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)

From Sunset to Albuquerque

After the fourth storm went through last night, that only had four of five hail stones hitting the motorhome, we ate our dinner and then there was this wonderful sunset.  We had one of our better nights sleep since leaving Florida, temps were in the low 60's, perhaps high 50's.  It was very quiet...almost too quiet.  We put one of our favorite DVD movies on (Secondhand Lions) to watch on the bedroom TV, and I was out within 10 minutes

We hit the road by 8 am, got through Amarillo without a problem, and we get back to the Texas Scenery. 

Not too long and we see a very large feedlot.  With yesterday's rain, and a good morning breeze, the fragrant odor was very tolerable.  Of course, a good rancher would say, "It is just the smell of money" ... they say the same thing about the smelly paper mills scattered around the south, including outside Pine Bluff Arkansas where I lived in the area for 22 years.

And then there is the Windmill Farm...hundreds of windmills.  I must say that I was impressed at how many of the windmills we have seen this trip actually were spinning.

In my last posting I talked about the many Picnic Areas that you find along the Texas Highways.  In other states, such as Arkansas, they just call them Truck Parking Areas.  Nothing fancy at all.

But at least most of them in Texas do have picnic tables.  No bathrooms though.

We finally hit "Mile Zero" and enter into New Mexico.  Had we stayed on I-10 and entered and exited Texas, it would have been a 880 trip. The route we took was just 600 miles.  No matter how you do it, Texas is one long trip UNLESS you enter and exit on I-40, then it is only 180 miles or so.

The scenery changes very quickly now that we are in New Mexico.  It makes the drive more enjoyable, and includes more picture taking.  Since entering Texas, we have gone up over 3,000 feet.  By the time we start heading down the hill into Albuquerque, we are at the 6,600 foot level.  We then drop to the 5,300 foot level as we come into Albuquerque.

We tried to find a park up in the higher altitude...but they were all full.  A few times we have stopped at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post, just west of Albuquerque.  They had plenty of openings...but perhaps it looks that way because they are spacing the RVs out due to the COVID scare. I hooked up the electric, and nothing came on.  I knew I was having connection problems with the female portion that plugs into the motorhome, and thank goodness Camping World was right next door.  $65 later I have an adapter.  As I pay he asks me for my phone.  I give it to him, and then immediately said, "No, I don't want to renew."  I was really hoping to get to Arny's and order a new cord with the proper adapters, which would have only cost $45 through Amazon.  I will now convert the old cord to an RV Extension Cord, which will run another $15 or so.  Thank goodness I already had a 50' extension to go with the new overly expensive adapter that I just bought, so we were in business within 30 minutes of figuring out the problem.

NOTE: Since I have written a few posts about Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post, I am not doing that today.  You can read about previous posts, and see the many vintage RVs and old cars if you wish by clicking here.

 

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Emergency Engine Derate – 5 MPH Max

At Roadrunner Campground, Lake Pleasant, Phoenix AZ

No, not us…it was the semi-truck right around Laguna Pueblo New Mexico.  We started our day at 6 am, leaving the Enchanted Trails RV Park by 6:30, full of gas and coffee from the nearby Love’s and on the road again by 6:45.  About 35 miles down the highway, I suddenly come upon a Semi-Trailer going 5 mph, lights flashing, in the right lane.  Now in this particular area, due to the hills being illuminated by the morning sun, it was a bit hard to notice the truck going so slow, and hard to see its flashing lights.  With a few cars and semis coming up behind me in the left lane, I had to put on my brakes, I hit my emergency blinkers, and when safe, made it around the 5 mph truck.  A “Dangerous Situation” Marcia and I said as we went by…he had at least another mile and a half to the nearest exit, and there is NOTHING at that exit.  I had my eyes set on a rest area near the Sky City Casino about 15 miles from where this truck was going so slow, it was time feed the dogs.  That rest area was closed, but the casino had parking.

We were there for perhaps 15-20 minutes, and got back on the Interstate.  Within 5 minutes we see a police car headed east, lights and sirens going.  Hmm, wonder what that is?  Another few minutes and we see another headed east with lights and sirens….gee, I wonder?  I look on Google Maps, traffic mode, and sure enough there is a red line in that area where we passed the truck.  About 5 minutes later two more police, lights and sirens…one a unmarked car, go by east bound.  An hour later we do a google search on “New Mexico” “I-40” “crash” limiting the search to the past hour…and news station KRQE has a small alert about I-40 being shut down with the following map…

Follow up articles don’t include much, there is no mention of a semi going slow or even being involved in the wreck.  But my theory is that the semi had a DEF failure, which puts the engine into Derate Mode, giving the driver just enough energy to get the big-rig off to the side of the road or to the nearest exit.  Since the truck surprised me, I am sure it surprised other, less cautious drivers.  Someone either hit it, or lost control trying not to hit it, causing a wreck which shut I-40 down westbound for about 6 hours.  I wish I could say that was the only crazy thing about Friday’s drive…but nope.  As we came to a construction zone, they shut the left lane down.  I look in my mirror and see a car way back there, coming on fast.  NO WAY, he is not trying to pass me before this merger is he…but he does not slow down.  The left lane is already collapsing to the right lane, and he is still coming.  I don’t change speed and goes shooting by at 75 mph in what is now a 55 mph zone with just inches to spare…just to slam on his breaks since the truck in front of me is less than a tenth of a mile in front of me.  Of course, he did get to hear the sound of my horn.  Funny thing, after the freeway went back to two westbound lanes, he did not go above the speed limit.  I think his wife was a bit irritated with him for putting them, and us, in danger.  I think I heard her yelling all the way back from my safe driving distance…

We made it to Lake Pleasant by 2:30 (gained an hour due to Arizona not, in campsite by 3.  This is our second time here, and being a weekend, it is FULL.  Three nights with reservation cost $104.00, but that is much less than an RV park in Phoenix, and those RV parks don’t get these views.

  

Lake Pleasant reservoir is part of the CAP (Central Arizona Project) to provide water to Phoenix.  Most the water in Lake Pleasant comes from the Colorado River, being diverted near Lake Havasu into an aqueduct that runs towards Phoenix, and the Waddell Canal diverts some of that water to Lake Pleasant where it is stored until it is needed, usually in the summer months.  This year, the lake is very full.

  

The views from the campground include numerous desert views too…

Along with a sunset view from my easy chair just outside the window.