On the Homefront: The Trip to Santa Fe

From Smart Energy International

I am one day away from arriving in Santa Fe to start moving in to our new home.  I am not sure when I will have access to WiFi again after I check out of my hotel room tomorrow morning, so I thought I would give a quick summary of my travels so far.  No pictures, unfortunately, but just a few observations about driving cross-country with two dogs and a car packed to the gills with stuff.

First of all, this has to be the hottest drive I have ever done, and I used to do a lot of long-distance driving when I was younger.  I decided to take this journey in October because I thought the weather would be cooler, but I have to say it is hotter right now than it was in August in Georgia!  I took Interstate-20 from Georgia to Texas, and it was scorching the whole way, with afternoons over 100 degrees for the first two days.  I finally got off of I-20 to head north today, and the weather is considerably cooler in Amarillo, which is where I am right now.  Luckily I packed a warm coat because I will need it tomorrow morning!

Second, I have to say I am so impressed by our two dogs, who have never gone on a long car trip before.  I did get a tranquilizer for Madison, who hates riding in the car and has gotten carsick before, but I have been steadily decreasing the dose she gets and will not be giving her any for tomorrow's much shorter trip because she is doing very well.  She does not have much of an appetite but eats enough to get by, so she should be okay.  I am giving our almost 13-year-old Ruby a bit of pain medication every day so that she does not feel too arthritic after riding in the car all day, and she is doing fine as well.  I worried about them the first two days because it was so hot, but a night of relaxing in a hotel room helped them recover sufficiently to continue with our trip the next day.  They will get plenty of TLC once we arrive in Santa Fe, and I promised them that they will never have to do another cross-country trip again!

Now for a few details of this challenging trip.  I left our Georgia house two hours later than planned because I had a very hard time fitting all of the stuff I needed for myself and the dogs into the car.  I did finally figure it out, but by the time I left it was very late in the morning.  In addition to the heat, there was the usual slowdown in Atlanta, thanks to a minor accident and some road construction.  Once past Atlanta the drive was not bad until we reached Birmingham, Alabama, and that was when the worst part of the trip so far occurred.

For some reason the powers that be in Birmingham decided it was a good idea to completely close down I-20.  There was an alternate route that I could have taken, but the detour signs were put up too close to the exit ramp, so by the time I figured out I should have taken this route I had already passed it.  When I reached Birmingham, there was an alternate route set up through the city, but it was so circuitous that I got lost the first time I attempted to take it.  I ended up calling 911 because I was so lost I had no idea where I was, and they were at least able to direct me back to I-20 so I could start all over again.  My second attempt taking the detour was successful, but it took me over an hour to get out of Birmingham.  Of course this was during the hottest part of the day, with temperatures staying at or over 100 degrees the whole time.  Thank goodness my dogs were medicated, because I was so upset that I am afraid my dogs would have been a nervous wreck otherwise!

We finally made it to our hotel in Mississippi well after dark, after driving for much longer than I had planned.  Luckily the hotel was very nice and we all got some much needed rest and relaxation.  I actually enjoyed driving through Mississippi.  I even saw a billboard to the World's Only Cactus Plantation, but apparently it is now closed.  Driving through Louisiana was not bad either - the most intriguing thing I saw there was a sign along the interstate for a 13-mile Bear Crossing!  The most challenging part of yesterday's leg of my trip was driving through Dallas-Fort Worth traffic during the hottest time of day, once again at or above 100 degrees.  Fortunately our hotel was just west of Fort Worth, and the drive was not as long as the first day.  While the hotel had an inconvenient policy of only allowing dogs on the upper floors, my two girls took to the elevator rides like champs, so all was well.

Today's trip was the easiest so far, as it was much cooler and a little shorter.  We drove through a part of Texas that seems to be devoted to wind power - there are more more wind turbines there than I have ever seen in my entire life.  Luckily there are endless acres of cotton fields in which to put all of those turbines!  Even here in Amarillo the wind seems to blow constantly, so they must be generating a lot of power.

Tomorrow we should arrive at our Santa Fe house in plenty of time to get settled in for the night.  My horse is tentatively scheduled to arrive very late the next day, so I will have to scramble to get the barn set up for his arrival.  My furniture may also arrive on the same day, which would be a disaster, so I am hoping that it will arrive a day or two later as originally scheduled.  It may be a while before I get back to my blog, but I will return when I can.  I hope everyone is finally enjoying fall weather by now!