Monday, September 2, 2024

One More Sleep...

 

We're in no hurry to get out of this RV park this morning.  It was a good afternoon and evening here at the Route 66 Casino and RV Resort: we both came out ahead at the casino and had a nice meal.  Then a walk to the hot tub, which was decent... until a family with a bunch of kids got in (kids and hot tubs are not a good mix).  The sites are big, it's quiet, far enough from I-40 that there is little road noise.

Only 215 miles to our next stop, in Arizona.  We could make it the 450 miles or so to home, but that would put us in the thick of returning traffic at the end of a 3-day weekend.  Better to take our time and come in on Tuesday.  There will be plenty to do to get the coach unloaded.

We're looking forward to being home... see Steph, Dan, and the kitties... get our patio set up (we put everything away or under cover with Monsoon Season concerns)... get the hot tub cleaned and refilled... having our own car again... and just settle back in in the house.  It's been a good trip, but we are ready to be home.

Yeah, I remember home...

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A photo of our site at the casino...


Nothing particularly interesting about this leg: I-40 all the way.  Joan did take about 300 photos to get this shot of the "historic Route 66 bridge" just outside the casino...


And, of course, I am exaggerating - it was more like 270 shots.  It is not always easy to get a "clear shot" when you're shooting from a moving vehicle.  Especially a lumbery vehicle like a motorhome.

Out on the Interstate, traffic was heavy; both directions.  Yes, I know it is Labor Day and people are heading home.  Lots of semi-trucks out there, as well.  I did take a couple photos through the windshield...



Not as pretty as yesterday's drive through the mountains, but an occasional "painted desert" kinda cliff here and there.  The GPS was showing we would arrive at least an hour early (before the check-in time at tonight's campground), figuring in the time zone change as we came across the border...


Yes, we are officially back in our newly adopted home state.  Amazingly, we had a tailwind most of the way - quite unusual going west in New Mexico and Arizona.  I eased off on the gas pedal, and we got the best fuel mileage of the trip: 10.74 mpg.  Whoohoo!  Double digits!

We fueled up right before pulling into tonight's stop - all the gas stations in this town along the Interstate were packed... people sporting "crazy eyes" with heavy cases of get-home-itis.  We did our best to avoid the crazies, got ourselves into the campground, and we are down for the night.  We'll dump holding tanks before we settle in for the night, and head for home with just a bit of fresh water onboard.

Joan checked traffic on I-17 (south from Flagstaff to Phoenix), and there is a bunch of red on the Maps app (meaning traffic is stopped).  More than likely, we will take "back roads" to get to Phoenix and bypass the Interstate from here; we'll check the traffic app again in the morning.  We have a plan and we're workin' it.  :-)

Oh yeah - Murph is stretched out for a nap.


2 comments:

Earl49 said...

"There's no place like home". Alice has been saying that too, after eight days away. She had fun but it was a LONG road trip -- not her favorite thing. We're all glad to have her home and getting back to normal. This is her last big flute trip of the year.

Drive safe! It is crazy out there this weekend. I ran about 25 miles down I-84 to visit a friend on Saturday after lunch, and it was a zoo.

Captain Jim and the Blonde said...

No doubt you are ALL happy to have Alice back home! I may have been mis-reading, but I thought you said a time or two earlier that the particular trip she was on was the last one for a while. Maybe I misinterpreted "a while." ;-)

The roads were busy along I-40 today. We stopped this afternoon to fuel up before we pulled into tonight's RV park. You say "zoo," I say "shit show"... people had crazy-eyes as they jockeyed for a fuel pump. Get-home-itis... as a former pilot, I know you are familiar with that term.

One more day, and we're taking "the back road" instead of the Interstates. Wish us luck.