New Mexico in the rear view mirror, Arizona in the windshield

The sign to Canyon RV Park in Williams, Arizona

It was moving day today. Sadly our time in Albuquerque came to an end, but the memories will linger for a long, long time. Again, a big thanks to our local hosts, Terry and Susan, for their help, dinner and tour guide efforts.

We would not have seen all the things we did without their help in such a short time. We look forward to a return visit as soon as next year.

Our climb out of Albuquerque was steep, but not too slow. The prevailing winds were from the east and that helped us keep the gas mileage about 10 mpg today. We added more than 2,000-feet in altitude between our start this morning and our pass through Flagstaff about 3 p.m.

The RV park office

Our highest elevation today was 7,335-feet in Flagstaff.

Again the Tahoe performed flawlessly and while our speed fell to 55 mph at times on the hills, I never had to floor the car and the rpms and engine and transmission temperatures were all within normal ranges. Temperatures climbed to 85 during our traverse of Arizona this afternoon, but again, no problems.

Well, one problem. Most of the gas stations we use are large travel centers, but even then for rigs as large as ours and fifth wheels it is still a little bit of a challenge to make your way in and out of those stations safely and without bending our vehicle or those of others.

Some of the motel rooms are former railcars

Most people are very courteous and take care of the fueling business as quickly as possible so as to free up the end pumps for the larger rigs. In our case when I pull up to a pump I quickly take care of the fueling and then move the rig to a large parking area away from the pumps to free up the fueling station for the next RV.

But every so often you come across a person who, despite seeing another large vehicle waiting, will walk the dog, visit the restroom, buy their lunch and generally drive me nuts while I am waiting behind them, usually blocking an entire driveway, while they dilly dally.

Another motel room

At a Love’s Travel Center in Arizona, we had a man who did all the above holding us up for an unreasonable amount of time. I wanted to get out and give him a lesson, but my loving and patient wife prevailed on me to not make a scene. So I just boiled over, the only boil over of the day, in my driver’s seat.

So, if you are reading this and you are one of those inconsiderate people who think only of yourself. Try a new approach.

Our campsite view to the south

We're preparing to duck tomorrow to avoid any space junk falling from the sky. Unfortunately my Sky Lab helmet from the 1980s has been misplaced. I remember all the hype from that event as well.

Joan noted an increase in clouds as we headed west and a complete change in scenery from high desert to our current forested location, which is in Williams, Arizona just south of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We set up quickly at the Canyon Motel and RV Park (see photos).

Joan made us a special chicken dinner “in house” and she is looking forward to the start of the new season of “Grey’s Anatomy” tonight on ABC.

With all the activity of the past few days and the long travel to get us here, tomorrow is going to be a day to chill and get some laundry and chores done around the trailer. Sightseeing will resume on Saturday. I may even have a chance to do a little reading tomorrow. Yeah!

Mileage out: 76923

Time out: 8:45 a.m. (Mountain time)

Mileage in: 77297

Time in: 2:45 p.m. (Arizona-Pacific time – Arizona is the only state that does not observe Daylight Savings Time. Interestingly the Reservations in the state do observe Daylight Savings Time so that should make things interesting.)