Ski Trip Day 1 - To Clovis, NM

I am going to post a few entries about our trip to Taos. These may be a bit tedious for most but I want to type it up before it slips from my memory.

We pulled out of the driveway at about 10:30 am Sunday March 13. We pulled back into the driveway at about 10:31 to get a few items to snack on out of fridge and pantry. We left for sure a few minutes later. It was fairly warm, near 80 degrees when we left so we were dressed in shorts and tshirts for the trip. When we stopped for lunch a few hours later, it was noticably cooler, but not unconfortable.

We were able to drive all the way from Austin to Post, TX on a single tank of gas. I know this because we almost didn't get to Post. I took a nap after lunch and Sean drove. Upon waking I looked over at the gas guage, the needle was below a quarter tank with 30 miles or more to go. I brought this to Sean's attention but she did not doubt we would get to Post. Quickly it seemed the needle moved to E and then dipped below E and things got kind of tense in the car. We were in some pretty desolate country but there was plenty of traffic. Nevertheless we coasted into town and thankfully filled up vowing not to get that close again. After some McD's cones and sundaes we headed on again.

We made it to Clovis NM by dusk and stayed at the Hampton Inn. By now it was very cold outside and very windy. The temp was in mid 40's and wind chill at freezing. Being kinda tired we decided to get some light food and eat at the hotel. Samantha and I were the only ones to swim in the pool and hot tub. Sam can entertain herself easily in a pool. We had some fun and went back to the room. We had told ourselves (Sean and I anyway) that we would try to avoid the TV as much as possible, but we caved and let the kids watch a little. And what? Texas Hold 'Em Poker of course.

Tory began reading a book titled Angels And Demons by Dan Brown. Evan had the iPod in his ears most of the time. I tried listening to a book on tape called The Screwtape Letters, read by John Cleese but it failed to take hold. I settled on beginning to read novel I,Robot.

Lastly, Gann and GB would have laughed. Most memorable about Clovis was the smell that always seemed to be in the air. A mix of barnyard manure and Texas oil. We were glad to be rid of it upon leaving. On the way to the Grand Canyon when I was 8 (?), the grandparents, cousin Laurie and I also stayed in Clovis, and the smell was a running joke for the remainder of the trip. When I would remind Gann or GB of it in later years, they would get a good chuckle going.

Day 2 Snowy highways.