New Mexico Jaunt
October 5-17, 2025
Sunday, Oct 5
High Country Lane to Springville, UT
522 miles
We pull out of High Country Lane shortly before 7am, Spur looking sad in the garage entry. First stop is the church to drop off the Backpack bins in the back of the car, letter mailed, then gas and coffee at the Maverick station. NOW on the road south!!
Rick drives us through Boise traffic (not as bad on a Sunday) and stops at the rest area on the east side of town. I then take over the wheel for the ‘scenic’ stretch of southern Idaho, which in the fall is a little bleak!
The day is perfect driving temperature...hovering around the mid 50’s. (It was mid 30’s when we left Baker City!) But big clouds are forming in the east!
Quick stop at a gas station in Burley to get drinks and pull a few things out of the food boxes/ ice chest for a snacking on the road lunch. I drive to the second rest stop on 1-15 just north of the Utah border. That’s 200 miles and enough for my share of the day. I have more pieces of Kai’s stable to finish in Needlepoint!
Rick runs into the storm in northern Utah – heavy rain briefly while we can see blue sky ahead! By the time we make the Wasatch Mountain run, the peaks are covered in snow and they are beautiful!
We pull into our Microtel in Springville around 4:30 MT. Have been upgraded to a suite which is large and spacious!
Quiet evening – Rick watching football. We eat the leftover quiche from the other night. I walk around the floors for abit talking to Annalea who is just getting to the house. We plan out a route on some roads we haven’t taken before to get down to Rusty and Anne’s in Bluff tomorrow.
A few pictures along the way...
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| Some flowers in bloom at the rest stop near Ontario |
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| Blue skies and a rain storm! |
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| Wasatch Mt beauty outside Provo...taken from motel window |
MONDAY, October 6
Springville to Bluff, UT
388 miles
What a day for some GORGEOUS scenery!
We arise, eat some breakfast, and check out by 8am. Gas up at the Love’s (just topping off, but the price was right!) and then on our way. Once we checked the map again in the car, we altered our route to include a road that Rick had seen earlier that cut off from Hwy 89 at the town of Fairview, and cut UP UP UP to a 9500’ pass before dropping DOWN DOWN DOWN to Huntington. Our road was lined with aspen trees, cottonwood, lots of junipers. The colors were amazing! We thought we were going to miss the fall colors by not going through Colorado, but ….WOW! Between the aspens and the redrock, I probably took 100 pictures today!
We went through Torrey and the upper part of Capital Reef National Park – red rock walls and canyons everywhere. I thought they would end at Hanksville, and the terrain did level out for abit, but then we wound down through gulch and canyon and red rock past Natural Bridges and over to Blanding. The rock formations just never ended! Plus we actually saw water in the Colorado River.
Into Rusty and Anne’s place in Bluff by 3:30pm. Visit and get the house tour before meeting Rusty’s sister Janice at the local Smokehouse (the only restaurant open in town tonight).
Left the restaurant in time to see the full moon rise over the rock formations. Amazing.
I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story...
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| The top of the pass on Hwy 31 |
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| Leaving Capital Reef area |
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| Full moon rise from Bluff |
TUESDAY, October 7
Bluff, Utah
A rather lazy morning as we enjoyed cinnamon rolls, sausage and blueberries before finally leaving for a slickrock hike around 9:45! The moon was just setting when I went to join Rusty and Anne around 7am.
Hike highlights….I rode with Rusty’s sister Janice and her dog Caddy, while Rusty and Rick drove with the other three dogs – the hiking area was only about 10 minutes from their house. We didn’t go clear to the top of the ridge because Belle was still recovering from her rattlesnake bite a couple weeks ago. (Life in the southwest!) Love the potholes in the rocks, some filled with water. Prickly pear and Mormon tea that seems to exist in nonexistent soil.
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| Starting out on sliprock trail with Janice and Rusty and the dogs! |
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| Caddy and Pox enjoy a drink from the 'tanana' |
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| Looking east toward Ute mt and Cortez area |
Restful afternoon – did some errands with Anne about town.
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| Had to stop again at the Twin Rocks Trading Post with Anne, so another chance to take a photo in daylight! |
Anne worked on computer and emails/phone calls regarding the Bluff art festival 10 days from now. Rick and I relaxed reading or doing needlepoint while Rusty took a nap and then worked on his writing.
Dinner with bread, mozzarella, tomato, basil appetizers and then a shrimp stir fry with asian sauce – a bit spicy but good! After dinner – off to Cottonwood Canyon to watch the full moon rise behind the rocks. Best part was watching the light shadow move down the cliff behind us, anticipating the moon to peak over the mountain. I was surprised to be able to get some pictures using the Night Vision setting on my phone. Early to bed!
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| Rick gazes at the moonlight on the rock |
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| Rusty and Anne...by moonlight |
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| Rick watches the moon come up |
WEDNESDAY, October 8
Bluff to Albuquerque NM
301 miles
We are up and on the road shortly after 9, having enjoyed a delicious Rusty breakfast in a cup (perhaps one of his former guide service meals of egg, banana, blueberries, and pancake type mix!) We take the main road having heard from Rusty and Anne that the cutoff road directly out of Bluff toward Shiprock is full of construction delays right now. So it is down into the NE corner of Arizona and then cutting across to Shiprock/Farmington/Bloomfield.
I began driving in Bloomfield and took us through the high mesa country on US550 until a little past Cuba. We were hoping to pick up a sandwich at the Subway in Cuba, but apparently it has closed! So, I pull over a few miles past and we pull whatever we have left in the ice chest and food box for munching on down the road.
Near Bernalillo we veer off the highway shortly before I25 to head through Rio Rancho and a small little bookstore where Anne has asked us to drop off a poster for the big artfest in Bluff next weekend. I didn’t pick the best route, especially since the Walmart where I was hoping to pick up some yarn turned out to be a neighborhood store with just food and pharmacy. But they did have a much needed bathroom!
Into Luke’s around 3:30! He had a 5pm lesson, which ultimately got cancelled due to a thunderstorm dumping a bunch of rain on the courts just prior! Rick and I got just a few drops of water on a short walk up and around the neighborhood park. Kady home from school and conferences and we enjoyed a good dinner together.
A few games of cribbage and Spite and Malice while watching the Dodgers blow their game…
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| Shiprock! |
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| First view of the new house |
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| A type of sunflower we saw in the neighborhood! |
THURSDAY, October 9
House Closing Day!!
Luke and Kady leave around 7 to head up to HomeWise – a nonprofit lender located near Grandma’s old apartments up on Wyoming. They have an 8am closing time to sign papers for the new house. Exciting time! Rick and I have a leisurely morning. Kady has taken the morning off (it’s conference day) having scheduled many conferences for after school earlier in the week. She has to be back to work by noon.
Luke returns around 9:30 and we put together a plan of attack for the day which includes purchasing new keys, changing locks, and assessing the place. But first, we have to wait for the phone call from the lender that all papers have gone through on the seller’s end and he can pick up the keys! In the meantime, I make some bread and leave it to rise...slowly!
So we load up our car and head back up to HomeWise, get the keys, and over to Lowe’s. We didn’t find the desired locks, but did run into Ran, Patty, Reg, and Kai! We will head out to their place on Sunday afternoon. A stop at Home Depot nets the locks and we head to 1714 Anderson Place!!
As soon as Luke pulls into the driveway, a man crosses the street from across the way, introduces himself asking if Luke is the new homeowner. They visit for nearly a half hour! But he has a lot to share about fixes that have been made and a little history from the previous owner.
Afternoon spent tearing apart some pieces of the kitchen – determining the nature of the pillar, removing the stove (too old), chunks of the floor. As Rick puts it, ‘it is Discovery Demolition!’ We don't know what we'll find until we tear it apart!
I take measurements, trim some hedges, rake the leaves, etc. Around 3 a guy from the flooring company comes to assess the damages in the master bedroom. Not good news there, but he says the rest of the floors don’t need sanding – they’ll clean and put new sealer on. That’s good news! Bedroom floor needs to be replaced – the stains go all the way through.
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| Finding out what is under the kitchen floor |
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| Uncovering the pillar in the kitchen...is it load bearing? |
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| Arborvitae out front need trimming. I find some clippers in shed! |
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| Such a strange pillar! |
Time for dinner! We head to The Bosque Brewery...I enjoy my second glass (ever!) of beer from a restaurant – Elephants on Parade again!! Rick and I share a nachos. This was the brewery where I had my first beer several years ago!
More S&M tonight. I finally won a game! And...the Dodgers won to clinch the Division playoff. In a weird 11th inning finale that was more Philly mistake than Dodger victory which was sad for the Phillies. Oh...and the bread did eventually get baked!
FRIDAY October 10
Demolition, Tennis, and Professional Development!
Luke is off early for a morning of tennis and Kady off a tad later for a day of professional development. (Always an exciting day (?) for a teacher! Rick and I enjoy a rather lazy start to the day and don’t head over to the house until 9:30 to begin our work.
Rick’s goal for the day was gutter and gate, but….we spent a great amount of time at Home Depot and Lowe’s pricing gutter materials, purchasing a few gate items, and driving all over Albuquerque. (The Lowe’s is a good 7 miles from Luke’s house, Depot more like 3 ½.) Waiting for the rain to fall so we can assess the water issues in the carport and patio before proceeding. We did get started on the gate. Rick discovered the central pillar is well anchored in cement. It will have to be cut off with a saws all! By the time Luke arrived around 3, Rick felt like he hadn’t accomplished much. I did finish sweeping patio and carport, raking more leaves, and trimming the arborvitae bushes out front.
Kady came over after work and while we roamed the yard talking plants, etc. Rick and Luke went up on the roof and cleared a lot of the debris off. Based on what they threw off – there was a lot of tree branches and leaf debris.
While Luke and Kady left to put some dinner in the oven (we have decided to forgo the Glow Night at the Balloon Fiesta) Rick got one half of the gates toggled to pull into square. This will make them open and close more smoothly.
Back to the house to find L&K still there, but ready to leave for Lowe’s for supplies. It is 5 when they leave and nearly 7 when they return. Rick and I had given up at 6:45 and sat down to eat dinner!
Luke’s brain is in full home mode and he sits down after dinner to put together a spread sheet/list of what needs to be done and prioritize stuff. Rick has the Mariners game on. We do manage to get in our required 3 games of Spite and Malice! But as the Mariners game enters the 11th inning, I go to bed!! (I read the next morning they won in the 15th inning! I thought Rick and Luke might have stayed up to watch, but Rick said he went to bed in the top of the 15th!)
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| I couldn't resist taking a picture skyward of the beautiful tree in the backyard. |
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| Luke clears debris from the roof |
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| Rick cleans out the gutters! |
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| Figuring out what to do with the center gate post - must be moved to get tent trailer into back. |
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| Look! They have pyracantha! |
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| Chaste plant or Vitex - front yard has this and a large sycamore |
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| Didn't take long to destroy the corner of the kitchen trying to determine if post is load bearing. |
SATURDAY October 11
Butternut Soup, Friends, and House!
Ah, quite the day of activity!! Luke has an 8am lesson (he has to keep some income coming in while we are here!) and Kady a cycling class at 9. I prep the butternut squash soup we are having for dinner, along with the second loaf of bread I made. And then...time to head over to the house and get to work!!
We check to see where the rain is draining (and again later in the day when it came down a little harder!) Luke is thrilled with the sound of the water on the FOUR skylights in the sun room. And then it is time to take down the paneling in the front bedroom. I spend a little time removing electric plates from plugs and switches (eventually do the whole house) and then go out front to remove or pound down the nails from the trim boards and panels that Rick sends out the window! We tried to keep the baseboard MDF trim intact, so I remove all those nails very carefully! The rest of the room will be dumpstered!
The gate toggles are installed, curtains removed from most rooms, and the sheer panels are tossed in the washer – both to remove odors and to test out the washing machine functions! It and the dryer appear to be fairly new and in good condition.
Kady arrives with more cleaning supplies and I grab the smaller trash bag to sweep up Rick’s mess in the bedroom (so much paint and plaster came off the walls as well and we weren’t sure what might have lead in it). Secured that bag and put it in the larger trash.
Friend Jen arrived around 1 to see the house, bring some fun gifts, and give advice as to kitchen remodel. She and Craig have remodeled one house already. Good visit, back to work briefly, and then Russ and Rachel and their two kids arrived – also bearing gifts! They also have redone parts of a home so filled with more advice etc. The 4 year old Sean and toddler Daphne played and entertained us from the sunroom carpet! Kady had a table of snacks out all afternoon which everyone enjoyed. I figured out a few more of the plants growing in the backyard which is zeroscaped for the most part.
Done shortly after 5 and head back to Girard to dine on soup and bread! Kady and I drop Luke and Rick off at the Isotopes field where the New Mexico United soccer game is held, and then head to Walmart where I am able to pick up some needed yarn.
Quiet night while the boys are at the game! Just glad the rain abated so they could enjoy the evening. (Footnote: they got home around 10 having walked the 1.5 miles home after a 3-3 tie.)
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| Quick photo of the morning glories blooming in yard of old house - complete with raindrops! |
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| Debris pile from what Luke took off roof |
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| Taking off the trim in front bedroom |
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| Rick removes paneling...a messy job! |
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| Paneling removed! |
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| Working on gate toggles |
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| Inspecting the wire cutters? |
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| Sunroom |
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| Kady, Sean, and Daphne |
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| - this plant covers the gate to the back alley |
SUNDAY October 12
Visit with the Edgewood Rembolds!
A relatively quiet morning as Luke leaves around 8 to roll the courts before his 9am lesson. Kady cooks up a great breakfast of hashbrown patties, sausage, and scrambled eggs (from our chickens!) I work to get the Christmas package (stable) done so we can deliver it this afternoon. Work on it while I accompany Kady on a shopping trip to Trader Joes and Albertsons to pick up stuff for this afternoon and some much desired flowers (Kady loves having fresh flowers in vases in the house) Trader Joe’s is clear up at the north end of town so we take the freeway up and then get off on Paseo del Norte.
I do get the stable finished by the time Luke returns at 11:45 from his clinic, showers, and we are on our way out to Edgewood, arriving just before 1.
Weston is fun to watch as he excitedly run out to greet the car as we come through the gate into Randy’s. Jaxon didn’t have shoes on so he waited on the cement driveway! Kai is taking a nap, so we will see him a little later. Boys barely give Luke time to breathe before they have him out on the trampoline for a good wrestling/jumping match! I see the improvements made in the basement for Rach and Kai, as we munch on appetizers. After pulled pork sandwiches, macaroni or potato salads and baked beans (our Albertsons offerings), and chips, I start the process of mixing up the dyes for our tie dye fun. Kai has emerged by then – what a cutie! We tie shirts out on the cement driveway, then down to the pit to the rocked garden to dye on the racks. Jaxon is meticulous in his two efforts, Weston a little more ‘free lance’! Rach does a swirl for Kai, and then we do an ombre drip on a light green onsie. By the time we are finishing, Reg shows up from work, and a bit later, Chris. First time Rick and I have met Chris. Nice guy.
Then it is game time!! While Chris, Rick, and Randy watch football on the TV and at times tend to Kai, the rest of us gather around the table for an aborted game of Mad Gab (we were horrible at it!) and then Imagine If, which Regan and Jaxon ultimately won! That was a fun one!
Chris left in the middle of Imagine If, and then Reg and the boys after the game – they have school tomorrow! Kady does not! It is Fall Break day for ABQ schools. We hang around for a bit longer visiting, and then leave around 6:45. A beautiful sunset spans the skies as we head west back into ABQ.
A good day of family time!
MONDAY, October 13
WORK DAY!
Whew, and work day it was! Kady gets up early and brings back some breakfast burritos from Golden Pride! Then she and Luke leave to pick up some supplies and meet us at the house. Cleaning day. They had ‘ozoned’ a room the night before to help rid the smells (I still can’t smell anything weird in the house!) I get busy bagging all the yard debris I have raked up, including the piles that were thrown over the edge from the roof. Rick is beginning destruction of the master bedroom – shelf unit from the wall and the decorative covering over the beam that both Luke and Kady hate! Kady begins a deep clean of the middle bedroom walls.
We entertain visits from Russ and his dad who explore the various quirks of the house including the kitchen pillar, as well as Craig and Jen later in the afternoon. All render good advice!
After a lunch break, Luke and I work on nails in the front bedroom, then test the sprinkler system. Get the front to work on one side, but then it turns off and won’t start again. There are detailed instructions for how to run it! The back has leaks, but basically gets water to the individual plants and trees.
Then we pull out the power washer to see if it will help loosen the gate post. Not effective, but it sure does clean the brick pavers! From there, Rick turns me loose on the flagstone rocks in the backyard. What fun (and wet and dirty!) But amazing to see black rocks turn to brown, yellow, and red. I pretty much power wash ALL of the pavers, rocks, etc in the back yard. Prune more bushes, etc.
At one point in the morning, Luke sends me on a scavenger hunt to find the missing ‘eye’ of something he discovered in the shed – a face that attaches to the tree trunk! I haven’t found it yet, but….
Rick finishes the day in the front bedroom pulling out the rest of the nails. That job has to be done with mask on as we suspect the paint contains lead.
Rick and I leave around 4:30 while Luke and Kady stay to wash ceiling and walls in master to be ready to prime paint tomorrow. They don’t get home until 6:45 for a late dinner of leftover butternut soup!
Cribbage game with Luke in evening while watching Dodgers hold on for a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of league champion series. Good conversation with Annalee.
TUESDAY October 14
Primer Painting!
Kady has to go back to school today...but the rest of us get to paint! We head over a little before 9 and get started in the master/back bedroom – this will be the hardest with the grooved ceiling panels and walls in some places. While Rick and Luke do a little last minute demo, I tape off the fireplace and windows. Luke has gathered paint supplies from Russ plus what he had, but we discover only 1 decent brush, which I quickly grab for the corners and trim work. Ultimately, Luke runs back to his old house for another step ladder and a few more brushes! While Luke and I trim, Rick putters around with a few other odd jobs. He really doesn’t want to start rolling the walls until we had a whole area done. And the edge of the ceiling takes abit as you work into all the grooves!! We even brush down all the ceiling grooves in the middle of the ceiling in the first section which did help make the rolling cover better.
Luke leaves around 11:30 for a quick visit to the Presby office, and then is back for the 1pm appt with the asbestos inspector. I keep trimming and by then Rick is rolling! Kady stops by during her prep period. I had panic calls from Backpack concerning bin pickup from Jess plus a call from Jim K about Sunday’s service.
Asbestos guy is pretty thorough – the living room ceiling tiles do have asbestos in the glue plugs as does the liner in the kitchen floor. The ceiling can be covered with sheetrock, the floor sprayed with a product to enclose any fibers and then new floor put down. Luke will get a bid tomorrow for professional help and then make his decisions.
Boy does the white paint brighten that room!
Rick and I leave around 4 and Luke works to finish rolling and use up the paint in the paint tray.
Butternut squash ravioli dinner, watch the Dodgers win game 2, and a round of Spite and Malice before bedtime! I even won a game, before falling back into last place! Alas.
WEDNESDAY October 15
Painting Middle Bedroom Plus!
Another full day of family labor!! Kady off to school, Luke has lessons this morning and again this evening. Wednesday is one of his ‘make some money’ days. 7Am lesson got cancelled, however, due to last nights rain storm.
Rick and I get over to the house shortly after 8:30 and find the Trenching Crew already unloading stuff and getting started. This job was part of the closing cost settlement, as the sewer connection from the sidewalk to the center of the street is not current code. The two men work until after 1pm, but all goes well, they fix things up and do any amazing job of clean up from the pile of dirt they had on the sidewalk! They had to dig a LONG way down!
Luke stops by briefly and then off to tennis club. I get started taping and laying down covering on the floor in the bedroom – these are floors that AREN’T being torn up so got to keep them nice! And then I spend the rest of the morning trim painting all around and into the closet as well. Up the step ladder and down, repeat, over and over! Then crawl on the floor to do the bottom trim!
In the meantime, Rick fixes the shed gate with turnbuckle so it will now close more easily, and then begins removing the valance lighting from the living room. It was very old fluorescent lights and rather tacky looking. He was waiting for me to finish the trim painting before he started rolling...last wall in the master and then into the middle bedroom.
After a snack, I spend the afternoon doing odd jobs...Luke back at 11:30. I helped sand the bathroom door so folks don’t get ‘locked’ in when it sticks and have to yell to get out. Works nicely now! Cleaned up some more in the back yard, freshened the paint on the shed in a couple places, cleaned out the ‘drip holes’ in the windows, and removed more electric panels from the hallway.
Luke back to the club at 3:30 for a full night, but sent a text an hour later that the Asbestos report came back: NOTHING in the living room ceiling!! Such great news and a big savings!
Kady comes over at 4:30ish to clean the hallway walls so I can paint tomorrow morning. Rick and I leave then to put part of dinner in the oven! Steaks, roasted veggies, and leftover potato and macaroni salad from last Sunday! Tasted great!
Rick and I are going to work tomorrow morning and then take off for Durango, CO. So evening spent gathering stuff together and semi packing to leave. My big question...will I be able to get the stack of puzzles Luke has for me to take home into the car!??
THURSDAY October 16
Morning Work
Albuquerque to Durango 218 miles
We just have the morning to finish up a few jobs. Goodbyes to Kady, Luke has a lesson until 8:15, and then we are off to Anderson Place! A few doors adjusted and then Rick and Luke tackle the gate while I prep the hallway for some corner and trim priming. A visit from Russ and Rachel’s mom, Judy, set Rick and Luke back abit time wise, and they left immediately after on a search at home improvement stores for the metal post and closures needed.
In the meantime, I painted...and painted. More up ladder, move ladder, paint some more! But, but the time the guys got back around 12:45, the hallway looked good, tape picked up from floor, brush clean, etc.
A quick turn around at Luke’s to change clothes and load up the car and we are on our way north by 1:20. We pull off in Bernalillo for the drive up Hwy 550 and find gas for $2.39 a gallon at the Speedway!! All time low for quite some time! Next door is McDonald’s but it is a zoo of people so we drive on and find a Twisters where we get two huge burritos.
Rick drives the whole way to Durango – we enjoy the beautiful fall colors of golden cottonwoods against the red rock mesas. I work on a NP donkey! Quick stop in Bloomfield for a drink and then up through Aztec and into Colorado. The drive along the Animas River is gorgeous, as we can see the snowy mountains of the San Juans in the distance. Plus we pass a field of sunflowers still in bloom.
We stop at a City Market to pick up a few grocery snacks, and then to our Econolodge on the north side of town. Quiet evening watching the Dodgers on TV (victory) and the Steelers on my laptop (Rick)!
FRIDAY October 17
Durango, CO to Ogden, UT
479 miles
Well, it was a quiet evening UNTIL our neighbors returned around 10p (or had friends arrive) and the noise next door was loud. Rick heard bottles popping! Toss in a baby crying incessantly from 1 to 2am and Rick finally called the front desk. At that point we hadn’t heard adults and were hoping they hadn’t left or passed out! Baby calmed down and we slept the rest of the night, until our 6am wakeup!
We are out of Durango shortly after 7, up and over the pass into Cortez. The sun is rising on Mesa Verde mountains as we pull into town. Rick continues to drive us into Monticello, where we grab some gas (should remember to buy in Colorado and not wait til Utah – we could have bought for cheaper in Cortez!) and switch drivers. A pretty day with blue skies and sunshine!
I drive to the rest area 20 miles south of Price where Rick takes over the rest of the trip.
Rick’s aversion to Salt Lake City takes us 70 miles out of our way, but scenic as a little fresh snow has fallen on the peaks! At Helper we turn off Hwy 6 and taken 191 up over a 9,000+ pass into Duchesne. An oil truck turned onto 191 just ahead of us and we followed said truck and 3 others all the way up and over! In the meantime, I began counting and 50 tanker trucks passed us heading the other direction!! Some gas/oil is being moved! Snow up on top, mostly in shady areas/slopes. Pretty.
From Duchesne we take US 40 west into Heber City and then loop up and around the backside of the Wasatch front range to hit I-15 and I-84. Our Sleep Inn is just off the freeway at Exit 344.
And it lives up to its name! We get a good night’s sleep and I watch an incredible moment in baseball history as the Dodgers sweep to the NL Championship behind a record breaking game for Ohtani. 3 home runs, 6 innings and 10 K’s. No runs, 1 hit. Incredible!
We grabbed some Subway sandwiches at the gas station next to the hotel.
SATURDAY, October 18
Ogden, UT to Baker City and HOME!!
438 miles
Homeward bound! We’re glad that we’re HOME-WARD BOUND! (Sing it with me!) On the road by 7:15 or so, gas up at $3.05 when we discover the Nine gas station is affiliated with Pilot so a discount!
Rick takes us up to the rest area just south of the I-84/I-86 junction – so I can drive my usual trek across the boring sections of southern Idaho! Open fields, distant mountains, and reasonable traffic!
A noon-time stop at the Costco is NOT the time to find the store empty, but we manage to get gas and pick up $100 worth of groceries and get out in an hour! Rick takes us home, where we arrive at 2pm, having gained our hour passing into Pacific time.
A good trip – family time and some useful helping time on the house for Luke and Kady. Now they can contact a contractor (friend of friends) and put their close group of friends together to help finish things up. There is still a lot to do, but he has met all his immediate neighbors, the sewer line is repaired, floors assessed, and three rooms are primed with the odor killing primer – ready for paint. The yard is cleaned up abit and the gate is fixed and ready to put the tent trailer inside. MAYBE they’ll be able to move in by December, but nice to now that the dates if flexible with Micah. Their mortgage payments don’t start until December.
