ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After celebrating grandson Sean’s 16th birthday and spending a very pleasant afternoon with family and friends of the Gary Burns family, Monday April 18, was our getaway date. Organized, packed and ready at 10am we were on the road and passing through Pasadena via the 210 freeway. A quick stopover at Camping World for replacement windshield wipers (in case we hit rain along the way) and a lunch stop at the White Water rest area cleared the way for a windy passage through the desert . Once beyond Indio, we made good time with a clear road before us and a good wind at our back. We arrived in Ehrenberg shortly after 3 for our first night on the road.
Tuesday morning we dallied a bit with only a short trek from Ehrenberg into Casa Grande on the schedule. We arrived at the Casa Grande RV resort at 2PM and enjoyed a warm afternoon of “laid back” relaxation. Life is tough.
Wednesday we overnighted at RV Docks Resort in Las Cruces. Before we left our friend Bruce told Ken that by reducing his mileage down to 55, he was able to improve his mpg performance. Ken acted on this information and by doing so, added an extra mpg in fuel performance. Kudos to Bruce for his recommendation.
Thursday we traveled from Las Cruces to Tye Texas. In spite of my ultimatum that we would not travel more than 300 miles in any one day and preferably, no more than 250 miles, we did over 400 miles. By the time we settled in at a RV park the interior of the RV was decidedly “coolish” with the navigator and pilot barely speaking. The icing on the cake however, came as we were having a late dinner. A jet from the nearby air base took off and it sounded as if it was going to land in our coach for dinner with us. With that , Ken was reminded of the proprietor’s comment when he registered, as follows. “Oh that is what the guy meant when he said you should have a good night though there may be an occasional plane from the base nearby. I don’t know if they have any training exercises scheduled tonight or not”. Grrrr. Three such take offs before 9 PM put me in a more than “nervous” state but alas, that was the last of the take offs for the night. However, starting at 2AM, all of the “birds” came home to roost with at least 10 landing between 2 and 4 AM. Fortunately, their landings were gentler than their take offs and I never felt threatened that they might be joining us for breakfast. Those little incidents along with the horn blowing trains that went by on an hourly basis, capped off our fourth day on the road.
Friday we arrived in Dallas and luckily, the Elks Club, just five miles from SMU, where Lauren attends school had room for us. Another “peak” at our mileage chart shows that our mpg at the reduced speed has improved our mileage and fuel usage. We may not be the fastest RV on the road, but we are trying to be fuel conscious. It is interesting that so few people are concerned enough about their gas mileage or the cost of gas as to reduce their speed. Ahem. Perhaps it is easier to complain about the cost than it is to exercise some independent jurisdiction over that which we can ourselves, impact.
Saturday, we were joined for lunch by our granddaughter, Lauren, which capped off our week with a joyous visit with our favorite granddaughter in spite of her bad cold.
It has been a good week from the road.
Until next time, stay well and our best to all.
