This is my 7th annual trip down this road and there’s never been snow on it. I’ll have to dig out an old video to compare it to. Too bad I didn’t get the perpendicular car on film.
Adventures in RVing
A lot sure has happened since I had an internet connection capable of posting my blog.
Saturday was a fun filled day. Everything was going smoothly until Dad noticed we had a leak. At first he thought it was a hydraulic leak, but it turned out to be a leak in the fuel line. We spent a good couple of hours at a truck and RV repair shop, which was conveniently located very close to where we were. Fortunately the weather was nice enough to open a window and get a breeze going through. Some random facts that I feel like sharing: we were waiting behind a semi truck hauling honey bees, so there were bees flying all about; and there are celebrity type RVs that have gotten fixed there, most recently Lee Ann Womac.
After getting repaired we were on the road again. We made it all the way to Grants, NM… where it was cold and snowing. We had dinner at the Iron Skillet where we over heard someone say Flagstaff would be getting 2 feet of snow by the end of Sunday. Not the type of thing one wants to hear. After dinner we hit the hay for the evening.
When Gena got up this morning she checked the weather. The forcast called for 18″ of snow to hit Flagstaff, so we decided to head out right away. Flagstaff was 200 miles from where we were. After a bit of driving the clouds broke. The sky was blue and the sun was hot. Around 1:00 the wind became brutal. We pulled off the side of the road to make chili for lunch and see if the winds would let up. Right after stopping some angry truckers came through on the CB radio complaining about the whitewash in Flagstaff and warning each other to not stop if they wanted to make it through. Our hungry bellies would have to wait, we were traveling on.
We hadn’t traveled very far onward when the awning on the drivers side started flapping around. With the nearest exit 9 miles ahead, Dad drove halfway on the shoulder with the hazards on until we could pull into an emergency vehicle turn around in the middle of the freeway. The situation was dire, as metal bar was broken off one side of the RV and the awning itself was torn halfway off. Since there was no way to fix it or bring it with, we ripped it off and Dad tossed it in the ditch. On we went again.
Soon it was snowing pretty badly, the plows were out and people were pulled off to the side of the road. We went down the windy hills of Sedona in the same fashion. The painted hills were now painted with snow, and the tops of the mountains hidden in the fog. Not quite the same view of the red rocks on the background of a Robin’s egg blue sky that I’m used to. Lani hid under a blanket through the hills, while Gena and I hovered over the dash and took pictures. We came around a hairpin turn and saw a car over the guard rail in nose down position. It was a great photo op, but we were traveling too fast to capture it.
Now we are at our campground. Fortunately they have wireless internet here, because my Sprint card isn’t working well. Unfortunately we can’t slide out the side of the RV because of the awning missing, so things will be quite crammed tonight. At least we have showers.
More pics in the gallery.
In the middle of BFK
The driving portion of day two is finally over. We were on the road for about 13, less grocery store time. Dad is feeling much better today. I’ve had a bit of motion sickness, but nothing too terrible. Lani took a wicked digger. Broken nails, skinned toes, beaten and bruised, but still emotionally stable.
We’re spending the night at a Shell Station in Liberal, Kansas (home of Dorothy). I’ve got no complaints, as my wireless connection here is going strong. No pigs. No cows (we were joined by cows last night as well).
I’m going to do some web surfing for now and read all the love emails from my husband. Oh wait, Nick hasn’t sent me any emails all day :(. I wonder how Boo is doing. I hope she was fed a can of cat food today… chopped up all nice like she likes it. A little top off of her dry food perhaps. Fresh water. Clean box.
On the road again…
… just can’t wait to get on the road again…
Day one of our annual RV trip to Arizona. Gena flew in to Mpls this morning and I picked her up from the airport a little after noon. My dad and Lani showed up in the RV and we were on the road by 3:30. Unfortunately Dad wasn’t feeling so great and got struck with the flu. Our original plans were to make it to Cameron, but we feel about 400 miles short and stopped in some rinky dink town in Iowa around 6:00. Fortunately there is a Subway and a Kum & Go gas station that sells giant cups of coffee. So we’re still in freezing weather, but it beats Dad having to pay a visit to the porcelain goddess (aka garbage can) while driving.
Hopefully he’ll get some rest and be in tip top shape in the morning. Until then it’s computing, books and sudoku puzzles for us gals.
Oh great, a semi full of screaming pigs just pilled in next to us. I’m serious. Completely serious. If I smell then, I’ll be vomiting.