Two Days and I'm back.

Of course you all knew I wasn't going  be able to sit there and watch the snow very long....  It did stop snowing by about 5 pm, and I went over to my son Ben's house to announce I would leave in the morning...  I drove in 4 wheel drive, but the plows were out on the major roads...

The next morning it seemed to clear for a little while and the sun came out...  So I loaded the Jeep and shut the house down...   I drove in 4 wheel drive until I got to a major highway where I shifted into high 2 wheel and bolted for the interstate...

The highway had a number of folks that had recently slid off into the median, and they were still standing next to their cars,  wondering what to do next...  The Jeep didn't falter or slide a bit...

Once headed South on the Turnpike I came upon a fellow standing in the median talking to another driver in the opposite lane...  Then rounding the corner, I found his semi truck laying over on its passenger side in the ditch..  The dirty side and wheels were facing me...  I'll bet that will call for a new pair of shorts....   But he seemed OK...  I pressed on...

As I got closer to Wichita, the sun went completely under and it was clear that their storm event was an Ice Storm with not nearly as much snow...  Drippy sloppy slushy mess as I stopped at a McDonalds for bathroom and a burger...

While the sun never did come back out, the highway became dryer the farther West I went.  We stopped in the rest area at Bloom, Ks, and Biscuit got her walk in..  She seems to like this place as its like a little park, but the smells cause her to be quick about the stop.

Onward, Guymon, Ok, and then Dalhart, Tx..  Where a 6 inch sub called my name.  It was dark by then, and I didn't realize that the snow on the ground had increased...   By Tucumcari, Nm, it was at least ten inches...  That's about 580 miles, so I got a motel room... I've stayed there so much, that all I had to do was tell the fellow my phone number and give him a credit card...

I was in that room for about 9 hours, and with a fresh shower and hot coffee biscuit and I were on the road again the next morning...  I 40 was covered in that white salt road deicer powder....  Some folks were managing so slip and slide in that stuff..  Several cars were again in the median with their drivers looking perplexed...  But the sun was out and for the most part the roads were clear.

Things were sloppy in Albuquerque, but I only stopped for gas...  In Gallup, I stopped for another 6 inch sub..  Once I made Holbrook, I stopped and broke the ice off of the Jeeps hood as the temperature was now above freezing for the first time...

With only 180 miles from there and still the middle of the afternoon, we headed South over the Mongollon rim...  There was some snow and wet roads up there, and I took a rock right in the middle of the windshield...  So that made the trip a little more costly...

It was 57 when I arrived here at the house, and I was back in a light sweat shirt..  But the people in Wal Mart last night had winter parka's on....  A matter of your perspective I'm sure..

Retired Rod

Storm sitting

Christmas is over and the dishes are done and put away.  I've eaten all the food in the fridge.  Even some of the old frozen dinners that should have been tossed out...

But what I am really doing is watching it snow out the back windows of the house...  The low pressure is traveling up the Mississippi River valley so we are on the back side of that low..  The warm rain is going up North toward Iowa and then freezing..   Its then coming back South around the low and dumping on us...

When I lived up in Iowa, the city people would get right out and start working on the roads the very moment it looked like snow...  Sometimes it would come down in bushel baskets so they always wanted to be ahead of that...

But here in KC its much different..  They never get much more than 6 inches and they really could care less if it gets cleaned.  Oh they get the major roads on the one mile grid, but the residential streets...........  not so much..  And I live on a dead end cul de sac..  So down it comes, coating everything white...  Its Ice underneath as it was freezing rain for the two days before.  I haven't started the jeep since the day before Christmas...

This storm is travelling Northward and Somewhat East thru Illinois...  Of course my itchy travel bug is nagging at me to get the He!! out of here for parts South and West...     "lets go!!!!"

But the pictures on the TV of all the cars sliding off of the roads thru Amarillo and parts West toward Albuquerque...  have me just parked....  You have a Jeep........ after all.....  What's your worry..   But what good is a Jeep in black ice...?  Do you want to drive 30 miles an hour all the way back to the Southwest?

I need to get up and do something...... but everything I do is aimed at packing my things out by the garage door...   Nervous...  Who me?

Retired Rod

Merry Christmas

As it is now almost midnight on Christmas Eve, I am safe in wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

All of my family is coming over here tomorrow and I am providing the dining room and many of the dinner and side dishes, but the main ham is being cooked at my oldest son's house....  Outside of cleaning up and getting ready, I have only been hanging out.

But I have also went thru another test at the Hospital form my ongoing Gerd disorder...  This test involved having a tube placed in my nose and forced down to the top of my stomach.  This probe was connected to a computer recorder that I wore in a harness over my shoulder.

Of course sleeping with this NG tube is a difficult task..  And the leaking of the stomach valve seems to be worse after I go completely asleep..  I'm not sure I ever did go to sleep during the test, but I know for sure that I was really ready to go get the tub removed the next day...  

Of course they haven't called with the results...  Maybe sometime in January.... LOL

Again, have a good Christmas..

Retired Rod

Now I have gone somewhere

As I was looking at the weather forecast on Thursday, I realized that it was going to get really cold over the weekend in Phoenix..  They were talking about Snow in the Rim area north on the way to Holbrook...   Snow...  

I wanted to be back here in Kansas today, (Tuesday) as the Romeo motorcycle group were having their Christmas lunch in a favorite barbecue in Belton, Missouri..   Since riding the bike was out of the question with my sore touchy, we took the old Chevy pickup.  Since most folks have now seen the truck, its old hat now..

There must have been 60 bikes and they counted 79 folks, so most all of the people did come on their motorcycle.   We filled the entire dining room.

So last Thursday I just tossed a bunch of clothes and Biscuit in the Jeep and started for home.  I stopped that night in Albuquerque..   With the dog, I stayed at a Motel 6..  It was one of the newly remodeled ones with the laminate floors..    No carpet..   It seemed cleaner, but the mattress was still thin and hard foam, and the bath towels are the size of hand towels..  Thin hand towels..

I didn't sleep much with my sore butt..  But look at the bright side, I was up early to get back on the road and beat the rainy, snowy, Western Kansas event.  Friday I drove all the way to Wichita.  My backside hurt all the way, and I did resort to some Alleve, even though it messes up my stomach and isn't compatible with by blood pressure med.

I Wichita, I stayed at a Rodeway Inn where I had to show the folks what Biscuit looked like and pay a cleaning fee.   She absolutely won't go potty in the house, but they don't know or trust that.   However much more that room cost, was well worth it..  We were on the road at 8 AM Saturday and into KC before noon.

So now I have set up housekeeping here again, complete with starting the heat pump which ran for most of the rest of the day.  We have had warmer temps here than in Mesa, but that came with a rain that flooded us out on Sunday.  The Minister at church Sunday, commented that it would have impressed Noah..

So now it is incumbent on me to try and get into the Christmas Spirit..  Any ideas?

Oh, Live Writer...  Since I usually use linux as an operating system, LW has never worked for me.   So I didn't know it was even gone.  But I do know how hard it can be when something that is a favorite is suddenly gone.   But I do hope everyone will continue to do a blog, as we miss you when your completely out of touch.....

Retired Rod

Still here

I haven't gone anywhere, I'm still right here...   But about a week before Thanksgiving, I was working out in the garage hanging some tool racks on the walls with long screws into the wall studs...

The house in now several years old and the studs are now dried out  and hard to screw into..  To gain leverage, I had set a ladder up against the wall and was up a couple of steps, pushing on the drill.  You can see what's coming..  The ladder tipped over and I stepped backwards down to the floor all at once.

Of course there was a rake handle on the floor and I didn't catch myself at all..  Going down hard on my backside.  I got up and shook myself out and went on with the work...  But......

Or maybe I should say BUTT..  Cause in a couple of hours that was where the major league pain was located.   And as the days progressed, it hurt more and more..

Seems like I was better when I was standing up but sitting and going to bed.............   I tried to ride the motor cycle, but that only lasted between here and Wal Mart..  And I was in nasty pain on the way back.

In the mean time I had a new Sway bar come in for the Can Am and I laid on the garage floor with my jacks and stands installing that.  I took it really slow and thought surely I would be better in the morning...  I went once around the block to make sure it was installed correctly but came directly back....

The long and short of it, is that I have bruised or sprained my tail bone, and there isn't anything you can do but just wait for it to heal..  I've purchased a couple of different cushions here locally and off of Amazon and a big bottle of Tylenol..

Some of my buddies back in Kansas tell me it might be months before I can ride the bike....  I guess it can really take a long time to get back right...

So I have had nothing of interest to report here in Arizona other than lounging around on my side on the couch watching TV and reading the posts here on the internet...  I think it is slowly improving, but I went to church on Sunday and sat on the hard chairs which caused a re laps of pain for the rest of the day.

I'm hopeful to return to KC to see the grandkids for Christmas, but at this point I will just have to grin and bear it for the 20 plus hours it takes to get back there....

Retired Rod