Home again - God never left us!

Just before driving to our friends' Dave and Sharon's place in Grand Junction, CO, we stopped at Walmart a mile from them. I had been driving all day, so Roger said he'd finish up. He started the engine and we sounded like the hot rods that had been passing us! Very loud and impressive - except we really didn't want US to sound like that! Roger thought we had lost our muffler.

When arriving at our friends' place, we learned that Dave had just taken his pick-up to a garage. This place also works on R.V.s, so we called to see if they would take us. They did! The next morning we drove over and were immediately serviced.

Fixing an R.V. isn't like fixing a car - most stations don't work on them and always have a line-up waiting for service. So, to be taken in immediately and fixed is a small miracle. By 11 the next morning we were on our way. (& Dave got a ride to pick up his truck!)

What we didn't know when we arrived was that it was Dave and Sharon's 54th wedding anniversary! They were married a few weeks after we were. To celebrate they fixed a salmon dinner - yummy! I made some cinnamon rolls which they enjoyed. It was a great visit - our last stop before heading home. By the way, they live in a beautiful home a pond behind their home.

The trip home was made in wonderful weather - we boon-docked again in OR. Driving through Wapato, WA, we stopped at a fruit stand and bought 100 pounds of tomatoes. They were cheaper than several years ago. Some went to friends, but most were canned and frozen. Today we had BLT's and home made tomato soup again - it's a favorite seasonal lunch.

We are glad to be home - still living in the R.V. Today (21st) our hallway, living room and bathrooms are getting new vinyl floors. Tomorrow the bedrooms get carpeting. The whole house flood slowed us down, but God has provided all we need. A crew of friends helped us move out on Saturday (19th).

Thank you, Lord, for You ever present faithfulness and the joy You give us! 

Onward to Grand Junction. CO

We parked in Love's station in Cortez, AZ last night. It was nice to be boondocking again after several nights of being plugged in. The temperature was perfect. We slept well. Today, Wednesday, is a driving day. The scenery along Rt. 491 has been beautiful.

Overnight in Sun City, AZ

Saturday night we stayed in an RV park in Casa Grande.

It might be described using Seattle terminology as a "low barrier" park. They didn't ask for any ID,  home address or the age and type of RV. The manager told us over the phone which space to park in and to leave the payment in the office mailbox on the way out.

As we previously mentioned, many folks are living in their towable RVs for various reasons. This park has a mix of nice looking RVs mixed with ones that had been made into semi-permanent fixed dwellings. 

Sunday morning we attended a very welcoming church in town.

Sunday night we parked on the street in front of our friend Darrell's home. 

Heather prepared a meal for the three of us and we spent the evening catching up on the events in our lives.

For the past many nights we have stayed in RV parks so we could plug into 30amp service and run our rooftop air conditioner. Darrell invited us to stay in his guest room so we could enjoy air conditioning, but we decided to brave the heat and stay in the RV using just electric fans to cool. We slept well. Even though it was warm, it wasn't sticky humid.

Overnight in Willcox, AZ

We parked in the Sagebrush RV Park and Mobile Home Village last night.

The past several nights we have stayed in RV parks just so we could have power for our rooftop air conditioner. We have noticed that these parks have a lot of permanent guests living in RVs. Our guess is that it is ultimately less costly to own a towable RV, park it semi-permanently in an RV park and just pay monthly or annually. All costs are covered.

By the way, we ended up driving into the sunset to get to Willcox. It is not a  preferred situation. The RV has a very large front windshield and the sun can be pretty intense. There is one aspect that is nice...seeing the sun lighting up the clouds ahead.

Another stop before leaving El Paso

We learned that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agency has a museum on the outskirts of town.

Such a great and important role these folks play in controlling the flow of illegal drugs and human trafficking. Although officially renamed in 2003, the actual functions of protecting us from individuals illegally entering our country began in the 19th century. People are always looking for back doors to get into this God-blessed country.

After the museum tour we ate lunch in the RV. 

El Paso to AZ

We had a comfortable evening in the Mission RV Park in El Paso. Plugged in for air conditioning! We started another puzzle in the evening but didn't finish it until Friday morning. 

We don't travel unless everything is secured. Unfinished puzzles would become less finished from all the shaking on the roads.

 

Last evening there was a brief wind storm - all the surrounding areas became blurry...probably from sand and dust. After that came the rain which went on softy through the night. It cooled off enough that we didn't need air conditioning at all during the night. Very pleasant for sleeping.

Heading West from Odessa to El Paso

We parked in Odessa, TX, Wednesday night, but before parking for the night we attended a church in town thinking it would be a typical evening service. It turned out to be taco supper and the associate pastor sharing his testimony of how Jesus saved him out of a violent gang lifestyle as a teenager and young adult.

Our air conditioner froze up during the night. We let it thaw out this morning, which didn't take long in this climate. Lots of melted ice poured off the outside roof, and some dripped into the coach. We used a towel and buckets to catch the water.

 

The temperature has been so high since leaving Branson that we have paid for overnight parking just to have power to run our rooftop air conditioner. We usually "boondock" in Love's travel plazas where RV's are welcome for overnights and have no hookups.

We also keep our speed down to 65mph to keep the engine a little cooler. It's not happy pulling us uphill in 95+ degree weather. In our many thousands of travel miles we've seen a lot of "roadkill"...deer, raccoons, armadillos, etc. On this trip through west Texas we see lots and lots of tire fragments along the edge.

We've become more aware of blown tires since it happened to us on our first day out on this trip. Check our previous posts.

We are now parked in an RV park in El Paso, TX, for Thursday night. Because of the high temps in the region we again wanted power to run our air conditioning system. We also needed good wifi so Heather could teach her regular Thursday afternoon Zoom Good News Club.