Catching Up with the Virgens

Good Morning -

We're here! Whoo-hoo! Our place still looks like it's been ransacked, but less so than it did even two days ago.

We have lots of "I'm New Here" errands this morning (driver's license, plates, bank account, etc., etc.), so this will be short.

The Virgen above was made in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (side note - the town has lots of hot springs and its name used to reflect that until the 1950's (?) when they (the town) entered a radio contest in which they got some publicity if they agreed to change the town name to the name of the radio program. They won and changed their name, but are now considering changing it back because no-one knows about all the hot springs there).

It's the Virgen for Oct. 4th, but it was made in our hotel room on the morning of the 5th because I had forgotten to make it the night before. The image is from the Hot Stuff menu we got with out take-out burgers - one of the best burgers I've ever had. Of course, after driving for 7 hours in a 24' foot truck after spending 4 hours that morning packing the last of our crap in aforementioned truck, probably anything would have tasted good.

The Virgen above is from Oct. 5th and was made that night on the floor of our new place next to the air mattress we had just bought from Target because we arrived at 7 p.m. and it was raining and we were tired and there was zero chance of us getting into the truck to retrieve our mattresses in those conditions. It's the road map from the trip, which I was more than happy to cut up after 11 hours in the big truck.

My partner did the driving on the second day and was able to move the speedometer up from the 60 mph I did the day before to 70. Those 10 mph made all the difference and got us to Denver by Sunday. She's a dream.

The Virgen above is from Monday, Oct. 6th when all we did was unload the truck. It was just the three of us (our friend from Phoenix had done the drive with us and was a magic-maker on the trip) and the height of tension was in direct correlation to the lack of decent sleep. The feather is one my partner found on our stoop, which I put in my hair and forgot about until my shower that evening. The brown paper is for the boxes - the thousands and thousands of boxes of crap we have.

Tuesday, Oct. 7th was the birthday of our magic-making friend from Phoenix, so we took the day from unpacking to explore the city. Both my partner and I expressed how we didn't really feel like we lived in Denver yet because we had arrived at night and spent the whole next day inside unpacking (except for when I took the truck back, but I inadvertently got soaked in diesel fuel trying to fill the damn thing up (big trucks apparently have to be "topped off" because the handle will shut off the flow before it's full enough for the fuckers at the rental place to give you full credit for the tank - unless of course it comes flying out of the tank and soaks you in fuel before it has either shut off or filled up) so I think the fumes prevented me from appreciating the drive from the rental place back to our new home).

We walked down to the capitol, over to the library, down to the credit union, back to our place, and then over to lunch, and then on to the Tattered Cover and then back to the house and finally to the wine bar for dinner - we walked a lot.

Finally, this is the Virgen from yesterday. After taking our friend to the airport, we ran some errands and spent the rest of the day creating home. We stopped for dinner and walked to this place - Pasquini's - where we split a salad and the world's biggest calzone. Mmmm...

Let it be known that I have officially declared that this was the absolute last time I move like this. From now on, we are either selling everything we own or paying someone to load, drive, and unload our stuff for us. No more lifting couches. No more driving 24' trucks that are so big you're required to stop at weigh stations. No more trying to make a $24 hand truck support a heavy, solid wooden dresser because you can't bring yourself to lift another thing. Done. Basta. Please remind me I've said this when I next move. Please.