't say I saw anyone working there who looked native at all.   But what do I know?  There are supposed to be a lot of fun stops along "Historic Route 66" in OK, but we had to stick to the highway, so we missed all of that.  Here are some fun pictures of things we missed:

 

Boy it would have been fun to see those, huh???  Anyway, after Oklahoma City, my favorite sight was the wind turbines.   You could see them from 12 miles away!   There were hundreds of them!!!  At first I couldn't tell what they were, but as we got closer they seemed to multiply and spread, and they were just beautiful against the stark, brown, flat landscape.  

Not the best picture, but hey, we were driving!  Please note the bug splatters on Old Gal's windshield!  Gritty realism...

 We stayed at a campground that was more like a glorified parking lot near Elk City, and the rest of the night was unremarkable except for the fact that there we saw some men in a restaurant with cowboy hats on!   For this Jersey girl, it was kinda cool; a real indication of how far we were from home.  

The next day we went through the panhandle of Texas.  It was filled with ranches and cattle and open land and those windmills you see in old movies. 

The highlight of our day was our lunch at The Big Texan - Home of the 72 oz. Steak, near Amarillo!  We had seen this place on the Travel Channel but had no idea where it was in Texas, and never expected to be there.  But how can you not stop when it's the only thing for miles and they advertise it every tenth of a mile from 50 miles out???!?   Plus, depressing as they can be, you know how much I love a good tourist trap!  And this was The Best !!!  They had a fantastic Route 66 tchochke collection in the enormous gift shop, plus steer heads and cattle horns, and a lot of Native American items similar to what we'd seen before like dream catchers & woven baskets.  Some even made in China!

 The restaurant was as big as a barn and two floors high.  Heads of every animal imaginable were mounted to the walls around the entire perimeter of the room.  It was so stereotypically "Texas" it was a little silly, but the steaks were not.  They were seriously juicy, seared to perfection and delicious. 

my normal-sized steak!

They are semi-famous for their 72 oz. steak contest.  If you can eat an entire 4 lb. 8 oz. steak with all the sides (baked potato and 2 fried shrimp) in an hour or less, you get it for free.   As if this weren't enough, if you do decide to take part in this meat-fest, you have to do so sitting at this table you see here with a spotlight and a big timer.  No thanks, and Yuck!!!  My arteries hurt just thinking about it!

We goofed around and took some silly pics for a bit, and then got back on the road.

Jimmy in the giant rocking chair

They have big boots

Jimmy is such a good sport!

I'm not sure if  Amarillo is that windy all the time, but it was intense and non-stop the whole time we were there.  I was glad to move on.  We had another 2 hours or so to get through Texas.  The wind made it difficult to keep the car in my lane and the flat brown landscape was dull and featureless, when suddenly the land got a little grassier and then it opened up on either side of the highway into small gorges as if we were on top of a mesa when before it was nothing but flat.  It was a welcome change and so beautiful!   Gradually the land became hilly, until finally we made it to NEW MEXICO!!!!  It took us 7 days and a few setbacks, but we made it!!!

However, all was not well with Old Gal.  The hills were a problem, and she was going slower and slower on every incline.  There was nothing but open scrub land on either side of the highway,  and Jimmy was getting worried that she was going to break down altogether at any moment.  We got off at the first stop, where the lone gas station was closed.  We continued on but now the adrenaline was coursing through my body, not knowing how far the next exit was and if anyone there would be able to look at our RV.  


Relief came another 10 minutes down the road, where Exit 2 had an establishment called "Terry's Truck Service".   What dumb luck!   Old Gal sputtered into the lot, and they were able to take her into the garage and get started even though it was about 4:30 pm.  We pulled out our portable chairs, and sat in the parking lot with Freddie for the next 5 hours.  At 9:30 the mechanic told Jimmy he thought the problem was fixed and the two of them went for a test drive.  A half hour later they returned.   Jimmy said they barely made it back.  It wasn't fixed.  


Old Gal wouldn't be fixed for another FOUR days. 

Those next 4 days were the longest month of my life...

The Moving Sale, Part !

The moving sale Day 1 went pretty great!!!!!!  We are exhausted both mentally and physically but we have another day to go.  However, it's pouring out this morning, and has been raining all night, so I'm not sure how this will go, but it's all okay!  

This is a HUGE step in being able to take off!  By the way, after all my angst about giving away/selling all my stuff, I have to say it's liberating!  It's really been fun and people seem so happy about the things they're getting!  

I feel like this is really happening - we're outta here really really soon!   Yay!

Do I Need This??!?

We bought an RV.  


An older one, that had been sitting in south Florida for 3 years.  


Can you say 'musty'?  


How about 'smelly'? 

Oh, and everything has a light green coating of fuzz!   J., my hubby, was so excited about it when he drove it home and into our yard.  It was really hard to put on a happy face when I first stepped inside it and the smell hit me like a basketball to the head - jarring, dizzying, and nauseating.  

"Isn't this great?"  J. said with the excitement of a boy getting his first dirt bike.  "Well, it's something!" was all I could say.  I sat on the off-white leather couch - hmmm, comfy.  I tried to imagine us living in this thing full-time, but the thought made my stomach lurch so I pushed that out of my mind and tried to breathe.  Uck, that smell!  This was not good.  He says I ruin everything he's excited about by my negativity, and I didn't want to do that this time around, but he knows me too well to be fooled by some false optimism.  

"I'll get used to it.  It'll take a while, but right now, this is the best I can do".   Honesty being the best policy, I figured I would have time to get excited about it for real.  In the meantime, we set about fixing it up - I washed every surface, drawer, and closet, eliminating the green fuzz, and he gave it a new bed frame.  We changed it from 2 twin beds to one queen-size platform.  He worked on various mechanical issues - it's a 1987, and even though it has a new engine and a new generator, there are a million little things that don't work and need attention.  Then we got 2 feet of snow.  That put us off our schedule - we were trying to leave by the beginning of April.  The snow melted, we got back to work on the RV, and then I found out I needed surgery.

Do I need this?  Someone came up with the saying "When it rains it pours" for a reason!  It's because it's true!  It turns out I had had an ectopic pregnancy and it had to be removed.  This was not a planned pregnancy, but it made us sad just the same.  We had created a baby, but it couldn't survive.  Don't ask me how we would have raised a newborn in an RV, but that's something to ponder another day.  I went into the hospital for same-day surgery last Tuesday, and all went well.  The doctor did it laporoscopically, meaning he only made 3 small incisions, but he said I had been bleeding into my belly and my fallopian tube was a mess, so he removed it.     I've never really had surgery before, so I was scared to death, but I made it through and am recovering nicely.  I got sick from the anesthesia and my doctor had me stay overnight.  Other than that, it went very well and the pain in my abdomen from the incisions gets a little better each day. 


As I've been convalescing, it made me think: how many stressors can one person have at any one time?  As many as you can handle, I suppose, but I really don't want to find out how many I can handle.  We don't have steady jobs, we're losing our house, we get calls from creditors all the time, we have to ration money for gas and  anything else we need, we have no health insurance, we have to sell most of our possessions as fast as we can, and on top of all that, I had to have surgery.  It's a lot to juggle.  


The one thing we do have is each other, and that's a lot.  J. took such good care of me in the hospital and after, and I have been able to be much more positive about the RV in recent weeks.  I have learned that 'things' don't matter, but people do.  As corny as it sounds, go and hug the people you care about, and be present when you're with those you love.  The love and support of each other, family and friends are what have kept us going.  That love will continue to sustain us, because that's all that really matters.  So when all these stressful things rear their ugly heads, I think about the amazing nurses who made me laugh and gave me pain meds; the friends and family we laughed with yesterday at the Easter lunch; and my friends who don't live close but are only a phone call away.  

So maybe i did need all this, to show me what's really important.  I thought I knew, but now I really get it.  I hope all of you do, too!


We're hoping to be outta here in 2 to 3 weeks, but we still have a lot to do to make that happen! 

Oh, New Mexico!

In my last post I said we were moving, but I didn't say where.  Or how we were going to get there.  Well it's time to share the news.  We're going to Albuquerque, New Mexico!  

Shocking, no? 

Wait - it gets better!  I had mentioned that we were going to be like the Joads in  "The Grapes of Wrath", moving west with all our things heaped up on our vehicle, looking for work and a better life.  Well, we're following the Joads quite literally.   We bought an old RV, a 33 foot Holiday Rambler that has good working parts and a pretty interior, and we're going to live in it for awhile!  We are in the process of packing up, selling, and giving away much of our stuff, and we're planning to leave PA in just a few weeks.  It's a kooky idea, but it is going to work!  This will enable us to get back on our feet and be productive again!  


When my husband first suggested this to me, I laughed.  Actually I laughed the first 3 times he said it.  Then I got nervous that he wasn't kidding, and then I got angry.  "We are NOT living in an RV!  I'm not going to talk about this seriously with you!"  I shouted at him.  Still, he persisted.  He presented an interesting idea, and gradually I started to listen.  Then I actually started to come around, to think that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.  


We're losing our house.  We're too far behind in the mortgage payments, and we still don't have real jobs.  I've been working for 2 years as a substitute teacher in 3 different school districts, and the work is not steady.  J. continued to look for work after the car dealership where he was working closed down, but he had no luck.  He applied for jobs big and small, and didn't get any of them.  We could continue to stay here and drown slowly as we've been doing, or we could do something more drastic.   


Once I jumped on board, things moved quickly.  J. mentioned our idea to a friend who's brother-in-law happened to be selling an old RV.  The only problem was that he lives in Florida.  We had been watching various ebay auctions of older RVs, and realized that we would probably have to travel far to find one in our meager price range.  Why not talk to this guy and see what he was offering?  So J. traveled to FL, saw the RV which is named "Old Gal", and fell in love.  A very reasonable deal was struck, and J. found himself driving a Class A motor home from South Florida to PA.  He had to stop a number of times to get a few things fixed - Old Gal hadn't been on the road in a few years, and needed some TLC.   Finally he made it to South Carolina and we were chatting on the phone, when I suddenly realized he was driving right into one of the largest snow storms the east coast had ever seen!   


"Um, honey?  Have you looked at the weather forecast by any chance?"
"No, what's up?"
"Well, basically, there's a giant snow storm coming tomorrow that's  supposed to cover the entire area from Virginia to Pennsylvania, and it's going to be bad."


I won't share the epithets that came after that. 


He found himself a campground in North Carolina and laid low for a few days.  When he finally made it home a full two weeks after he left, I took one look at that giant behemoth in my yard and knew that my life had irrevocably changed.

Looking for a Job

I don't really have any idea what I'm doing, but I felt the need to start writing about what's going on in my life, and maybe someone might read it and have suggestions or support or just laugh! I've written in a journal sporadically over the years, but I don't like writing to myself. I'm critical of my own writing, I talk back to myself, and it rarely helps rid me of the angst or whatever motivated me to write in the first place. So I thought I'd try a blog. If not one single person ever reads this (which I realize is a distinct possibility) that'll be okay too. Just need to do something different.

So I had a great job teaching English in NJ, and then I met my future husband. I wasn't happy in NJ - all my friends had moved away and I spent a lot of time visiting them, grading papers or going on bad eharmony dates. After a year of dating and driving 2 hours each way to see each other, we decided to get married and merge our lives. I had no great love of New Jersey, although I did dearly love my job for the first time in my 10 years of teaching. I had been there for 3 years, and had just gotten tenure. The pay was decent - not at the top of the payscale for the area, but not at the bottom either. I had great benefits, good work friends, and I loved the kids. It was a small town, and the people were generally very friendly and kind. I had just created the middle school's first newspaper, and would have been the coach of the JV softball team for the high school the following year. Things were going well - but my fiance was a realtor and it wasn't feasible for him to pack up and start his business all over again. Also, he owned his house and I was only renting; it was much more expensive to live in NJ than in the mountains of PA where he was from. I rationalized that it would be easy for me to find another job; afterall, I had always found a teaching job when I needed one; I was a great interviewer, and I had the aforementioned Master's Degree. So, with some sadness and trepidation, I made the decision to leave my job and move to Pennsylvania. I loved my fiance dearly, and we were both hard-working people. We'd find a way to make it work! Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into...