Move Over Pumpkin

We were going to head out Friday morning about 6am for New Mexico, well after double checking the stuff loaded for the trip and unloading the suitcase to get the right clothes to wear for the trip we were off at about 8am, Cindy actually wanted me to drive for a change since she does most of it now, I did good and didn't get myself bugged out too much in the morning traffic I never ever resorted to talking to the other vehicles or anything of the sort, we made it to Blythe which is about 60 miles and pulled into Micky Dees for a little breakfast, just something small to hold us over until lunch well a burrito, biscuit, coke and ten dollars later we were enjoying this fine meal in the van with Dixie, you remember Dixie my trusty sidekick our little longhaired daschund, Dixie likes road trips as much as we do she really likes it when we stop so she can drag me around where ever we are to take in all of the new smells of the area, this one included sausage in Cindys burrito which got her back into the van.

Cindy wanted to drive now because she said it was kind of boring just riding and she would enjoy driving better, I really think she just wanted me on the passenger side so she wouldn't have to worry about my driving, I do get myself bugged out at times when too much is going on at once, Cindy is much better than me at handling this now days, we are back on the road with the typical freeway traffic which included the Truckers "bless their hearts" who always seem to change lanes right in front of you just as you are going to pass, this had already happened to me a couple times and seriously I had rambled a few sentences about them at the time (you really didn't believe it when I said I hadn't been talking to other vehicles did you), now here we are Cindy in the process of passing a truck when he veered in front of us, Cindy just smiled and followed behind until he made his pass and was getting ready to pull back into the slow lane, Cindy just smiles and waves saying "Move Over Pumpkin" in a sweet voice, I'm thinking now where did my Cindy go as this is not normal freeway talk coming from her in reference to vehicles she is trying to get around, we are laughing and listening to music while she is making good time going down the road, OK to get to the point about a couple hours later she sounded like I did earlier talking to them in terms that made me want to change lanes for them, the Cindy I know and Love was back.

We got into Arizona and fueled up at 2.69 a gallon which looked a whole lot better than the 3.09 we are used to, it is now my turn to drive and the first truck I go to pass flips on his blinker just as I am even with the back of his trailer, he swings in front and I am grumbling as I follow waiting for him to make the pass, which he does but it feels as if it takes forever for him to return to his lane, I thought to myself instead of getting frustrated I would try what Cindy did, I waved and softly said "Move Over Pumpkin" and guess what he magicly returned to his lane, Cindy got a good laugh and I could see she was thinking of getting back behind the wheel real soon if I continued this type of behavior.

I always set the cruise about 4 miles over the speed limit and keep it there, this causes a lot of people to pass me because it is entirely too slow for a lot but it works for me, this is what I was doing and I actually was enjoying all the different makes and models of vehicles going around when I saw a white Arizona trooper merging into traffic with the light bar lit up, he was swerving back and forth in front like he was slowing traffic then fell in behind one and pulled him over, another was making a u turn in the median and did the same thing, we topped a rise in the road and another came out of the median almost into the drivers door of our van and started swerving behind us, Cindy is asking are you getting pulled over? heck I couldn't tell as none were falling directly behind me so I just continued on as if nothing was happening, next thing I know I see what looked like a parade on the side of the freeway I swear there were about ten Arizona troopers with lights flashing all setting behind one of the vehicles that had passed us, one was still in front pulling over one that had just gone around me and I could see more behind being stopped, I never slowed and none pulled behind me, I have never seen such a thing before but am proud I was not invited to this little parade.

We only saw one small fender bender on the trip and this was while we were off the freeway looking for a lunch stop, Cindy is a real friendly person and has a good time no matter where we are, she likes to talk almost as much as I do and will wave at almost anyone which has gotten her into trouble at least once, it was coming out of Las Cruces, NM once while we were slowing down at the Border Patrol checkpoint, The Border Patrol Agent walks out and waves his hand in front of us and Cindy waves back, I can see she is not stopping I say Whoa Cindy Whoa and she says OK and continues on, she thought I said Go Cindy Go, I never saw so many Border Patrol Agents appear in my life they are slapping the side of the van and jumping in front, I tell her to stop and after getting our van searched and she gets the explanation of how she should obey authority we are allowed to continue on, now back to the fender bender we saw I had a flash back to the border patrol when we approach the police officer who is walking toward our lane with his hand waving, Cindy smiles and waves back and she is not stopping, I was kind of relieved to see the confused look on his face when he changed his hand motion to waving us by while waving at her with the other hand.

We made it to Las Cruces, NM and got a motel right after dark and I just knew it was going to be interesting next morning when we had to pass through the Border patrol checkpoint, we talked it over and Cindy actually stopped to talk briefly with the agent who smiled and waved us through, I only saw one this time and was proud none jumped in front of us.

We actually made good time and are now enjoying the company of our Boys and Friends here. I had better get back to them for a bit now and will fill you in as we go along with this trip.