Leaving Winslow.....

6:22 am - Friday - February 8th - Camp Verde, AZ - 26º F, 51% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north.......clear skies today with a forecast high of 59º F.

Our Jello plan was to roll our wheels by 9 am Thursday morning, but we beat that by 20 minutes.  It was a frigid overnight bottoming out at 17º F just before dawn.  After 12 days at the Elks Lodge in Winslow it was time to change our view.  Our main goal Thursday was to get our VW Beetle to Findlay VW as early in the day as possible so they could install the new seatbelt buckle, and air bag module.....

.....as we trundled westward gaining elevation mile by mile the San Francisco Mountains came into full view, and what a view it was.  After the two day snowstorm in Flagstaff the mountains are blanketed in a new layer of snow.  The 55 mile drive was effortless as we gained over 2,000' in elevation.  We arrived at the Home Depot parking lot just around the corner from Findlay about 9:45 am.  Within minutes we were dressed, had extracted the VW from the trailer, and were on our way over to Findlay.  We dropped off the car just before 10 am.....perfect!  

Originally we were to drop the car off the day (Tuesday) I had my outpatient surgery, but due to the snow storm in progress the part had not arrived so we rescheduled for Thursday hoping the part would arrive by then......as it turned out the parts delivery had occurred just a few minutes before our arrival.....perfect again!

We had about 5 hours to kill so we walked about a mile over to one of our favorites thrift stores, Savers, and spent over an hour going up one aisle and down another looking for that which we could not live without.  TLE found several things, and I found a couple pairs of shorts (always thinking of warmer weather, right?), and some pajama bottoms......I was due.  By the time we returned to the Newell it had warmed up to 34º F, but without wind it felt warmer.  It was now Noon, and we still had a good 3+ hours before the VW would be done.

Finally, about 3:30 pm, we got the call the Beetle was ready and quickly walked over to pay the damages, and retrieve our car.  We had the car back in the trailer within minutes and were on our way back to I-40, but only for a couple of miles.  We needed to dump our tanks, and found an RV dump station at the local Conoco fuel station just off I-40 at the Butler exit (#198).  Within 30 minutes the deed was done and we were back on I-40 for just another 2 miles.  For the first time since we reached I-40 in Amarillo we were leaving it there in Flagstaff for I-17......

 Forgive the terrible condition of our windshield....we didn't know how bad it was until we were headed into the sun

.....we have been on the Colorado Plateau for a few weeks, and it was time to head for lower elevations, and warmer weather now that most of my doctor appointments are done (all that remains is my final surgery in 2.5 weeks).  Our goal was Camp Verde for the night, but we had been unable to find an RV park with room for us.  I do not like to drive at night, and I knew it would be sunset as we reached Camp Verde at 3,200' elevation.   There were a couple of dry camping/boondocking opportunities in the area (Walmart in Cottonwood, and National Forest land between Camp Verde and Cottonwood) where we have stayed before, but the Walmart no longer allows RV's to stay overnight, and it appears the National Forest land is now closed to dispersed camping.....bummer!

Leaving the snow behind, as well as the Colorado Plateau

As expected, we reached Camp Verde around 6 pm, a few minutes after sunset.  As we approached the town I saw the Cliff Castle Casino  on the left, which I had forgotten about, and knew we could probably overnight there.  Unfortunately, by the time I decided that was the place to stay we had passed the exit and had to proceed down the hill to the next exit, and get back on I-17 northbound to the Mid Verde exit.  Just as we found a spot in the large parking lot in which to park it turned completely dark.  This lot is well lit, however, and feels very safe.

Within minutes I had our small generator running power into the coach, had the DirecTV dialed in, and TLE was making scrambled eggs for dinner......life is good, and in the end it all worked out.  So, our car is finally fixed, and we are at as low an elevation as we have been in weeks.  In another day we'll be in Wittmann enjoying pleasant days, and warmer nights.

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