Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Portable Laundry and Snake-Free Potties

We made it home from New Mexico Sunday with no big weather issues!  It was eight hours of fog, clouds, or rain, but we were relieved NOT to be playing hockey without skates, sticks, or even a puck.

On a long drive, you look for ANY way to entertain yourself.  We encountered a small pickup with a camper with what looked like a washer and dryer among other things on top of their vehicle.  The appliances were heavily weighting the back end and the car was barely doing sixty.  We saw this vehicle in New Mexico headed east, our direction of travel, as Hubby flew past them going 120.   OK. OK.  He was going 78.

First, I asked myself how in the heck they got the appliances on top of the car and then I asked myself how long it will be before the car loses this battle.

The partial answer was about three hours later, after we stopped for lunch and continued on the road.  We saw the vehicle on the side of the road begging for mercy.

Later, when the liquids from lunch were making our eyeballs float, we stopped at one of our favorite rest stops.  One slight problem was this sign:



That's right.  I went in to the Ladies' Room and checked all areas of the stall before taking care of business.  I'm so glad Cat wasn't with us.  He thinks snakes are toys.


For those of you that think that I was actually off on one of my paparazzi trips looking for dirt on fellow bloggers, I now present you with GEEK ON SKIS!


I know you were probably hoping for something a little more sexy.  My apologies.  Evil Twin insists I wear clothing that keeps her warm when the afternoon winds kick in and freeze chucks of our arse off right there in the snow.  I would prefer that the wind freeze chunks of my belly off but apparently, I don't get to choose.

As you can see, New Mexico has plenty of snow.  This is a nice scenic overlook but the informational sign is buried.  The view is the Santa Fe valley and the Jemez mountains behind me.  We are at 11,250 feet.  

We had a great time skiing.  The sun softened the snow and there was plenty of coverage.   There were no yard sales but we wandered off into a windblown, crusted over area of ick in the trees.  We got enough of that after a few botched turns and traversed for softer, wider pastures for old people with weary joints that are not interested in becoming one with Tree.

Photo credit: Rattlesnake warning, Anna Markwell from flickr.com, Creative Commons license (see sidebar).  Reffie attempted to take a photo of the real sign but she must have had a brain fart or something as the photo did not take.  Hubby took the ski photo.

22 comments:

MikeWJ at Too Many Mornings said...

Hey, I think that's very sexy! I like an athletic woman wrapped in goose down. We may have been in NM at about the same time, by the way. I've been all over the southwest in the last 6 weeks. But we were playing hockey with all the gear.

Anonymous said...

I'm just glad you skied and lived to tell the tale!

No broken bones or twisties? Whew!

Welcome home Reffie! Have a DDP on me! *smile*

Nanny Goats In Panties said...

Skiing in New Mexico? How fun! I was goofing off in Arizona this past weekend. We were THIS CLOSE to each other.

honeypiehorse said...

Oh, nice!

ReformingGeek said...

Mike - I feel for you driving on those crazy icy roads!

@Quirk - Thanks. I've got a DDP in the queue.

@Nanny - Cool! Or was it warm?

@honeypie - Thanks.

Jean Knee said...

I hate doing things in cold weather

Nooter said...

rattle-snaks...
the human always tells me not to play with my food but those look like fun

Mary@Holy Mackerel said...

Brave woman, you. You won't catch me skiing, regardless of how beautiful the scenery, or how much fun it is. I'll be in the lodge, sipping something warm and talking to the mounds of hot men who are obviously crowding around me.

Me-Me King said...

Wooo-hooo, Snow Bunny Geek Girl on skis! Glad you had such a good time and you remembered to keep your tips up.

Now, you know how I feel about rattlesnakes.....yikes!!! Why oh why did Noah have to put them on the Ark?

ReformingGeek said...

@Jean - I prefer warmer weather but I've always liked to ski so well.....er...I guess I'll have to be cold. ;-(

@Mary - Hot men? OK. I'm with you.

@Me-Me - Thanks. Yeah. I certainly don't want to see a snake while I'm on the toilet!

Unknown said...

Congratulations! You survived a rattle snake attack and large appliances tenuously strapped to the roof of a car. The skiing sounded awesome. Loved your description. Welcome home! I had a snow day today, which allowed me the luxury of some much-needed time net gazing.

Deb said...

Nice ski bunny photo! Will we see you in the Olympics?

Welcome home and glad you didn't sit on any rattlers. Ewwww...just the thought!

ReformingGeek said...

@Lauren - Thanks. I need a snow day to get caught up myself!

@Deb - Thanks. Um, yeah....on the ski jump! ;-)

The Old Silly said...

Glad you survived, sheesh ... rattlesnakes. I once was travelling in rural Mexico, stayed overnight at a veritable mansion, the rich lady owner of which was a benefactor of my Zen Master who I was accompanying. Late at night, early wee morning hours, I had to pee. I got up, went into the commode, plopped my butt down and looked around to see a humongous black scorpian walking across the tiles at me.

Shit!

The Constant Complainer said...

A. I absolutely hate snakes.
B. I absolutely hate snakes.
C. I would have freaked out if I had seen that sign. LOL.
D. Cool pic with the skis. I can appreciate it today - we're sitting on 20" of snow in three days. Ug.

Bee said...

I have that much snow in my backyard right now. Maybe I'll try some skiing... Nah! :o)

Marissa said...

The snakes "are important members of the natural community." Says who?! Can't we vote them down to just nuisance members? Hate snakes.

ReformingGeek said...

@Marvin - I would have screamed bloody murder!

@Constant - So you don't like snakes? I'm sure you are tired of snow.

@Bee - How about cross-country skis?

@Marissa - I can handle grass snakes....from a distance. ;-)

Unknown said...

I have always wanted to go to a ski resort and sip hot toddys or shots of crown...Look at you!!! sounds like you had a wonderful trip

MrsBlogAlot said...

I have always wanted to learn how to ski.

My fear of all things high still prevents me from living out this dream.

So glad to see you enjoy it though! You look great up there!

Skye said...

Welcome back Reffie! I'm glad to see you've enjoyed your trip :)

ReformingGeek said...

@Georgie - I needed something like that when we stopped for lunch. I opted for a cold drink and nearly froze my fanny off when we started skiing again!

@Mrs. Blogsalot - Thanks. I'm scared of heights, too, but the lifts don't really bother me. Go figure.

@Skye - Thanks. The snow seems to have followed us here. We have about 11 inches out there in some places.


"1.00s, 1.50s, 1.75s for the short arms. If you know what I'm talking about, you're probably old, too."

"Boomer brain fog: What was the last, middle, and first part of what you just said to me?"