And Here We Stay

We spent Friday night packing up the goods, organizing the car and picking up the house. Out the door at 6:00 a.m. My flight didn't leave until 1:00 P.M. which meant I was going to have to sit in the airport for five hours so Karen insisted that I ride home with her and Janice. We were also concerned about the weather in Denver.  I was able to see territory that astounded me. The desert can be quite beautiful even in the dead of winter. It was disturbing to me to see so many mountains with no snow on them; THAT changed in Trinidad. Heading east on Interstate 10 to Deming, NM. Then north to Truth or Consequences, Socorro and  Albuquerque. I never really thought about it before but it is all mountains. I thought we'd never get out of them and at the time of this posting, we still haven't. The last hour and half we fought snow as we made the trek to Raton Pass to make camp in Trinidad, CO.

Our hotel personnel let us know they were expecting three inches of snow during the night. We made plans to meet for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and then take off. Karen and I packed all our goods and headed out. We were stopped dead in our tracks with the overwelming realization that we were in a full out blizzard. At least a foot of snow was on the ground and visability was pretty much nil. Travelers came to a halt and so did we.

Karen, our hero, geared up and trekked out to the car to get our beads. Might as well make lemonade out of the lemons we were dealt. We made camp in the motel restaurant pulling a table up to a booth and spread out the beads. We stayed there for eight hours beading and creating new pieces for Beads in a Box. It was fun showing all the curious snowbound travelers what we were doing. They were quite interested in our story. I adopted a little friend right off the bat. Ten year-old, Asia, daughter of the owners, was quite taken with the beads and ended up joining us for the whole day. I was missing my daughters and got my daughter fix by teaching her how to string. She had been snowed in all week and missed school. Boredom had taken over and the chance to do something different really excited her.

I guess tonight was the Super Bowl. Silly me, could have cared less. I finished my book and took the time to blog. Our new plan is to try again in the morning. If we don't get out in the morning, another front is coming in on Tuesday and the next chance for us to return will be on Wednesday. Can't do it folks. Need my family!

One thing for sure that we'll all agree on is the excellent service we've received from the Quality Inn here in Trinidad, CO.  Harry, Nemi and their kids Asia and Rog run a great  family-owned business with loyal, hardworking staff. Gary (a.k.a. The Hero) was the desk clerk when we arrived on Friday night, worked until 1:00 a.m. and was back at it early this morning. Greeting all the snowed in travelers, running the front desk and serving the guests in the restaurant, he was tireless. Then to top it off when he finally did get to go home, he made a special trip to the pharmacy across town to pick up my much needed meds and delivered them back to me. Kindness comes in all kinds of packages and it reaffirms that there still are great people out there in this crazy world. We greatly appreciate the hospitality given to us and hope you will stop here if you get a chance.

Tootles for now, Kyla