no matter how many times I say it I still can’t believe it…it’s been a year

It’s been a year since the accident. I remember the surgeon saying Joey’d be back to himself and back to work in about six months. I remember thinking, six months…we can handle that. It’s been a year since the accident. We’ve handled it, but it hasn’t been easy.

While we were in Wyoming we took a day to drop down into Colorado so Joey could see the surgeon and get reviewed for Maximum Medical Improvement for the insurance company. They would have flown him up here from Texas but the anally efficient person in me figured out that we could instead take a few weeks/months to travel up there in the bus and let them reimburse us for the gas instead. It was a tough decision at the time, but so glad we chose that route.

It was just a few hour drive down from Rawlins and we passed some more gorgeous countryside. It was solid open country, with antelope, deer, geese, prairie dogs, mountain goats, sheep and elk interspersed with drilling stations and the always present Elk Mountain in the background. The drilling stations were painted to match the landscape so they blended right in and didn’t look obtrusive at all. Even the massive Craig Power Plant makes for a beautiful setting. To see it up close is jaw dropping.

So we stopped for a quick break and a little tutorial on how to turn coal into energy

The doctor’s visit was quick, and then it was all over. It seemed like we were waiting for the last six months to get to this point and then it was over in a flash. We were in Texas because of the accident. We drove up north, and landed in WY to see the doctor, because of the accident. The last year has been as hard as it was, because of the accident. Now it’s all over. We’re free to do what we want, wherever we want. We hadn’t thought much past this point. What now?

We stayed in Wyoming another week because we have learned an important lesson for living on the road with today’s increasing gas prices………Stay put until you know where you want to go.

Frontier Airlines

Never heard of them before, but now I’m a fan. I’m also a fan of flying on a Saturday. We got to DFW early and walked straight up to the ticket counter. I asked about getting bumped up to First Class, since that’s how I like to think I roll, and she said all their seats are First Class. Then we noticed she seated us in the first row, so clearly she was teasing us. I was envisioning smoked salmon and champagne once we got on the plane.

We then walked straight up to the security checkpoint, which didn’t leave us any time to read the fifty two rules, so of course we’re up there hurrying to take off our shoes, remove laptop, and hunt down any metal we have on us. Joey also had to undo his two foot high combat boots. We made it through without having to have a body cavity search and then our Gate was the very first one after the checkpoint. Now we allowed plenty of time in case of lines, traffic, and far away gates, but everything was falling in line perfectly to give us a two hour wait to board.

They called for families with children and disabilities, and rows one and two, to board first. We decided against boarding first so we didn’t have to sit there and watch the entire plane load while trying to squeeze together to stay out of everyone’s way. When we finally get on the AirBus we learned the ticket agent wasn’t joking, there was no First Class, just First Row, and every seat had their own TV screens which you could pay $6 to use. We didn’t. What this flight did have was an all male flight crew, that flirted with my husband the whole way! The bald one asked Joey if I was his wife, and congratulated him on a job well done and then asked if I had a sister.( We almost told him I had a brother. :0 ) They were fun, and really made the flight enjoyable.

We had what I thought was a long layover in Denver but it ended up barely being enough time to get to the clear opposite end of the terminal to catch our little puddle jumper to take us over the Rockies to Grand Junction.

This flight was only about forty five minutes and it seems we were practically hugging the mountains. It was pretty cool. We were trying to make out all the ski resorts and mountains, and I was holding on to the barf bag.

Joey’s welder buddy that was supposed to pick us up was in a four wheeler accident earlier in the day and broke his arm so we had to get a shuttle to take us the forty five miles to our campground. Then we were HOME!

Words cannot describe how good it felt to be home, and then sleeping in our own bed. I slept so good I was up at SEVEN in the morning. Last night I prepped the inside for travel so I could have today to visit with my friend Lisa, while Joey takes care of all the outside stuff, including un-attaching our broken awning, loading BBQ grills, toy box & shoe box, checking oils and fluids on the bus and truck, and now it seems, charging up the batteries.

If all goes well we’ll be leaving today, taking the southern route through Moab, UT. It adds a couple hundred miles but it’s less stressful than the Rockies in a thirty four year old bus. Can’t wait to get back on the road again. (Yes, I will be singing it).

We are Sanford & Sons on the road

dirty bus
Originally uploaded by jakesmome.

We are Sanford & Sons on the road. At least that's what I felt like driving down from Nebraska with the Jeep loaded full of stuff and the truck bed full of even more crap, with the bikes thrown on top for good measure. No one's ever said anything mean but I know RV parks must cringe when they see us coming. At least we're not that bad.