LA to Indy: Days 2-5. Since we’re just slogging our way east, without any sightseeing, this is a pretty boring section of the country. We pulled out of the Avi at about 9:00am, crossed the muddy (at this point) Colorado, and headed north on the “Bullhead Highway” towards Laughlin. At this point, we’re in Arizona, and looking across the river there is the Nevada side lined with all the casinos. It’s amazing how much development has taken place in the last 20 years. You’d think with Vegas so close, this area wouldn’t stand a chance, but maybe the river is the allure. Past Bullhead City we turned east on SR68 and began a 3000+ climb up the Kingman grade. It felt like it would never end. Every time we thought we were at the top, we turned a corner and there was more grade. Finally, the summit.
This was just the beginning of the climbing. I am always amused by Denver touting itself as the “Mile-High City.” The next couple of days driving – hundreds of miles – would be almost all above Denver’s altitude. We entertained ourselves by checking elevation markers and GPS readings. (OK, this is a really boring part of the trip, one we’ve made several times.)
Our destination on this day 2 was Holbrook, AZ, about 90 miles east of Flagstaff. That 7234 reading above was on the approach to Flagstaff, which puts Denver to shame. There is some nice terrain going through AZ on I-40. We think that is Humphreys Peak, with the snow, the highest point in Arizona at 12,623 ft. It’s just north of Flagstaff, with skiing there at the Arizona Snowbowl.
At Holbrook, we stayed at an old familiar park, the OK RV Park. Decent wifi, very good bathrooms and showers, level sites. Not much to look at, but it does the job. Loni set to work making our first road dinner. Pork medallions with onions, sweet potato/apple compote, and mixed squashes. Yes, yum! This calls for an IPA.
Unfortunately, during the night, someone tripped the main breaker for the power to our section of the park, and we woke up to no juice. As it was Sunday morning, no one was about. Not a biggie, except Loni wanted to wash her hair and needed her dryer. They eventually got it sorted out just as we were leaving. Next stop, day 3, was to be Albuquerque. Again, no sightseeing. We spent 10 days there a few years back at the balloon festival, so we had pretty much covered the scene then. Our first sight of the Sandias as we pulled in included a long line of trucks on their way West through another construction slowdown. Once again, the Economic Recovery Act is in full evidence in the Mountain States.
We opted for the American RV Park at the west entrance to Albuquerque (actually, about 9 miles west of downtown. It’s just ahead on the right in the pic above (but not visible). I have to rate this as one of the best RV parks we’ve ever stayed in. Cost us $33, but every site was paved with a concrete pad, everything is new, the bathrooms are spotless and modern, great wifi, full cable, and very nice folks. Highly recommended for our RV friends.
Since we weren’t going to break out the scoot to head into town for dinner, Loni made her own Mexican fare for dinner. No pics, but yes, the soft tacos were excellent.
There’s a long descent from the west into Albuquerque so, of course, there’s another long up grade heading east out of the city. This gets you up onto a very high plain, which comes down a bit before settling down to straight line, high plains monotony. The kink in the road in the below left pic was so welcome that I had to record it, but things mostly looked like the below right.
The destination for day 4 was Dalhart, in the Texas panhandle, the entirety of which looks like the two bottom photos above. Flat and essentially lifeless. We went as far as Tucumcari on I-40, where we stopped to have lunch. Forgot to mention that before we left we stripped our avocado tree of nearly all its fruit, gave some away to friends and neighbors, and brought about ten with us. They’re all ripening rather alarmingly rapidly, so we’ve been pigging out on them at every meal except breakfasts. At Tucumcari, we stopped at a Love’s travel spot where we got the cheapest gas thus far, and feasted on open-faced tuna-avocado sammies.
From there, we left I-40 and angled northeast on US54, mostly two-lane but fairly smooth going to Dalhart. You might be scratching your head and wondering why we’re staying in places like Holbrook and Dalhart. Simple. Mileage. I’m trying to keep each day’s travel reasonably manageable, somewhere in the high 200’s. These places just happened to fall within the right range.
In Dalhart, we stayed at the Corral RV Park, a decent place with a homey feel to it. It had nice, level gravel sites with all-new electric hookups and cable.
But their free wifi was an awful service I’ve hated before at other parks – Tengo --, which has login nonsense that’s a PITA but, even worse, kept dropping out over and over again. It was useless. No posting from there! What to do? Why, eat, of course! A chicken-corn-potato hash, with asparagus on the side. The traveling gourmets.
Day 5 (today) had us off to do some grocery shopping in the morning, so we got on the road just after 9. We continued on 54 out of the Texas panhandle and through Oklahoma’s, which is really skinny, only about 33 miles north-to-south. The Oklahoma panhandle is just as flat an boring as Texas’, but there is some comic relief now and then.
In Kansas, the terrain was just about the same. Lots of small towns, each with their minute claim to alleged fame, all of them with speed limits that slow you to a crawl. Meade, KS, boasted it was the home of the hideout of the Dalton gang. Wow! From the lack of life in the city, the Daltons could probably still hide out in plain sight.
We’ve been through endless road work, but it mostly hasn’t slowed us down much. We’ve been lucky twice at flag-controlled one-laners, arriving both times at the tail-end of the waiting cars just as they were waived on. No wait for us! However, there is a thing called Karma, and the third time is the charm. Yes, the other side of the sign says STOP. For a quarter hour. Since we move along at 60mph, and the limit is 75, all those cars and trucks behind us were not happy chappies once we got rolling and clear of the construction zone. Tough.
We’re now ensconced in Hutchinson, KS, at the inaptly named Melody Acres RV Park. The only melodies we hear are the train whistles across the way. The park is even more low key than last night’s; grass pads, levelers needed, older systems, but clean bathrooms & showers. And, surprise, surprise, a wifi that actually works! Well, if you can read this post, it does. Tomorrow, no more fun and games. It’s back to the salt mines. Literally.
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