The quick trip back

Hello from Mesa, Arizona!

We arrived yesterday afternoon about 6 PM.  Bolting from KC Sunday morning, at 9:30, we drove all day long.  Kansas seems to go for ever, as it is winter and all the farm fields are harvested.

We did see the beginnings of winter wheat, as some of the fields were green with very short stubble. 

There was little, if any snow cover, but winter brown was the order of the day.  We buzzed around Greenburg for a moment, to see if there had been any progress, but it has been a slow process.  Folks are living in portable housing and trailers.

At dusk, we passed through Dalhart, Tx. There are still not very many people, but there are more cows than ever.  The feeding pens South of town are completely full.  We did not see anything that was empty.  And of course the smell out there is OMG!

We pushed on after dark to Tucumcari, Nm.  It was Sunday night so we thought that motels would not be a problem, but found that there were only a few rooms left when we arrived at 8 PM.  We have the dog, so that limits us to very few options.

When you leave Texas, into New Mexico, you pass into mountain time so we gained an hour, so the motel time was 7 PM.  We went to Pizza Hut for a quick supper.  Loyce likes the salad bar, and goes back and back.  She didn’t eat much of her Pizza.

Yesterday we were on the road before 7 since our bodies told us it was really 8.  Starting out right on the interstate, with the speed limit of 75 makes the miles pass quickly.

We ate lunch in Gallup, Nm and drove into Arizona.  We left the interstate at Holbrook, and headed South on the 2 lane still 160 miles from Mesa.  That was the fun part of the trip, even though our behinds were quite tired of the car.

Climbing up over the mountains took us to 7,600 feet and through heavy snow.  It had fallen several days earlier, and had been plowed to the side.  The roads were dry.  The scenery is gorgeous, but we were trying to make it home before dark so we didn’t stop to take any pictures.

There are large stands of ponderosa pines, and cars were parked along the roads, with kids out playing in the snow.  Obviously Arizona kids don’t get to see or play in the snow much, so this was the activity of their trip.

We came thru Payson, and traveled a nice 4 lane, highway 87 into Mesa, that kept us out of the Phoenix traffic at rush hour.

The rest of the night was setting up our campsite, as we had closed the slide and drained the trailer before we left.  The car was jammed with stuff that had to be brought in.

And of course the refrigerator was bone empty, so we went back out for a trip to Wally World.

I think travel recovery will be the order of our day here.  It was 71 yesterday when we arrived, and it is warming nicely this morning, where’s my lawn chair?

Retired Rod