Like so many other families, we have taken our share of
Holiday trips. One year it even included a Caribbean cruise, but for the most part, those trips have been to Ruidioso, New Mexico. My in-laws moved from
Abilene TX to Ruidoso about 12 years ago. So every other year we make the trek
to see them.
The first year we went out for Christmas, we had a BMW 525i
Touring, which is the sportswagon version of the 5-Series. I had purchased a
Thule roof carrier just for the trip. The Thule was huge, I probably over
bought. Once installed, it poked out in front of the sight line above the front
windshield. It looked kind of omnious, like a black shadow just at the edge of
your perpherial vision. But it held a lot of stuff – presents, clothing, ski
equipment, pillows, you name it! Inside the car we had the four of us and our
puppy, an American Eskimo named Crockett in a large travel pen. It was quite
snug inside.
I am old enough to remember when I was a kid and travelled
by car, we had to entertain ourselves – read, play card games, count blue cars,
spot license plates from different states, sing songs, you know…the classics.
Not our kids – we had a PC hooked up to a AC power converter and they had a ton
of movies and PC games. Still they wondered aloud when we would get there. “How
long until we get to MawMaw and PawPaw’s?” “Thirty minutes sooner than when you
asked last time.” I bet you all have said more or less the same thing a few
times…
We left a bit late, not sure why, but we probably left about
Noon. Normally it is a nine hour drive from our house, so that would put us
into Ruidoso about 8:00 PM (we gained an hour as we went west). What were we
thinking? We stopped in Abilene, Snyder, Post and the infamous Brownfield (read
the story about when we left town without paying for gas in an earlier blog
post titled Bad Boy Part IV or The End of the Line) and of course Roswell.
Problem is the temperature was diving as a huge cold front was pushing through.
We kept having to take our puppy Crockett out of the pen so he could do his
business. It had also started lightly snowing. It was getting worse by the
minute. In Brownfield, we stopped at a Mickie D’s and I took Crockett for a
walk around the parking lot, while my wife and boys grabbed something to eat.
We pushed on.
Just west of Brownfield, the last rays of sunlight were
retreating into the western horizon, a small crack in the clouds giving the sun
rays the last chance of day as light snow swirled around the road. Out in front
of us a small group of three deer decided it was the best time to cross Highway
380. I had to swerve nearly running off the road to avoid them. Needless to say
the pulse rate spiked a bit and I probably lost two or three years off my life
in the moment. Still we pushed west. The dark night west of Tatum, New Mexico
so black you could feel it seep into the car. The temp still dropped, now
getting into the low teens. The BMW soldiered on, problem was the car tended to
run cool and the low outside temps made the coolant in the engine run cool too,
meaning the heater was not exactly putting out a lot of heat. We had to direct
what hot air we could get onto the front window so the rest of the car was
pretty cold. I had on a heavy sweater over my two shirts and was wearing
gloves. My wife who tends to be cold all the time, probably had at least three
more layers on than me. The boys in the back were so bundled in blankets there
were very snug. And Crockett? He is so fluffy, he no doubt liked the temp
inside the car.
The blackness of the night got even deeper. There were few
cars or trucks on the road. I do not recall if we even passed anyone…or got
passed for that matter. The handful of cars coming in the other direction
announced their presence as a tiny speck of light miles in the distance. It was
so dark it was hard to judge the distance to the approaching vehicle, but
minutes later, we would pass each other in a brief blaze of headlights. Then
the tiny dots of retreating taillights would quickly disappear. It was eerie. We
drove west into the far reaches of night, eventually we finally saw the distant
faint glow of Roswell, New Mexico.
It is kind of disquieting, but the dessert surrounding
Roswell is so black at night it can be felt, like a veil that pulls you in and
encases you. And out little car; that speck of moving head and tail lights
almost feels like a alien visitor, an intruder in the vast blackness. The soft
glow turns brighter, growing from a line on the distant horizon to a small city
that feels like a refuge to the penetrating darkness. You can almost believe
the alien tales that have grown up in the Alien Capital of the World. Almost.
We stopped for a break at a hotel on the western edge of the
city to let Crockett out. He bounded onto the pavement and started barking.
Soon another dog answered, then another and yet more still, a quickly spreading
symphony of barking. It seemed that every dog in the city took up the challenge
to be heard above all the rest. It was amazing, as I am sure all the local dogs
were letting this intruder know that he was in their town, on their turf. I
shook my head at Crockett as he pranced around looking for a place to do his
business. “Dude…now see what you have started?” Time to head west once again.
My wife used our cell phone to update her family, they were starting to get
worried.
The distance between Roswell and Ruidoso is about 74 miles.
There is a huge climb out of Roswell along a dark highway that for now at least
was a four-laner. Then a plunge down a very steep grade onto a twisting narrow
two lane highway that hugs the valley floor as it climbs towards Ruidoso and
Sierra Blanca mountain range (thank goodness it is four-lanes now). It was
getting colder still. The temp now in the single digits, the boys announcing
that they were tired and cold and asked for about the 80th time when
we would arrive. The snow was starting to fall in earnest and the conditions
were rapidly deteriorating. The last 74 miles took almost 2 hours as I
carefully threaded the car along the twists and turns.
It was very quiet in the car, my wife leaving me to focus on
the task at hand. Slowly, slowly we moved ever closer to Ruidoso slotted behind
a highway department snow plow until we started seeing the billboards announcing
everything from steak dinners to comfortable hotels, cabins and even a casino.
Yeah, the end was in sight and at midnight we pulled into drive where my in-laws
live. Spending the next 60 minutes unpacking the car and getting settled in
their house, I threw myself into bed at about 1:15 and passed out. I was
totally spent.
I woke up the next morning to a huge snow storm, it snowed for
two days and dumped two plus feet. It was the first time our dog had seen snow
and he did not like it. He was still a puppy and the snow was deeper than he
was tall. I had to carry him out multiple times a night for him to do his
business and because he was a puppy, it seemed he had to do his business all
night long. On top of that, he was not the best house guest either, barking and
chasing the in-laws cats. What were we thinking bringing him along?
The BMW was burried under a white blanket. It looked like a
car shaped blob under all the snow. Thank goodness my in-laws have a very solid
4WD SUV, I was able to take that up to the Ski Apache for two days of glorious
skiing. The trip back? We were just on the western edge of Roswell, the snow
mostly having melted when I heard that unmistakable sound of dog about to puke,
we pulled over to a goat ranch by the side of the road and I tried
(unsuccessfully) to get him out before he puked. Too late. It was a long trip
home too.
We never took Crockett on a road trip ever again, once was
more than enough. We boarded him or had someone dog sit. He was not born to be
a travelling dog, but a stay at home dog. We had learned our lessson. And now? For
this years trip, we rented a 4WD SUV, a very nice and new 2012 Jeep Grand
Cherokee. It is very comfortable and drives great on the highway. PC’s and TV’s
have been taken over by 3G enabled iPad’s, iPod’s and smart phones and the kids
do not ask when we will get there. They just figure we will. This time we left
at 6 AM and made the trip in 8 ½ hours, stopping only three short times for bio
break and gas. Once again we faced dropping temps and the threat of snow, the
first flakes starting to drop and stick as we arrived at my in-laws. I’d like
to think that we learned a few things about long distance drives over the
years. At least there will be no puking dog in the back.
We had a very wonderful and white Christmas! And hope that
everyone reading this is having a great Holiday season too!
And on that exhaust note, see you all next time.
