Whirlwind....

Tonight I am in the All Season's RV park West of Wichita, Kansas...  Yup Toto, I'm back in Kansas..

Now how the heck did that happen....?   Well, Monday morning I went over to the storage lot in Apache Junction and retrieved the motor home bringing the Jeep back home as well...  And that started a whirlwind of activity....

I had been bagging and sacking stuff to go into the coach for the last couple of weeks and placing it in the long hallway going to our front door...  So a lot of the stuff was sitting there ready to go out...  That took most of the rest of Monday....

On Tuesday I Met Greg and Jan White at the Tilted Kilt restaurant over in Tempe for a late lunch...  He reported on our meal and took some pictures here....

Then a couple of hours later after rushing back to the house to let Biscuit out in the back yard for her business, it was back over to the park where Shadowmoss and Croft from Croft's Mexico live.

Croft and Norma will move on at the end of the month, but poor Shadowmoss has one of those awful things called a job, so she has to stay a while longer...   Anyway we had planned another trip out on the town before I left....   This time to the Organ Stop Pizza Theater....  Croft reports on that outing with pictures  here.....

Again we had the most enjoyable evening, also bringing along one of the other park residents that doesn't get out too much if we don't bring her along....   Phyllis is somewhat senior to our age, so I hope we add some quality to her winter as well....

The next morning I was up with the sun, and began to load all the last minute stuff.... Groceries and toiletries...  And the last minute clothes that came from the dryer..    So by about 11 AM I was rolling...

The first part of the trip up the mountain to Payson is the same old  usual road that we ride on the motorcycles, but it seems so different in a 26,000  pound motorhome pulling the Jeep...   Not nearly as fast and the motorhome wants to run away from you on the down hills...

The motorhome exhaust brake puts on the Jeep brake box inertia brakes going down hill....  This isn't good as it tends to stop the motorhome with the jeeps brakes...  Those aren't capable of stopping such a big vehicle...  In the mountains there wasn't anywhere in one construction zone to pull over and stop this from happening...    So I went about 10 miles an hour until I could remedy the problem...  Traffic was indignant, honking their horns...

When a break in the Jersey wall came about, I quickly pulled to the side and turned the whole mess off...  So much for Blue Ox's brake system...  It was mostly going up hill anyway so the system didn't get turned back on until I made it to Heber over the rim...

I really enjoy the trip up and over the mountain rim...  The trees and woods are so Colorado like and the cooler temps are usually welcome after the Phoenix valley oven...  But on Wednesday, that was the end of the summer temperatures in Arizona....  It was in the 50s up there and never recovered..

As the afternoon waned, I rolled across the New Mexico state line and promptly lost an hour for daylight saving....

Staying that night in the USA RV Campground in Gallup, I was treated to a night time temperature of 21 degrees...   I had a coat in the back closet, along with all the clothes that were loaded out of the house on Monday.........  But, where...

Thursday was all day of interstate  40... from Gallup, to Tucumcari..   I stopped once in a rest stop, just to let Biscuit out and make a sandwich...   Then again at Tucumcari to take on fuel...

I was pleased to calculate 10 miles to the gallon on that 300 mile stretch...  No air conditioner and no generator to run the roof airs or fridge makes at least a mile to the gallon difference for me..  But the fridge does use propane, as I most always run it while travelling...  And yes I know that some folks don't advise that...

Last night I stayed at the Corral RV park in Dalhart, Texas.....   This is a fun stop as I had FHU 50 amp with cable tv for $24....  Of course its close together, parking lot style camping...  But what the heck, I only stayed there for a few hours...

Today I traveled US 54..   Dalhart to Wichita...  It was sunny and bright out in the West end of Kansas, but the wind was out of the East on my nose...  Lunch was again at a rest area in Bloom, Ks..

This is a wide spot in the road where the old highway in on one side and the new road is to the South..   Several trucks were stopped along the old road, so I merged right in along side...

Fired up the generator and had toasted bagels with ham and cheese...  Wal Mart Deli macaroni salad and some mexican chips rounded out a better lunch than a fast food...  Biscuit also enjoyed walking the grounds of the little park, smelling all of the other messages from other travelling doggies...

But by the time we were closer to Wichita, an overcast had taken over the sky and it was noticeably colder...  It is to again be down in the upper 30s, so the blue flame heater will be running thru the night to supplement the electric space guy...  I seldom run the forced air heat...  Even the other night when it was in the 20s....  Not too sure I would want to be boondocking at 21 though..

Bedsides, here in this vintage (used to be a KOA) campground in Wichita, we have Cox Cablevision for a couple of bucks more... So as I type away, the Ncaa Basketball tournament is playing on the TVs...

I'll be home tomorrow afternoon, and the adventure is over for a while... Just work trekking back and forth from the Moho to the house.....

Retired Rod