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Arizona Chronicle #1
Some newbies may not know: I am Senor Reek, master of BelizeNorth.com. My wife and I moved to Belize in 1999, and I came back to the US in 2003. When I returned in 2004, I wrote a series of Chronicles about the trip, which you can find here: http://www.belizenorth.com/chronicles.htm
I made the trip in a 1979 Ford Courier, and I returned to the US about a year later in the same truck, nicknamed "Betsy." After an abortive landing in southwestern Arkansas, I lived in southwestern Oklahoma for a year, an area they call "the Heartland."
Two years ago, I moved to Colorado Springs, which I called "Heartland West." Although I have lived in COS since 1970, it has changed, grown larger, and more impersonal, and my Communities have thinned out. I was ready for a change, when I encountered an old classmate on the "Classmates" website of the Internet. Within a couple of months, and a couple of hundred letters, we were calling each other "Sweetie" and I was contemplating a new life in Arizona.
Actually, I graduated from high school in Arizona, and after a struggle during the late fifties and early sixties, got an AB degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Until I moved to Colorado I regarded myself as a "Desert Rat." So, when I decided to move back, it was a "back to his roots" movement.
So much for background. Several weeks ago, I considered my options to move all of my stuff to Arizona. (those not familiar with stuff should listen to "A place for my stuff" by George Carlin. You can listen here)
Eventually I decided that I would use Betsy and a U-Haul trailer. I reserved a 4X8 trailer and put a nice ball and wiring hookup in Betsy's rear bumper. A day before my pickup, U-haul called and said "We have no 4X8 trailer for you, would you take a 5X8 instead?")
It weighed 50 pounds more so I said yes. What I didn't realize was that it was larger, and I would pack more (i.e. HEAVIER) stuff in it. Leaving was hectic. I planned to take Brutus, my 75-lb Black Labrador Retriever and Ernie & Sam, my two cats. Come moving day, Ernie was nowhere to be found. All packed up, I left without him. The next day, they found him dead, across the alley in the yard. We think he got into some trash from the meth lab which used to be there, and it killed him.
I hoped to get out of town by 9. I left at 12. My goal… Albuquerque, about 300 miles south down I-25 The route includes Raton Pass, always a challenge, and – I would discover – a lot of ups and downs. I believe that my average speed was less than 45 mph. But use this figure. 45 mph is ¾ of "a mile a minute." That means that time is the inversion of distance. A mile takes 4/3 of a minute. 60 miles takes an hour and 20 minutes. In fact, I was luck to make 40 mph. Although I didn't have a working speedometer or tachometer in Betsy, I know how to match engine speed to road speed. If a grade needs second gear, you are going about 10-15 mph!! I discovered that you can gauge speed by the way people pass you! + 55 mph… cars pass you. Big trucks just follow you + 45 mph… some trucks pass you. + 35 mph… most trucks pass you +25 mph … EVERYBODY passes you!!!
As you go up a steep grade, your speed drops and you begin to downshift If it's a long steep grade, you may spend the last half mile crawling up at 10-15 mph. Of course, this is nerve-wracking. Fortunately, on the Interstate, it is generally 4 lanes, and it's easy to pass. Construction zones are another matter, but most of those are fairly level, and limits are down – and I could maintain the maximum speed.
The bottom line is….by 9:30 that night, I had reached Las Vegas. After three tries, I found a gullible motel. "How many pets?" "One" "Sixty-five dollars"\ "OK"
I was up at 5 the next morning. Load up… gas up… out of town by 8. Everyone said "Albuquerque…two hours away." At noon (4 hours later) I was in ABQ but my destination was the home of Margaret Briggs -- webmistress of LocalGringos.com – and her husband Mark Ramirez – son of "Butchie." (a famous Pub-Owner in Corozal.) Only 25 miles west of ABQ but…. [I find that I'm playing a game of altitudes. much like we did when I mountaineered in the Sierras and Rockies. ABQ is <surprise> 5000 feet high. Sandia Park, where Margaret & Mark live, is 6900 feet. Lots of driving in second and third gear, eh?]
Margaret has a sprawling ranch house on 10 acres with tile floors, throw rugs, four cats and four dogs. My animals upped the count. Brutus got very anxious, altho he was clearly the biggest dog in sight. He competed well, but nervously peed a few times in the house… something he NEVER did before!! Sam hid.
The weatherman predicted terrible weather, and, in fact, it began raining and kept it up all night. The area is perpetually in a state of drought, so it was welcome, but I decided to lay over a day… the next day promised to be nice.
Margaret and I spent a fair amount of time catching up on Belize news and old times, and I started writing this chronicle!!
So… Sunday was a day of rest, as it should be!!!!
Rick Z. (Sunday, Oct 5, 2008)
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