Smooth sailing and a safe arrival in Tucson

   What a difference a few hours makes.  After Friday night and early Satiurday’s miserable driving conditions we awoke to better conditions on Saturday in Moriarity, New Mexico. A heavy morning fog kept us in Moriarity until about 11 a.m., but the last thing I wanted to do was drive over the mountain into Albuquerque on icy roads in a dense fog.

    It was also very cold and we awoke to 8 degree temperatures outside.

A much nicer day in New Mexico

   To make good use of the delay I drove to a nearby truck stop to fill up the Tahoe. Idling in traffic the night before had drained a good part of the fuel I had and I wanted to start the ride over the mountain with a full tank of gas. The eastbound lanes of I-10 remained closed about 8 a.m. but the west bound lanes were open.

    Joan stayed back at the hotel while I drove to the Pilot Gas Station and when I arrived I found a police officer was directing traffic due to the traffic jam of semi trucks that had camped out in and around the station. Fortunately for me while the semi trucks were lined up 5 and 6 deep at the pumps there were open gas pumps for cars.

   As we headed over the mountain pass towards Albuquerque we had clear sailing, but not so for the folks headed eastbound. On the hill going east out of Albuquerque there was a miles long line of cars and trucks due to an accident on the hill. Needless to say, we were glad to put this part of the trip behind.

   We listened to the Michigan versus Florida bowl game as we headed west towards Flagstaff. Michigan laid an egg, or at least it sounded that way on the radio. After that was over we tuned to the Clemson versus Notre Dame game and this time it was the Irish who laid an egg.

  With this being a short leg of the trip (only 360 miles) we decided to stop at the Twin Arrows Casino for dinner and give Joan a chance to exercise her arm with the one-armed bandits for a couple hours. She deserved a reward for being so patient over the previous 24 hours.

   As a veteran I got $5 free play, which I rapidly donated back to the local Native American tribe. 

Joan was having some success and then after being nice to a lady by watching her machine while she went to the bathroom the woman pointed to one of her favorite machines that her daughter had previously been playing.

   In just a very few minutes Joan spun the wheel and won $359, which we promptly cashed in and then went on our merry and richer way.

    We arrived at our Flagstaff hotel at a reasonable hour and watched the end of the Alabama versus Oklahoma game. This time is was Oklahoma that laid an egg.

    Time out: 11:19 a.m.  (MST)

    Time in:  7:38 p.m.  (MST)

    Mileage out: 3218

    Mileage in: 3597

   I need to say something about the hotel we stayed out Saturday night in Flagstaff. I booked it online because it was in the mid range price for hotels in Flagstaff, but still about $130 a night. It is ski season here so nothing is cheap.

    The hotel had a pretty fancy name “Hotel Aspen Flagstaff/Grand Canyon.”  It did not live up to its name. The facilities were old, but that wasn’t the problem. The room was not clean. Coffee stains on the table, a used chapstick on the floor and it took a Silicone Valley engineer to figure out the television. I called the desk to get directions and between Joan and I we were on hold for nearly 30 minutes before we got an answer.

   The place was packed and I was too tired to make a fuss and the bed looked good so we got a good night’s sleep. I did mention to the hotel clerk in the morning that the housekeeping left a lot to be desired. So if you are in Flagstaff you might want to avoid Hotel Aspen.

   We got out early to head for the trailer storage and arrived to 10 degree temperatures, but very little snow. We checked out the trailer and it appeared in good shape after 9 months without us in the mountains.

    For the second year I made sure I had lock deicer after the problem I had three years ago when all the locks were iced up. For the second year it wasn’t necessary. I did have to use some deicer spray to open one of the storage doors on the front of the trailer where I store the hitch equipment.

A cold hook up

    It took a little longer than usual to hook up because my fingers froze. I had gloves but unfortunately working with some of the equipment requires more dexterity than is possible with gloves on. Once we were hooked up, I took it a little slow at first to make sure that the wheel grease got warmed up a little before we hit the freeway.

   The lowest temperature we recorded that morning was 9 degrees but the temperatures warmed quickly as we headed down the mountain towards Phoenix. By the time we got to Phoenix (thank you Glen Campbell) it was 57 degrees, cool for this area but welcome warmth to us.

   One highway sign we noted was aimed at New Year’s Eve revelers. “Drive Hammered. Get Nailed.”

  The trip to Tucson was uneventful as was the set up for the trailer once we got checked in. We left the trailer winterized because overnight temperatures were expected to fall into the 20s so I hooked up the water this morning (Dec. 31).

   While working outside one of the men I work with on the table and chair set up crew drove by and asked if I was going to help with the New Year’s Eve party set up. I agreed and headed over at 9 a.m. to help set up the ballroom for tonight’s party, which Joan and I will attend. I bought tickets last week over the phone before we left Michigan. Good thing too, because they are sold out.

   We spent the rest of the day Sunday setting up our site and then shopping for food. Sunday I went to the fitness center, did the table and chair set up and then we went back out to pick up a new carbon monoxide detector because the 12-year-old one in the trailer was indicating that it had given up the ghost.

   Cooler than normal temperatures are expected over the next few days, so we will need to take precautions over night to run water in the trailer to keep the pipes from freezing.

Time out at hotel: 7:38 a.m. (MST)

Time in at storage lot: 8:08 a.m. (MST)

Mileage out: 3597

Mileage in: 3614

Time out at storage lot: 8:54 a.m.

Time in at Tucson: 1:35 p.m.

Milleage in Tucson: 3894