The temperatures are definitely cooler…downright cold, never thought we would be saying it but it feels good. We’ve never liked the cold and snow and we never liked the extreme heat, we have always been fair weather people. But, now we are leaning more towards the cooler temperatures for sure, we both now have extreme allergies to the desert. All the dust and pollen wreak havoc on our breathing and make it almost impossible to sleep at night, but now in the cooler temperatures life is easier.
Our next day of travel got us just over 100 miles to Williams, Arizona where we stayed for 3 nights so we could work a Jyve in Flagstaff. We stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park where we have stayed several times and are able to use our 50% Passport America membership. Check out our separate blog entry for our review.
On Tuesday we drove to Flagstaff to work a Jyve and the weather made it extremely adventurous. It was raining off and on all night and even when we left in the morning, but as we drove the 33 miles, the rain turned to slush and then to snow…blinding snow at times…it was exciting to say the least. We chose to stay at a hotel for the night since the job turned into a big one and we didn’t want to drive back in that crap. We stayed at the LaQuinta where we stayed the last time we Jyved here. Big suite, wonderful shower and a comfortable bed, just the way we like it. We were able to stretch out and take long, hot showers…NICE!
The screaming kids and barking dogs in the morning is not what we prefer, but that is just due to some really inconsiderate people who do not seem to know that there are others in the hotel besides them…they don’t use common sense and are just plain rude and nowadays we let them know, but they are still oblivious to why we say it to them, as if we’re the ones being unreasonable…SOME PEOPLE!
It had been cold and wet for days and this days drive was no different, we made it to Holbrook, Arizona and periodically seen blue skies amongst all the clouds. We stayed at the OK RV Park for the first time and it was a good stop, check out our separate blog entry for the entire review.
Four days of off and on rain in the desert really makes for lots of mud, huge puddles, very chilly and windy. Due to the wind, we made a short 100 mile drive to Gallup, New Mexico where it’s really cold and windy but we are keeping warm and cozy inside. We stayed at USA RV Park as we usually do when in this area. Unfortunately, we needed a Walmart stop and it was worse than around the holidays and this was at mid day on a Friday. The shelves were all empty…WHAT IS IT ABOUT HOARDING TOILET PAPER? This is just totally out of hand, it was chaos and people were rude, as if it were the end of the world…CRAZY!
Next days drive of 150 miles got us to Enchanted Trails in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we have stayed many times using our Coast to Coast membership that they no longer accept but they do take Passport America, see our separate review for more information.
Another 150 miles to Las Vegas, New Mexico where we stayed at the KOA, another wet, dreary, foggy day with a real chill in the air. Just after dark for no apparent reason the power went out and it was pitch black for a few moments which kept me on edge for most of the night.
What a difference a day and 200 miles makes…we landed in Colorado City at the Pueblo South Colorado City KOA and paid much higher than we usually do, but it was the best choice. Woke up to dreary, wet fog which ended up being in and out of it for the entire drive.
We finally arrived at our two week stay to rest before our last 400 miles to our summer job, we were definitely ready for some time to sleep in and do nothing, we were so naïve about what they were forecasting and what was really going to occur. We watch the weather forecast closely as we travel, but nothing prepared us for this and of course it changed by the minute.
We weren’t happy with our site at Colorado Heights Camping Resort when we arrived but the office was closed except for about an hour in the mornings. We were on a steep hill, which most of the sites were and under a canopy of trees, again like most other sites. We sucked it up and tried to make the best out of the situation.
We usually just use our space heater which keeps us cozy, but with temps going into the teens, we knew it would not keep us warm enough so we checked our house heater and the blower turned on but the heater was not igniting. It was not perfect timing, but we knew we had a day before it was going to hit, so we were out most of the day looking for toilet paper and the needed part. Finally, after about a dozen places and over a hundred miles we have wine, food, toilet paper and heat and thought we were set, but the storm was more than anticipated.
We woke to frigid temps and already a few inches of snow, the accumulation forecast went from 2” to 12” overnight. It was turning into a white out blizzard so we chose to leave Maggie at the park while we drove 5 miles through the blizzard to a hotel, where we stayed warm and cozy for 4 days. That’s how long it took for the 12” of snow and ice to melt so we could get Maggie off the hill. We planned to leave 2 days later but when we went to dig Maggie out, we got stuck in the Jeep but were able to get out because she has 4WD, something Maggie does not have, so we went back to the hotel for 2 more days. The temperatures during the day were in the 50’s and it was sunny so all the icy roads and snow was melting, but we knew we didn’t have much time since another storm was coming in just a few days. We got Maggie off the hill and drove south a hundred miles.
It’s been a trying time for us and people are really acting crazy, the COVID19 cases are rising drastically in Colorado, the blizzards are continuing, our spring/summer job had been postponed two weeks and they can’t guarantee there won’t be more postponement in the future, finding a place to land in the area was not happening. Every place was over $700 a month, or only daily rates of over $50 per day, so we high tailed it out of there. Things went awry on this journey and now we will be regrouping…we will let you all know where we land.
1 comment:
Everyone is struggling with this Coronavirus going around. Shops, Restaurants, Malls even Health Facilities are closed. Office workers are working from home and kids are now being Home-Schooled online.
Find some warmer weather and hunker down for a bit while practicing the new Social Distancing.
Be Safe and Enjoy what nature has to offer.
It's about time.
Post a Comment