 |
| Rubber Chickens at Cline's Corners |
We had a restful night at the Safari Inn in Tucumcari and got on our way reasonably early. Traffic on I-40 was light and we made good time. As before, the trailer was a big gas guzzler and we had to stop for gas at Santa Rosa...not very far into the drive. We made another stop at Cline's Corners to search for appropriate souvenirs. We got a few.
The road is pretty in a desert sort of way. It winds around and climbs a few hills. The road is always climbing - little by little - and finally, at Moriarty, it is roughly at 7,000 feet. Several mountain ranges are visible but the Sandia and Manzano mountains are straight ahead. By the time we got to Edgewood we started out descent into Albuquerque. In a fairly short distance the road drops 2,000 feet. Driving a fully loaded pick-up truck and towing a heavy trailer down a steep and curvy grade was a challenge ---only made more exciting by the semi trucks and other U-haul drivers hurtling down the same grade. The road into Albuquerque is exciting just in a car but today's descent was a little more "white knuckle" than usual.
There are lots of people on the road in Penske and U-Haul trucks and towing rental trailers. This would be due to college students heading back to school but there seems to be a lot of families on the move as well. When we were at Wichita swapping out the crippled trailer the U-Haul store was totally out of trucks and trailers and the manager was calling people to see if they could bring their trucks back early. I guess we were lucky to get our replacement.
Once we were in Albuquerque it is about a fifteen mile drive north to the town of Bernalillo on I-25 and then about a five mile drive across the Rio Grande and into Rio Rancho and - finally - to the house. All was as it should be...except for a really huge rain puddle out in the street in front of the house....just beyond the driveway entrance. We pulled into the yard (the gate worked) and parked the truck. My neighbor, Rod, waved and immediately struck up a conversation. Apparently we had a heavy rain storm the night before...thus the huge puddle in the road.
We went to work unloading the trailer and truck and were done by 2 PM. We celebrated with a beer and then drove the empty trailer to the local U-Haul store and turned it in. I have to say that, except for the near catastrophe of the wheel falling off, the trailer experience was very positive and the U-Haul people were very professional and helpful. I'd do it again if I needed to.
We stopped at the Corrales brew-pub for lunch after dropping off the trailer. Food and the beer was good. We were beginning to relax a little. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to the house and picked up a few things. The rest of the day and evening was spent chilling out on the front portal and unpacking a few boxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment