Mesa Arizona!!!!

We have arrived and are parked on our lot for the next three months!  All done by 3:30 in the afternoon.

Holbrook!

It wasn't nearly as cold in Albuquerque, as it was in Amarillo.  Perhaps that is because the front moved on to the East!  But for what ever reason, it was only 31 degrees last night.  That extra 10 degrees is a very large difference.  The heaters didn't struggle nearly as much.  They all cycled off and on and I slept much better, not keeping one ear open listening for their cycles.

The highway noise was fairly loud, but with the heaters running, I was able to tune the noise out.  We slept quite well considering.  Loyce is still struggling with the nasty cough that she got with the cold from thanksgiving.  So she wakes coughing.  We really need to find some warm weather!

So we left Albuquerque around 10:30 this morning.  Our plan, was to drive to Holbrook, Arizona, and that is only 230 miles, so that was not much of a travel day.  But it is about the right amount of travel!  I'm certain we are much less stressed if we limit our travel to that amount.

We rolled along and didn't push too hard, but the speed limit in New Mexico on the interstate is 75, so you do tend to roll faster just because everyone else is.  So we rolled between 65 and sometimes 70.  That's fairly fast for us, but still the trucks just roar by and act like we are blocking the road.  Every now and then we get some nasty gestures, from truckers that wish us to be out of their way.

We stopped in Gallup to fill up the motorhome with diesel, as the Arizona tax is quite a bit higher.  The truck stop was an absolute zoo!  So I opted to use the Indian station across the street.  Their price was higher, but the line was much shorter.  Getting the motorhome into the car pumps was a bit of a trick, but by using the end pump and heading outward rather than inward I made it.  I turned around in the side parking before going thru the pumps.  Still it seemed to take forever.

Then as we crossed into Arizona, I was unable to get into the rest area and welcome center. At least it didn't look like the exit was big rig friendly.  That caused a heavy discussion to take place on the two way radio.  But there were no trucks in the rest area, and there was a reason for that.  Perhaps Arizona doesn't want trucks in their welcome center.

But we did stop in a truck stop about 20 miles into the state and had some lunch, and rested for a while.  The day was sunny and bright, and the temps were in the early 60s.  We arrived here in Holbrook by about 3 PM and checked into the KOA.  The fellow looked us up on the computer and knew we had been here in March.  He gave us the same site since we are pulling the trailer and it tends to block the road.

I called the RV park in Mesa about 4 PM and announced that we would be there tomorrow, which is 2 days before our reservation on Sunday.  They looked it up, and our site is free, so come on in!!

We are at about 6,000 feet above sea level here, and it is naturally cooler most of the time.  And tonight is no different as we expect to have a low temperature of 27.  That is cool, but not as cold as the 21 we had in Amarillo.  But tomorrow we are headed over the mountains and into the valley.  As you come down the mountain from Payson, you can feel the temperature rise!  We can't wait!

Retired Rod

Onward to Albuquerque!

Well it seems like its late at night, but looking at the clock says its not!  Since we drove into New Mexico today, we had to turn our clocks back the hour that makes it Mountain time!  That was particularly handy, because we lazed around and talked all morning with Mac and Lynette!

We planned on leaving, but had just one more story to tell!  You know, and that led to another story and then another.  But it was finally around noon, when the big wheels began to roll.  As you read this, Lynette will have had her knee surgery on Thursday morning, and we hope for her speedy recovery.

They are camped with some other friends and she also has family right there in town, so I'm sure she will be adequately fussed over while she recovers.  Get better soon Lynette!

So as we rolled into New Mexico at about 12:30, it was particularly nice to wind the watch back to 11:30 to make up for our late start.  We traveled 285 miles today and arrived here in Albuquerque around 4:30. Right in time for the evening rush traffic on I 40.  It can really get bad around the I 25 junction, as folks just pour onto the interstate at every intersection.

They zip out in front of the motorhome and never look a bit at it.  I wonder if they think I can just stop it on a dime?

We had a cool night last night, as we recorded the very coldest temperature we have ever experienced in an RV.  Well in modern times anyway, we used to have a popup years ago that we would camp in, in the snow.  But we were young and dumb back then.  It reached 21 degrees last night in Amarillo, and we had both propane heaters going and the electric space heaters were helping as well.

I stuck a light bulb into the water locker, to help warm up the underside as well. The propane heaters do have a duct under there, and it should work, but I was always a belt and suspenders type of guy!

So nothing was frozen, as we had not connected a hose the night before.  Now tonight here in Albuquerque, we are to have 25 degrees, which will almost seem warm by comparison.  But I put the light bulb back into the water locker just in case.  With the space heaters, the propane heaters don't run as much, so the lockers may not be adequately protected.

We are at the American RV park which is about 5 miles West of Albuquerque on I 40.  This is a nice place with all the amenities that any RV park would have.  Including free popcorn in the Happy hour, and a free continental breakfast.  I think that is a first on the breakfast in our travels for a RV Park.  At least for free anyway.

But the big drawback here is the Interstate traffic noise.  We are right along the frontage road on the South side of the highway.  I asked for a space closer to the back, and did get one somewhat farther away from the road, but the park is largely empty, so there are no rigs between us and the road.  But perhaps it is quieter! LOL.

Tomorrow it is to begin to warm up some across the Southwest, so we are looking forward to that.  It has been fairly warm during the day, but the nights have been quite cold.  So it is the minimum temps that we hope to have warm up!

Travel days all in a row, seem tedious, but we hope to get to Arizona and park the coach for a while anyway.  But remember last year, we got hitch itch and started traveling all over the Southwest.

Retired Rod

Finding friends, by accident!

The RV world is such a small place, as it seems everyone has met most everyone.  And as I read the blog comments from last night, I see that Lynette McHenry had left us a message that she and Mac were at the Oasis Campground in Amarillo and to stop by and see them.  But of course we had stowed the computer, and were on our way about 9 or so this morning, and never saw her comment.

But, since we all read each others blogs, we tend to use the same campgrounds automatically anyway, and that is just how this one played out!  As I was in the office checking into the campground for the really high price of $20 a night, who walks up behind me but Mac!  Small world huh?

We are parked on the East side of them on the very next site, and I am told that Rod and Deb Kendal just left the same site.  It truly is a small world.

It was about 29 degrees overnight in Oklahoma City last night, and since our water hose was stowed, we had no issues with the utilities.  But, RV's don't do colder than freezing very well.  At least none that I have ever had, liked ice much.  This rig tends to leak cold air around the slide gaskets, and especially back under the bed.  We do have double pane windows, so that helps insulate the loss of heat enough that the heater cycles, rather than run all the time.

Also we have a Blue Flame style propane heater in the utility trailer, but generally only use that if we are boondocking, or without electricity for some reason.  We do have some axillary electric space heaters as well, but they are not totally up to the task when it gets below freezing.  We have to use the propane heaters and the space heaters together.

With these thoughts, we expect to reach the forecast low tonight of 24.  We never even attached the hose for the water, as we will just use the onboard tank.  I did throw out the sewer and of course the electric cord.  We like our 50 amps!  LOL   50 amp Kings and Queens!

We headed off after getting set up to go to Home Depot, and then Lowes in search of a 1/2" female hose coupling.  Of course everyone had the 5/8ths but we drove all over town looking for the 1/2 and never did source one!  Finally I purchased a six foot extension hose that was complete. I use this short stub to  connect up under the water locker and extend the connection outside.  Our doors open upward and it is difficult to screw in a long hose while on your hands and knees under the doors.  The more expensive motorhomes have doors that open sideways, and really expensive coaches have doors that extend outward and then upward on arms. Ours are just hinged at the top.

We also went to Wal Mart looking for a replacement of our oil filled Honeywell space heater.  It seems that the older heater fell over while driving one too many times this past year and has broken the thermostat controls.  So if you could get it turned on, it would randomly shut itself down in the middle of the night.  Burr.....  Or the propane heater started running almost constantly.  So now we have a matched set of black oil heaters.   One that works and one that almost works, for a while anyway.

At least the winds here in Amarillo have died down to about 5 mph, and the slide toppers are not flapping as much.  And we are about a mile South of the Interstate so the highway noise is almost non existent.  This would be a nice place to stay for a while, and Mac and Lynette have family here so they plan on doing just that, but we need to get to Mesa, for that all important reservation, so we will probably press onward in the morning towards Albuquerque.  Hopefully we won't freeze down in place here.

Retired Rod

By the way Rick, if  you look at last nights shot of the jet stream, our cold comes from Canada, so please shut the door up there on that arctic deep freeze.  Will ya?