Someone Plowed our Road While We were Gone Tuesday was a totally lost day - up before 6, chores done and gone by 7 to make Joe's 10:20 a.m. laser eye surgery appointment in Rock Springs. We took both snow machines, the sled loaded with coolers for grocery shopping and bag packed to stay overnight - since he had to be checked again on Wednesday morning before we went home - and the dogs out to the truck.
By the time we got to the Muddy Speedway just about all the snow had gone off that country and the same all the way down to Rock Springs. We had plenty of time, about an hour extra. Stopped midway at Farson to get Joe some coffee and bought a couple large bottles of water to have some for the dogs. Stopped on the wild horse road to walk the dogs. Stopped for restroom break and coffee again at McDonalds and then over to the surgery center. Breezed in 10 minutes early and started to sign in when the receptionist said how sorry they were, they had tried to catch us before we left and still waited to the last minute. Dr. Jensen was sick. The only time they ever remember he had to cancel and stay home because he was ill. Joe said, "Oh, Hell!" Had made a reservation at the Econolodge so used the clinic's phone and cancelled that.
Decided to go first to Walmart so Joe could look for a wall sconce he wants to put by his wood stove and I would shop. Nothing there he liked. I was fast becoming uninterested in doing the big shopping. I didn't want to deal with hauling a big bunch of groceries and stuff in on the snow machine sled again. So I said let's just go over to the new Home Depot to look for his light fixture and eat lunch and go home. Filled up with gas @ $2.12 a gallon at Walmart.
This is the first Home Depot Joe has ever been in. He took about an hour and a half to look at all the lights they had, discarding them all. He wanted one with flexible lights and I told him he was the one that needed to be flexible, not the light. Our sales person was from Boulder though we didn't know her, Joe knew all of her family so we had a fun visit with her. With her help he finally found a fixture that had 3 flexible lights the way he wanted - sort of - so we brought that one home. Walked the dogs again in a vacant lot there.
We went to Applebee's and my burger was not good at all but I was hungry, so ate it anyway (It did upset my stomach later). Joe got fish and chips. We took the anticipated white foam box to the dogs and they had a big lunch too. Since we were by Penney's and GNC I told Joe I'd go in there and get some things I needed. I found only about half of the things I wanted at GNC and bought new undies and 3 $20 T shirts on sale at Penney's for $2.97 each! I love a good bargain.
We headed out of town by about 1:30. Lots of big oilfield truck traffic. There was a herd of about 30 or 40 wild horses maybe 20 miles up the road. Saw them at a distance of a quarter to half a mile, so that was neat. Also saw antelope several times on the trip. I've hardly seen any antelope all winter. Saw another new bird this season, a couple of marsh hawks soaring over the fields in back as we went by. Muddy Creek was just ready for the ice to go off back there.
Got home about 3:30 or so. The bottom had gone out of the snow - the condition I call snow cone - still a foot deep on the level, and it's going fast. We probably made our last trip across the creek before that goes too. The day got to almost 50 degrees and was sunny and windy. Didn't need a coat down in Rock Springs at all.
I was tired and glad to be home. I do all the driving any more and just wanted to get comfortable and relax. Fixed leftovers for dinner and went out to feed the cats. The sun was getting low by then. As I came back to the house, raised up my eyes and lo and behold someone had plowed our road!! And neither one of us noticed it until now - 2 or 3 hours after we got home. Not sure yet who did it. We had been talking about how we would have to park the truck by the gate now that the creek was likely to go out, and that Norm would be plowing into his place past our gate any time now. Yes, they had also plowed in to Norm's and cleared roads to and around their haystacks.
After dinner I went out and took a picture so you could see the road at this point. It will take several days for it to dry enough to drive on it without causing a bunch of ruts. Joe took a chain and padlock and locked the gate for a few days so no one would drive on it yet. He's very fussy about keeping our lane smooth. Then I turned around and took the back yard showing Big Kahuna where my SUV is still imprisoned. The notch where he shoveled to make a trail for the snowmachine to the garage is on the left. All the big drifts have diminished about 2 feet from their highest.
Joe zonked out in his chair watching basketball right after dinner. So that was our day. Now we wait to hear from the eye Dr. office to reschedule Joe's surgery and do it again.
