Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The Exact Middle of Nowhere

I told you that over the weekend we took my oldest daughter Hannah to her new job at Mesa Verde. She's doing great! Here's what the weekend looked like:

When we first got there, she was supposed to stay in a "Wob". Basically that's a little shed with two beds in it and about 3 feet of extra room on one end. This picture was taken after she looked in the wob, but before I looked.

I was so stunned at how many cases and cases of beer her roomate could even FIT into that little shed, that I forgot to take a picture. (Something I'm still kicking myself over.) And the smell...



Soooo, she went back to the office, and got assigned to a Mod. ( I know, right? You totally think I'm making up these names!) Basically a mod is like a mobile home. There are supposed to be 6 girls living there, but right now there are only 2, so she gets her own room and bathroom until someone else moves in.
The reason more people aren't in the mod instead of the wob is that the wobs are free, and the mod has a nominal fee. Which the Brain said he would gladly share for her to not be living in a shed. Neither the mod or the wob have air conditioning, though. So, uh, welcome to southern Colorado, right?



This is the quilt she made with the jeans she rescued from the trashcan her senior year in high school. They were so holey and scribbled on by her friends, I finally tossed them when she wasn't looking. We decided she could make a memory quilt out of them one day - and here it is! She did the front, I did the back.



We got her settled in, had the famous Subway incident. Which BTW, I thought was so funny because apparently I live more "in the moment" than most. It never even occurred to me to think 3 more hours into the future because good grief, people, we have not eaten for SEVEN HOURS and he's worried about being hungry for dinner? I could have eaten a 6 foot sub by myself at that point, and probably still have been hungry 3 hours later.
You (and my Weight Watchers leader) will be happy to know I that held it to a 6 inch and some apple slices.
While The Brain ate his kids pak.

Whatever.
But guess who was hungry for dinner?? That's right every one of us. And if you're ever looking for a Mexican restaurant in Cortez, I can recommend a good one.

The Brain and I stayed that night in the hotel where Hannah will be working. It was fun, and had an amazing view. They call it the 100 mile view. I'm pretty sure I could see both New and Old Mexico from there.You know, if my eyes were better. And the earth were less curved.

On Sunday we went to her ward with her at 9am. Only the bishop came and told us about a singles group that meets with another ward at 11. So... with 2 hours to spare... we decided to bust it to 4 Corners Monument - 42 miles away. We were there long enough to take a couple of pictures and eat some Navajo fry bread (mmmm!) before we had to hurry back to church.

Here I am in Utah, while Hannah is in Colorado, and the Brain is clear over in New Mexico. I was really hoping he'd pick up some fresh Hatch chilies while he was there. But I guess he didn't have time or something. mmmm. Those are my favorite New Mexican treat!
( No, I'm not pregnant. That's the big tie on the side of my dress. And my arm. Yeah, that's it.)


We got her set-up with the extremely nice people in the singles group. (and may I just pause here to say THANK-YOU to people everywhere who know what it means to be new and are so welcoming and thoughtful. Thank-you, thank-you.)

And then we hit the road, feeling good about leaving her set up to succeed.

On the way home, I remembered one of the reasons I like Colorado so much. There is nothing more fun to me than driving through some of these old mining towns. I took some pictures, but they might be a little blurry, because The Brain was getting a little - you know- bummed out about getting through a whole bunch of traffic, and then I would ask him to pull over for my picture, and then he would have to pass all the same cars over again. So I stopped asking him to pull over. It was only fair.

But these walmart parking signs really cracked me up. (and the fact that there's not just one or two, but FOUR of them!)


Pet supplies AND fine gifts. That is what I call one-stop shopping!


Nice to know someone was using this in the middle of the summer.


Welcome to Cortez . Where we put our welcome sign in the CEMETARY.



Apparently there's only one way most people leave Cortez. Glad we snuck out of there alive.

Oh, and Hannah is starting up her blog again, so if you want to follow her adventures, or even just say hi to a girl that lives in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do,click here.

18 comments:

Dave said...

we have those signs in KC at the HyVee. They also have "Expecting and New Mom" Parking.

Jackpot.

Oh Yeah and

FIRST

cspokey said...

I went with some family to Mesa Verde last week (or maybe it was two weeks ago, we were on the road for a while), and it is amazing. We did stay in Cortez, but we ate at a pizza hut (boring, I know. not my choice).

And, we did make it to the four corners. Did you know that it's actually off by 2.5 miles? :D

Randi said...

:) I did know that. But we loved it anyway. I don't think they'll ever try to move it. Do you?

cspokey said...

:) I doubt they'll change it now. It's been there for too long, methinks. But it's a fun little stop anyway. And we can all laugh at it being off.

Kristina P. said...

I am so glad that there are people like your daughter who actually want to live there, for when I come to visit for about 5 minutes.

LisAway said...

Imagine how much fun she could have had if she'd only stayed in the Wob. Parents spoil ALL the fun. '

I opened up that picture in the parking lot and the sky TOTALLY looks like a backdrop. Oh, how I miss those midwestern clouds. (Polish ones are good too, but different).

kristi r said...

hey, you linked me away, but I came back to say hi! So fun to see where she's at!

Amy Peterson said...

I don't think they have Senior parking here in AZ-- I mean the whole parking lot is Senior parking.

Tay said...

How fun! Mesa Verde is a crazy cool place. THe husband is dying to go there. However, I grew up in the middle of a desert so going to a desert for fun and vacation is not something I'm going to do willingly. So Hot. And then what? Once we see the sweet cave village, what then? honestly. Because I'm not about to camp in the desert, too. Been there done that. Not as cool as it sounds.

mormonhermitmom said...

Whether its a wob or a mod it's gonna be H O T!

Did you leave her with a camelbak to stay hydrated?

Sue said...

So does WOB mean With Out Bathroom? Yuck. But better to store beer I guess! I'm glad she's in the mod, it looks so much more civilized and not so much shed. Keep us posted on Hannah's adventures in nowhere land!

Yvonne said...

I hope her experience there is a good one.

I've never seen parking spots for Seniors--love it.

It is wonderful when people are so welcoming at Church, eh.

I totally understand trying to capture pictures in a moving vehicle. Not easy.

Heather said...

Just yesterday when you posted about dropping her off I thought to myself, "man I wish she still had a blog".

Ummm... you do not look pregnant and yay for sticking to the 6 in. You are a much stronger lady than I.

Momof5 said...

How awesome! Makes me homesick for Colorado! My hubby was a wildland firefighter and fought the Mesa Verde fire a few years ago. He was an anthropology/archaeology major in Durango and went to Mesa Verde many a times! I hope she has a great time!

goddessdivine said...

I remember the days when I could live/sleep almost anywhere. Oh the joys of being young and adventurous. So could not do that anymore. Hope she has a good experience!

beckers said...

Yay for the MOB!!! Good call keeping her out of the wob....looks ugly and uncomfortable!! Go Hannah!

Celeste said...

Well that sounds like a very good life experience your daughter is going to have down there! I think she made the right choice on moving up to the Mod. Hope she enjoys it!

Emmy said...

I love seeing these pictures, brings back so many memories. We used to have a Mazda 3 when we lived in Durango and Eric loved our drives to Salt Lake as he would HAVE to go really fast to pass people at times on the way there.