We ate outside for dinner: Do not try this at home

Tonight we ate dinner outside on the patio at the remodeled Voyager Inn Bar and Grill.  That’s really all you need to know about how much we loved today. Four days ago if we had sat outside to eat dinner we would have been frozen stiff. Today in Tucson, Arizona we sat out on the patio, temperatures in the high 60s and enjoyed a tasty bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

"Wheee, we're in Arizona

This morning Joan and I stopped to pray that everything would go well today. We prayed that we would find the trailer in one piece, that the battery would work to raise and lower the trailer onto the car, that everything in the trailer would work and that our travel would be effortless to Tucson.

It all turned out just as we had prayed.

Unlike yesterday, there was not a breath of wind, everything in the trailer worked to perfection. The only glitch was that during our absence a small, four-legged creature (or two) decided if we weren’t using the trailer for nine months, they would.

Unfortunately for them, we left behind no food, but they discovered a box of Kleenex that they pretty much destroyed. We don’t believe they are still in the trailer, but we will be taking measures tomorrow to evict them if we can find them.

Beautiful Mt. Washington near Flagstaff

Joan, who has an interesting take on just about everything, imagined a mouse couple’s conversation as we drove away with them either hiding in the trailer or looking on as the home they had adopted drove down the road.

Of course in Joan’s world, it was the man who took the beating for selecting a home that had wheels and mobile owners.

“That’s a fine home you made for us,” said the female mouse in Joan’s world. “Now where are we going to live?” The man mouse of course in Joan’s world was clueless and could only offer a sincere apology for picking such a poor home.

It was 19 degrees when we left Gallup, NM and 72 degrees when we arrived in Tucson. This morning it was actually colder where we were than it was in Lapeer, Michigan, but we made short work of eclipsing those temperatures by 10 a.m. as we crossed into Arizona.

At an I-17 rest area

Our trip to pick up the trailer took about three hours and we were hooked up and almost ready to go by 11:30 a.m. The only snag was I have misplaced the two wing  nuts that hold the battery connections on the battery, but we stopped at a nearby Camping World store down the street from the storage yard and bought a couple.

A few years ago, during one of our many trips to Buffalo, NY, Joan was shocked to see a cow running loose on the 403 freeway just outside Sarnia on our way back one weekend. Ever since she witnessed the cow being chased by several motorists she has made my life miserable warning me to “look out for cows” on the freeway.

I keep insisting she was mistaken and that cows simply can’t get on the freeway.

A blurry photo of unhitching the car

So what happens today on our way south on I-10?  We see a sheriff’s car driving slowly down the shoulder of the southbound lanes literally herding two sheep with his car trying to keep them from running out into the freeway and becoming instant leg of lamb.

Now I suppose I’ll have to hear about sheep running on the freeway until I’m 80 years old.

I forgot to mention in the long list of weather events during our travels that our very first night on the road back in 2009 included a tornado blowing through the very county where we were spending our first night in the trailer. I guess we should have seen what was coming right them.

The park personnel warmly welcomed us and one of the security folks deftly helped guide me into my parking spot, which is right next to the one we stayed in last year. I asked for this spot when we left last year as the other one is really tight with a palm tree on one side and a gutter on the other.

If I do say so myself, I’ve gotten much better at backing this behemoth.

Our first 2014 Arizona sunset

Lastly, we spotted our first convertible with the top down on our way into Tucson. Tomorrow morning we’ll go to church, then go shopping to put food in the frig and cabinets and start the great mouse hunt.

Not sure I will be posting every day, but as events dictate, I will. Thanks for following us so far.

Mileage out: 68779

Time out: 7:55 a.m.

Mileage out at the trailer storage and beginning trailer haul: 68978

Mileage in: 69259

Time in: 4:37 p.m.