Christmas, New Years, and beyond…
Of course, that duration of time was not a simple three day excursion but we did take 3 days to travel from Ann Arbor to Los Alamos. Now this wasn’t our first trip to NM (in fact it is #3 for me…and some countless # for Sammy). However, it was our first trip to NM directly from A2, and the first time in an electric car in freezing temps – which was significantly different from my other trips – oh, Sammy says it was quite different from his other road trips too! Luckily, my parents brought along their new winter coats for the trip since at each of our charging stops – and our bathroom breaks – the temps were so cold (1-10 degrees Fahrenheit) that without their jackets they might have been frozen solid. And they were thinking they’d need those coats up in the mountains where the temps were generally in the 40-50’s. In fact, their last minute decision to bring their big coats was a blessing since they kept the cabin temp of our car low to save on the juice (this is one of the terms they use for electricity which I really don’t get ’cause whenever we stop I get nothing but H20). The cool car temps works just fine for us dogs since we always wear our cold temperature coats! I must say though that Sammy does go a bit overboard with his attire and packs on unnecessary layers – but I’ll give him a break since he is so old and maybe that is just the way they rolled back in the day.
Day 1:
30 minutes outside A2
Looking like it might be a long drive…and this was after our drive from Illinois to Michigan in which Sam and I started singing Christmas Carols – more on that later.
But then we went through Homer…This has got to be a good sign, right?
DOH!
The travel conditions did not improve. We put our heads down and powered on into Indiana, past Indianapolis (where we stopped again for some more juice) and on through southern Illinois until finally we stopped in Rolla, Missouri. This scared the poop emoji out of me since this is basically in the Ozarks – which just so happens to be a TV series we recently watched which did not endear me to this community. However, I know TV and movies often misrepresent and reinforce certain stereotypes but I decided to entrust my personal safety (and that of Sammy) to our parent’s better judgement.
DAY 2:
On the second day, the snows had stopped but the cold temps persisted. We continued on our way through the rest of Missouri, then powered through Oklahoma and finally came to rest in Shamrock Texas – which just so happens to be a town on the historical Route 66. Let me tell you that without the interstate highway system I think this three day ordeal may have been a lot different – especially if we were doing this back in the day.
Sammy and I got some good rest so we would be focused on the home stretch and our arrival in LA and our reunion with our NM grandparents.
But this place was interesting. Mom thought I had to poop when we got there, so she and I walked around. What did we see? Loufas tied to light posts. Poop on the side walks (yum yum!). Dogs in the distance and up close. AND, when we went to our frunk to select a toy for me, people from NJ there charging and saying I was cute!
DAY 3:
But then we awoke to this scene in the morning…mind you, this is TEXAS!
Oh boy. This frozen landscape is pretty but is not a good scene for putting the pedal to the medal and burning rubber. Now in an EV, rather than an ICE mobile, you can’t say: “Hit the gas, bro!” – since putting your foot on the accelerator doesn’t actually increase gas consumption, since there is no gas anywhere in the car…with the exception of Sammy and my Dad :).
Finally, despite the cold temps, we arrived in NM but we had to wait a whole additional night before we got to see our Grandparents! Sammy tried to convince our parents that if we just stayed at this hotel in Santa Fe that we could get up to LA first thing in the morning without having to stop again and again and walk around…of course he did this at every stop that had a hotel nearby the charging station…which was several of them. That boy likes his hotels!
Come to think of it, I think he would have liked our three strange days to last a week or more. Personally, I couldn’t wait to get up to the mountains. But those are stories for another day.
The Tempest
Montana Moments 