Day 17 - Gallup, NM

Almost 3 weeks in and we are nearing the end of our Journey.  Only 2 more stops before we make it to Las Vegas.  Gallup has proven to be an uneventful location.  They have a train stop, a municipal airport and a walmart that even made me flinch. Besides that there is desert.  On the upside it does look a lot like the scenery from Breaking Bad.  Which I'm not sure I'm proud to admit we've almost finished already.  It's not an addiction really.  Doesn't everyone watch 5 season of a series in 2 weeks?

 As for the Walmart, it is the only commerce available so it is packed to the gills with ever kind of humanity and then some.  It was however at this point, Ralph and I decided it must be our unwritten mission to visit a walmart in every state.  So far the count is, 13 different states. As most of you know I have been wanting one of those maps you stick on your RV to track all the places you've been.  Ralph says we should track the states we've visited a walmart so it actually looks like we go places.  Bully.

The park we are staying at does do an awesome BBQ.  They smoke/grill everything fresh.  I had a pulled pork sandwhich,  Ralph had the brisket.  Just fantastic!  Below is a picture of the Number they give you while you wait for your food.

Next stop flagstaff, AZ.  If Ralph makes it through the mountains.  He's stressing already.

PS, still haven't seen a scorpion or tartantula.  This is a happy dance for me.

Albuquerque, NM

The drive from Amarillo to Albuquerque was a long and interesting journey.  We started out bright eyed and bushy tailed trying to race between the rain storms.  This seems be to the theme lately.  Being this would be our longest run of the trip, it would include the dreaded stop for gas.  So far we have managed to plan our stops so that a single tank of gas would suffice.  This leg, mountains included meant we would have to maneuver our near sixty feet combined length into a gas station.

As is always the case, there was drama. The truck stop/gas station we stopped at had pour signage and we ended up on the car side not the truck side. Happy thoghts and a double check that we fit under the roof we decided to pull up to the outside pump and get it over with.  As we make the corner there is a rental truck blocking the only 2 diesel pumps.  We wait as patiently as we know how before Ralph in moment of frustration gets out, starts the transaction and tries to pull the hose to fuel the truck.  Needless to say it didn't reach.  So with the cat screaming, cars whiz zing about and the driver if the rental truck seemingly having vanished, I held the nozzle while Ralph eeked our monster up to within inches of the rental truck.  Success we were able to complete the transaction.  Nearly 30 minutes had passed at this point, a storm was clearly brewing and the rental truck driver finally reappears at a slow amble back to his truck.  He looks at us, done fueling at this point and says "oh, do you need me to move?"....arghhh!

Back on the road we have smooth sailing, with the exception of our furry feline.  It seems she had mastered the plan of sit in the truck it speeds up, slows down and we get out, done.  The stop for gas in her brain meant we were done for the day and she cried the entire way to the campground.  Which was still 3 more hours.  Serious sad face.

Finally we are nearing the campground and our ninja GPS has an epic fail.  It tells us to go 1/2 mile down the turn left.  Well 1/2 a mile down there was nothing but desert followed by the dreaded words "recalculating".  Then the most feared words of all, "make a U-turn when possible".  When possible?!?! We have a 40 foot trailer, there isn't a road in the world that we can make a U-turn on let alone a barely 2 lane no shoulder middle of the desert, don't pick up hitch hikers because there's a prison road.  Lucky for us, this must be a common problem.  3 miles down the road into the abyss, there was a wide cul d sac.  So U-turn it was.

The campground was beautiful once we arrived, they had an awesome pool, a continental breakfast and we got to see some amazing storms coming over the mountains.  We also met a nice family from Jacksonville Mississippi.  Turns out he started the website www.rvparkreviews.com.  Funny part is we used that website to pick all of our stops in this journey.

Lastly we exposed Ralph to a Jack in the box restaurant.  It's a local fast food chain that only exists in the south.  I had fond memories of eating there as a child.  The best part are their shakes and I've enclosed a picture of the cup just because it's awesome!

Amarillo, TX - Cadillac Ranch

While in Amarillo, TX Ralph and I visited Cadillac Ranch.  It's an artistic display of 10 Cadillacs built from 1949-1963, that were buried nose first into the ground.  While originally done to show the birth and death of the tail fins it has now become a place for tourists and locals to leave their mark.  So as the many who have traveled Route 66 before us have done, we picked up a can of spray paint from the pile and signed our name to a Cadillac.  We are now a part of history in a cow pasture in Amarillo, TX.

As a nod to the local art the campground we stayed at buried a class A motor home nose first at the park entrance.  I'll try to enclose photos of both amazing feats.

Day ? - Oklahoma City

     The sky in Grove, OK just before the storm hit

So I've officially lost track of the days.  That didn't take long. Grove proved to be mostly relaxing with the exception of a storm that blew in out of no where.  Ralph got to experience Oklahoma weather at its finest. We had clear blue skies, then it got a little overcast.  I said to Ralph we should go put away our chairs outside before it rains.  In the time it took us to slip on flip flops and exit the rig, the wind was blowing hard enough to pelt us with gravel.  Ralph couldn't even get the door open on the truck.  We grabbed our chairs and dashed back inside as the branches and leaves started coming down.  The wind was so strong we had the serious conversation about if/when we should leave the trailer for safety.  Lucky for us it blew over with no damage to us or our trailer.  However,  some large plants in concrete pots and street signs weren't so lucky.

Friday we left Grove and headed for Oklahoma City, a short little jaunt into a sauna.  The temperature here is just horrid.  It's 100+ degrees with humidity above 80%.  Even the cat is to hot to move.  Our air conditioner has been running nonstop since we arrived I'm waiting for the sad sound of silence when it gives up and stops working.  Hopefully it can hold out 1 more night till we head out.

Other than the heat Oklahoma City has proved to be an interesting stop.  We arrived to the sight of 5 fire trucks putting out a storage building next to the campground.  Some of the nearest RVs had to even be evacuated.  Next we found a local mall, Penn Square Mall.  It looked cute so we parked our massive truck outside of Dillard's and headed in.  Little did we know that not only were there 2 exits from Dillard's to the parking lot but there were two separate Dillard's in this mall.  What the heck? But the A/C was awesome!

Our third adventure came when we were checking the weather and saw rain in the forecast.  We decided we would check with the office and see about a refund if we left early due to weather.  While in the office Ralph met a nice woman who said she could help us with the weather forecast.  Turns out her partner used to be an air traffic controller and still enjoys tracking the weather. According to her we needed to be out first thing Sunday morning or we would be stuck for the next several days.  We confirmed this data with Ryan who told us get out tonight. Unfortunately we don't move that fast so crack ass early tomorrow it is.  Fingers crossed and wish us luck.  If all goes well our next post will be from Amarillo, TX.

Day 4 - Grove, OK

        the view from our front door in the evening

Step one on our way to Grove, get out of th current campground without killing ourselves or the local arbors. Or desperate decision to take the first available site on Fridayis now looking like a bad one.  40 feet don't turn on a dime, or even a quater.  Lucky for us it only took 3 attempts and a slight tree branch loss but no damage to the trailer and we were on our way.  Oh and next time on the checklist, check the batteries in the Walkie talkies.  Turns out they don't work when the batteries are dead.

Step 2, It's amazing what properly set brakes can do for a 17,000 lb trailer.  After our scare on Friday we decided to reset our electronic brakes for the trailer, what a huge difference.  Instead of clenched terrified Ralph we got calm causal Ralph.  I guess being able to stop us from hurdling down the hills at a rate that causes the trailer to "sway" is a comforting thing.  We were able to safely and confidently navigate the "hills" of MO without incident.

Step 3, OK has a toll road.  Funny they tell you at the last possible moment that you are on it, with a cute little warning that you have to be under 13'6".  We'll that sent us scrambling.  According to our specs we are 13'1".  Not a lot of wiggle room if someone got that wrong. Then you pull up to the toll booth.   It was very tight, like we might need to get out the crisco tight.  And while we are squeezing ourselves in the nice lady in the booth is looking out in horror saying "is your slide suppose to be out that far? We've had them come out and hit the booth before."  There went calm Ralph.  $3 later we were off the toll road and headed for the campground.

Step 4, it was worth it.  We crossed sailboat bridge over the lake and onto the peninsula where the campground sits.  It's beautiful, quiet and serene.  We are both looking forward to the next 3 days of calm and relaxation.

Stowaway or unwanted house guest?

While I'm sure this will be the first of many, I must admit I am not a fan of extra living things in my house.  I walk into the living room and Ralph has a somber look on his face.  He says to "promise me you won't freak out", not the best way to start a conversation.  He then turns, points to the folded chair leaning against the couch where I had been sitting and says is that a spider web?  To my own surprise I calmly walked over and confirmed there was a massive funnel web over 7" at the top. Then I instructed Ralph to carry the chair outside and open it carefully.  I promised myself I wouldn't freak out as long as the spider was still in the chair.  Well it was, and I didn't freak out, although I'm pretty sure there will be nightmares.  Especially since my inner shutterbug decided I needed photographic evidence of the invader!

On an off note, I'm taking comfort in the idea that it will be a victim here as I don't believe MO is its native habitat.

Day 2 - Edgar Springs, MO

Day 2 started off in good spirits.  We were up packed and on the road in under an hour, a new record for us.  Unfortunately our happy thoughts were soon dashed as we approached St. Louis.  The bridge into MO was under construction causing bumper to bumper stop and go traffic with narrow lanes, cones, barricades and unclear lane markings.  It's a sad day when you clear 30 miles in first gear.

After successfully navigating the city we thought the remainder of the day would be low stress.  Again we were wrong.  Appearently MO has steep hills or as Ralph called them mountains.  Nothing like going uphill in 3rd gear on a 65 mph interstate.  Or even better going downhill with a steep enough grade to cause the trailer to try and pass the truck.  That was scary.  Lesson 2 for the day when the trailer fishtails don't touch the brakes, hit the gas.  Of course while having a death grip on the wheel, going near 70 headed at a 2 lane sharp turn with a drop off to the side hitting the brakes seems like the best idea ever. 

Lesson 3, pictures on a website mean nothing.  But when you've driven 17 miles off the highway and shaved more than a few years off your life you take it. Just to have a place to park.  So here we are in Edgar Springs, MO.  A practically abandoned RV park until Tuesday when we move on to Miami, OK.

Day 1 - Chatham, IL

We made it! All 230 miles of it, with no incidents. Tonight we will be staying in Double J Campground.  It's cute with lots of trees and thankfully all pull through spots.  We looked like pros.  We dropped our 40' monster, leveled connected utilities and were off to eat in under 10 minutes.  For dinner we tried D'Arcys Pint.  A local sports pub recommended to us by Liz the wonderful women that checked us in.  We were told we had to try a local speciality called a horseshoe.  We'll we did, it was amazing.  It's a piece of Texas toast covered in meat or veggies of your choice, topped with a pile of fries and then drowned in homemade cheese sauce.  What's not to love?

At the moment we will be back on the road tomorrow as the campground is booked. Liz is trying to find us a spot to stay a few more days otherwise it's off to see what secrets Rolla, Mo holds.

Let the adventure Begin!

Today's the day! We're on our way! Well, we will be in a few hours.  Our adventure has finally arrived after years of planning and preparing.  So where are we going you ask? Las Vegas of course. 2000 miles, 7 states and 4-6 weeks.  For those of you slightly out of the loop we traded in our 33' nightmare of a motor home for a 40' fifth wheel and monster truck named Chuleta aka pork chop.  We are massive traveling down the road at over 55' long and just under 30,000 lbs.  We don't blend.  The goal is to keep this blog updated along the way with our ups and downs.  Those that know us know there will be many.

The first stop on our journey will be Springfield, IL.  It's only 200 miles but for the first time on a highway I think that will be plenty.  Fingers crossed we make it safe, sound and still speaking. Also that Ralph won't have evicted the cat from the truck.  She's a screamer.