The driving was difficult. We had, thankfully, been mindful about the weight of our rig. So, for example, we carried no water (which oftentimes can add 500 pounds).
The reason this mattered is that for most of the way south we were driving against strong headwinds. We got terrible gas mileage, but more importantly, I had to fight the rig the entire time. I couldn't just lightly hold onto the steering wheel like I can usually do when driving long distances.
Vicky, as usual, was the navigator, cook, on-line news reader, and all around everything.
For this trip we tried something a little different. Every hour we would find a stopping place and walk for awhile. It made the day longer, but it kept us fresh. It was worth the extra hour or so that it took us to arrive at our daily destination.
One reason we needed this type of break was because the temperatures were high (100 degrees). So when we stopped for the night, we didn't sleep well. We don't have air conditioning because we almost never camp where we might need it or even could use it. When we checked into the KOAs we "camped" at on the trip, we asked for a site in the shade for this reason. One woman, with a shocked look on her face, said: "Don't you know it can get up to 110 in your camper?" We said we knew...all too well.
In order to sleep, we had to empty stuff from our camper just nto be able to make it to the bed. And then in the middle of the night, we had to crawl over our stuff to get to the toilet, which was not in the bathroom. Instead, it was in the middle of the floor. The reason is that the bathroom was stacked to the top with boxes. Adventures in going to the bathroom.
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Our final evening in Brigadoon (our name for our Whidbey Island home), where we spend a lot of time during the summer sitting on our front porch watching our birds:
Camper filled to the brim:
Putting a few final things in:
Leaving to catch the 5:00 a.m. ferry:
After removing a few things at night, we had to walk carefully on boxes and tubs to reach the bed:
and to get to the "toilet" in the middle of the night:
We stayed at KOAs because they are close to the highway and are cheap and quiet:
and dreadfully boring.
Taking walks during the drive:
We ate at McDonald's and Taco Bells. Impossible to fix food in the camper, plus we were exhausted after each day's drive. A couple of days of this can make you crazy.
Poor man's coffee thermos:
Finally we arrived:
Arriving at Nuestra Casa (translation: Our Home), our name for our Arizona home:
Our first view of the house that we had remodeled. We love it. More on this later:
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