Last week I was planning to take the tow bar that my friend Brian had given me to the mechanic, have him install it, and then I figured I'd zip off to Arizona within a few days. But it didn't go exactly like that.
"There was a hitch in my travel plans, and I'm chained to the place I am."
Twang-twang! Sing it, Sister!
It's all gonna be fine, though. It turns out that the base plate that was already attached to my Tracker fits the Blue Ox tow bars. So I checked into buying one of those, decided to buy a used one from an online seller, and should have it here by FedEx today...or tomorrow...or whenever.
In the meantime, Steve heard the anxiety in my voice while we were on the phone one night, and now he is here to help me with the details of getting the Beluga and Tracker road-ready, and he'll be making the trip back to Arizona with me. Yay!
It's a good thing he's here, too. I seem to have a mental blank spot when it comes to adding water to my various batteries, and everything was down and problematic when he got here.
Maybe another verse?
"I'm powerless to leave this town, because I let my battery levels get down..."
I also found out that I needed to have some wiring done in both the Tracker and on the back end of the Beluga to get the lights set up for towing. I mentioned in my last blog entry that I was working with Travis at Pit Stop here in Truth or Consequences, NM. He's been doing really good work for me and has helped me a lot, so here's another pitch for him and his new business.
"I'm getting wired to travel, and so is my tow,
When everything's done, I'll be ready to go..."
Friends ask me when I'm leaving, and I am glad I've learned to be comfortable in the unknowing.
I'll be leaving Truth or Consequences within the next week or so. I'm not picking the date of departure yet. I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff done by the end of the week, and then I can leave whichever day I feel ready to go.
On Thursday, I'll take down my solo art show that I talked about in my last blog post, and my friend Janice and I will be hanging a group show in its place. It's an annual Postcard Show. All of the pieces are 4 x 6 inches, but they can be any media. It will be interesting to see what people contribute. The prices will be moderate (nothing over $50) and the Happy Belly Deli takes a reasonable commission. So we're all hoping that there will be some impulse holiday gift purchases made, and that all of the artists will make some money.
I'm punctuating this blog entry with my own postcards, which are acrylic on canvas board.
I don't need to stick around to take this show down--Janice will do that in January. I also left about 10 of my own paintings at Grapes Gallery to be shown for the next couple of months.
The biggest news for me in the past couple of weeks is that I bought a toad! This was not something I was planning to do immediately. I had a 1998 Ford Windstar minivan that I'd been keeping here in Truth or Consequences as my getting around vehicle, and I wanted to get it sold before I leave for Why, Arizona, for the winter. But I did not expect to replace it so quickly with a smaller vehicle that I could tow behind the Beluga. I figured on buying a toad in Arizona sometime over the winter.
But, lucky me! I saw a nice 1992 Geo Tracker parked on a nearby street with a "for sale" sign on it, and I managed to get the van sold quickly to a friend. So now when I leave for Arizona, I'll be driving this big honking Class A motorhome that I'm not yet altogether comfortable driving yet, while towing a car, which I've never done before. Oh, boy!
The Tracker already had a base plate, and my friend Brian gave me a tow bar which I'm having installed tomorrow morning. I also went to buy a hitch for the back of the motorhome today. I've met a nice mechanic here in TorC, Travis from Pit Stop on Date Street, who has been super to work with on several things lately. (That's a recommendation to anyone who needs work done while in this area!)
I had a very nice Thanksgiving with friends, and I'm relishing my last few visits to coffee shops, thrift stores, book shops, etc., here in Truth or Consequences.
That's all the news from me for now. After staying in one place for nearly half a year, I'm pretty busy stowing things away and wrapping up business here.
