Not a bad place to wake up on a Thursday morning…Cracker Barrel. And soon, my neck may straighten out (I hope). We stumbled into the restaurant early, with swollen eyes and messy hair.
Breakfast was reliable, as always. Love that place! I had to get the Southwestern Scramble. And yes, it was as good as it looks.
Joe and the boys got there usuals. But we had more coffee than usual. And before long, we were back in the RV and headed for the shop.
We started this trip with one vehicle, but this is a picture of the fleet we acquired since we’ve been gone:
Half our stuff was in the Explorer and the other half was still with Eleanor. Remember how I said Rigby was 6 feet shorter? Hey, we’re a close family…it’s not the space. It’s just, “How the heck do you fit 31 feet worth of stuff into 25 feet????” [big eye emoji]
The boys helped me unload the Explorer into the new RV. “Just put it on the bed,” was what I kept saying about everything. Meanwhile, Joe was unloading all the tools and camping gear out of the outdoor compartments of Eleanor. I was starting to feel the wave coming on, but we were powering through.
After we got the rental car unloaded, I went through one last time to get trash and leftover toys, etc. We had lived a lot of life in that car in that last week! Joe kept working on the tools (it was a lot, you guys) and the boys were reading happily inside Rigby.
By now, it was about 10:00. Joe said he would take the rental back to Hertz and have them give him a ride back. Around 10:15, he left so he could hit the gas station and get there in plenty of time for the return. I moved over to start unloading the inside cabinets of Eleanor. The bed in the new RV was now full, so we had to get creative.
While I was working, I noticed a peculiar smell…but it *had* been sitting there in the heat, for a week – so who knows? I was starting to get tired and a little overwhelmed. Especially because when I would transfer something…there really wasn’t much more room to put it in the new RV! I started to feel the wave coming, but I powered through.
With Eleanor, I worked from the back to the front. That was giving me a sense of control. If I could get the back bedroom done, I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore. Then I moved on to the bathroom, then the table area, etc. etc. By now, I was moving slow. I started to feel more overwhelmed…and now we were down to those nitty gritty things…that you just have no idea where to store.
After finishing another section of cabinets, I decided to put on some music to help my mood. I would hand stuff to the boys through the doors, and we had a good system going. Joe was still gone at Hertz and I was just praying that everything was going ok.
I finally finished. Everything was out and I was just doing my final check. As I was walking through and opening every door and cabinet…I found the smell.
[gag emoji]
It was the FRIDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In all the craziness, the week before, to pack our stuff in the rental car – I guess the fridge completely slipped our minds!!! There was too much to think about! And besides, we didn’t have room for a fridge full of food!! I’ll spare you the details, but I’m sure you can imagine. I guess the RV ran out of propane to keep the fridge running. Who knows when it actually shut off, but it was super hot that week.
It broke me. I couldn’t hold the wave back anymore. I backed up, closed the door, sat down, and cried……… Lord, have mercy.
Thankfully, the boys were completely engulfed in their books. I didn’t want to bother Joe – he was doing enough – so I sat there sniffling and texting Nicole and she was talking me off the ledge. 😉 ❤
About 10 minutes later, Joe returned from Hertz (they just Uber people, now! Hilarious!) and he gave me a much needed hug. (I told you, it wasn’t easy.)
He powered through and pulled me along. And before we knew it, we were done. We had a moment with Eleanor…but we were ready for the next chapter and our journey home with Rigby!
In all the craziness, we didn’t get a picture with the people at the shop…nevertheless: HUGE SHOUT OUT to Statkus Engine for all their support over the last week! They helped us, advised us, drove us places, and kept our stuff safe while we were gone! Thank you for going above and beyond!!
It was almost noon and we were on the road again… Obviously, we were quite strung out, after the last 12 hours, but Joe was determined that it was not going to define our day. He suggested we stop in Santa Fe, on our way out of New Mexico. It was a GREAT idea!!
Historic downtown Santa Fe is just beautiful!! ❤ There are lots of neat shops there and cool restaurants…and obviously, the architecture is just awesome. We were looking for something local, for an early dinner, before leaving town…and we happened upon the Blue Corn Cafe.
You know how the Raabs live on chips and salsa? Yeah, their’s was reeeally good. They also had scratch margaritas and Santa Fe’s famous “Frito Pie” – I had to try this. I thought I was just getting a “slice” – buuuuuuut…
It was HUGE…but delicious. 😉
About 5 years ago, I got hooked on shredding my own cheese at home. I always tell the boys, “You can tell when it’s fresh because it stretches.” Brady was SUPER impressed with his quesadilla! ❤ We all loved Blue Corn Cafe!
On the way to the car, we got to walk through the courtyard of the cathedral that sits at the end of the square. It was absolutely beautiful and a really nice ending to a hard day.
They had an entire area filled with statues of different saints and other artwork. So neat! ❤
We made our way back to Rigby in the parking lot, and headed towards our campsite we had booked just hours before. If we’ve learned anything on this trip, it’s to not plan too far in advance. We found a site just over the Colorado border, by Trinidad Lake. It was a hike from Santa Fe, but we are in a bit of a time crunch with the deadline on this transfer. This was one of the restrictions we had to agree to…but it’s a small price to pay for a safe ride home! We put the boys to bed, en route, and pulled into our site around 11:00 PM. After geting the RV set up for nighttime, we quickly fell asleep. It was nice to have this day behind us…
| Prayer of St. Francis |
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled,
As to console;
To be understood.
As to understand;
To be loved,
As to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The Raab Four 
I know I already posted a comment BUT I can’t stop thinking about that fridge. Aaaagh! Anyway, I was thinking how it was quite a HUGE BLESSING that you didn’t realize where the smell was coming from until the end of the changeover. Opening that door before then would have made the whole process much more difficult. Also, HUGE BLESSING that you were even able to get through that clean up. I couldn’t have done it. You’re tough!
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