060911-Homeward Bound

060911-Homeward Bound

Monday, September 04, 2006
We thought we’d get a jump on the holiday weekend and leave today. Boy was that a bad idea on so many levels.

We had been hammered with monsoon lightning and thunder storms and the promise of them continuing till Wednesday made us decide to leave. The morning was clear of rain clouds and not too hot. We broke camp and hit the road, and for a little while the traffic was mild. So far, so good. AS we headed south on is-17, we realized we were gaining altitude and went from about 2,000 to 4,000 ft quickly. We chugged a little and let the fast traffic go by, and then we hit the downward grade. We really picked up speed and found ourselves shifting into lower gears and riding the brake to keep from excessive speeds. The speed limit in Arizona is 75 but we like to stay about 65 or less.

As we started to level off, about 40 miles from Phoenix, the traffic started to get a little thicker, and that’s when we noticed that our brakes were not working very well. We were loosing pressure and the pedal was to the floor.
With a little pumping, we regained some control but lost it quickly again. Fearing the worst, we crawled slowly to the next exit (to much the displeasure of those behind us I’m sure), and settled off road to ponder our predicament.

Nothing seemed to be dripping from anyplace, but I couldn’t find the master cylinder to determine its level. Being a major holiday, I was sure that calling for road assistance would be a pain, and with the traffic, a tow truck getting to us could be forever (and no service would be available till tomorrow anyway). We decided to reposition the Beast on a flatter portion of the off road area and boondock till tomorrow.

The exit we used was not a very popular one, with little excuse for anyone to use it except for locals. We just settled in, watched some TV, and did some reading. The next morning, we arose, without having been bothered any part of the night, and as we started to move the RV, I noticed that the brakes were functional and seemed to be adequate. A little circular driving reassured me that they were usable, so we took a chance, got back on the highway and aimed for a Chevrolet dealership about 6 miles away. we arrived without mishap, but a great deal of anxiety. Thinking back to the recent steep grade we barreled down and the thought of loosing our brakes then – becoming a run-a-way vehicle sent shivers thru me.

At the dealership, they checked out the braking system and found nothing wrong, but did claim that my wheels and fitting were loose and suggested tightening and repacking. 5 hours and $500 dollars later, we were on our way again. Still not sure that the fluke incident with the brakes won’t happen again.

Spent a night at a Flying J truck stop in Blythe and then onto Palm Springs, but the weather was so hot with no sign of shade to hide in, we decided the trip was over and headed for home.

All in all, it was a great trip. Almost 10,000 miles, almost 6 months, and almost 1,200 gallons of gas.
Got to see a lot of old and new friends and lots of interesting places and people. After parking the Beast on the street, Peter jumped out and hosed down the first tree he came to. I waited till we got in the house.

060903-Arizona

Arizona

When the weather is good, the skies over states like New Mexico and Arizona are bright blue and clear, but they get more interesting when they are filled with clouds. As a kid, I remember looking up at the cloud formations and imagined seeing shapes that resembled animals and other objects, but now that I’m older and wiser, and can appreciate the phenomenon with greater respect and awe of nature. It’s truly a shame that I could not stop and photograph the skies each time I saw a cloud that was shaped like a dragon, or alligator, or rubber duck. There were so many shapes in various sizes. It was like a giant Rorschach test using clouds instead of inkblots.


Friday, September 01, 2006

It’s always great when we are pleasantly surprised by a good restaurant, or campsite that’s new to us.
Camp Verde River Resort is located off Interstate 17 halfway between Flagstaff and Phoenix, near Prescott.
The temperature runs about 10 degrees less than Phoenix, and that’s good considering Phoenix is running in triple digits as its usual (103-108).

Our expectations for campgrounds in the southwest include lots of sand and dust and gravel and no greenery or shade. Boy, were we happily surprised. The place is beautiful, with large grassy fields as well as sites, and large tress (I’m a city boy so I don’t know their species), giving adequate shade. One more item it didn’t have was cactus – which saved Peter from any further encounters.

The grounds are fairly level, and quite acceptable for the Batmobile. Except for the ramps to the clubhouse, we manage quite well. Speaking of the clubhouse, - it’s air-conditioned and has a large screen TV as well as fresh coffee all day. In the beginning of the week with the temp in the high 90s we spent a couple of afternoons in there. Peter likes the cold tile floors.

We opted to extend our stay thru the holiday weekend to avoid problems on the road or reservations.

From here we are heading for a few days in the Palm Springs – Indio area, then perhaps a couple of days at the beach at Dockweiler, and then home. Peter has inventoried our supply of dog food and treats and feels secure that there’s more than enough to get us home safely. I’m glad he doesn’t know how to open the refrigerator.

060824 - New Mexico

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Tucumcari, New Mexico,

Having made a mad dash west to escape the heat spell of triple digits in Oklahoma, we ran smack dab into a Monsoon weather pattern that has run havoc throughout the state of New Mexico in the form of massive and continuous thunderstorms that have produced flash floods all over the place. Towns that haven’t seen rain in months have had their river banks and arroyos overflowed, and metropolitan areas such as Albuquerque have been flooded and paralyzed for a week or more.

We arrived here on Saturday as on overnight rest stop, but with a night full of high winds and severe thunder and lightning accompanying the deluge, we opted to stay until the storm front moved on. It seem that the worst is over and we will be moving on to Albuquerque in the morning.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
WE drove around OLD TOWN looking for a parking space for the Beast so we could get a good Mexican lunch and browse the area but it was not to be. We are too big for the local area so we pulled in our steps and headed out of town. In a way we were lucky, because a massive storm had hit Albuquerque after we left and created quite a lot of damage with flash floods and slides so we laid low for a few hours in Flagstaff as we waited out a rain storm and finally settled in Cottonwood for the Evening at a Huge Wal-Mart.
The next morning we got an oil change and headed for one of our club membership sites at Camp Verde.