We are gone with the wind on our trek home

The trailer in its temporary home

It has been a whirlwind couple of days. Sometimes your plans just work out. When I decided we would leave the resort on Sunday night instead of Monday morning there were a couple reasons for that.

First, I needed to get the trailer drained and winterized before putting it in storage in Flagstaff, Arizona. If we left Monday morning, even early, we would not have gotten to Flagstaff until early afternoon. The service on the trailer and storage of the trailer would have given us no time to travel on Monday effectively putting us a day behind.

Secondly, pulling our large trailer up some pretty major grades (the elevation goes from 1,000-feet in Phoenix to 7,353-feet in Flagstaff in just about 75 miles) is better on the car in cool temperatures or at night than in the heat of the day. The predictions were for temperatures in the 90s in Phoenix for Monday. It was only in the 50s and 60s when we were climbing the grades Sunday night. Even then the transmission temperature rose to 230-degrees twice during the climb. It was 77 degrees when we left Tucson Sunday night.


Flagstaff in the rear view mirror - literally

Also the winds were breezy Sunday, but nothing like the 35-50 mph gusts predicted for Monday. So the five-hour trip from Tucson to Flagstaff Sunday night was relatively uneventful. Traffic was light and it was easy getting in and out of the gas station when we needed gas.

Our plans to stay in the RV parking area of the Pilot/Flying J Service Station next to Camping World in Flagstaff was derailed when we found every space occupied when we drove in about 12:30 a.m. Monday. We had hoped to stay at the service station so we would have access to the bathrooms there.

Welcome to Texas

Instead we went to Plan B, which was dry camping in the parking lot of Camping World. Basically dry camping is using the trailer without any of its usual luxuries (water, TV, heat, etc.) So we climbed out of the Tahoe climbed into the trailer (with the slide out closed) and wrapped ourselves in blankets and slept on our bed. Temperatures dropped into the low 40s and high 30s overnight and it did get a little uncomfortable by morning.

Not to mention that our parking spot was within spitting distance of a railroad track. But how busy could that be on a Sunday night? As it turned out, very. There were long freight trains passing by our spot at least hourly for the entire night. It bothered Joan more than me, but it did wake me up several times. (see photo in the post below for visual evidence of the proximity of the tracks)

For really the first time we have had the trailer we were REALLY camping.

Joan's ready to bite the big cow in the parking lot

I was up and out by 6:30 p.m. and walked down the road to take a look at the storage place we selected for the trailer. The storage place is just about ¼-mile from the Camping World. Camping World employees arrived to work at 8 a.m. and they quickly pulled our trailer to the service bays, drained the water and filled the pipes with anti-freeze.

Joan couldn’t have been more excited when she discovered Camping World had a free coffee pot with frew-frew creamer in the service center’s waiting area even if I had given her a three-carat diamond ring. Without that coffee I’m not sure how the rest of the day would have turned out.

My  steak which I could not finish

We had pre-arranged to meet the storage site owner at 9 a.m., but when we arrived he was not there. I called his number and he apologized for not being able to make it but directed me to a storage spot inside and opened the gate remotely for us. It took us about 45-minutes to park, empty and then store the trailer.

Right at 10 a.m. we pulled out of the storage lot and began our trip home. The wind was starting to pick up and I was very glad I had not waited until Monday morning to leave Tucson.

We’ve been east and west on I-40 a few times, but we are always amazed at the change of scenery  and the beautiful vistas that are available on the way.

Crossing into New Mexico

By the time we arrived in New Mexico the winds were howling, but fortunately were coming from behind us which really improved my fuel mileage for Monday. That would, unfortunately, change on Tuesday when the high winds came right in our face.

We didn’t arrive in Amarillo until about 8:30 p.m. (also thanks to a time change during our travel) and because we had a confirmed hotel reservation (more on that later) we headed to dinner first. We have passed an interesting looking tourist type restaurant  - The Big Texan - each time we have gone through Amarillo and after talking to a couple at the resort who highly recommended it we decided to eat there instead of our usual Mexican place.

One of seven trails that passed our spot

Because we were so late there was no waiting and we were seated immediately. Joan left the table to use the bathroom just before a trio of country singers arrived to serenade our table.

“What can we play for you?,” the singer asked.

As country music is not my big thing, I stumbled for an idea and finally said the only thing I could think of: “Anything by Hank Williams, Jr.,” I said.

“Well, I don’t do his songs, but I know some of Hank Williams, so how about that?,” he said.

“Fine, anything,” I said. So sitting all by myself I was serenaded by three guys, one of whom fiddled while breathing through an oxygen tank, to the tune of “Honky Tonk.”

Welcome to Oklahoma

Joan was not real sorry she had missed the short concert and by the time she came back from the bathroom they had moved on to another table.

The Big Texan’s big claim to fame is that they offer a free 72-ounce sirloin steak to anyone who can devour it within a one hour period. We hadn’t been there five minutes when a guy (who happened to be as big as a cow) successfully completed eating the 72-ounce steak in 28 minutes. If you try this and fail it costs you $72 for the steak.

They put you at a table in the center of the room with a television camera and lights over your head and then count down the clock. Our waitress, who said she had worked at The Big Texan since last August, said last night’s free steak was only the fifth she had seen completed.

Welcome to Missouri

We were hungry, but not THAT hungry, so we ordered off the regular menu, although my 16-ounce sirloin (1/4 the size of the “Free” steak) was so big I could not finish it, so I’m really glad I didn’t try the 72-ouncer.

After dinner we headed to our hotel only to find out that I had booked a different Baymont Inn and Suites in Amarillo. They are about five miles apart so our desire to hit the sack was delayed a few extra minutes.

Once in our room, Joan and I who had not showered since Sunday morning were beat. Joan took a shower and I just went to bed dirty. I slept as well as I have slept in a long time not walking once between midnight and 7 a.m.

Of course we stayed up a little to get caught up on all the news out of Boston, which was very disturbing.  It seems like a lot of major events occur when we are traveling and the impact doesn’t really hit you until you see the pictures and videos.

Dinner at Luigi's in St. Robert, Missouri

I keep hearing news people say “Americans are living in fear.” Of course we can’t talk about you but we are not living in fear. Angry, ticked off, frustrated, yes, but fear not even a little.

We were up and out of Amarillo by 8:44 a.m. and breezed through Oklahoma and halfway across Missouri arriving tonight in St. Robert right at 6 p.m.

After checking into our hotel we headed to “Luigi’s Restaurant,” a place we have eaten at here before. The food is very good there and we both had the “Ultimate Spaghetti” dinner which comes with meatballs and sausage and mushrooms.

Tonight we are back in the room and catching up on blog posting chores, etc. Tomorrow we get home.

By the way we can remember only one day during our three months in Tucson where the sun wasn't out all, or most of the day. Today, our second day traveling home we never saw the sun. We also passed a lot of folks from our neck of the woods heading home.

Remember if you want to see more photos, scroll down.

Mileage leaving Tucson w/trailer: 45381

Mileage arriving in Flgastaff w/trailer: 45665

Time out: 7:09 p.m.

Time in: 12:30 a.m.