Gotta Love Spring Travel

I truly have become a Las Vegan. If it isn't sunny, warm, and nice I don't much care to travel. Well in the last week I flew to Salt Lake City and upon arrival I picked up my car for the drive to Provo and the woman at the rental counter says, "We are expecting 5 to 8 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow." My response was, "If that's the case, I won't be back tomorrow." Not that I don't like driving in the snow (I don't), but especially not in Salt Lake City or any other big city. And, I'm just a little out of practice. Not much snow (or rain) in Las Vegas.

Jeni, Craig and the kids came for spring break and I promised to drive Jeni and the kids back to Denver since Craig had to go back to work. As I watched the weather (remember I just dodged a storm in Utah) I noted that Denver was set for a Friday-Saturday snow event (that means .1" to 24" depending on how mother nature feels). So we opted to go through Albuquerque to Denver. Yes, it is a little longer, but the scenery is still new to me and with David & Krissie in Albuquerque it makes for a nice stop.

We got off moderately early (5 am), saw Hoover Dam just as it was getting light. Noted the new bridge is making great progress and then headed south to Kingman, AZ and Interstate 40. Off we were east to Albuquerque and making good time. We stopped for gasoline in Flagstaff, noted the wind was getting brisk (how about just plain hard) and got 17 miles east and hit a standstill. We made 1.2 miles in 2 hours. I could see our "good time" going right out the window. By the time we got to the off ramp - yes the road was closed - we were informed all roads east were closed due to high winds (gusts up to 65 mph). So, we turned around, back to Flagstaff, found a hotel with an indoor pool (lukewarm water and cold indoor space, but still indoors) and after everyone quit shivering we were off for lunch. Back in the room we looked outside and yes, the wind was blowing, the side roads were filling up with trucks (nowhere to go) and then the snow hit. It was horizontal (a good Iowa snow) and whiteout conditions.

It really did look a lot colder and snowy when I looked at it. Photos make a car look like it lost 10 pounds - or more.

By comparison the rest of the trip was uneventful. However, as I was driving east on Saturday through eastern Arizona and western New Mexico I thought more than once about the movie Cars and how much scenery we must be missing. Remember the scene with all the traffic on the interstate. Well, that was us! I decided to save that detour for another trip. After all we will be going to Albuquerque 2 more times this summer - on the way to Denver. Thank goodness I don't have to go to Boise to get to Denver.

We had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant on Saturday evening in east Albuquerque, close to the Air Force base, and it was truly a mom and pop operation. The food was superb. It may have helped that we were all starved, but we did have a great time. I had a photo of Jeni expressing just how HOT the red sauce was, but had to censor it (for fear of my own health).

This shot of Alyssa came as she was being a bit of a teen and not wanting a photo taken. I set my iPhone on the table, propped it up with hot sauce container and shot a series of time lapse photos. This was the point where she asked what I was doing. Of course I told her nothing, but I don't think she believed me.

Now, as I sit in the Denver airport waiting I'm excited to go home and see my lover. I've forgotten what it was like to have kids at home and how little of JoAnn I really got to see.