We completed our drive home yesterday. We drove through Texas and into New Mexico. We stopped for lunch at Tin Can Alley before getting home and unloading the truck. 

A night in Shamrock Texas

We had a fairly comfortable night at the Western Motel in Shamrock Texas. There were some motorcycles in the parking lot and they roared to life a few times, but fortunately by sleepy time they settled down. 

Morning in Texas

I thought I had found a cafe for breakfast that had really good reviews. Unfortunately, either I read the map wrong, or the cafe relocated overnight, and we couldn’t find it. So, we drove through McDonald’s and grabbed some breakfast sandwiches and got on the highway. We had a long day ahead of us, and didn’t want to get in too late. 

Our first pit stop was a rest area in McLean, Texas. It’s an impressive building even from the road, and we like to stop there. The view is spectacular as well! Even inside the bathrooms are impressive, with a tile mosaic of a mountain. Very nice!

We had gotten an early start and were making good time because our focus was on getting home. We want to return to McLean sometime and tour the Devil’s Rope barbed wire museum. Just not today. 

Welcome to New Mexico

As we changed states, we also changed time zones so we really were making good time getting home. It was around 1:00 pm that the Sandia range came into our view and we knew we were in the home stretch. 

Tin Can Alley

Knowing we had no food in the house, and no food with us in the cooler after eating it up last night, we stopped at Tin Can Alley in Albuquerque for our lunch. We really enjoy going to Tin Can Alley. For one thing, it’s a Sante Fe Brewing tap room. This is one of Tony’s favorite breweries. Plus, there is a cool food court, with several options to choose from. The whole facility is made of old shipping containers. 

When we first went to Tin Can Alley a couple years ago, one of the best features was the QR code menus on every table. You could order on your phone and they would text you or bring the food right to your table when it was ready! Apparently, the restaurants weren’t keeping up their menus (said one of the bartenders once) so that system has been discontinued. Now you walk up to whichever place you like, and order. Most of them give you a pager so you know when to pick up your food. A couple of them will bring it to your table. 

We sat at the bar in the tap room, after ordering our lunch. Tony ordered a stuffed potato from S-A BBQ. I have fallen in love with the Cubano from Guava Tree Cafe, and almost always order that sandwich when I go there. 

I got lucky and got the last strawberry cider before they ran out. Tony had an IPA, of course! Then he got a couple 6-packs to take home. 

Before we left we had to visit Cake Fetish and pick up our afternoon coffee treat. We got a peanut butter chocolate cupcake and a black forest cupcake to go. 

By the time we got home and unloaded part of the truck, we sat in the screen porch with our afternoon coffee and cupcakes. 

Then we worked on and off thought out the afternoon and early evening putting stuff away, setting up our desks, and taking breaks. 

Just a snack

We had a big enough lunch that we didn’t need dinner, but I did get a little bit hungry. Plus, I can’t really take my vitamins without food in my tummy. I made bread and jam. Tony ate some trail mix. 

Routines

When we are home, our routines change a bit from when we are on the road. 

For example, I didn’t sit down to write a journal entry. When we are on the road, whether we are in the Rockwood Mini Lite or staying in a hotel room, I don’t have the same routines that I do at home. In some ways, my travel routine is better because I get my journal written every night. At home, though, I found too many other ways to keep busy. 

Partly that’s because we had to unload the truck and put food and other items away. I emptied he bag of toiletries and changed the pillow cases for the bed. I didn’t wash any laundry, but I made sure it was all gathered up to start washing in the morning. 

But really, our at-home evening routine is usually not spent at the computers. We sit in the living room, taking turns enjoying the comfortable recliner and the not-quite-as-comfortable barrel chair. 

I don’t know why sitting in the seat of a truck all day is so tiring, but I really had no energy once we got the important house stuff put away. I guess it’s because we “just sat in the truck” four long days in a row. 

Home improvement

We are only home for four or five days, then heading out for a family gathering. Therefore, we decide not to turn the refrigerator back on. It runs fine, and is conveniently located right there in the kitchen where you want the food to be. However, if at any time the power goes out for even a split-second, the freezer does not reset. So, we always unplug the whole fridge when we leave home for any length of time. I’ve found that the Dometic 12-volt fridge in the Mini Lite can accommodate all the food we remove from the house fridge when it’s time for a road trip. 

Currently, of course, we don’t have the Mini Lite fridge, so we are using our 12-volt coolers in place of the refrigerator. Tony went shopping this morning and only bought enough fresh food for the time we will be home. Then we can turn off one cooler and take the other one with us. 

On the morning we left on our last extended trip, the holder for my shower head fell off the wall. The sticky tape just stopped being sticky. So Tony also picked up a set of toggle bolts for a better installation. It took two sizes of drill bit to make holes in the tile, but he got it done and now I can use the shower again! 

When I say “my shower head” it’s because Tony loves the Geyser System so much in the RV shower that he got a second one for the house. I still prefer the hand-held unless we are really short on water, so we now have separate shower heads. Funny! 

Real Food

Tony drove over to Stripes and picked up breakfast burritos. After we ate, he left again to pick up some groceries. I really dislike shopping, especially grocery shopping, so he was very kind to let me stay home while he wandered the aisles buying just enough food for us to eat the next four days until we leave again. We did also turn on the Bodega 12-volt cooler to make it all fit. I mean, it all would have fit. What I should say is make it all be accessible. That’s the disadvantage of a chest-style instead of a stand-up fridge. But, it all fit nicely and we can reach everything so it’s a win. Plus, those coolers don’t get used nearly often enough so they are both getting a good workout. 

I made a chef salad for my lunch, and Tony made a peanut butter sandwich. We are working our way though that FROG jam from Koch’s way too quickly!

Our friends called and said they wouldn’t made it here by dinner time, so Tony cooked the hamburger patties with cheese and put a batch of zucchini fries in the air fryer. We also had salad. Tomorrow morning we weigh in and we aren’t looking forward to it after this week of restaurants and drive-throughs. 

Summer camping plans

We don’t have anything specific planned yet, but we did bring all the supplies we need from the travel trailer to do some tent camping while we are home without our RV. Yep, this summer camping will be intense. In tents, get it? Hahaha

The weather is here

One of my favorite Jimmy Buffet lines is “the weather is here, I wish you were beautiful.” The weather we came home to was absolutely perfect. It’s getting into the high 80s, but there is a cloud cover so the sun isn’t too intense. There are a few sprinkles here and there, not enough to go under cover but enough to keep the dust down. And - I am afraid to even write it but - it’s very calm. That’s so unusual for us. I am absolutely soaking it up.

When I woke up this morning I poured my coffee and sat in the screen porch watching the balloons in the distance and listening to the birds. We have a quail family in the yard and I absolutely adore them. I love to be able to sit outside and enjoy the morning. And the weather is absolutely perfect for that right now. 

I’m happy to be back home where we have a bit of room to move around. And yet, I’m ready to plan our next trip!