The Events of Wednesday, February 23, 2011

                Instead of being forcefully and violently awakened when Dad flicks on the ceiling light, all of us awoke naturally today. We moved through the paces of showering, eating breakfast, preparing to leave, unhooking, and departing that have become routine. As we left the Town & Country RV Park in Roswell, I finished reading the story about the supposed UFO crash of 1947.

                As we started on the long drive home (21 hours of driving from Roswell!), we started planning for our time at home, packing for Europe, and details on our European itinerary. However, since there were 140 miles of nothingness and ranches on our route before we hit the interstate, our internet connection was spotty at best. Getting hungry, Caitlin found Huntsinger Park in Vaughn, a small bit of green grass in an otherwise deserted desert town.

                Heading on the road again after lunch, Abby compiled a list of the 17 European countries we will visit. We each picked three countries to research. Dad will be responsible for the housing and the route in each country; we will be responsible for what to see. The RV zoomed through the small towns of Vaughn, Encino, Clines Corners, Moriarty, Edgewood, Tijeras, and Carnuel. Along the way, quite a few changes in the never-ending prairie landscape caught our eyes. First we saw a huge windmill different from the typical sort. It consisted of three curved pieces of metal rotating around a vertical axis—quite interesting! As we turned west onto I-40, we saw a long, long, long, long, long, long, long train with bright and colorful cars. It was so picturesque, a great contrast in the bland golden prairie landscape. Finally, just before reaching today’s destination of Albuquerque, was a pile of white snow near the shoulder. Yes, it is February, but it is 60°!

                Once in Albuquerque, our first major city in over a week, we figured out what we needed to do: pick up necessary groceries, get RV supplies, and do a little more Europe work and planning. Our first stop was Costco, where we bought milk, some other groceries and supplies, and looked at luggage options for Europe. We found some small, carry-on bags that might work for us. Looking at each one’s capacity, durability, cost, and maneuverability, we decided which style to purchase. However, we didn’t buy anything yet, as no one was eager to sleep with a suitcase. Dad made a quick stop at Home Depot; we picked up more groceries and supplies at Walmart, and then found an RV repair shop. Chisholm Trail RV was listed as having Winnebago parts, but they didn’t have anything we needed. They pointed us a couple of blocks down the road to Central RV. This had both parts we needed. With RV supplies taken care of, we headed for the AAA office in town, but it closed by the time we arrived. So we headed to a Target, did some more shopping, and then found another Walmart where we hoped to stay the night.

                As we pulled into this Walmart, Dad went inside to ask if we could stay overnight. Usually we try to buy something as our patronage is typically rewarded with a “Yes, you can stay.” However, we had done all our shopping already. Racking our brains, we couldn’t think of anything. So Mom said to Dad, “Surprise me.” However, as it turns out, she was going to surprise him.

                Connie, our hardware that converts a 12V outlet into a regular outlet, has been acting up. It revs high, then low, and turns from green to red sometimes when we go over a bump. When it does this, we have to unplug it to give it a breather. Just as Dad was leaving, Connie started whining again. Mom unplugged Connie and found part of it fried, leaving a string of melted plastic hanging off the end. Caitlin frantically ran after Dad to let him know that now we actually had something we needed to buy. They returned with a new, heavy duty, high tech inverter. This one shouldn’t break! It was so huge that we dubbed it Mega Connie!

                We sat down for a dinner of sundried tomato chicken over rice, followed by brownies. It was fabulous—simple and delicious. After cleaning up, we sat down for an hour of math before heading to bed.