Getting Ready to Go
Finally got our RV out of the shop and back home. Just in time to load up and head to Flagstaff later this week to watch Miss C compete!
WOW it is already Wednesday and I have done nothing to get ready for our trip! Tracey did come back in the house last night and say the batteries in the RV seem to be charging just fine and holding their charge. You see when we picked it up from Freightliner he was getting a low voltage alarm.
We were hoping it was simply that the batteries had gone dead sitting on their lot. We were unable to pick up the RV due to Freightliner waiting on payment from the warranty. Once they paid, we paid our portion and were able to pick it up. Needless to say it sat a little longer than we would have liked. But good news is it all seems good now (yay since it takes like 6 batteries!!!)
We are planning to leave tomorrow………………….. guess I better get moving!
Well I really didn’t get anything done 🙁 We normally do a little each day for several days to a week ahead of departure day in order to be ready to go. We have been so busy with Miss C being back in school, her ice skating club’s big competition, and running down to Tucson working on our house there (almost ready for Airbnb, but ready for friends and family to rent!!!) So this was a first for us, being so unprepared.
A Chaotic Departure
It is now Thursday and we are leaving today. Good thing is we have no set schedule, no time we have to be anywhere. So we grab clothes, computers (gotta work on the road), dog supplies and a few other necessities and toss them all on the bed in the RV.
Something else we never do, I always load the RV and put everything away in its place. Partially because I like to be able to move about the RV without tripping over things, but mainly because once we get to where we are going I like to relax. So this is a first, leaving everything out and having to “work” once we get to our destination.
The dogs are going crazy, and have been since yesterday evening when I packed a bag with their food and treats and sweaters (it’s cooler up north). They were just being nosy and staying underfoot until I grabbed their leashes. Then they went crazy. They know what those mean and they want to go NOW. So even this morning they are still high strung and circling our feet as we try to carry stuff out to the RV.
Confused Dogs and a Forgotten Purse
We finish loading and unplug the RV, yes we can do that now with our awesome RV garage 🙂 Tracey pulls the RV out into the now massive driveway, far enough that we can get the jeep behind us. We go back in the house and make sure we have everything.
We grab the last few items and tell the dogs they can now come with us. They all but bowl us over getting to the door. Both dogs take off at a high rate of speed out the door and into the garage.
Tracey calmly tells them to wait, wait…. They round the jeep and head past my car. Zeus stops behind my car, spins in circles, and Max rounds the car and comes back up between the car and RZR. Both dogs now confused look up at Tracey and I.
You see the past few times they have gone with us, we were going down to work on the house in Tucson and we took the truck. The truck is currently in the RV garage where the dogs can’t see it, so they are lost and don’t know where to go. The RV is sitting in the driveway running, but I guess they missed that!
So I load up the dogs as Tracey pulls the jeep up behind the RV and hooks it up. As he is finishing, I get in the jeep and follow the steps to make it towable, and now we are ready to pull out.
The Tree, the Truck, and a Close Call
As Tracey puts the RV in gear, “wait,” I say, “did you see my purse? Did I bring my purse out?” Back into the house I go, where my purse is sitting all alone on the kitchen table. Good thing my head is attached.
We have a guy trim our trees to be high enough to clear the RV, our neighbors don’t…….. they don’t have RVs lol. So as we are pulling out of the driveway discussing the clearing of the neighbors’ trees, we notice a truck parked in the street under the tree that is overgrown. Ugh.
Tracey thinks he will clear it even with the jeep in tow, so we proceed. (Everyone on our street has a huge driveway, so why park in the street??) It is close, but Tracey clears the truck and the tree and the jeep doesn’t run over our landscaping. I think it was my sucking in my breath and pulling my knees up and leaning to the left that enabled us to make it!!
A Fuel Stop and a Favor from Dad
We are stopping to top off our fuel about 2 miles from our house. Nice that Fry’s put in a big gas station near our home with more than one diesel pump! It is unusual to find, just like all places we go, somewhere big enough for us to get in and out of.
During one of our conversations today on our drive, Tracey and I agreed that it isn’t that we can’t get IN most places, because we can. It’s that we can’t get OUT of most places once in. Especially when towing the jeep, as we cannot backup.
So we pull into the Fry’s and low and behold there is a car blocking our way to the pumps. She is just sitting there, totally oblivious that she is in the middle of a driving area and there is a big huge RV waiting to get by.
Tracey then turns across the front of the station and squeezes past the pump on the far end. He goes all the way around the back to get to the pump right where we entered the station.
As we are fueling up, Tracey remembers he didn’t leave a way for his brother to get into the RV garage. His brother wanted to work on his own RV while we are away, but he is out of town on business.
So he calls his dad, and his dad drives over to the gas station. Tracey gives him a remote to the garage and instructions on how to get into the RV, and now we are off on our way.
A Hungry Detour
As we get onto the 101 heading north we both realize that we are very hungry and not sure we can wait the 2 1/2 hours to Flagstaff. We try to come up with ideas of where we can stop, remembering we can’t get in and out of many places.
We never go anywhere without grocery shopping and having food in the RV, so this is another first for us. Realizing we are hungry, we are sorry we didn’t shop before we left.
So as we round the 101 near Scottsdale Rd we decide there might be a place near that outside mall on the north side of the 101. Neither of us knows what exit that is at or if there is anywhere we can stop. So we drive. We see the mall and decide to exit.
By the time we exit and pass the “mall” we were thinking of, we discover there is nowhere for us to even attempt to pull in. We realize this was a mistake. Not just nowhere to eat, but nowhere to pull in, nowhere to turn around. Uh oh!
So we continue north on what we now discover is Tatum Rd. Neither of us knows where Tatum goes. So I do what every smart person does, I google it.
As I am trying to decipher on the google map on my phone where Tatum goes and how to get back to a freeway, it hits me…………………………… a better idea. I hit the little google microphone: “navigate to KOA Flagstaff.” Now we got it, google telling us where to go!!
Roadside Curiosities
Google takes us down Pinnacle Peak to Cave Creek to Sonoran Desert, which turns into Dove Valley and out to the I-17. Not a way I would have ever gone, in fact don’t think I have ever been on these roads.
As we are driving and realizing there is like NOTHING out here, it is beautiful desert but nothing else, something catches our eye on the side of the road. No Kerri, it was not a donkey! (inside joke) We are not sure what it was. You might have to zoom in to really see, but there are benches, covered benches along the road!!
What the heck, pull over on the shoulder, I think I want to sit along the road for a bit, what??? As we drive a little further, we have passed probably 5 or 6 of these benches, we see down off to the side a paved pathway. So there is some sort of walking path there and we guess these are rest spots for the walking path? Oh the things you will see when you are on an adventure.
Lunch on the Road
As we approach I-17 on Dove Valley we can see the next exit and there seems to be a shopping area/mall type place and some fast food type places. Not our first choice, but since we have the dogs with us, we don’t want to go sit in a restaurant for an hour or so. We manage to find parking room in the Kohl’s parking lot and walk across to an In-N-Out. We get some food and head back to eat in the RV.
After finishing lunch we head back to the I-17 and we are once again Flagstaff bound. Pretty uneventful drive except for the usual dumb drivers who think we can stop on a dime, or that we will make room for them. Crazy drivers.
As we pass Munds Park we wave and yell out hello to Steve and Sara Bowyer! See you Sunday at church.
Rain on the Horizon
This is what we see now.
We are thinking we are in for a bit of rain! Sure enough. The first rain drop to hit, I swear was the size of a softball LOL. Some very big raindrops came down. Didn’t last too long, drops got smaller, and then lighter, and then just a sprinkle as we exited the 40 to head to the KOA.
Settling In at the Flagstaff KOA
We pulled in, I registered and paid (nice remodel of the office, Flagstaff KOA) and we find our spot and pull in. First things first, dogs have to be taken on a walk. They have really been good on the drive.
As I walk the dogs Tracey unhooks the jeep and positions the RV. I take the dogs inside, Tracey places leveling blocks under the jacks. Then I hit the button, yep it is a button, and the RV levels itself 🙂 Once level, Tracey hooks us up to sewer, water and electric. I push a button or three and put the slides out. Now we are talking, nice and roomy.
Tracey works on getting the satellite to work, it is nice he can ping it by signing in online, since DirecTV deactivates it regularly due to inactivity. I begin putting ALL the stuff we did bring away into its proper place. Once done we sit to relax and pet the dogs. I have all the windows open and we are enjoying the nice cool breeze, something we won’t enjoy at home for another two or more months.
It doesn’t take us long to realize we are getting hungry and hey, we have no food. So off to the grocery store we go. We return to put away the groceries and make up some dinner.
Up next: meeting new friends at the Flagstaff KOA, in Chapter 2.