First, I will give you a quick update on the AC situation in case you care and then I will move on because even I am becoming annoyed by my whining. Apparently, there is a massive freon leak, the guys who were here yesterday just said the unit needs to be replaced, they were going to report it to 1st American who is supposed to be in touch with me today regarding what will happen. I guess they can either attempt some sort of repair if they think despite "Lamar, the Wonder Techs" ruling, it is fixable or they will replace it and I am sure, find a way to pay for only a portion of the replacement. That is where that stands.
My parents will come in tomorrow for the play and stay in a hotel. I will probably go stay at the hotel with them. Once I know how much longer I am looking at being without AC I will be able to make decisions on what I am going to do after they go back home. They think I should come with them but without the cats. I don't see me leaving the cats here. So, we will see. I have been watching the news since 5 a.m. and little Evan on channel 4 seems to think it isn't going to be that hot this week. If I was able to survive here without AC off and on for the last two weeks, surely this week won't be that bad.
So, with all of that said, I was trying to remember last night, the coldest I have ever been in the summer. I am certain that it was in Colorado. The question is, on which occasion was I the coldest? I can think of three occasions when I remember thinking that no human should be so cold during the summer.
The first time was during a family vacation when I was probably about 8 or 9 years old. Last week when I was at my parents house for the 4th of July we were talking about this particular vacation. That summer we had rented a pop-up camper, hooked it up to the back of our 1969 sky blue Ford LTD and drove to Colorado. It was summer time and we were Texans so we never really considered carrying big coats on our vacation. The coldest part of that trip ended up being early one morning in Uray, Colorado. We had camped the night before on a river that was roaring with all of the snow melting in the mountains. I remember getting up that morning and putting on my favorite dress, it was a little purple paisley number with an elasticized bodice, and going outside to look at the river. When I walked out of the camper it was in the 30's at our campsite. It didn't take me long to look at the river.
The second time was during a family vacation when I was 13 and we went to Oregon, this time in our 1976 silver and maroon Ford Granada. That's right, we were styling in another Ford. We had driven all the way to Oregon, making stops at the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Reno, and various other locations along the way. On the way back we went through Idaho and Utah and were going to spend a night in Colorado. We never made reservations in advance back in the day. So, that night we started stopping at motels just after we passed the border into Colorado. Everything was booked up. I think we found a place that had one room, but Dad went and looked at it and they decided we would just keep driving. Dad was exhausted and finally early in the morning he pulled over on top of Monarch Pass because he just couldn't drive any further. We had a couple of sleeping bags in the car and all five us laid across seats and tried to sleep. It was freezing cold and totally miserable. I remember my teeth chattering. This is not supposed to happen in the summer time. We probably didn't stay there for more than 30 minutes. Then they decided that Mom would drive. She got behind the wheel of the car and couldn't have driven more than a mile before a deer ran down the side of the mountain coming straight at the car. She narrowly missed it, pulled over and Dad drove us to Raton, New Mexico where we got a motel room before noon and spent the rest of the day and that night. Mom and Dad stayed in the room sleeping most of the day so that we could drive home the following day while Robbie, Ronnie and I spent the day at the pool. The three of us thought it was the best place we had ever stayed.
The third occasion on which I remember being ridiculously cold in the summer time was about 12 years ago. This was just before I discovered the joy of cruising and found a travel buddy to go places with. Mom and Dad had made plans to take their motor home and go somewhere northwest. I decided to tag along with them as far as Colorado Springs. Mom, Dad and I drove to Colorado Springs in their motor home and then spent a few days there just sort of relaxing, shopping and sight seeing. I had never been to Colorado Springs but they had. One day I said that I wanted to go up Pike's Peak. They didn't want to. Dad gets altitude sickness and they had already done it before. We had been shopping that day in Manitou Springs and I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt with a camp shirt over it. So we decided that they would drop me off at the Pike's Peak Cog Railway station so that I could take the last train of the day up the mountain and then they would come and pick me back up when the train was scheduled to come back later in the evening.
The trip up the mountain was fantastic. As we traveled up, I noticed that it was getting cooler and cooler but I didn't really think much about it since I was so engrossed in the scenery. We arrived at the top and the tour guide told us we would have a little while to walk around, take pictures, go into the gift shop and get a cup of coffee and donuts before we needed to be back on the train. I thought the coffee and donuts suggestion seemed a little strange. Then I got off the train and it was freaking COLD! The wind was blowing about 50 mph and the air temperature was in the 30's! I took a couple of pictures and went inside the gift shop and never even blinked when I was told that the sweatshirt I put on was $65. I just paid the lady and went and got in line for the best coffee and donuts of my life. You never really know how good hot donuts and coffee can be until you are wearing shorts at the top of Pike's Peak.
When I went back out to get on the train to head back down the mountain, the sun was setting and it was the absolute perfect time of day to be up there. I wish that I had been better prepared for the weather so that I could have spent more time outside taking pictures of that amazing sunset. But you live and you learn. Now when I travel, I do so much research before I leave for any location that I am usually obnoxiously prepared. I can generally recite to you the average daily high's and low's for each location that I will be for the time period that I will be there. I wear hoodies on planes leaving Dallas in late May so that I will be prepared for the weather in my destination. It is really a little annoying. I think after this summer, I won't be bothered as much the next time I am in a situation where I get cold during the summer time. Sometimes you just need to smile and enjoy the moment.
Have a good day and stay cool my friends! I wish you all rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment