The Home Stretch

Sunday, Dec 30

We got up at a decent time and made quick work to get ready to head home. We had set our clocks to Texas time, so we'd move a little faster. We didn't unhook from the truck last night, so that saved us some time. We pulled out about 8:30am Texas Time.

Eileen at Tucumcari KOA, Tucumcari, NM

When we left, the wind was picking up due to a cold front moving east, expected to bring snow and frigid temps to the area. We headed out under cloudy skies and a cold wind-chill.




When we got to Amarillo, we decided to stop at the Blue Beacon to get the Mammoth and truck washed. She really needed it!

Whole Rig Before

Truck Before

Whole Rig After

Truck After

We made pretty good time after that and made it home to about 7pm.

We unloaded some of the goods, like food and clothes, and then collapsed to watch the Cowboys play in a win or go home game for the division title. They lost. :( oh well, we had a great trip (besides me getting sick!) and were very pleased at how Mammoth performed during this winter excursion.

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Heading Home

Saturday, Dec 29

Today, we awoke early to get started with the final prep to head home. Tony check the temp, it was -6 degrees! Tony dumped tanks while I readied the inside, we got Mammoth hooked up and were on our way by 8:30am. It helps to be dressed for skiing, with heavy lined boots, ski pants, faces and heads covered, and of course ski jackets and gloves!!

Our destination would typically be Amarillo, Tx, to stop again and visit relatives. This time, due to the fact that they were fighting colds and I was too, we opted to bypass the visit. Instead, we decided to stop in Tucumcari, NM and we figured we could get there before dark.

Our trip was uneventful, and easy. We even decided to go through Albuquerque, since it was a Saturday afternoon. It wasn't too bad at all! As we got onto I-40 we really started seeing lots of RVs going West. Even one new tan-colored North Trail! Most of them were high-end 5vers and Motorcoaches. After a while, we figured they must be snowbirds headed for warmer climates.
A few pics of the scenery:




























We got to the Tucumcari KOA about 5:15, just as it was beginning to get dark. They lead us to our site, and we settled in for the night. Luckily, the temps were not going to be as cold, a low of 32 was predicted. Both of us were out pretty quick! It had been a long day.

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Pizza and Packing

Friday, Dec. 28th

Today, I woke up feeling a little better. Sleeping better through the night helped. Tony made us breakfast, and then we took it easy for the morning. After getting dressed, we made our way downtown, to find a place to park and go eat at DSP, a great little pizza joint on Main Street. They sell other things as well, but single pizza slices as big as your head (I think it said from a 26" pizza) are their specialty. We each ordered slices with our preferred toppings. This was the first meal I'd had out of the trailer since Sunday! And probably the biggest! I must confess, I ate the whole thing! It was great.

DSP pizza slice

After we ate, we stopped in a few shops but ultimately, we headed back. I just didn't have enough energy yet. Tony took the scenic route, since I hadn't been out in a week. We drove up the canyon to Ft. Lewis College, which overlooks the town of Durango. Tony got out and took some pics, but here are two I took:

Overlooking Durango

Tony with snow-capped mountains

After we returned to the park, I took a few pics while Tony did some prep work to get ready for leaving tomorrow, and then I went in and took a much needed nap.

The park entrance

Some of the guests (Mammoth on the right)

Our home away from home!

Eileen at Westerly RV Park, Durango, Co

After we both rested a bit, we started doing things to get ready to leave, like packing up the Christmas Tree and storing the ski gear. For dinner, Tony ran across the street to the grocery store, and picked up a ready-to-eat meal of Chicken Cordon Bleu. He also picked up some sweet-rolls ... Not on the diet, but we are off it for the trip, anyway!

After dinner we did a little more prep for the trip, and then settled in to watch an episode of our "Ken Burn's National Parks". I decided to go to bed before it was over, and was out pretty quickly!

We hit the road for home tomorrow.

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Snow, Skiing, Sleeping

Thursday, Dec. 27

Today we woke up to a little more snowfall, so I darted out for 5 min to take some pictures.

Powdered pickup

A little fresh snow is fine!

Snow in the branches, so delicate

The sky was sunny at the moment, but snow chances ranged from 50-30% all day. Sure enough, clouds would drift in, and some flurries would fall.

Tony decided to head to the slopes again, and I stayed home, still suffering from what now seems more like a sinus infection. I mostly slept while he was gone.

Here are a few pics he took. He said the skiing was much better than when we went Sunday. It was definitely colder, and snowed on him off and on. Wish I was well enough to ski some more, but just doesn't look like its in the cards this trip. That's ok, I've enjoyed just being here!

Sun behind a cloud briefly

Tony on the slopes. Notice the freshly flocked trees behind him!

When he returned, we talked about his adventures and ate dinner. I headed back to bed again. I finally took some Mucinex DM that is supposed to help with congestion... Man did that help! I am hoping I'll start feeling better tomorrow, so I can help with packing and getting ready to head home on Saturday.

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More snow and sickness

Wednesday, Dec 26

We got a little more snow overnight, but it was the granular type. Off and on today we got snow, but not the large pretty flakes we like to see. It didn't do much accumulating, either.

Tony slipped out with his camera about 10:15am to catch some photos of the Durango & Silverton Steam Train, that runs by the RV park just on the other side of the highway from us. He got some great pics. When he gets them downloaded I'll get one posted here. Tony had started to make Chili yesterday and realized he forgot the rotel tomatoes, so he also picked some up this morning.

I again stayed in bed mostly and slept on and off. I started getting a headache today, too, and my throat was really hurting.

Tony went out again about 2:30pm to catch more pics of the train and just explore. The chili fixin's in the crock pot sure smelled good, but there's no way my tummy can handle that yet!

After chicken noodle soup for dinner I went back to bed and struggled to get comfortable. My head was still hurting. Gosh I want to start to get well soon!!

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Not a Silent Night

Tuesday, Dec 25th

The evening of the 24th, I started to feel bad, with some abdominal issues and nausea, as well as a fever. I couldn't keep anything down so I got dehydrated. The morning of Christmas, I asked Tony to take me to an urgent care facility, because I was feeling so bad. We could not find one open, so we headed to Mercy Regional Medical Center to the ER, since we knew they would be open. It was not busy at all 9:30 Christmas Day, and I was seen immediately. They gave me fluids and checked blood and ran a cat scan to check my abdomen, and ultimately said I probably had the virus that's going around. Thankfully the fluids really helped, and we headed home, picking up some pink stuff and Tylenol on the way back.

We spent most of the day just hanging around the rig. I laid in bed and slept on and off, while Tony hung out down stairs. For dinner, I had chicken soup, while Tony ate the leftover Spaghetti.

Not how I had hoped to spend Christmas, but at least we are snug as bugs in a rug, surrounded by snow. Speaking of, we heard that back home in North Texas, they had a white Christmas! That's pretty rare. All our friends and family posted great pics on Facebook. It was nice to see.


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Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Monday, December 24th

Today I was starting to not feel well. I had a bit of a scratchy throat, so we decided to stay home today.

Tony went out about mid-morning to refill one of the propane tanks, since we didn't want to chance running out on Christmas Day.

About the time he got back, it had started to snow!




We enjoyed just staying home and watching the snow fall, all day and into the evening. Tony cooked Spaghetti for dinner, and we watched "Catch Me If You Can", a great movie that is always an intriguing watch. It uses Christmas Eve as a plot point as well, so it was appropriate to watch on Christmas Eve.

Since I wasn't feeling well, we decided to set up the couch/air-bed for Tony. It was a good thing, because I had a rough night, my illness got worse and my fever got high and I had some abdominal distress and nausea. Needless to say, I was not having a Merry Christmas!

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