We're Off...

 

If you said, "About half a bubble?" you get 20 bonus points for having a sense of humor.

Today is "departure day."  And after sitting for so long, hoping the coach holds together as we get down the road.

We did our last minute things around the house early this morning.  Murphy looked on with interest...

 

 

He has no idea what's coming.

The yard looks very different with everything put away or covered...

With all the stuff done, we hugged Steph and Dan, and headed to the motorhome.  Our plan is to keep today easy - about 250 miles to let us get used to being RVers again.  And to give Murphy the chance to roam the motorhome once we are down (early).

When we first checked routing, I-17 was closed north of Phoenix.  We had planned to go north to Flagstaff, then head east.  Joan checked backroad options... shorter miles, but two lane and curvy; great for riding the scoots, but they are riding behind us in their trailer.  When we were ready to roll, I-17 was open again - back to the original plan.

I didn't unpack a camera, so most of the following photos are courtesy of Joan from her iPhone.  Traffic was typically heavy going through Phoenix, but got lighter as we left the Valley of the Sun behind us.  It is pretty much an uphill run from Phoenix (elevation around 1,000') to Flagstaff (elevation around 7,000')... well, a lot of up and down.  There was one sign on the road that said, "Keep your engine from overheating - turn off your air conditioner."  Did you catch that "Valley of the Sun" part earlier?  Yeah, the temperature in Phoenix is close to that on the surface of the sun.  As we all know, the outside air temperature drops with elevation - about 3º for each 1,000'.  Still we ran the dash air and had the generator running to run the house a/c.  We kept the house a/c on until we were an hour or so out of Phoenix (it was still in the upper 80s).

Along with the change in traffic and elevation, there is a change in vegetation as you go north.  We went from desert (and I've posted plenty of photos of that) to seeing trees and lots of greenery...

Murph rode in his carrier most of the way.  The furry boy settled down soon after we were rolling, but we wanted him to have that carrier as his "safe haven"...

He's in that blue carrier behind me.  He sounded a bit like something from the Exorcist when I carried him out of the house, but quieted down once we started moving.  This is a whole different experience for him.  Joan did take him out of his carrier for a bit...

He is not big on lap sitting, but he doesn't fuss when in Momma's arms.  We stopped at a rest area so he could get down and look around the motorhome a bit.  Very curious, but no fussing.  Joan made us lunch, I gave Murph his lunch.  I did a walk-around - the motorhome and the bikes in the cargo trailer are all doing fine.

Heading east from Flagstaff, the terrain changes pretty quickly from heavily forested with pine trees to high desert as you descend from 7,000' to 5,000'...

Our intended RV park for the night is in Holbrook, AZ.  It's an OK place - it has to be, it's in the name: OK RV Estates.  Unlike the info from their website, they don't have cable TV, but Joan set us up with Hulu, since the only over-the-air channels are both screaming TV preacher channels... and they come in clear as a bell.  I was concerned we might have to engage in conversation all evening.  ;-)  I'm kidding, of course, it was a delight to have my navigator in the coach with me, since we've driven separate when RV traveling since we got the Equinox.

About 20 miles out from the RV park, we could see a thunderstorm cell south and ahead of us, complete with lightning.  When we pulled into the RV park to register, I was pretty sure I was going to get wet while hooking up.  If necessary, we can just plug in electric and not worry about water or sewer since our fresh water tank is full and the holding tanks are empty.  A lady from the office escorted us to our site in a golf cart, and pointed out where the water, sewer, and electricity are located.  You'd have to be a very novice RVer to need that info, but I smiled and thanked her.  And as I plugged in power, the sprinkles started.

Looking at the sky, it appeared that the storm would past mostly east of us, but we did have a bit of rain on and off for the afternoon.  This place isn't fancy, but it's... OK.

 There were plenty of sites available when we pulled in just after 2:00.  The sites around us filled up after 5:00, when people want to get off the road.

We have reservations for our stay in North Carolina, but we generally tend to wing it while enroute.  I had called this place yesterday to make sure they'd have sites.  We've done the same for tomorrow night... but it sounds like that RV park will be more than just OK.  ;-)

Joan is making supper - nice to be able to have the a/c going and the convection oven (helps to have actual RV hookups).  Murphy has settled in, after checking out the view from each window.  This was Izzy's favorite place for an afternoon nap in the coach...

It's a cat-size perch and window that has just a bit of seclusion.  Looks like Murph is enjoying it, too...

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This morning before we left, one of the weather weasels on the local morning show said, "June 2024 was the hottest June on record in Phoenix."  Felt like it.