A Mermaid's Journey..the trip from Colorado to Florida..

On Friday August 3,my Oddessy began..
or rather I should say I woke up in the middle of a nightmare..
At 6:30 a.m.Friday, I was awakened by pounding on my front door. (was not in the best of moods as I'd only just laid down at 5a.m.)had been packing most of the nite preparing, for the move..
* altho i'd made repeated calls to the booking company,
I had yet to receive any confirmation from the carrier( Wheaton Van Lines) of my scheduled mover loading time.
*note: get EVERYTHING IN WRITING at the time of scheduling a move!!
the initial estimate from the booking agent was approximately 12,000 pounds..
which would equate to around $8,000.00!
so my entire week had been seriously eliminating poundage to reduce the cost!
my mantra became.. It CAN be replaced..
items which I'd been hauling around for 35 years..
which had either lost the sentimental attachment for me..
or were no longer of use..
quickly found new homes..
Goodwill became my destination of choice for donations..
as did the Jewish School who needed items for their upcoming yard sale..
I also sold heavier items on Craig's List..
Did my own quick "one day only"version of a Moving/Garage sale..
and simply gave away to whomever expressed an interest..
my eliminations resulted in a huge cost/poundage reduction..
$5,250.00 final cost!
Back to the too early knock on the door...
the mover had shown up to begin inventorying/tagging my stuff..
which he did..
*a very nice man,who truly felt sorry for me and my dilema..
his "helpers" showed up at 7a.m. to begin loading..
I am a wild woman early in the morning before coffee..
picture this :there I am in my PJ's.. no coffee..
sleep deprived..
knowing I had yet to get to the bank for my cashiers check..
yes, CLOSING on the sale of my house at 9 a.m.
thank God for sisters!
Di had flown in Wednesday nite to help me..
what a Godsend!
she assisted with all things move related while I  quickly prepared for the closing...
upon arriving, I asked for only two things: COFFEE and a bottle of ice cold water!
quickly signed all papers relieving me of ownership of the house on Magnolia Street....

headed back to the chaos of movers..
at noon..the mover said.."That's it, anything remaining, you take"..
Assessing the mess, we quickly found a U-Haul trailer..
while hooking up the electrical system, a fuse was blown..
which locked my gear shift..
terrified of a MAJOR problem, called hubby, who called a friend to assist me..
in the meantime, we found the problem,replaced the 49cent fuse..and were on our way..
back to the chaos of loading the trailer,the car,and cleaning the house.
At 2a.m. Saturday morning August 4th, we closed the house and pulled away..

The idea of driving for several hours until we found a hotel was okay with us..
However, the idea was a mere pipe dream..
all we found were No Vacancy signs..
the first town was celebrating Native Heritage Days...
the next 6 small towns were all full up with participants in The World Series of Baseball..
for those under the age of 14!!!!

so we kept driving..and driving..
stopping occasionally to walk and stretch our legs..

discovering the high plains of Colorado to be quite cold and windy at nite..even in August!
The photo below was taken at nite!

As we made our way, the sun rose over Cherokee Wells in eastern Colorado..

The landscape became more harsh.. 
more rugged..more extreme..

At one point, we encountered a mile or so of these strange rock formations...limestone? who knows ..but they were strange!

*we tried to imagine early settlers making the trek across this unfriendly landscape..and the determination and stamina required for survival...

The temperature rose into the high  90's..

Wind farms  dotted the horizon..

as did silage crops..

Oil wells resembling huge grasshoppers...
and cattle!
and beautiful Appaloosa Horses..

(courtesy Google)

One tired  little sister..who thankfully, did the driving!

(my vision problems were reason enough for her safety, as well as her experience at towing trailers!)

One very tired Mermaid!

finally..a VACANCY! 

the last available..
in Dumas,Texas..just north of Amarillo..
we took it!

(courtesy Days Inn)
clean, pet friendly,handicapped equiped..
a lovely whirlpool bath awaited us both..
oodles of HOT water....
which we savored!
The felines, released from captivity of their carriers..
quickly explored, ate, watered, did their necessary business..
and snuggled with mommie as we crashed for the afternoon in air-conditioned comfort!

upon arising around 8:30 pm..we found a place for nourishment for our tired bodies..

with ice cream to "die for"!!
Returned to the hotel,crashing again until 5:30 wakeup on Sunday for the easy drive to cousin's home..
in Waxahachee, Texas just south of Dallas...
We both enjoyed free delicious  breakfast before hitting the road...

grabbed coffees to go along with fruit for the trip...
.................................................................to be continued..