On the road again...

After almost a year, we are once again "on the road" - heading to the very same place that we headed to almost a year ago!!! We are once again on our way to Baker, CA for the Baker-Vegas Challenge Cup Relay Race. If I knew how to add the link, I would, but it's somewhere on a past blog! :-) I've been really bad about blogging anyway, so I'm not going to look for the answer right now either! :-) It's been with some rather *S*L*O*W* starts, but we've made it to Tucumcari, NM and should get to Flagstaff, AZ tomorrow!

In early December we took our coach to be repaired from the tornado damage and from a little "self-inflicted" damage that both Don and I were responsible for (we forgot to put down the satellite dish before backing into the garage...after not using the motorhome for travel we forgot some of our routines). We told the shop at that time that we would be leaving "first of March" for a trip. Fast forward to Monday. We were "supposed" to take the Avalanche to the shop to have it prepared for towing and then bring both it and the motorhome back home. That would give me time to get it ready to go...on Wednesday! We were just about ready to leave when they called Don and asked if we could come on Tuesday instead because they weren't ready - little did we know! They had also informed us about a week earlier that the satellite dish had just been sent out for repair and wouldn't be back before we left. That's MAJOR! That's not only internet access but t.v. as well. We told them we would be in Las Vegas about two weeks after leaving and to see if we could get it put back on then. Since we are planning on being gone for almost a month...that's only half the trip! We changed some plans we had for Tuesday and headed there instead. We already aren't "happy campers" and once there find out that they need a piece for the Avalanche. They are having the piece over-nighted and Don makes arrangements for them to finish the job and bring the truck back to us the next day. Guess we won't be leaving on Wednesday after all!!

Don and I headed home with just the motorhome. All was well until we got almost home. We were going to turn on a narrow street and someone was turning towards us. Instead of waiting or backing up like he should have done, Don decided to turn. Guess what? The back tires went into the ditch and there they stayed! Couldn't go forward and couldn't go backwards! Ugh, ugh, ugh! Don's first comments were "call a wrecker", mine were a little different! Actually, I got on the cell phone and called Troy, our contractor/friend and asked him to bring a couple of boards. While we were waiting for Troy, another friend's son drove up and he called his dad's partner, Ken to come help. Ken and Troy ended up chaining their trucks to the back of our motorhome and between the two of them they were able to pull it out enough that we could back up the rest of the way and turn like we should have! Sometimes there is a reason for having PATIENCE!

On Wednesday the repair facility brought the Avalanche to us, finished what they needed on the motorhome and left. Thursday morning we hook-up and check the brake lights, turn signals, etc. and find out that we have NO LIGHTS! Now why didn't they check that before they left?? They offer to meet us "on the road" and we head out.

The first night our plan is to get to Oklahoma City to meet up with friends, Joanne & Rick Stone who are joining us at the race! After about a two hour delay we finally get going (I spent the time shopping since they met us in a mall parking lot!) No problems making it to Oklahoma City but once there we started to put up our "bat wing" antenna (it's the antenna that you use to get local channels over the air) and find out that they hadn't replaced it...the one that was destroyed in the tornado was removed, but they hadn't replaced it (Don had asked them about it about a week before when we had stopped by to check on the progress and he saw the old one on the floor)! So no satellite and no bat wing means that we are really out of luck for t.v.! Not much of a problem for me, but sure brings tears to Don's eyes!! One perk...Rick had told us about an empty mall parking lot just down the street from their home so that's where we went. We were just at the end from the library and they had wi-fi! If I sat outside, I could download our e-mail! :-)

After our arrival, Don called Rick to let him know we were there. Don looked out the window and who was in front of the motorhome in his car...Rick! Rick took us to their house and we had a great dinner that Joanne had fixed! All that and trying to pack for a month long trip too! Spent some time catching up and enjoying the evening and then it was back to the motorhome so we could get an "early" start on Friday! Nine a.m. this morning and off we headed! Our first stop was Flying J for fuel, next was a rest area for lunch and finally this evening we landed in Tucumcari, at an old RV park that Don and I have stopped at in years passed. One perk of being with Joanne and Rick...we walked a little ways down the street to a restaurant for dinner! Normally we would have had something in the motorhome! We needed to walk a little further back to work off our dinner but it didn't happen! Maybe tomorrow while we are driving I'll walk up and down the motorhome aisle to work off some of the calories...or maybe I won't! :-) It's an even earlier start tomorrow so that we can make it to Flagstaff and Black Bart's for dinner! Wow, dinner out two nights in a row...I won't know what to do with myself! BTW the park we are at not only has wi-fi (that's why I can blog) but they also have cable! Tomorrow night we plan on boondocking (being in a parking lot of Wal-Mart or somewhere so most likely no wi-fi - or t.v.)!

One other thing we have had to "deal" with...we had the repair facility winterize the coach since it would be sitting out during some freezing weather without the heaters on and not being used. Instead of blowing out the water in the lines, they put anti-freeze in our system. Even though the tank was drained...we are still dealing with anti-freeze in the water! I can't tell you how many batches of ice I've thrown away already and the water I've run! Ugh! Needless to say, I'm not using any ice and I'm certainly not drinking any of the water!!!

This trip will be a little different from the one last year in several ways. Mostly the house is finished and we won't be "racing" back to get it completed! Also, after the race we will be in Las Vegas a few days (getting the satellite put back on for starters) and then heading to Del Rio, TX where we will spend a few days with daughter, Stacy and of course Justisse and Korey too! From there it's on to Canyon Lake, TX where we will meet up with friends, Maribel and Bob Clerc, who are heading to Henderson, LA with us for a Monaco Wannagos rally. After the rally we will make our way back to Greers Ferry until our next trip in May!