A day of Fantasy......

7:55 am - Friday - March 15th - Indio, CA - 56º F, 30% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the north by northwest.......clear blue skies today with a forecast high here in Indio, CA of 80º F.

Waking up Thursday I realized that all the tasks which stood between us in Arizona and our kids in SoCal were now complete.  We had been in Arizona since January 26th taking care of chores, repairs, doctor appointments, surgeries, recoveries, etc. Now, on March 14th we were free to merge on to I-10 and head for SoCal.  I slept as well as I have slept in quite a few weeks, and waking up to warm temperatures, and clear blue skies was such a tonic.

By the time we pulled the Newell out the bus bay on Wednesday and got situated it was late, so I suggested to Leo that we settle the bill in the morning since we were not planning to leave All Aboard America before 10 am.  No one wants to drive through Phoenix during rush hour......no one.  By 9 am Leo had the paperwork done and we went inside to pay the tab.  In all we had the drive axle brake pads replaced, a new spring kit, new drums, a new left axle seal and gasket, new bushings for both rear shocks, and finally tighten up the bolts on the torque rod above the differential housing.  Parts were about $750, and labor was just over $1,500 for a total just under $2,400.....a little painful, but very necessary.....functioning brakes do come in very handy from time to time.

We were pulling out of the All Aboard America parking lot just before 10 am, and merging onto I-10 by 10:15 am......it is just 342 miles to the Fontana/Rialto Elks Lodge.  Of course, you know I am not going to drive 342 miles in one day, right?  Minus a gun to my head I prefer to keep my daily mileage under 300.  Since I hadn't driven much in the prior 5 weeks we decided to knock out the bulk of the 342 miles on Thursday......268 miles to be exact.  That distance would get us to Indio, CA and just 88 miles from home.

In about 30 minutes we had escaped the gravitational pull of metro Phoenix and the big views returned.  We both kind of exhaled and smiled.......

 

.....I turned to TLE and said "Nice to be moving again, right?" to which she replied...."Yeah".  There is nothing which brings a smile to my face more quickly than seeing the road opening up in front of me.

By the time we reached the California border we were down to 1/4 tank of diesel.  We hadn't filled our tank since the Route 66 RV Park (Casino) just west of Albuquerque, NM back on January 25th, and had covered over 840 miles since then.  There is a Chevron station just shy of the California border on the Arizona side that we have 'paid the rent' at numerous times over the years before we reenter the 'People's Republic of California'.  Diesel is at least $1.20 higher per gallon in California than almost anywhere else in the USA.  California taxes the hell out of gasoline and diesel.  We ended up taking just over 135 gallons at $2.77/ gallon for a total just under $400, so Thursday ended up being a very expensive day for us.....  

.....within 5 minutes of departing the Chevron station we were crossing the Colorado River which forms the Arizona/California border and had the Newell back in California after an 11 month absence.

We stopped one more time at a Rest Area about 15 miles east of Indio to take a break, and then began our descent into the Coachella Valley.  The first fuel station we saw as we entered Indio had a price of $3.95/gallon for diesel (that's the cash price.....credit would have been $4.01/gallon).....see what I mean?  A $1.20/gallon difference would mean that 137 gallons of diesel we bought in Arizona would cost us $164 more in California....easy decision.  The way I have it figured, we will not need to 'pay the rent' again until we hit Nevada.

The bugs were out in force Thursday and you could see the evidence of the massacre on our windshield......

.....we pulled into the Fantasy Springs Casino RV parking area around 4 pm, and quickly found a place to park facing east (we don't like to have that afternoon sun beating in our windshield......much better to have it in the morning to warm up the salon quickly)....

.....there are close to 100 RV's in the dirt parking area adjacent to the Casino, and some appear to have been here for some time.  There is no time limit here, and no charge, so it is quite popular in the winter.

By 6:40 the sun had set, and we were spending our first night back in California in the Newell in 11 months......life is good.

Thanks for stopping by!

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