It was cold Friday morning in Camp Verde, AZ, but not nearly as cold as we had been experiencing for the past 12 days. Awakening to 26º F was almost like a heatwave, but without being able to remotely turn on our portable fireplace around 4 am as I am wont to do on cold mornings, it got down to 43º F in our bedroom. Usually as the temperature dips to 60º F the fireplace is being utilized. As I have noted before, we do have three Suburban gas furnaces which run off our 12 volt system, but we choose not to run them at night as they are much louder than the electric heaters. I am usually the first one up most mornings so I just turn on all three gas furnaces, and then hop back into bed to await more hospitable interior temperatures. Usually, within 10 minutes the interior is once again quite comfortable and then I get up for good (does anyone ever get up for 'bad'?).
We were undisturbed at our overnight, last minute parking spot, and slept like babies. TLE usually adds an extra blanket over our quilt for extra warmth in the form of a flannel hospital sheet when we are dry camping in cold conditions. That single extra layer really keeps us comfortable. When we are plugged into utilities we utilize our electric blanket, which is always on the bed.
When we went to bed at 10 pm the house batteries were at 100% (we had watched TV Thursday night courtesy our Predator 2000 portable generator), and when I checked at 6 am Friday morning they were at 95%.....only 5% loss over 8 hours in pretty cold conditions.......better than expected.
By 9 am the block heater had warmed up the big 6V92 Detroit Diesel sufficiently enough that we could light the fires and cover the last 85 miles to Wittmann, AZ where we will stay on the property of our good friends Tom and Darlene for the next month. The drive southward on I-17 was beautiful as we continued to lose elevation......
Returning to the magical land of the saguaro (pronounced sawaro)!
.....there were a couple of Rest Area opportunities along the way, but we eschewed them for them for the continued pleasure of smooth pavement, light traffic, and big views. Eventually we departed the smooth, uncrowded I-17 for the even more deserted confines of SR-303 which took us westward to Grand Ave. where we turned back north, and our last 9 miles to Wittmann, AZ.....
......soon we were rumbling down a very familiar lane to the property of our friends........
We have deployed our artificial turf for the first time since Campbellsville, KY, an our awning for the first time since Southwest Harbor, ME......
....by the time we reached the 'In N Out Burger' it was close to 1 pm......it has been almost a year since we last enjoyed a #2 Combo (cheesburger, fries and a drink), and for about 30 minutes we were in 'hog heaven' as we slowly consumed our prize, and we did that all whilst sitting OUTSIDE in the sun in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops......I can now die a happy man!
There is something to be said about returning to the familiar as we did Friday. We have been visiting Tom and Darlene pretty much every year for the last 9 years (first while they still lived in Mesa, AZ, and ever since they moved to Wittmann, AZ). It always feels like coming home to me when we arrive in front of their house. Usually when we visit Tom and Darlene I take time to work on long delayed Newell projects, and Tom is always there to bail me out when I get in over my head. Every time we leave Wittmann I leave with more knowledge about, and a better understanding of our Newell. With Tom's tutelage I have become more self sufficient, and confident in making most repairs to our Newell, and I am forever grateful for his help, and support. When I was having a problem with my MAC air valve in Inverness, FL Tom was there to lend support and solutions via phone.....he is alway available!
After indulging our 'In N Out' dreams we headed for the local Trader Joe's to restock on wine.....12 bottles in all.....4 Pinots, 4 Zins, and 4 Malbecs....we are set for the month! We were home by 4 pm, and getting ready to watch the sun dip below the western horizon once again.
Since we left SoCal back on April 12th we have covered 8,530.1 miles (Trip A below), and by the time we return to SoCal we will have covered close to 9,200 miles in our almost 1 year odyssey! Since we left Southwest Harbor, ME we have traveled 5,141.3 miles (Trip B below). In all that time we have really had very minor mechanical issues. We had to get our rear facing radiator cleaned in Albuquerque, NM back in April. I had to reconnect the oil temperature sending wire in OKC, OK. I had to replace the MAC air valves in Inverness, FL, and replace the house water pump in Vidalia, LA......otherwise she just keeps running like a champ. In a few days we will deliver our baby to Leo at All Aboard America to have the oil changed, to lube the running gear, renew the fuel, oil and transmission filters, and refresh the coolant in the big rear facing radiator in preparation for our big Alaska adventure this summer.
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