Time to Hit the Road

There’s nothing like a road trip with an open itinerary.   Giving yourself the flexibility to stay in a place longer or going to an entirely unexpected destination can be incredibly freeing!  The Traveling Hillbilly suddenly had a few open weeks and decided it was time to hit the road.  After the nightmare of the Christmas road trip, the Traveling Hillbilly needed some time to recover, but recovery period over!

First stop, a little relaxation in the mountains of New Mexico.   Morning walks around the lake, wine on the deck in the evenings and overall, just slowing down the pace. 

And of course, the wildlife sightings.  The Traveling Hillbilly never gets tired of spotting the deer, elk and wild horses that roam around town.   Ahhhh am already relaxed.  The Land of Enchantment is good for the soul.

Day 3 - White Knuckle Drive

  I was relieved to have found a hotel, however, I wasn't sure I was even going to make it there.  After not moving for 2 hours, I started thinking we might all be sleeping on the highway tonight.  It didn't look like we were going to be going anywhere anytime soon.  I started to think of the supplies I might need for a freezing night spent on the highway.   Luckily I had the key things I might need to keep me and the dogs safe during the night; warm clothes, blankets, water.   The longer we sat there, the more nervous and concerned I got.   I believe the dogs sensed my fear and nervousness and remained calm and quiet the whole time.   They stayed in the back seat, snuggled up together quietly. 

Finally after about 2 1/2 hours, we started to move, but very slowly.   At this point, the highway was a sheet of ice and it was blowing snow.  Visibility was limited. You couldn't see the lines on the highway or tell where the median or emergency lane were.   We were basically moving about 10-15 miles an hour and keeping significant distance between the vehicle ahead.   Unfortunately, we really had no option but to drive (I use that word loosely) to get to the next exit.   I had less than 30 miles to get to that next exit but in these treacherous conditions, it took an hour and 45 minutes to get to there.    It was definitely a white knuckle drive all the way!   I've had a couple of scary instances on road trips before, but this tops the list.  It was a long, scary and dangerous drive.  There was more than one instance where I wondered if I would make it safely.  

Finally after 21 hours on the road, we arrived at the hotel we booked while parked on the highway.  I was never so happy to get to a hotel!   The dogs sensed my relief as well and were more than happy to finally get out of the car.

After 21 hours, we should have been much closer to our destination, but unfortunately due to the delays, we still had another long day of driving ahead of us.  But the important thing is, we made it and we made it safely.   Time for a good night's rest for another long day of driving.

Day 2 - Feeling Better

 Woke up feeling so much better than yesterday.  Starting to think it was food poisoning, since it came on so fast and was gone in 24 hours.   I so wanted to get on the road, but thought I should make sure I could keep food down before heading out.  So saltines and Gatorade for the day.    I got the car packed, thinking I might be able to get on the road late afternoon.   But yesterday just wiped me out and I just didn't have the energy to start on this long journey.  

So I went to bed early and woke up at 3am, loaded the hounds in the car and off we went.   Things were going great.  I was thinking, I won't arrive much later than I originally planned.  It was a looooooonnnggg day, but we were making good time.   Until we got just outside Gallup, New Mexico.    Just outside Gallup, New Mexico, we came to a complete stop.  We were basically parked on Highway 40!   We sat there not moving for 2 1/2 hours and during this time, it started to snow and the temperature dropped!  The road was basically becoming a sheet of ice!   Unfortunately the nearest exit was almost 30 miles away (in either direction).  Once the snow started and the roads became icy, I didn't think we'd be going much further for the night.  I thought it might be a good time to find a hotel before they all get booked!   After a few phone calls, I finally found a pet friendly place off the next exit.   Now I just had to wait for traffic to start moving so I could get there.

Day 1 - Trip Delayed

 The plan was to leave Monday afternoon, the day after Christmas and knock out 4 or 5 hours so I wouldn't have to be on the road 12+ hours two days in a row.   But you know what they say about best laid plans.

I woke up Monday morning, feeling a little icky.   I had a 6:45am appointment to get my car serviced, so I thought I better take a COVID test just in case.  I didn't think it was COVID but I didn't want to risk sitting in the service department and potentially getting others sick.   Before I could even take the COVID test, I became violently ill.   In a matter of minutes, I'd gone from feeling kind of icky to completely nauseous.  I had to call the dealership and cancel my appointment, I wouldn't be going anywhere for the day.  On the plus side, when I finally did take the COVID test, it was negative, but I was down for the rest of the day.  So my departure for Joshua Tree was delayed. 

Time for Another Holiday Adventure!

 As many of you know, the Traveling Hillbilly has a group of friends that go on a trip around the holidays every year.  We've been doing this for more than a decade and it's become one of this hillbilly's favorite traditions.   Now since the pandemic, we've been keeping the trips more local, less global.   This year, we decided to spend some time in Joshua Tree, CA   I've been in and around that area many times, but have never actually spent any time in Joshua Tree so am excited for some great hiking and chill time with friends.

Do We Really Want to Get Back to Normal?

I visited a small town in New Mexico back in March and the wildlife in town was abundant.  There were wild horses at the golf course, Elk at the library and crossing busy streets (they even used the crosswalk).   You couldn't drive a mile without coming across some amazing wildlife.   Now I've been to Ruidoso, New Mexico many times and I've always seen deer and maybe an Elk once or twice, but it had never been like this.   We've all seen the stories about animals coming in to towns during the pandemic when everything was shut down, but it was incredible to experience it first hand. 

But now as the town is once again crowded with visitors, the wildlife is starting to retreat.   Don't get me wrong, there is still wildlife in the area, it just isn't as abundant was it was just a few months ago.    Ruidoso remains a beautiful little town, but this traveling hillbilly misses the Ruidoso where the animals seemed to live so casually with the town folk.    Just not sure I'm ready for everything to get back to normal. 

Lessons/Advice from Sheltering In

For those of you new to self-quarantine, sheltering at home, or whatever you’re calling it during this pandemic, welcome to my world.   I have been unemployed for several months now so I’ve learned a few things.  Now I only have four-legged kids at home, so my experience may be a little less stressful than those of you quarantining in a small space with multiple children!  But here’s what I’ve learned, good and bad, about being home day after day.

First, the day will go by much faster than you expect.  Even after months of this, I’m surprised how it can suddenly be 3p and I haven’t even had lunch.  You hop on the computer in the morning to check email, and then for me, start looking for a job.   If I find something of interest, I customize my resume to the job description, draft a cover letter and apply online for the job and suddenly 3 or 4 hours have gone by!  Now for those of you with kids, you may have a different experience.   Maybe time will drag by and you’ll be like how can it only be 10am?  I wish you well.

You can have a glass of wine with lunch, or two, or three if it’s an especially tough day!  You’re not going anywhere, so why not? Let yourself imagine you’re having a vacation day on occasion.  We all know day drinking is completely acceptable when on vacation.  So indulge ever so often.

While you're drinking, you can get caught up on all that great  content – this could be the content that’s been stored in your DVR for months that you haven’t had time to watch, discovering a  new show on your favorite streaming service or finish binge watching the show you started a couple months ago.   You can watch Tiger King with no guilt!  The good news is there is a lot of content to keep you occupied.  The bad news is, with the current halt on productions there may not be any new content coming down the pike.  So, you may want to limit your binging, so you’ll still have something good to watch when we don’t have a slate of new content coming out in the fall (see post regarding suggestions for new fall shows).

You get to learn what your pets do all day while you’re at work.   Admit it, it has always been a challenge to leave the dogs each morning to head out to work, especially on those raining, grey or cold days. Now you get to, even if it’s sunny and beautiful outside!  As suspected, my dogs sleep most of the day.   However, they do follow me when they see I’m heading to the kitchen.   I’m not sure what our dogs will do when we finally do go back to work.  

Don’t create an unrealistic “To Do” list that you’ll stress over daily.  You always talk about wanting more time, so take some time for yourself.   Allow yourself to sleep in, or waste a day watching TV.  I’m not saying you should be a slug everyday but give yourself a break.  This will be over before you know it and you’ll quickly be back to that crazy hectic pace and wishing you’d taken advantage of this time.  Find a balance between being productive and being a little self-indulgent.   Snuggling in the bed with my pups while watching the early morning news has become my favorite time of day.  Mornings have always been hectic.  They’ve always been a scramble trying to get out the door to get to work on time.  Now I still wake up at the same time but allow myself to stay in bed during the news, while the dogs have their post breakfast nap.

It’s easier to beat yourself up – tied to the above, it’s so much easier to beat yourself up because you have more time to think about all the things you should be doing.  You’ll start asking yourself, why I haven’t I lost those 10-15 lbs.  Why aren’t I cooking healthy meals every day?  I have the time now I should be getting more done.  Remember you’re only human and just because you’re home now, doesn’t mean there are more hours in the day!

Reach out to friends and family.   Even though we can’t all get together in person, a nice long chat with your siblings, or if you are lucky, your Mom, Dad or grandma is good for the soul!   We often go weeks without talking to our loved ones who are far away.  Well take advantage of this time and catch up with them.  You’re never know what pearls of wisdom grandpa might offer.   And if you’re home with your kids, allow yourself to spend time baking with them, watching a movie or putting puzzles together.    Make this quality time together.

Everyone I know always says, they wish they had more time!  They are always complaining about being too busy.   Well now we have time, and for those of us who are unemployed, we have even more time to stress, to worry.   But don't spend all of your time stressing out.  

Overall, you need to strike a balance between giving yourself some ‘quality time” and getting some of those “projects” done.  Otherwise, you’ll feel completely overwhelmed, you’ll totally stress yourself out, as well as your spouse, significant other, kids etc.   Then you’ll go back to work, completely exhausted and feeling like a failure because you didn’t do those hundred things on your to do list!

Remember, just breathe.