Holiday

Before I run far away 

I need to take a holiday.  

Maybe it's a fall from grace, 

I gotta find a new place... 

It was spring break, and because both my husband and I are employed in the field of education, we got a vacation. For the first time, my office actually closed. In the past, I took vacation to be off when my kids were. And for once my husband also had the full week off. Usually, his staff, even though the entire school is closed, is on duty for a few days. This year too, which isn’t always the norm, 80% or so of the state had the same week off for their spring break. The kids are grown and gone but that meant Evan didn’t have to go to school either!

So we loaded the truck, and with a startling resemblance to the Beverly Hillbillies, except for the rocking chair on top, headed out. I know you’re probably thinking I’ve exaggerated when I said we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. But I assure you, I wasn’t kidding! We were already packed, with me and everything else in the back seat, because it was looking a bit rainy and the truck is, well, a truck, so anything outside might get wet, and an extra passenger. All was snug and we hadn’t yet added two car-seats, at least two more suitcases, assorted necessities, like toys, cookies, pillows, blankets, and of course, three littles. We stopped to gather them and finally, with ‘stuff’ piled in every possible place, everyone strapped in, three in front and three in back, we were really off. It was cozy. Let the break (?) begin!

And they loaded up the truck...

The trip to the mountain house in New Mexico, from our house in Texas, is about 300 miles. It takes about six hours and that’s with very few detours. We only stopped to drop our extra passenger off where everybody refreshed and we were on the road again. The littles are fairly good travelers. You learn to be when you live out here in the middle of nowhere.

I’m not sure what time we got to the house but it was snowing. Not just a little, either. It was really snowing. We unloaded and Alan went down the hill for supplies. One thing about the location of the mountain house; if the weather is bad there’s a really big possibility after going down you won’t be able to get back up the mountain. That is, if you can get down! Slipping and sliding, he made it down and back. I put some soup on and we settled in for the night.

Me in the snow

About 7 inches of snow.

What a view!

Pork 'n Bean soup...recipe on Family Flavorites Tab

The snow was beautiful. There was about 7 inches at the house. We made snow ice-cream the next day. The kids were going to make a snowman but it was really too cold! They went out and looked around then came back in for hot chocolate. I found a blanket, a book, and some knitting, and settled in on the couch! I was reading Mary Higgins Clark, “I’ll Walk Alone”. It deals with identity theft and kept me interested from the start until the end. By late afternoon the roads were clear enough to wander around and the temperature was starting to rise.

Reading and knitting...Mary Higgins Clark...one of my favorite authors.

I had a birthday while we were there. Alan made me a cake. He baked it in a 9x9 square pan. I asked if he knew there was a 9x13 pan. I asked if he followed the high altitude directions. I got a blank stare so I guessed he didn’t! He and the kids took me to eat then we came back to the house for cake. I had a little help with the candles!

The birthday cake!

We had a good time, relaxing and just taking it easy. It’s nice to be away from the everyday stress of life!

Where's the snow?

Where the deer and the antelope play...

A new start 

I've broken too many hearts 

And I don't have any clue where to go 

I don't know 

But maybe I'll be back someday after my holiday 

I saw a cool thing on Pinterest. It was weaving on an old CD. I had a bunch so I gathered some yarn and took some CDs and the littles gave it a try. Evan really liked it. Belle could do it too and chanted, “Over, under, over, under” the whole time. Caleb did about two rounds and he was finished. He’d much rather play dinosaurs! But they turned out cute, don’t you think? Oh, and to show how behind I am...they didn't know what a CD was. It's a DVD Mamye!

Evan weaving...over, under, over, under

The little's projects! Here's more creative ideas!

A holiday.
I'll set off on a new chase.
I gotta see a new face.
I need to take a holiday...

Life Is A Highway

I wanna ride it
All night long…
If you're going my way, I wanna drive it
All night long…

Road trip! We’re packing for yet another quick trip of 2000 miles in five days! We’re going to Utah this time to see Ty. I haven’t seen him since October and we both miss him. I’ve never been to Utah so I’m looking forward to it.

We left the house at 3:30pm. We made a couple of stops then took off for Utah. Yes, it was a very long ride. We stopped as needed and did pull over and rest for about an hour. Alan did most of the driving but I didn’t sleep. He has this annoying habit of running over the Mallory strips and scaring me as soon as I doze. A Mallory strip is what we call that bumpy area that lets you know you are running off the edge of the road. Mallory’s dad had a big part in creating these bumpy patches, hence, Mallory strips. Some states have them on the edges of the road and in the middle so I got it from both sides. We drove into Vernal about 20 hours later, 10:30am the next day. Actually on our time it was 11:30. We unloaded, had lunch then rested. Alan snored as soon as his head hit the pillow. I went into Mom mode and started straightening up Ty’s room and doing laundry. I couldn’t sleep but did manage to relax some.

Ty and his roomie took us to eat lunch at a local restaurant. They are both petroleum engineers and just moved to a new apartment. I’m a people watcher. While we were waiting for our food to arrive I noticed that every girl who came in had puffed up hair. It was like there was a sale on Bumpits and everyone bought one! I finally mentioned it and Ty told me it’s actually called the “Vernal Poof”. It’s ‘the’ hairstyle to have. Isn’t that funny?

The advantage of driving all night is that you get there. The disadvantage is that you are exhausted when you do. We took it easy and looked around at some of the local sites. Vernal is located in the Unita Basin which is famous for its dinosaur fossils. Alan had an appointment to get some new seat covers put in the Dodge. We dropped the truck off as we looked around. The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum was right across the street from the seat cover place. I didn’t go in but I did walk over and get some pictures of the outside dinosaurs. I know the littles would love to see it!

Dinosaurs in Vernal

Camo Seatcovers

Lots of hiding places!

Utah is a very pretty place. At least where we were it was. But it sure didn’t seem very spring like! It was cold and the mountains still had snow. We drove around and saw some beautiful scenery. We went out to the mountains and saw an operational mine. They do a lot of reclamation to restore the land so it wasn’t a barren ugly mess like I expected. Their tailings pond boasted that it was crystal clear. There were streams and a lake. Everything was crisp and fresh looking. It was really a nice change from the dry, ugly dessert we come from.

Reflections on a lake

The view from the top...Utah

Looking down from the mountain in Utah

Up high with the aspins...Utah

Too soon it was time to head back. We decided to break up the trip home into two days. The countryside through Colorado was real eye candy. There were many snow topped mountains. We saw literally hundreds of elk. We saw deer and wild turkeys. We tried to stop in Silverton. It’s a quaint little village with lots of shops and restaurants but it seems everything is closed on Monday. Seriously, even the gas station/convenience store was closed. There were kids, bundled up, playing outside. I don’t know what they do if someone who actually lives there needs something! We also went through Durango, where we spent our honeymoon. It’s changed so much neither of us could even remember where we stayed. We wondered if the place was still standing! We drove on to Santa Fe and spent the night. After a good night’s sleep we headed home the next day.

Silverton, Colorado

An old mine office in Colorado

Rocky Mountain High...Colorado

A tunnel in Colorado

The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the depressing changing scenery. Soon it was no longer cool with temperatures in the 80s and higher. The mountains were replaced by wide open spaces. The green trees and snow turned into sand dunes and mesquites. We agreed that even though it’s home we sure live in an ugly place!

I started a crocheted shawlette called Summer Twilight Shawlette on the way. It was with the Madeline Tosh yarn I got in Dallas.

Madeline ToshYarn

Wound yarn.

It’s not big and I was sure I could finish it on the trip. Turned out I did. Twice! It was really pretty but it was the size of a doily! It was more like a collar than a shawlette. I made a few of the shells on the final row and decided to take it all out and make it again, with a bigger needle.

Started shawlette...the first time.

On a hook two sizes bigger than what the pattern recommends I started again. What a difference! Now it looks like a shawlette even before it’s blocked. I finished it, again, and this time I’m happy with the results. Now I just have to block it!

Finished product...unblocked

Even though the road trip was long, it was fun. We saw a lot of things and enjoyed our own company. Now it’s back to work for a couple of days. But we’ve already decided we’ll get back in the car and head off again, somewhere, soon, going through all these cities and all these towns. We’ll make the journey and we’ll go the distance. And we’ll enjoy the ride.

Well, life's like a road that you travel on.

There's one day here and the next day gone.

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand.

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind.

Life is a highway, I wanna ride it

All night long.