Needles to Gallup

Thursday, 1 October 2009

Needles, CA; Warm and Windy

We woke up this morning to a beautiful desert sunrise from the window at the foot of the bed. We have severe weather alerts in effect for winds.

Rob read some and I worked on the computer. I got the scanner/printer all hooked up so we don’t have to fax anymore. That will make a big difference. I printed out our counter to their counter and scanned and emailed it back.

We packed and secured everything (That only takes about 10 - 15 min) and hit the road by our goal time of 9:00 am. Our destination for today is Holbrook, AZ (since we didn’t make it there yesterday. It is about 300 miles. We will hook up then go explore for the rest of the day. We will only spend one day there and then we will be back on schedule.

YumYum is a bit unsettled in the truck this morning. She has been meowing for more than 15 min.

We entered Arizona at 9:15 am

We got rolling just before the crack of nine. Kind-a windy this morning, but the rig is pretty stable while driving. Stopped at exit 9, Pilot truck stop, 33.3 gallons at 2.49/gall= $80.

I drove for the first tank of diesel from Seal Beach, mileage was 9.039. Cat’s turn to drive, let’s see what she can do. My philosophy was to hold speed to 60 on the flats and slow to about 50-55 on hills.

So I owe the jar a quarter. I only got 8.06 to the gallon. Of course, Rob didn’t have any mountains to climb. I had to climb all the way up to 6,000 feet. Anyway, we stopped at the Petrified Forest at about 4:00. We had 2 hours to cruise/hike around and take in the sights. The Painted Desert is beautiful and the Petrified Forest is fascinating. Unfortunately people have pilfered the forest for the crystals.

We were back in the car and headed out of the park, as directed, by 6pm. We are continuing on to Gallup, NM. We are going to stay at USA RV Park. We get to stay for free since we are Military. It is funny, because it is where I stayed by myself on the way home from picking up the RV last March. Unfortunately, The Albuquerque Balloon Fest is going on and the RV park is full. We are in the park parked under a light pole plugged into regular 110 elec. We have no water. It is ok, it is only for the night and it is late enough to go to bed anyway. Tomorrow we are headed to Amarillo, TX and will stay in the Elks gravel lot again. Current temperature here in Gallup is 44°