Relaxation Done - Driving into Arizona

 

The Enchanted Trails RV Park is a very friendly (starts with owners and staff) and one of our favorite Commercial RV Parks.  If it only had grass...but at 5,400 feet in the dessert like atmosphere, it just isn't feasible.

Many of the RV Campsites have some sort of vegetation separating it from neighbors.

Our visit did include a couple of hiccups.  First, the wind blew from around 9 am till 9 pm each day...with some gust up in the 30 mph range (see flag above).  Second, there are some fires which brought smoke into the valley, despite the winds which should have blown it out again.  Its just that the smoke kept coming in that it looked like it stayed.  Last, it was a bit cold on Tuesday and Wednesday nights...down in the lower 30's.  But the sun was out each day, and had it not been for the wind, it would have felt very comfortable during the day.

We got on the road about 7:45 with another sunny morning, and lots of trucks and traffic on both sides of the road...just can't see them on our side right now.

I have always enjoyed driving I-40 through New Mexico.  The scenery seems to change as the miles go by, some of it in the distance, some of it pretty close.

After perhaps 15 miles on the road, all of the sudden our GPS/CD/DVD/Radio goes out on us.  What it says on the screen is, "DC Offset Error" in the upper left  and "Protect" in the middle. My first thought was our alternator is kicking out too much juice...but my cigarette connection voltage reader showed a 13.9 to 14.9 reading, depending if I put our headlights on, turned up the heater fan, and stuff like that. 

Do you know how many times I still looked down at the GPS to see how our progress is coming.  Can you say, "Dave is ADDICTED to the GPS in the Motorhome!"

We start just about every day of our driving listening to Alabama's "Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel Favorites" CD.  (Been doing this since 2014)  Now it is all silent...even the EVIL, I mean, "The Nice GPS LADY" who tells you that your exit is coming, or it is time to merge when two freeways merge together, or who...and this happens a lot, tells you to get back on the pathway (because the Highway has been upgraded and although I am driving on the new highway, she thinks I am driving in a field or something like that)...even she is silent.  I miss her already.

Meanwhile, we keep driving and enjoy the scenery.  There was one 'quick' stop along an exit (coffee does that to you), and I used that time to do a quick search on our "DC Offset Error"   "Protect" error.  One YouTube shows a guy taking the unit out, unplugging it, and plugging it back in to fix the error.  My first thought was "Why can't I just disconnect the battery and achieve the same result.?"  The second YouTube did exactly that...so I figured that when I got to Flying J to put 46 gallons of gas ($180 worth) I would disconnect the battery while the gas flowed in (and the $$$$$ flowed out of the credit card).

GREAT!  It worked!!!!   So off we go, guided by the most wonderful female voice in any GPS, and...less than 5 miles down the road....it went out again!  Darn that evil voice...it is gone again!!!!

So we continue to enjoy the scenery, we scoot through Gallup, and quickly coming to the end of New Mexico.

The Navajo have set up a nice "last stop in New Mexico" including places to get all sorts of Indian Jewelry, Food, Clothing, and such.

The two pictures above are of the same 'Rock'.  They have even included fake animals up on the rock...makes a very interesting scene.

Above is the same rock but from a different view.

And then it all comes to an end and into Arizona we come.  The thing is...I like driving through Arizona too.  😉

All the while I am thinking about the GPS problem.  In one of the YouTubes the guy said he was unsure WHY you get the error, but his research said that it could be a speaker wire shorting, it could be a power line acting up...seems there could be a lot of reasons.  So as we came to the first decent Truck Stop, I stop and rest the GPS again by disconnecting the battery.  This time, we are going to ONLY use the GPS portion...no CD, no Radio, nothing else.  

And it works for the next twenty miles.  So I chance the radio...and it works.  So I chance the thumb drive through the USB, and it works.  So we think it is the CD player that is causing this...will wait until we get to my sisters to worry about it any further.

With only 1,100 miles left from the Enchanted Trails RV Park to Citrus Heights where my sister lives, we decided to keep our drives down to the 250-300 mile mark.  Our destination today was the Meteor Crater RV Park about 15 miles east of Winslow.  This is another park we have stopped at a few times, and is typically quiet.  Suppose to drop into the lower 30's by morning, but we are prepared for it with only electricity hooked up.  Tomorrow we should just be into California, with 560 miles left to go after that.

Lazy Days and Lazy Nights - Albuquerque, NM

First, we had to GET to Albuquerque New Mexico

Here is a look at the Double D RV Park that we stayed in at the Oklahoma-Texas Boarder.  Nice little park, and we had it all to ourselves.  $14 Passport America price.

It only took us a minute or two before we were into Texas.  Saw this cloud formation outside my window which looks very interesting.

 

The Texas Information-Rest Area is a typical "LARGE" Texas rest area.  Things really are bigger in Texas.  (Bigger does not mean better...) 

With the winds that are always in Texas, there are numerous windmill death traps along the highway.

The largest free standing cross in the western hemisphere, located along interstate 40 in Groom Texas. The cross,  erected in 1995, is 19 stories tall, and can be seen from as far as 25 miles away.

 

It only took a couple of hours, and a fill-up in Amarillo, to get into New Mexico.  

I-40 in Oklahoma/Texas/New Mexico follows what is referred to as the California Road (not the California Trail which is further north along I-80).  It was another route, not used as much, to the California Gold Fields.

The rest of the route in New Mexico was just full of wind.  I could not help but remember the time back in 2016 when our fuel pump went out along I-40 in New Mexico.  THAT was an experience we don't wish to relive...but the longer your RV the more likely something like that is going to happen again.

As I said yesterday, this if our fourth time at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post.  They don't seem to have as many 'iconic' older cars and RVs as they did before...probably couldn't say no to a goo offer that someone made.  It is still a nice park, and there are still a lot of older RVs, cars, tractors, and other stuff.

Indy and I sat out in the wind, in the front of the motorhome which blocked most of the wind, for a good hour.  She saw some birds, a half dozen dogs, one of which was of the Pitt Bull bread, but she was very nice to anyone and anything that came by.  She wished the smaller dogs would have come closer, she would have loved to have played.

Here you can see her sitting on my lap, and the wind has blown her face pretty good.  Took her for a walk down the doggie walk and she did her business, so I won't have to worry about letting her out again at 2:30 am as I did last night.  Hard to drive so much and keep on a potty schedule.

Tomorrow will be laundry day, and more R&R.  Looks like we are on track to be in California sometime Sunday or Monday, God willing.

Made it to Albuquerque

After a Nice, Quiet, Solitude night's sleep (outside of windy) we were up and out of there by 7:15.  By 3 pm (we gained an hour) we pulled into the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post, a park we have been to in 2016, 2019 & 2020 (about a month before we got Indy), so this is our 4th visit.  It really is a nice park, and it marks another park that all three of our dogs have been to now.

For the last four long drives (Thursday, Friday, Sunday & today) I have been fighting a hard headwind.  My hands hurt from the constant grip on the steering wheel...that's no joke.  We are going to be here for three nights.  Had hoped to have the A/C looked at, but it seems the techs are so busy, and the best one said up front that getting a Capacitor would take much longer than our stay here...perhaps a week.

Will post a longer post on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

PS: There was harsh weather today in Oklahoma and Arkansas....we made the right move.

 

(This was part of the noon news for today, fox weather)

Calmness Sets In–Albuquerque

   

Called Duke City Automotive at 9:30 am, the motorhome is ready to pick up. We arrived around 10:30, and by noon we were fueled up and sitting in the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post in west Albuquerque, up on top of the large hill heading out of town. 

Before we left Duke City, I managed to get a picture of “shy” Carlos (can’t show his face) holding the old fuel pump, and Aaron Messer, the head guy there, getting my keys off the board.

Although expensive, these fuel pumps, especially from the factory, are not cheap.  This pump ran $540, and they also put in a new fuel filter, and with labor and tax ($93), everything came to $1389.

All said, we could not be more pleased with the work done, their speedy service, and we are once again back on the road.  When these RVs are put together, many “after market” items, such as levelers, don’t take into account “what happens when a mechanic has to get into a gas tank.”  In our case, the back levelers had to be removed, and the mounting brackets, which is welded onto the frame of the motorhome, barely allowed for the removal of the gas tank.  Aaron said that they have had to cut off the brackets and weld on new ones once the job was finished.  And mechanic wages for working on motorhomes are more than a mechanic working on a car…so yes, it does get expensive.  That is part of the RV lifestyle.

We will be staying at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post for three nights.  This time of the year the park is about half empty.  In the above picture you can see the flag...it shows a light breeze, way down from the heavy winds we have had these past four to five days.  But if you thought the “wind” has been playing havoc on your driving in the Southwest these past few days, just look at what it has done to this RV park.

 

  

There are tumbleweeds all over the place.  Those are all loose tumbleweeds along the fence. They are under RVs, under tables, under trees, and many just laying around.  When the lady apologized for the tumbleweeds when I checked in, I told her that with these winds I totally understand.  Did not know that I would need to clear my pad of them just to pull in…but they are light and easy for me to move (Marcia's cane came in handy...turned it upside down and just scooted them out of the way), which is why the wind moves them along so easily.  I also had seen something on the news last night about the high number of tumbleweeds due to the high amount of rain New Mexico has received over this past year.

    

One of the lures of this park is the vintage trailers and old cars that they have on display.  In fact, the vintage trailers are available for nightly rentals, and if interested in the types and prices, visit this page.

After a eight days of more than 2000 miles of driving, visiting friends and relatives, and being towed for 65 miles…we are ready for a bit of a “rest” as we wait for our travel window to open again.  As explained in yesterday’s posting, our tow service requires a three day wait between tows…and although we don’t expect to need the tow service again, one never knows.  At least now we will arrive in Sacramento with only some dirty laundry instead of a bunch of dirty laundry…luckily the park has a nice laundry facility to we intend to use.

And look what we are having for dinner cousin Casey!!!  How did you know Marcia had precooked up some BBQ for our trip???   It sure taste great!