El Paso, Texas, November 25th, 2019

Yay, made it to road trip destination number one, El Paso! Arrived at 1:30P, 2.5 hrs ahead of schedule. Did terrific time. Looooong stretch of road with 80 mph speed limit helped - AND - I erased an additional hour by driving into Mountain Time. At a Starbucks 5 minutes from my brother Robert's codo, quaffing coffee, updating this here site while patiently waiting for Bobby to get home from work (Texas Tech El Paso, where he's head of the department of architecture). We're supposed to play tennis tonight, and I'm really hoping we do. I packed my tennis racket, a new can of tennis balls and my tennis sneakers special just for a chance to hit some with my brother and his friends. But we'll see :)

Novermber 26th, 2019

I got my wish - we played tennis last night! I even participated in a clinic, which was fun. When we were done drilling, then later playing games, one thing became clear: I need to play/practice more, a lot more. I was, quite honestly, not very good (it didn't help that I had not hit a ball for nearly two years. My timing was especially bad) Still had fun, though. We're off to Santa Fe later today. It's cold and snowing up there, glad I winter packed well!

I spent all morning at the Starbucks trying to catch up on all things interwebs while Robert attended a morning tennis clinic followed by last minute teaching duties. Once he arrived at the Starbucks, we headed back to the condo and prepared for the Santa Fe drive (328 miles, 4.5 hr. drive). We were to caravan, me trailing behind his (well, Stephen's) Honda Civic (Robert drives a Mini Cooper. That tiny car was left behind). The Civic had a dead battery (we discovered this the night before) so the next morning we planned to jumped it, no big deal. The car started right up, but so did the car alarm. And it did not, would not, go off. Putting it in drive, removing the key, inserting the key, nothing made the alarm go off. It was loud, annoying as hell, drew agitated neighbors from their apartments. They leaned on balconies while we yelled out what the hell the matter was. Finally realized that after 2 minutes the alarm would go off on it's own. BUT, everytime the car the car door was opened the alarm would start up again, ugh! (a key fob, which was not included with the purchase of the car, would have stopped the alarm... but nooooo). The annoying experience did not stop there. Robert had to gas up and at the Station and when he got out to pump the gas, there went the alarm again! OK, finally all tanked up, we hit the road. Bobby sped up ahead of me, trying to get to Santa Fe Honda dealership before they closed (so he could buy a fob). He sped off and I waved goodbye while I stuck to the speed limit. Outside, it was getting cold. Real cold.

When the fuel needle got close to the E 25 miles from Santa Fe I debated on whether to push on or stop and the next gas station. Not being much of risk taker, I played it safe and pulled into a Phillips 66. It was just too cold outside to chance it on such a bitter cold day. But I remained curious just how much gas I still had left in ye olde tank.

BOY, when I got out of the van to begin fueling, I got instantly froze-to-the-bone. It was temp cold for sure, but it was the stiff wind (closer to a gust) that made it miserably cold. There were lots of pumps and everyone had retreated behind their cars to avoid the frigid wind while the pumps ran themselves. When I was done fueling I learned I had plenty of gas left. My tank holds 21 gallons, and it took 15.4 gallons to filler up. I had four and a half gallons left!

Arrived at Santa Fe a short time later, pulling up to the snow covered narrow sidewalk. Stephen was home, Robert was still at the Honda dealership. I grabbed my grip and went inside to the little charming house located along the quaint, narrow street of Alto.