Wanderlust

During our August/September road trip we noticed a few things needed to be fixed, all of which were covered by the warranty. They were mostly minor squawks, but there were some parts they needed to order, so the coach stayed at the dealer for the better part of a month.

Damsel took this photo of the RV headed north on Loop 303 on our way from the dealer in Avondale to our home in Wickenburg. I believe we were going through Litchfield Park at the time of the photo.

The RV is currently parked across the road since we still have not had a contractor come out to level the approach to the RV Drive where the monsoons washed out a lot of sand and gravel. We have to do this so the undercarriage of the RV won’t drag on the ground causing who knows what kind of damage.

There is also a possibility that I can back the RV up the main driveway by the garage in the reverse of when we take it down that way when we are headed out. It will be a team effort for me to back up the driveway while Damsel guides me from outside. We have a couple of little Uniden FRS/GMRS Radios to communicate while we’re doing that.

We will decide when and if we need to do the latter if the cost of fixing the road is such that it may take us some time to save up for it.

We arrived at this campground this afternoon after taking I-25 from Raton, in northern Mew Mexico, down to I-40 and west to the west side of Albuquerque. After passing Santa Fe, the traffic increased by a significant factor and, of course, when getting to Albuquerque, it doubled again.

We stopped for supplies on the way in Las Vegas (the other one). We wanted to purchase some beer and a bottle of wine at the Walmart, but there is a screwy ordinance that forbids sale of adult beverages within a certain distance form schools or churches. Weird.

Since this trip started, one of the daily chores has been to debug the huge windscreen of the RV. I have a scrubber on a long pole which gets dipped in soapy water and that gets followed up with a rinse from the hose and then the long pole squeegee comes out to finish the job. Trouble is, the next drive is only an hour underway and the windscreen is again littered with numerous flying insects.

We are still having a lot of fun even though the trip will be over soon. One more stop in Holbrook, AZ, tomorrow, and then the leg home.

Today, after “gettin’ outa Dodge,” we headed west on US 50 along the route to our next stop. The trip was mostly uneventful, with a little rain an hour into the drive with clearing the rest of the way.

The road west on US 50 took us through numerous little Kansas and Colorado towns. All very scenic with the usual crops, cattle feed lots and creeks, rivers and railways.

At one point, Damsel had her camera pointed at a passing BNSF locomotive with flatcars behind. The crew must have seen her with the camera, because when they passed us, they blew the diesel electric rig’s deafening horn. That startled us at first but then we both laughed. There was no RR crossing when they did that.

We’re now parked in the KOA and enjoying our evening. Tomorrow, we visit some more ancestors’ graves in Pueblo, CO and then on south into New Mexico.

Camping in Dodge City, KS tonight. Nice RV campground, named “Gunsmoke.” Roads in the campground are named Chester Avenue, Matt Dillon Drive, Miss Kitty Lane, among others, taking us back several decades to the TV series by the same name. Nostalgic,to say the least.

We have had good weather and minimal delays for road work the last two days on our route. Tomorrow, we will be heading into Colorado where the forecast is for possible rain and thunderstorms, but we have traveled through those earlier on the journey with no ill effects. Still having fun, relaxing and enjoying life on the road.