We had several days, actually weeks, to get our motorhome
ready for our 1200-mile trip from Nacogdoches, TX to Cottonwood, AZ but, as
usual, we kept putting it off. We didn’t start packing until the day we were
leaving (3/19/15). I ran a perfunctory check of the motorhome to make sure all
systems were go but we were still taking a big chance because it had been sitting in
storage for months. It seemed that our biggest problem was that our state
inspection sticker had expired six months previously. No problem, we could stop
on the way out of town and get it inspected. It should only take about 15
minutes max.
We captured three of our cats, crated them, and took them
out to the motorhome and were finally ready to leave. We pulled away from the
house about 2:00 PM and headed for the inspection station. The 15 minutes
turned into about two hours because they were so busy. When they finally got to
me, the mechanic didn’t even bother to look at the motorhome. He simply issued
the new sticker, probably because by then the heavens had opened and a hard
rain was falling.
Before leaving the inspection station we began hooking up
our car. That’s when I discovered that the air hose connecting the car brakes
to the motorhome brakes was missing from the front of the car. A couple of
weeks ago the car’s front bumper had been replaced and the air hose connection
had not been remounted. We hurried to the body shop in hopes they could correct
the oversight before they closed. We made it and they fished around behind the
grill, located the air hose, and remounted it under the front bumper. At 4:30
PM we were finally on the road. Only 1200 miles to go!
We stopped for the night at a Pilot truck stop around 6:00
PM and sandwiched ourselves between two 18-wheelers with about two feet of
clearance on each side. We had made it as far as Tyler, TX, only 88 miles from
our starting point. Quite a first day!
On Thursday morning 3/20/15, after a noisy night in the
truck stop, we were not fueled and on the road until almost 10:30 AM. Our goal
for the day was Amarillo and the Oasis RV Park up in the Panhandle. For the
first 200 miles we drove in and out (mostly in) of heavy rain and were delayed
by two accidents and road construction near Fort Worth. We stopped in a rest
area around 2:00 PM and had lunch. We were behind schedule (as usual), which
meant a late arrival in Amarillo. We were further delayed as we were not on the
interstate any longer and had to slow down through the many small towns along
the route. One of these towns was Quanah, TX, which I made fun of in my blog a
couple of years ago and was severely scolded in a comment by one of its
residents. As we entered the town I saw the sign that inspired me to mention it
in my blog back then. The sign read, “Puka Lives Here.” I won’t say anything else,
as I don’t wish to be scolded again. You can check my post of August 19, 2012 if
interested.
At 5:30 that afternoon we were still at least two hours,
perhaps two and a half, from the Oasis RV Park so we stopped where we have
stopped before when unable to make Amarillo before dark. It was the Cotton Gin
Old Towne RV Park in Goodlett, TX, a place that may be hard to find on a map,
as there is only an old cotton gin and the rv park. It wasn’t the Oasis RV Park
but was still somewhat of an oasis in the rather desolate panhandle of Texas.
When we pulled into the park we had traveled a total of 416 miles from Nacogdoches.
Not very impressive for what should have been two days of driving.
At 9:05 AM on Saturday we left Goodlett intent on making up
some time. We pulled into the New Mexico welcome center on I-40 for lunch a
little before 1:00 PM. We were 205 miles closer to Cottonwood. We were back on
the road after lunch with intentions to make it all the way to Gallup, NM
before stopping and parking in a Walmart parking lot for the night. Driving was
somewhat tedious because of the huge number of 18-wheelers. I was leap-frogging
from convoy to convoy. I would settle in with a group until it began to slow
down and I would move on ahead to the next group. Every time I passed another
vehicle I would have to use my passenger-side mirror to judge the distance and
pull back in without the car we were towing being too close to the vehicle we
were passing. Each time it seemed I had to readjust the mirror (remote control
thank goodness) in order to see properly. It finally got to the point that I
could not adjust it any longer and pulled into a rest area to investigate. I
found the mirror was loose on the arm extending from the RV. The setscrews
holding it in place had been stripped and the mirror was being turned by the
wind. I knew immediately why the screws were stripped. While the motorhome had
been in its covered storage parking our “neighbor” in the space next to us kept
a rather large ski boat and trailer stored. The boat had some kind of aluminum
“outriggers” (I don’t know what else to call them) attached to the sides of the
boat. I assume they had something to do with pulling skiers. Unfortunately, the
guy wasn’t very good when it came to towing his boat. Several times, as he was
pulling it out of his storage space, one of the “outriggers” would hit the side
mirror of my motorhome, pushing it out of adjustment. I would reposition it,
complain to the manager, and leave a nasty note on the boat (I never saw anyone
with the boat). This happened three or four times (I’m too kind hearted) before
I sent a letter to the storage company owner to inform them that I would hold
them responsible for any damage done if they continued to allow the boat owner
to hit my mirror. I also threatened to call the police and report it as
vandalism. In the end, I was moved to a new space and nothing more done. After
these several months I now knew that damage had indeed been done. For the
moment all I could do was get out my Gorilla Tape and wrap the mirror housing
and arm in it to keep it from moving.
I was still determined to make Gallup, mirror, or no mirror.
Fortunately, the tape held. I began following an 18-wheel flatbed trailer that
was carrying what appeared to be large metal boxes. After following it for some
time I became curious and began inching up closer in an attempt to see what he
was hauling. I was finally close enough to see a small circle that looked like
a pie cut in six equal slices. The slices were alternating colors of orange and
black. It was beginning to dawn on my what the symbol indicated when I read the
small print next to it. “DANGER: RADIATION.” I quickly passed him and moved on
up the road what I considered a safe distance!
We kept driving and made it to Gallup. We were both very
tired when we exited I-40 to find the Walmart. I managed to miss it and had to
find a place to turn around. The motorhome with car attached is a total length
of approximately fifty-four feet. It doesn’t turn on a dime. In the end I had
to block a four-lane highway to make a U-turn. I pulled into a Home Depot
parking lot because we could see a Walmart sign in the distance but did not
know how to get to it. I got out of the RV, approached a man, pointed at the
Walmart sign, and asked how to get there. He seemed a bit confused and wasn’t
making much sense to me. Finally, he pointed to the building adjacent to Home
Depot and said, “That brown building right there is Walmart!” Feeling like an
idiot we crossed the Home Depot lot into the Walmart lot and parked for the
night. It was 7:00 PM and we had driven a total of 977 miles, 561 of them in
ten hours of driving that day.
Sunday morning (3/22/15) we were in no hurry. We only had
another 252 miles to go and weren’t expected until around 3:30 in the
afternoon. We left at either 10:15 or 9:15 AM (we weren’t sure because we
didn’t know what time zone we were in). For many miles across Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona and on to the coast I presume, I-40 parallels the old historic
Route 66. It was not unusual to spot old buildings that were once thriving
businesses before I-40 took away the traffic from Route 66. One such building
was an old RV park, its faded sign identifying it as, “Root [sic] 66 RV Park.”
When we crossed into Arizona we stopped at the state’s
welcome center for an Arizona road map and some brochures of attractions in the
Sedona-Cottonwood area. The place looked busy and the parking lot was almost
full. We parked and walked over to the welcome center’s entrance and discovered
the door was locked. A sign on the door read, “OPEN MONDAY – FRIDAY, 8:30 AM to
4:30 PM.” It was Sunday. The state’s welcome centers are not open on weekends
when most tourists are traveling? Very strange. There were some maps in a box
beside the door so it wasn’t a total bust.
We left I-40 at Flagstaff and headed south on I-17, past
Sedona, and got off at the Verde Valley exit. The RV park was another 15 miles
or so. We were using the GPS on Carol Ann’s phone and were told to make a right
turn on East Thousand Trails Drive (location of the Thousand Trails RV Park).
We made the turn but realized the road sign just read, “Thousand Trails Drive,”
without the “East.” There were no RV Park signs either. Nothing to lead us to
believe this was the correct road. We decided to get back on the highway and
drive a little further, hoping to find East Thousand Trails Drive. A few miles
later we discovered that Carol Ann’s phone battery was dead and the map was no
help. We turned around, went back, and turned on the Thousand Trails Drive
without the East and it turned out to be correct. After 1228 total miles and 21
hours and 59 minutes of driving time we had made it. In two weeks we have to
turn around and do it again, in reverse.
