Monday, May 4, 2020

"It's good to be moving again...."

7:41 am - Monday - May 4th - Wittmann, AZ - 53° F, 36% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the west by northwest......clear, blue, cool skies today with a forecast high of 75° F.......wonderful!  On this day in 2017 we had returned to Tahoe Valley Campground for our fourth summer.  I was the head ranger, and in charge of getting the campground ready for the summer crowds.....




....which included getting all the RV and tent sites raked free of pine needles.  We would rake the needles into the lines you see in the pictures above, which helped delineate the boundaries of each site.

After two delightful months at the McCloud Newell compound it was time to haul anchor and motivate up to Flagstaff, AZ, and the wonderfully cool weather its 7,000'+ of elevation imparts.......

Almost stepped on the rather large scorpion while cleaning our windshield




.....TLE and I were up by 5 am, and rolling our wheels just after 7 am.  We left a couple of hours before Glenn and Laureen as we needed to head south first to fill up our diesel tank for the first time in 14 months.  Why south?  Well, a few months back we joined a group of high end motorcoach  folks who have obtained an amazing discount at Love's Truck Stops.  Currently, in the Phoenix area diesel is going anywhere from $2.35/gallon to $2.73/gallon.  Our discounted price at the Love's in Tolleson, AZ came to $1.355/gallon......


.....we arrived at the Love's Truck Stop around 8 am pulling up to pump #22 where the price per gallon was shown as $2.729.  It took less than five minutes using their high volume pumps to inject 139.752 gallons into our 180 gallon tank for a total of $381.38.....that's what we are used to paying.....




.......after picking up my receipt from the cashier I opened the program for the TDS card on my phone and saw what I really paid.....$186.52.....a savings of $194.86!  Is that cool, or what? 

And with that we were quickly back on I-10 eastbound to I-17 northbound which would take us to I-40, and ultimately Black Bart's RV Park in Flagstaff where we have stayed numerous times over the years.  The trip north was uneventful, and beautiful as we slowly climbed over 5,000' in elevation leaving behind desert cactus for the conifers of high elevation....

There are the San Francisco Peaks looming over Flagstaff in the distance

......we made one stop at the Sunset Point Rest Area for about 30 minutes before continuing on to Flagstaff.  Glenn and Laureen departed Wittmann a little after 9 am after topping off their propane tank at Wells Country Store.  We arrived at Black Bart's a little after noon time, and were assigned site 104......


......Glenn and Laureen arrived in their 1984 Newell Classic around 2 pm and were assigned to site #103.......


.....coincidentally there is a 1988 Newell Classic here at Black Bart's for the entire month of May......



......the owner, Cody, is a younger guy, probably in his 30's.  He and his wife bought their '88 about 7 months ago, and redid the interior before setting out on their travels.  We hope to spend more time with them, and exchange tours of our coaches in the next few days.

After spending 16 days working on their '84 Newell, with tools scattered everywhere, it was nice to see Laureen using her motorcoach for its intended purpose.....living on the road.....


.....order has been restored, and now the summer adventure begins.  We enjoyed a lovely steak dinner prepared by Laureen and TLE, and talked about everything under the sun, except for repairs, until after 8:30 pm before retiring to our '82 Newell for the evening.  

Thanks for stopping by!

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2 comments:

  1. Awesome! So glad you guys are back on the road and enjoying cooler weather. Great deal on diesel! When I was living in Phoenix that Loves in Tolleson is where I would go for propane....it was the closest and easiest to get to the propane. Also it was my stop to too off propane and get diesel when I left last year for Kings Canyon. Sunset Point rest stop I have stopped at a few times myself. Happy Trails everyone!

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  2. Clarke,
    if you want some nice weather we are in Cape Charles Virginia....we will be here til November...Sue really wants to get a picture of the three Newell classics together! Will have to try and schedule a photo shoot! Be safe

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