We hired some movers to move all of our furniture and boxes out of our townhome and we are both convinced it was the best money we've ever spent. They moved our super heavy king size bed from the third floor like it was nothing. Patrick and I probably looked pretty stupid to them because we couldn't take our eyes off them. It was amazing... They moved what would have taken Patrick and I an entire day in an hour and fifteen minutes. Highly recommend movers, especially when you have moved 6 times in the last 5 years!
Once our truck was loaded, we were out of there. The first day we drove from Pasadena to Tucson, AZ. The drive was weather free, which was great since the route we had decided not to take was so bad with snow and ice that we heard they pulled 80 cars out of the ditch the same day we were driving in the sunshine. The next day we drove from Tucson to Las Vegas, New Mexico. On the way, we stopped in Deming, NM for lunch (best New Mexican food ever!) and in Hatch, the chile capital of the world.
As we approached Hatch on the country road, we could see dried chile peppers tumbling across the road in front of our truck. A sign we were headed in the right direction... Hatch is a tiny town, with nothing more than a gas station and roadside stands selling chile products. Dried chile wreaths, chile powder (red, green, chipotle), salsa, even chile powder chocolate... You can see people in their backyards with tarps on the ground picking the stems off the dried chiles. Giant semi trucks loaded with dried chiles pass you on the backroads leading out of Hatch. Though there's not a lot there, you leave feeling you've experienced something special. A small piece of American life that we all too often forget exists.
We continued our drive north and were soon in Caballo, where Patrick's paternal grandparents once lived and are now resting. We visited them in the local cemetery, cleaned up their site, and talked about his memories of his grandparents and Caballo from when he was a kid. I never met his paternal grandmother so it's always nice to hear stories about her, see where she lived and get a better understanding of the lifestyle that she loved.
After our brief stop, we headed north again. That night in Las Vegas, NM, we were driving around town to find a place for dinner, when Patrick got very excited upon spying an Allsups Gas Station. Of course, I had no idea why, but he explained to me that his Grandpa used to have a giant travel mug from Allsups that he never was without. So, of course, we had to stop to see if they still sold them. Lo and behold, they did and the first fill of the mug was free. So, 10PM at night, Patrick got 64oz of coke. Really! Who needs that much? There was no way we were going to drink all that at 10PM, but the next morning it was still good. There was still ice in the insulated mug. That mug is amazing!
Finally, it was the day we had been waiting for... It was the day we would move into our new place in CO! The day was fairly uneventful until we got to Colorado Springs, where we knew there were several Dunkin Donuts. If you were reading our blog a year ago, you may remember we tried to find a mythical DD in Salem, OR. These DDs, however, were the real deal. We were able to get our favorite coffee, a couple donuts and even sat next to some transplanted Bostonians. It was the closest we've been to Boston since we left 3 years ago!
After that stop, we were only about an hour away from our new home. Once we were on the north side of Denver we gave Pat and Lindsay a call so they could meet us at our place and help us unload the truck. Little did we know, they were already there when we called. When we pulled up to our place, they were on our front steps, welcome banner overhead and champagne bottle in hand. We couldn't ask for a better welcome or better friends!
Chile stand in Hatch.
Caballo Cemetery Entrance
Caballo Cemetery
It's bigger than his head!
Doing things is what I like to do. YES!
Welcome Committee.