BACK IN ARIZONA

First time at the wheel out on the highway

Welcome to Arizona

After dumping the tanks and getting the rig ready, we hit the road about 10 Tuesday morning. We didn’t get too far along #70 West when we were stopped because of missile testing. They stopped traffic for nearly an hour but it was only 25 minutes for us since we arrived part way through. It took a little while to get that blob of traffic sorted out but it did go pretty smoothly for us. We stopped in Las Cruces for gas but I picked the wrong station as they had the slowest pump I’ve seen for some time. It must have taken 25 minutes to put in 49 gallons. We had lunch just past there on a frontage road

We carried on to Deming, NM and are at the Little Vineyard Good Sam RV Park. They have a pool and hot tub which is great. I noticed an ad in their brochure for the Steer Safe factory so I whipped over there right away but it was 3:34 and they closed at 3:30. I called his cell phone later and have an appointment for 10 am Wednesday. I am pretty tired of the horrible steering and thought I’d have to go to Phoenix or some other big city to get something done.

Well the indoor pool and hot tub were great! And of course, we had it all to ourselves. It was nice to see all the stars out on the walk home. There’s some road noise here but not consistent and there are periodic trains but they don’t last long so I think it will be okay. It cost $25.31 and I see one of the three campgrounds next door advertises $18.50 plus tax but I think the pool makes up for the difference. Except for our one swim at Cameron Lake this was our first dip since Caliente.

It was a quiet night for sleeping. We got going in good time this morning and filled the onboard propane tank on the way out. It took $19 worth which is pretty good since the last time we put in propane was back in August before leaving Vancouver Island. We use the water heater every day since we don’t have a gas/electric combo and the fridge all the time when driving.

We went early for our appointment and they got right on it. We were out the door with the Safety Steer installed and the bill paid in 22 minutes. We then found a car wash and spent a long time washing the motor home. We had to so it in three sections as the hoses were too short. We got back onto I-10 again heading west and the wind was blowing rather nasty so couldn’t tell how much better the steering was. We stopped at a rest area for lunch then carried on to Safford, AZ where we are at Lexington Pines RV. The only Wi-Fi is when you take your laptop up to the office apparently.

The steering seemed quite improved when we got on to #70 and out of the worst of the wind. In fact Aileen took her first turn at the wheel and drove us to Safford from a few miles out of Lordsburg on #70. She did very well. Soon after we arrived here Aileen gave Mitzy a much needed bath then went for her nap. Tomorrow should see us arrive in Caliente Casa Del Sol, our winter home. We decided to come via Safford since we might not use this route again but would be likely to go to the Benson/Bisbee area for a trip sometime.