On the road, again. in A small but passable life.

I’m currently ensconced in a La Quinta in the far northern Panhandle of Texas surrounded by wind turbines. Mom has spent the last two nights staying with her oldest granddaughter and her family in an even smaller town a little bit further north. She’ll be coming back to the motel today and we’ll spend one more night here and then head east to Oklahoma City in the morning.

We had left Arizona Monday morning and spent the first night in Las Cruces New Mexico. Tuesday we drove to Midland Texas. We spent three nights and two days there at my uncle’s house. My cousin, the one we visited in San Mateo last spring, was there also. So it was two days of listening to four Lost Generation folks chatting mainly about old times, who’s died, who’s still alive, and various other chatty topics.

Friday, the day we arrived here, the temperature had dropped to 43 degrees and the wind had swung around from the north and was howling. Normal stuff for this godforsaken country. I had to put on my new $5 long pants, socks, my new hiking boots, and that hoodie I’d bought in Morrow Bay last spring. That was the first time in seventeen months I’ve needed more than shorts, shirt and flip-flops. Not a good feeling.

But it was only for one day. Yesterday it had warmed back up into the high seventies.

I drove out and visited yesterday. I’ll drive back out this afternoon and visit some more and bring Mom back.

We should be in the Ozark’s by Tuesday afternoon. We plan on staying there about a week. Daughter has only a two day weekend coming up instead of her normal three days off, but we’ll make it work. It’s been nearly a year since I’ve seen her.

The new car has been averaging 32 point something per gallon, even with the cruise control set on 80 mph. I’m impressed, but still, I was hoping for better. About one thousand miles so far and I believe we’ve spent about $60 or $70 on gasoline.

Anyway, traveling and visiting family is nice, but I kind of miss my daily routine. They say shaking up the routine is good for your soul so I’ll try to be positive.