Teresa's "Not-So-Daily" Diary

03 Jan 2007 Wednesday

Teresa Koransky — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:51:00 GMT

We got our storage space and emptied the U-Haul trailer. We got it all in except for our big ladder. The 11-6 foot ladder fit into the 12 foot trailer, but not in the 10 foot storage unit. A simple calculation error. We put it next to our neighbor's barn up in Spruce Basin. They have perhaps 2+ feet of snow still up there. It gets warm during the day and some of the snow melts, but it hasn't all melted yet.

02 Jan 2007 Tuesday

Teresa Koransky — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:44:00 GMT

So, our two and a half day trip took us nearly a week. We finally got home to Colorado and our trailer this afternoon.

Simon loved running around in the snow and he seems to approve of the smell of the trailer. Simon jumped out of the truck and into the trailer, sniffed around a bit and plopped down on the sofa. It apparently had enough of our smells (stink?) in it that he knew we were staying for a while. He loves to play in the snow. He hops thru it like a deer. At our trailer the snow is about 18-24 inches high. The owners of the RV park were nice enough to have a our parking spot and front door cleared of snow. We are far enough off the road that we can let Simon out off leash and let him run a little when we take him outside to pee. We got a fence to put up for him, but we haven't had time to put it together yet.

We got home with enough daylight to set things up: the sewer, water, electric and gas. It was cold enough that some bottles of window cleaner and such were frozen, but I had left them in the bathtub, so it wasn't a mess when one froze, expanded and overflowed. We got things hooked up and somewhat unpacked. We had to get all the liquids out of the back of the truck before we could relax our first night. Bottles of wine and sauces we brought back from Atlanta would freeze and break if it got too cold overnight. I think it was only about 11 degrees that first night. We called the RV park to let them know we were coming in and Edie said it was -2 degrees this morning about 8am. Brrr..... Right now, about 9pm, it's only about 17 degrees outside, much warmer.

I know it's just a tin can on wheels, but it's home.

01 Jan 2007 Monday - New Year's Day

Teresa Koransky — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:36:00 GMT

After three days in Amarillo, TX we were ready to go mad. We finally got out Monday morning and those hundred-thousand friends of ours were all there too. Traffic was horrible. It took us all day to make it from Amarillo, TX to Albuquerque, NM, about a four hour drive. We got off in one place to get gas and there was only one route in plowed thru the snow. Once we got in line for gas, we could not get out. We were there about an hour in line with big-rigs and RV's filling their hundred-gallon tanks. If the station had run out of gas, it could have incited a riot. The weather was cold, but tempers were running hot.

We found a hotel in Las Vegas, MN just north of Albuquerque. They had been packed too, for the last few days with travelers stranded. It was a much quieter place now and we finally got some sleep.

Simon is quite confused. We keep telling him we are going home, but we take him to places that don't smell anything like the home he expects.

31 Dec 2006 Sunday - New Year's Eve

Teresa Koransky — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:32:00 GMT

Our second morning in Amarillo, we heard that the road was opened. We got excited and headed out I-40 about 20 miles... only to get turned around. Roads were still closed in New Mexico.

A hundred-thousand of our very best friends all got to go back to Amarillo with us. We called ahead and the hotel we were staying didn't have any openings. We found another place, much bigger, more people, much louder. And it was New Year's Eve. We had hoped to be in Colorado by New Year's. (sigh) All three of us got very little sleep (Simon had to growl or bark at every noise, protecting us, of course).

Happy freekin' New Year.

30 Dec 2006 Saturday

Teresa Koransky — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:31:00 GMT

We had to decide whether to take I-70, thru Kansas and Eastern Colorado or I-40 thru Oklahoma and northern Texas. We checked the weather and there were thunderstorms and tornados south of us in Texas and a winter snow storm dumping snow on Denver again north of us. We thought we could slide thru along I-40 to Albuquerque and head north on I-25. Mother Nature had other plans for us. We got as far as Amarillo, TX and we stopped for the night. The highway signs announced that I-40 and I-25 were closed in New Mexico due to "Winter Weather Conditions".

The next morning we awoke to a quarter inch of ice on EVERYTHING. The trees and grasses were beautiful, all shiny, but ice is impossible to get around on. I fell twice and bruised my ego (and my butt). We just stayed put and made the best of things for the day. We can get out tomorrow.

29 Dec 2006 Friday

Teresa Koransky — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 21:30:00 GMT

Mother Nature had other plans for us. We got as far as Amarillo, TX and we stopped for the night. The highway signs announced that I-40 and I-25 were closed in New Mexico due to "Winter Weather Conditions". This is as far as we can go for now.

28 Dec 2006 Thursday

Teresa Koransky — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 21:27:00 GMT

Our first night after leaving Birmingham, we made it past the Oklahoma state line to a town called Sallisaw. We found a hotel that was inexpensive and took dogs. When we got there, they told us that the rooms they had available we next to "The Club". We were tired and there was a breezeway between us and the Club, so we took it. Surely it couldn't be that loud on a Thursday night.

We quickly found out that the Club was a Bring-Your-Own-Bottle club with Karaoke on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Ugh! They music varied from barely heard to quite annoying. It was off and on until about 2am. We had a late night.

27 Dec 2006 Wednesday

Teresa Koransky — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:25:00 GMT

We rented a hitch mounted U-Haul and filled it up with our tools and office furniture and a few other things we thought we might need. We made the trip to Birmingham from Colorado in two days, with Simon, we figured we'll need two and a half to three days to get back. We've heard about some bad weather in the Denver area, so we are watching the reports and making our route decisions on the fly.

26 Dec 2006 Tuesday

Teresa Koransky — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 21:25:00 GMT

We drove the long, 12 hour drive to Birmingham, AL, to Anita and Phil's house where most of our stuff is stored. We have Simon with us and he's so excited to be going "home". He just doesn't realize it's not the same "home" he left.

25 December 2006 Monday - Christmas Day

Teresa Koransky — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 21:16:00 GMT

Andrew and I were planning on visiting with my sisters Gay and Anneleise, but as we were getting ready to leave, it started raining really hard. We heard about some tornado warnings for the afternoon. We decided to stay with the doggies at Dianne's house until the storm blew over. I called and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. We head out tomorrow.

20 Dec 2006 Wednesday

Teresa Koransky — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:15:00 GMT

After visiting with Grandma Rose for a few days, we continued over to Ft Myers to visit my family and to see our dog Simon. We've missed him a lot while we were traveling. We hope he remembers us. I don't know how good a doggie's long term memory is.

We drove up to Dianne's house and heard Simon barking. We walked towards the door and I called Simon's name. Silence. We got to the front door and we saw our Simon with the biggest doggie grin on his face!! He remembers us!!! We opened the door and let him out, he ran circles around the yard and back to jump on us.

18 Dec 2006 Monday

Teresa Koransky — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:09:00 GMT

Our holiday card for 2006 went out today. What a long strange trip 2006 has been. Happy Holidays to all!!

17 Dec 2006 Sunday

Teresa Koransky — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Richard and Kim gave us some venison that Kim's son Cody got when he went hunting last fall. We have it frozen in the cooler for the trip home.

We went to church services with Richard and Kim this morning. It was very warm and friendly, even though it was a pretty big congregation. They played a lot of music with a modern feel for the first half and a short sermon towards the second half. After church we moved on to visit with Andrew's grandmother Rose in Boca Raton.

We got the Boca and visited with Grandma Rose. True to the Jewish Grandmother image, she fed us constantly. (My grandmother always did the same thing. I think all grandmothers do.)

16 Dec 2006 Saturday

Teresa Koransky — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 20:59:00 GMT

This morning Sue and I did some holiday shopping. The malls were horrible, but we went early enough to beat most of the crowds. She is trying to decorate a room in her new house and is having problems. She said she and John are both engineers, they have no idea how to decorate with frou-frou stuff. She said for them it would have to be rational and symmetrical.

Around noon we left to visit with Richard and Kim in Orlando. The kids are out for the weekend so it's just us grown ups. We did a little family catching up over dinner.

15 Dec 2006 Friday

Teresa Koransky — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:56:00 GMT

Left Atlanta heading for Jacksonville, FL. An uneventful drive was welcome. We got to Sue and John's house around five or six. They ordered out from Carrabba's Italian for dinner. I love Italian food! Sue and I talked about some remodeling thoughts she's had for her house.