Heading For Why, Arizona and a Catastrophe Averted

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

This morning, we slept in till 8 A.M and then I took Yuma for his morning walk in the wash just East of the parking lot.  He loves to smell and pee on about every bush.

I had two cups of coffee and did my finances and read my blogs.  Afterwards, I had a nice breakfast  Only cereal, OJ, grapefruit and a tangerine. Get enough vitamin C, I think. 

Around 11 A.M., started packing to get ready to head out for Why, Arizona, 117 miles due west on hwy 86. Why is about half way between Tucson and Yuma as the crow flies. Although you can’t go straight to Yuma because there is a huge Cabeza Prieta National Refuge in the way, so you have to go up to I-8 then across and down.

Got the inside packed and ready to go and then started hooking up the Jeep. That’s when I noticed a horrible accident waiting to happen. Nearly, the same thing that happened to Paul and Nina of Wheeling it recently.

I looked at the receiver lock on the MH and the locking end of it was not there. Nothing holding the hitch on except for a little rust and the grace of God. It could have been horrible if the receiver bolt had wiggled out and the hitch fell to the ground. Only the cables would be holding the Jeep to the MH and that would not be good as I slowed down. I don’t want to think what would have happened. Thank goodness it didn’t.

Fortunately, I had not hooked up the Jeep yet, so Yuma and I jumped in it and made a beeline to the O’Reilly Auto Parts store and picked up a very nice one that automatically locks when you push the lock on the rod. Plus the rod on the new one is much longer than the old one, making the new one easier to work with.

See the missing locking piece on the shorter rod. 

Got back, put the receiver lock on and made sure it was locked in place and we were out of the Casino Del Sol parking lot by 1 P.M.  I had turned the gas off in the MH for the two plus hours, because I wanted to check my fittings after it had been jiggling for a hundred miles.

Had a nice leisurely drive through the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation on a flat straight road. Enjoyed the scenery as we drove along.  A very relaxing drive and I sure needed it.

Just 38 miles West of Tucson, there is a check station.  Looking for aliens.  Not so much going West but coming East out of the desert.

 

Road goes West forever into the mountains.  I felt like I was flying on the wings of a bird.

The scenery all around is just beautiful.

Why, Arizona is just around those mountains ahead.

About 10 miles from Why, I stopped and turned on the gas and crawled under the MH to check the gas fittings. They were fine, so off we went to our home for the night at the Hickiwan Trails RV Park.  Got checked in around 3 P.M.

They have full hook-ups for $19 a night. Not a bad deal. I will be able to fill my water tanks.  I have had no RV tank water since leaving the frozen tundra nine days ago. Only ten one gallon jugs of water which was sufficient for my needs.  The Hickiwan Trails RV Park is located right behind a Casino.  I didn’t see it driving by, so stopped at the Why gas station and asked for directions.

After checking in, I rested with Yuma for a bit.  Yuma likes to sit in my lap.

At dusk, Yuma and I took our last walk in the desert for the evening.  It was quite warm.  65 degrees and no wind with a beautiful clear sky.

Here is a beautiful flowering barrel cactus.

Managed to get a photo of an inquisitive Burro just before dark.  We saw several last year when Dolly and I stopped for a couple of nights.

And before we knew it, sun was setting, so went down the road and took a few shots of the setting sun. 

After that, blog writing, dinner and then off to bed.  For some reason, I am very tired tonight.  Hopefully, I will gain more strength and stamina as the winter progresses.

See you later.