live from Utah
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

Last night we pulled into the Grand Junction Colorado Walmart around midnight. I wanted to go for a walk before we went to bed so Andy and I walked down a small street next to where we parked. Andy thought he saw people moving in the shadows of a field to our right. We stopped, crouched down and realized that there were deer standing not more than thirty feet away from us. This was a strange residential/industrial area by train tracks. A freight train had slowly rolled down the tracks and come to a stop in front of the direction we were walking. It made a rythmic, mechanical chugging that wasn’t unpleasant. A yellow florescent light cast over everything. It felt like a movie set. Slighly creepy, disconcerting yet exhilarating. We could make out shapes, but the exact nature of things was just slightly out of grasp. A rock could be a crouching dog or a bush or a bag of trash. We stood next to the freight train engine for a minute realizing that we really had never been this close to a freight train engine before. I wanted to jump it, but walked back without making the neighborhood dogs bark, took a shower and went to bed.

The best quote of the evening, that may not be funny when taken out of the moment, was made by Andy. He was commenting on Leaving the blast furnace of Las Vegas devoid of and not able to support life, and coming to a place with grass, trees, breathable air, muskrats and deer. He said, “I feel like we’re in Narnia”.

Right now, we’re four hours outside of Denver.

We left Vegas at two am. After an hour we bought a four pack of Red Bull and got a second wind for driving. We drove into the sunrise of Utah. It was beautiful and a great start for our adventures.

*Wildfires burning in the night
*Sitting around in the small stretch of Utah that had internet signal betting baseball for most of the day.
* Watching a furry creature we think was a muskrat washing his head in a storm drain and eating foilage.
*The air, the beautiful moist, life filled air.
*The temperature that is cool on my skin.
*Lightning and the teasing of rain showers.

Estimated time of departure 8 pm. Revised time of departure 10 pm. Re revised estimated time of departure no later than midnight. Time right now 1:21 am. Re re re estimated time of departure no later than 2 am. The towing light debachle is fixed, the water and propane tanks are filled, boxes are packed and travellers are freshly showered. Now to pack up the laptops and the food and we are on the way to Denver. I have to admit that we’re a little nervous about testing a towing system that was re put together in darkness but hey…..that’s how we roll.

A prediction: Hilarity ensues.

Four more days in Las Vegas *crosses fingers*. The rest of the parts should be here on Monday. Our plan is to leave Monday night. Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a brutal heat wave. Every day I think, “Oh god, it can’t get any hotter than this”. Then, it does. Today is forcasted at 110 degrees.

It is proving problematic working with metal tools. I had to cut something with an exacto knife that was in Andy’s toolbox outside. Before I could do anything, I had to put it in the freezer because it burned my hand to pick it up. Our plan was just to sleep all day and work throughout the night. But this morning for whatever bizarre reason, my eyes popped open at 7:30 am. Andy is up by 10, and he’s talking about braving the heat to put the shiny, black metal brackets on the front of the jeep so it can be towed. I think the man has lost his mind. It was already 90 degrees at 7:30. There isn’t any room in the freezer for those big brackets!

Hockey Injury
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

To the complainers….I haven’t been updating because there is nothing to update. The RV still isn’t fixed, parts are on the way. We’re still hanging out in the burning hot blast furnace of Vegas waiting.

Right now I’m typing this sitting under a gazebo in the 90 degree heat at nine p.m. at night watching my husband play bocce ball in the park with his hockey team. We just came from the game where the above injury happened. It was pretty dramatic and frightening watching Andy get smashed into, crumple to the ground and not be able to get up. If you look at the mark in real life, it’s almost possible to read the CCM logo in the middle.

Tomorrow, we’re finishing some cabinets that need to be stained and installed. See, not that interesting. I could make stuff up, but I’m just not feeling that creative these days. It still seems like a weird transitional period that doesn’t feel completely comfortable. Baseball is doing okay. And, even thought it doesn’t take up much in physical time, is still stressful on a daily basis. The RV is still not completely home and we’re still in this city that we had planned to be away from over a month ago. Nothing terribly bad, but I don’t necessarily feel free and light either. This seems like some sort of a time that should have a name, but I can’t quite come up with it.

Vlad the Russian is in town. We stayed with him at Bally’s yesterday. He wants to be back in Denver by June 25th. We would like to have everything done on the RV by then so we can drive us and him to Denver. If the window hasn’t shipped by tomorrow, we’re going to try and find it somewhere locally, possibly a junk yard.

xxx_baseball_in_the_tub
Originally uploaded by cindigodotcom.

An unidentified naked man betting baseball in a luxurious bubble bath.

That is all to report for right now.

Our original plan was to be out of Vegas the day after the house sold. It was a perfect plan taking into account everything we could think of. It was excellent since it would have us missing the most brutal part of life in Vegas, the 120 degree summer. Unfortunately for us, we could not forsee a break in, and dramatically bad auto repair service.

It was 111 degrees yesterday. The rubber on the bottom of my shoes was melting. The Jeep was overheating on the two hour drive back from Laughlin. We didn’t have to pull over, but had to turn the heat on full blast a few times. I tried to view it as a therapeutic session in a sweat lodge.

We were looking forward to sleeping in our puffy, comfy bed in Troy and Heather’s backyard. When we got home and turned on the air, Andy found that the extension cord wasn’t right and was melting. Troy and Heather graciously put us up in their guest room. It seems to be one thing after another. Although, no matter what, that’s just the way of things. One thing…..comes after the other. If it didn’t then all time would cease to exist. Everything would happen at once and that just wouldn’t be fun for anyone. Humans need a little suspense about these things.

At least that’s how I’m trying to spin it.

I’m drunk….again.

We’ve got to get out of this sinfull place. Today, burning with the fishes. Tomorrow, no sun for my lobster self. We were supposed to leave today, but Harrah’s comped us another night. Tonight, we were assigned our very own casino host, “Dustin”. I think Dustin may comp us another night and possibly get me a spa treatment. While Andy was playing video poker tonight he came over with his card and said to call if Andy needed anything. I feel like big potatoes in Laughlin.

Speaking of potatoes, the cafe here has “freedom fries” and a “ground zero” burger. While reading the menu all I could say was, “Oh no they didn’t”. But they did. We have taken to calling the egg dipped bread fried to a crispy golden brown and topped with syrup from the buffet that Andy loves so much “freedom toast”. I am corrected if I call it anything other.

Did I mention that I’m drunk….again?

I am drunk.

Today….swimming with the fishes and an 80 minute massage (not the best ever). Since being certified, and a damn good massage therapist myself, I’m kind of picky. Also, I am turning a very dark color from exposure to the nuclear desert sun. The first step to my master plan of letting the soul sista’ inside, come out.

Parts for the RV are scheduled to arrive on June 16th. Cost…$209. Estimate from dealership….over $3000. Although, the dealership estimate included the front dash wich was a 1500 or so dollar part, and the $209 doesn’t include that. Since we’re fixing this ouselves (and by we, I mean Andy) we figured that for $1500 we could live with, or find some creative way to cover up two deep screwdriver gouges.

The next few weeks I assume will be spent luxurating in our friends Troy and Heather’s back yard waiting for and installing parts. Then, maybe to Colorado.

Did I mention that I’m drunk?