Home again....

25 Feb 2010
Up shortly before 07:00. Took Sammie for a long walk. We consider it her birthday as well so bought her a toy last night. We'll give it to her when we stop tonight.

Had a breakfast buritto with some of the last new tortillas - 09:00 - gotta dump the gray water & get on the road.
.
.
.
Had a long day to Fort Stockton, TX. The excitement was just before we got out of town. We were going along in the slow lane and came up an overpass to find a really mangled extension ladder in our lane! Happily there was no one directly next to us in the fast lane so I zipped over there; some guy had to wait a moment or two to pass us but I'm sure he understood. He certainly didn't try to pass us in our previous lane and drive over that ladder.

Stopped at the same PA park in Fort Stockton that we used on the way east. They still haven't fixed their internet; glad I don't have to hold my breath. To celebrate our 'special day' we had cheese and pate with some nice bread that we did in the convection oven; it worked pretty well but timing it was as much luck as planning. My wife fell asleep almost as soon as we stopped eating; went to bed about 19:30! I stayed up a bit more watching the Olympics but was in bed by 21:30.



3:31 PM 2/26/2010
Landed in Deming, NM about 20 minutes ago; we are in the Mountain Time Zone now. Fairly long day; some of the roads were pretty rough; especially the bridges. El Paso was as crapy as ever; too many people, cars & trucks on the one road through town. There was an accident that closed down part of the freeway but they had a radio announcement so we got in the far left lane and was just stop-and-go for 20 minutes or so.

We stayed in this park as well on the way east. That time they parked us in the middle of a big puddle; it's all dry this time but it isn't a lot better. The problem is that there isn't any real difference between the space and the roadway. It's a disappointment since this is an Escapees park and they are normally fantastic.

We are talking about making it a three day trip to get home. Stop in Casa Grande; then Congress, AZ; then Kingman, AZ, The first two are Escapees parks; the Kingman one is a PA park and is actually out in Green Valley (half way to Bullhead).


2/27/2010
Decided that making it a two day trip was what we wanted. It means we'll hit both Phoenix and Las Vegas on a weekend day; and it gets us home a day earlier important since we are getting a little travel-weary.

We wanted to get fuel before leaving Deming; across from the park was a gas station - diesel was $3.29 a gallon! We didn't think that was very good so spent a few minutes driving through Deming. Finally found a place with diesel for $2.79 a gallon - a $.50 difference! We wanted about 30 gallons so were pretty happy with finding the cheaper fuel.

Drove from Deming, NM to Congress, AZ - quite a long day but it's mostly freeway and we know the road so it wasn't too bad. Got into Congress just before the rain; got set up in record time. While I walked the dog it started raining. Had a quiet night watching the Olympics.


2/28/2010
Got up knowing we would be home tonight. Looking forward to that.

Had a rainy night but by 07:30 the next morning it was wet but at least not raining. Whew! Drained the blackwater (toilet stuff) then the graywater (showers & dishwashing stuff). All went smoothly; sometimes it's not that cool. Got hooked up and headed out. The trip from Congress north was very pretty. LOTS of great views; unfortunately lots of hills too. Glad we have that big diesel truck.

It was a nice trip though. Stopped at Kingman, AZ for fuel and lunch. Fuel is at least 10 cents a gallon more than on our trip east only a month ago. Lunch was Popeye's chicken: worked really well for me; not sure my wife was as happy. (She tries to stay away from fried foods.)

Had another almost-accident while driving through Las Vegas. We were going along in the slow lane where there was an exit lane next to us. Suddenly a little red car came around passing us on the right (the exit lane)! I had to slow but they made it. If they had mis-calculated just a bit, we'd have been driving home in a rental car.

Got home to find that the rain we'd had in AZ was here too. We have water sitting in the ditch in front of the house. I backed the trailer into the yard only to find that the rain made the ground really soft. It is the first time I've had to use the 4-wheel drive on the truck! It worked though; the trailer is installed next to the house where we can unload it over the next couple of days.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story! Yesterday, when we opened the slide there was kind of a 'sproing' that my wife says happened when the slide caught the carpeting inside the rig. I was outside and heard it but didn't see it. So when we got home I tried opening the slide with her watching inside. In a moment, she yelled 'stop!' - the slide was gouging a tear in the flooring! SOOO, I'm going to be calling the dealer tomorrow. Glad this didn't happen 2,000 miles away from a dealer.

The trip was great. We got to see even more of the family than we expected; we got to see our ex-neighbors; and we got to visit a few new places like the Space Center. Very successful. The truck performed perfectly; I'll be scheduling a service now that we are home. The trailer was also great. No problems until we made it home so who can complain about that?

Have a good day.