Day 6 - I have finally arrived at my destination

 This morning I didn't hurry.  Don't have to leave till noon so I did a few things around the White Lion and had three cups of coffee and my Ritz crackers.  Took Yuma for several walks and then we headed out at 11 o'clock for our final destination for awhile.  Ajo, Arizona.  It is only about 3 hours west of Tucson.

The first thing I did was to stop at the first service station and fill both the White Lion and the Jeep.  The Jeep was on empty.  They have a wind advisory for today, but luckily the wind is coming from the east so I have a tail wind.  Should be no problem.

I took Valencia Road across the southern part of Tucson and it dead ended into Ajo Highway also known as highway 86.  110 miles to Ajo.  This highway goes right trough the Tohono O'Odham Nation Reservation.  This highway is two lane and is rough in a few places but overall not bad but I stayed around 55 mph.

Here are some pictures I took along the way.  The first one is of the Casino Del Sol where I used to stay for free, but now they have an RV park and charge $40 to stay.

My first checkpoint looking for illegals trying to pass through.  They didn't check me because they are only concerned with those going east.

Ajo Highway heading straight for the Kitt Peak National Observatory.

You can see it at the very top.  A great place to visit but if you're in a large RV, be sure to leave it at the bottom and take your towed.  It is a steep climb to the top.

The edge of the road just drops off so be careful and not slip off or you may in for a ride.

Finally, to my destination just south of Ajo.  Darby Well Road.

I was able to find a place on the side road I have stayed at a number of times.  I know some of you will be very familiar with it.  I am right at the base of Black Mountain.

Just as I was writing this there was a big boom that shook the whole motorhome and scared both Yuma and me.  A military training jet broke the sound barrier.  There is a lot of training going on around this area.

Darby Well Road heading for Black Mountain.

Behind the White Lion is some of the tailing from the huge open pit mine right in Ajo.  I'll visit that again while I'm here.

Views around my area.

Drove 148 miles today, shortest day thank goodness.  Got here at 2:30 so we drove three and a half hours.  Not bad.  According to Google Maps I have driven 1,784 miles in the last six days.  The actual miles were more I'm sure.  Glad it is over.  

See you later.

Day 5 - Finally made it to Arizona

 Only had about a four hour drive today, so I didn't hurry to leave this morning.  Had a leisurely breakfast.  First time for coffee and my 12 Ritz crackers with peanut butter and a slab of cheese on top.  Up till now I was always in too much of a hurry.  Didn't pull out till 9:30 MT.  It is another gorgeous day.  Cool here in New Mexico but calling for 66 in Tucson, Arizona today. :))

Didn't stop for Diesel today so that's good.  One more fill-up tomorrow and I'll be good for awhile.  The drive went smoothly and the road was good.  Now that I'm not using the cruise control I find myself zipping along at around 70 mph and the White Lion loves it.  Here are some views as I traveled through the western part of New Mexico. 

After a little over an hour of driving I was in Arizona.  The first number of miles was on a flat desert area and then I could see mountains off i the distance.  I made a stop at the Texas Canyon rest stop as I do every year.

Texas Canyon rest area is full of boulders.

Oops!  How did I get in there!  Little windy.

From there I was soon hitting the outskirts of Tucson and my home for the evening.  Got here at 1:15 so only a 3 hour and 45 minute drive today. :))  More like it.

Last night I decided to stay one night at the Pima County Fairgrounds RV Park.  I had stayed here a week last year to do some work on the White Lion when I bought it.  I need to take on water and get some propane and this is the perfect place at $30 for full hook-ups.

After checking in and getting propane, Yuma took a walk at the dog park and then I went to work hooking up the water, electricity and sewer line.  I turned on the water and whoa, it was pouring out of the bay.  Went over and looked in and I could see the output water line from the pump was disconnected.

Turned off the water and climbed as far into the bay as I could so my poor eyes could see the problem.  I'm getting too old for this!  I worked for about 30 minutes to try to connect the line back but just couldn't.  Finally, I went into the office and the lady gave me four numbers to call to get someone to come out and fix it.  Big bucks probably.

Went back to the White Lion and decided to try one more time.  Pushed the connection and this time it snapped into place.  Ah, big bucks saved!  I then filled the water tank finally.

Then I went about cleaning the kitchen sink and doing the few dishes I had.  After that I decided I had better turn off the city water and turn on the pump to check if it worked.  The pump came on but I had no water coming out of the faucets.  What a bummer.  Big bucks again!

I was thinking I had air in the lines and it needed to just run till the air blew out of the faucet.  But after it stopped spitting it did nothing.  No air and no water.  Getting dark now, so decided to fix dinner and think about what to do.  My decision was to call the pro - my brother-in-law Evan back home.  He might give me an idea of what to do.

After listening to my problem, he was thinking the problem wasn't air in the lines but no water going into the pump.  He said to look for a valve on the input line of the pump.  I knew there was one there but when I had turned it before water poured out so I didn't mess with it.  This time I turned it the other way and Voila I had water.  Evan had come to my rescue!

It was nice working outside in the warm afternoon sun instead of the cold days I had before.  Now I can go to bed happy and leave as planned in the morning.  All is good with the world once more.

See you later.

Day 4 - Perfect Day till Deming, New Mexico

 The morning was perfect.  Cold but sunny.  I decided to head out at 7:15 as the sun was coming up and have breakfast down the road.  They were calling for a cold front to come in with wind, so I wanted to get to Deming early and settle in.  Ha!

Yuma enjoyed seeing the flat lands and helping me navigate.  We stopped at a rest area and had our breakfast.

As you can see the weather was perfect again today.  Sunny with no wind as we headed towards Albuquerque.  As we drove along the land was fairly flat and then as we got nearer to Albuquerque we could see mountains.  Just as we arrived into the city, we went through the Sandia Mountains and then down into the valley where Albuquerque is.

Just wanted to give you a flavor of what we were seeing as we drove along.  I am taking these out the window with one hand so they are blurry.

We turned onto I-25 from I-40 inside the city limits.  The markings were great and we had no problems at all finding our way.  I-25 is a beautiful road for most of the way.  I was glad t finally be heading South after three days of going West.

Stopped in Truth or Consequences for diesel, my only stop of the day for fuel. :))  The Elephant Butte State Park with its beautiful lake was on my left as we drove along I-25.

Here's another one of Yuma's favorite places to get some sun.

At the small town of Hatch, we headed toward Deming, New Mexico on highway 26.  It is a two lane road but saw only one car behind me the entire 30 miles.

Made good time all the way to Deming.  Still took about seven hours but it was smooth sailing.  Then things went bad.  Last year when I stopped at Walmart they told me to go next door to a vacant building they had bought and it had plenty of parking.  

So, I drove past Walmart and went to turn into the drive and I almost ran into a cable running across the drive.  It was a four lane road and when I turned left across the oncoming traffic I didn't see it.  There I was stopped blocking both the lanes of traffic on the busiest street in town.

I got out to see if I could remove the cable but no luck.  By now, people were honking because I was blocking the street completely.  I tried to pull the stake out of the ground and then I heard someone say "you can't do that." and I turned around to see a motorcycle policeman with a bull horn.

He started directing traffic and I told him I would have to unhook the jeep but luckily this street person walked over.  I asked him if he would steer the jeep while I backed out.  Thank goodness he came along and was nice enough to help.  Backed up enough while the policeman stopped traffic so I could get back on the street and out of the way.  Gave the man $20 and it was the best money I spent today.   Sorry I didn't take the time for a few pictures. :))

He also told me the city had made it illegal to park overnight in the city limits.  Made a decision to leave Deming behind.  Too bad!  I had stayed there overnight for a number of years.  

Got on I-10 and headed west looking for the next rest area and luckily about 15 miles down the road there it was and I'm in a nice rest stop for the night.  By this time it was 4:30 so it took from 7:15 to 4:30 to end my day. Nine hours and change!  Good thing I started early.  The wind had picked up in the afternoon, but it wasn't a bother and the temperature is very comfortable. 

All in all it wasn't really a bad day.  Could have been worse.  

See you later.