Day 7 through Day 11 Headed Home

Day 7, Wednesday through Day 11, Our Return Trip Home

Day 7, and returning to my sisters today, now with more pallets and tools to complete our task, we have a limited time so we arrived early. As Will was putting together the multi-leveled platform that would help sister reach the elevated entrance, I again was attending to the animal needs and cleaning which is always high on the list of “to-do’s”. We also secured all the doors and other details to the mobile home to make things better for my sister, and the cats.

When we finished up the staircase, and the cats were settling into their new surroundings, we said our goodbyes, and headed out. My sister has 4 horses and 5 sheep which have free roam of the property, including the properties front gate, which leads to a busy road. Usually we can easily open the gate, and exit the property but funny enough, not this time. Before we drove to the gate, all of her horses and sheep were waiting at the gate, and fearing the animals would exit if we opened the gate, we had to call for my sister to call her animals back from the gate so we could safely drive out. She did so promptly and the gate closed behind us with all animals safe on the property. Since we have been coming here lately, and the animals were getting used to us, it seemed like the animals were saying, ”Hey, why are you leaving again?!” We had to head home.

Day 8-11

Going into detail about our drive home wouldn’t make for an exciting blog. We drove for

4 ½ days. Although there were a few interesting events worth mentioning. The first were the strong winds in Weatherford, Texas that eventually turned into strong thunderstorms. We missed the traffic hazards, and multiple accidents that were blamed on the weather. Glad we made reservations in advance and confirmed early because by time we stopped, the hotel got booked hours before.

Continuing through Texas, we spent our Thanksgiving in the little town of Van Horn, at a Holiday Inn. We were hoping to find a turkey dinner at a local diner, but there wasn’t anything that met our needs. So, we did the next best thing: Microwaveable turkey dinner and some cream pies. But we had a place to sleep, and it worked. At breakfast we noticed a very specific population of guests at the hotel that seemed out of place for the location in Texas. We realized we were in the area of Bezo’ Rocket facilities.

As we continued our drive, we noticed several patterns as we headed to California; increasing gas prices, warmer weather with less humidity, and hotels didn’t offer biscuits and gravy at their breakfast buffets. Coincidence?. Well, never-the-less, we hit the road. And boy, what a rough road, asphalt-wise with pot-holes that were difficult to avoid, and really beat up the truck and trailer. Beware, this isn’t weather conditions, it's the physical road conditions, cracks, holes and missing concrete that was beyond frustrating. We turned up Highway 95, a different road near Blythe, California. New scenery, new challenges, new places to visit when we are not relocating pulling a trailer. We strongly recommend NOT using this highway as a cut off if you are pulling a travel trailer or driving a large RV. Too many close calls by people wanting to pass slow traffic and risking their lives using blind curves as a passing lane.

By our 11th day we stayed in Tehachapi, not our first choice, but better than driving on dark roads all the way home. Everything was fine at HomeSuites, North of the city at first. They had a small cafe inside of the hotel that made a wicked hamburger dinner. But with the train tracks slicing the middle of the summit valley in the distance, our night was dotted with train whistles announcing their trek. In our room, the heater/air conditioning unit automatically turned on and off when the unit detected or didn’t detect movement in the room. AND since we were sleeping, it stayed off, but then started blowing again indiscriminately when the lazer detected us tossing and turning uncomfortably. But we probably weren't as uncomfortable as the man in the room next to us, who was coughing so strongly, he should have gone to the hospital instead of yelling and arguing with his wife that he was fine. To say the least, not a goodnight’s sleep, but we were looking forward to breakfast and heading home. Until we got to the breakfast buffet, where we witnessed a lady, definitely in her senior years, filling up several plates of food, covering them up with a plate on top, and then announcing to her husband, “This will be our lunch”.

We waited patiently for the cafe attendant to return with more food, but didn’t see her return. I went to the “back room” kitchen and asked if they were going to fill up the food, eggs, sausage and bacon, because the containers were empty. She looked at me like I was trying to prank her. She said, “What? I just filled those up not 5 minutes ago”. I responded that they were empty and that I had witnessed an elderly couple walking to their car with several plates of food. She said, “Oh, that's not right, I can’t believe that!” She asked me to point her out, but the couple had already left in their car. She apologized profusely because by that time, several other patrons had gathered waiting for breakfast, and she felt this would reflect badly on her and the kitchen staff’s work performance, especially if someone complained. Quickly the kitchen staff had to start a whole new batch of food, which was brought out in under 10 minutes. They did well.

We don’t know why the elderly couple did what they did. We tried to come up with reasons like, “maybe they couldn’t afford to buy lunch”, along those kinds of ideas, but the hotel was not an inexpensive hotel, and to be able to afford the hotel, and not have money for lunch seemed awkward. Ultimately, I wish them the best and reflect on my blessings that I am not in a position where I feel I have to smuggle food out of a breakfast buffet.

Forever Thankful for our blessings, arriving safely home, our second trip finished.