Gittin' to Phoenix

Storrie Lake State Park - Las Vegas New Mexico











What a sunset!

Homolovi Ruins State Park - Winslow AZ.

Notice Our new summer home!

Kirk the campground greeter!

Wow!! What a trip! Talk about a baptism of fire! We encountered 30 - 40 mile per hour crosswinds between Denver and our first stop in New Mexico. I took the wheel outside of Colorado Springs and with great relief turned it back over to Kirk 3 1/2 hour laters. Talk about a cheek squeezer! Not only were there terrible winds, there were signs every few miles to remind you that there were "very gusty winds". A slight understatement! I then had the opportunity to drive through a construction zone where the concrete barriers on either side of the trailer cleared about a foot and a half although to me it looked like 6 inches! Later I had the chance to drive up and down a mountain pass. Another cheek squeezer! However, we finally landed at our destination of Las Vegas New Mexico. The first thing we did was stop at a liquor store and get a 6 pack! Kirk overshot the entrance to the campground - Storrie Lake State Park and we had to travel 5 miles on the road before we found a scenic turnoff which afforded us the opportunity to turnaround. The reward was a beautiful sunset and cold beer! And for the first time on the trip, we could sleep with the windows open and not be freezing in the morning.

We left early the next morning (we actually never unhitched the trailer) and headed for our next destination: Homolovi Ruins State Park outside of Winslow Arizona. More winds.... By this time I was used to winds and construction zones. At the campground we perched on our camp chairs and drank the rest of that 6 pack. We must have looked like camp hosts because everyone who pulled in after us, stopped to chat and share their travel and trailer adventures. There we were ol' Ma and Pa! The next morning we hiked on a trail to the visitor center and had a wonderful chat with the resident park manager and learned all kinds of good details about the area. And most importantly, she verified that Winslow Arizona's claim to fame was the Eagle's song, "Take it Easy". She told us that the town has a statue of a hippie next to a flatbed truck. Unfortunately we did not want to pull the trailer into town and find it.

Kirk drove the next day to Flagstaff Arizona through some really tough head winds. Gas mileage plummeted! We plan on staying with my sister, Barbara and brother-in-law Ed in Phoenix and Kirk's brother, Virgil in Tucson so we stored the trailer at the same place we will be camping before we head to Zion. This was a wise decision because the drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix is all downhill with several 6% grades. The truck was grateful for the respite!

We are here now in Phoenix and our next blog post we recap the week's visit and activities.