Wednesday, February 14…Do You Wanna Build a Snowman (Kristen Bell)

The housekeeper that cleaned our room at the Days Inn in Dalhart may have had another career in mind at some point. The Kleenex and toilet paper were formed into roses, a hand towel was folded into a fan and displayed on the toilet tank and some kind of towel animal was propped up on our bed.  Kim thought it was a lamb; my mind drew a blank as to what kind of animal, only knew that it was part of a pattern.  Before we checked out in the morning, Kim wanted to know if I had left a tip for ‘the origami girl’. 

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   Hotel clocks are notoriously wrong…can’t depend on them. Both of our Fitbits haven’t seen fit to sync with our phones…can’t depend on them.  The only certainty we have when it comes to the time is looking at our phones. And last night both were charging across the room but the microwave indicated that it was about 11 p.m. when we called it a day.  That dovetailed with the end of a TV show, so I assumed the microwave was correct.  

  When I woke sometime later in the night, needing to blow my nose and get the goo out of my eye, I was totally disoriented because the microwave was now reading 14:11. Wait! What? I know military time…I know that 14:00 is two o’clock in the afternoon…and I knew it wasn’t the afternoon. But because my brain was still in a sleep fog compounded by eye goo, I just couldn’t make the time make sense.  Sometime later I saw 16:21 on the microwave, then Kim woke up about 17:43, looked at his watch and muttered something about being totally confused about the time. I muttered back that the microwave wasn’t going to be any help clearing  up that issue. His neck wouldn’t let him get back to sleep so he got up and since my nose had cleared up some, I snuggled a little deeper in the blankets. When my body said it was time to get up, before swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I asked Kim to look at a phone to tell me the time…I wanted to make sure it was a reasonable time to be up. I snuck a glance at the microwave; it continued to mock me.

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   When we left Charlevoix on Sunday, the ground was totally bare, no snow.  Drove through 5 states

without seeing any snow; it showed up in Texas.  Not a lot, just minor amounts lying on the protected side of bushes, ditches, etc.  The route we took through New Mexico (Hwy 54 out of Santa Rosa to Hwy 70 in Alamogordo) had a lot more of that type of snow, plus snow covered mountains.  Most snow we’ve seen in New Mexico yet, but, then again, this is the earliest we’ve ever been out here. 

   Kim indulged me by pulling into the Three River Petroglyph area so I could find a snow pile big enough to make a snowman. As it turned out, there was no more snow to be seen after that point.

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   Stopped at Pistachio Land to get some pistachios and try their homemade pistachio ice cream. I thought it was cold and felt good on my throat…my taste buds have been pegging most foods as bland these days so I wasn’t a reliable source as to its goodness.  Kim thought it was very good but wasn’t sure it would replace his favorite, Butter Pecan.  It was a nice break from the road.

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   Staying at the Best Western in Deming, NM.  When we pulled in the drive, Kim thought it looked familiar.  It should…we’ve stayed here the last two years on our way to Picacho.  Room 113 the first two times, Room 116 tonight.

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   It’s not reasonable to check into a hotel and then head out for something to eat because we’re attached to a 26-foot camper.  So if there’s nothing within walking distance, we usually inquire about restaurants that offer deliver service.  Last night, we were handed a menu from an Italian eatery somewhere in the vicinity.  Kim calls to verify that they deliver then proceeds to talk with the person on the other end for about three minutes.       

   I heard Kim’s side of the conversation: “You’re able to deliver to the Best Western? Okay, then, I’d like to order two mushroom swiss burgers.”---silence while he listens, then “You mean that I have to place my order online?”---more silence while he listens, then ”You’re not able to take my order right now, to just write down that I want two mushroom swiss burgers? ---more silence, then, “Okay, then.”   When I asked what was up, he said, “He told me to order online, that he was too busy to take my order.”  We called Pizza Hut.

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   We’ve been making good time…Picacho is less than 300 miles down the road.  The truck has been driving like a dream, but we’ll be glad to park it for a while.