We have only just begun......

7:51 am - Tuesday - January 29th - Winslow, AZ - 33º F, 60% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the east by southeast......heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 52º F.  This is the warmest it has been at this time in the morning for a long time....nice to be over 30º F first thing in the morning.

When the daytime temperature hit 58º F Monday it became the warmest day we have experienced since we were in Dallas almost two weeks ago.  We haven't ridden our bicycles very much since we left Southwest Harbor, and with a forecast high of 58º F it seemed like the perfect day to get them out and take a ride.  I think the last time TLE was on her bike was back in Burlington, VT when we covered around 20 miles back in September.  I've only ridden mine one more time than TLE, and the most recent time was when we were visiting our friends (Richard and Rhonda) in Inverness, FL a few weeks ago.

Route 66 through Winslow has a dedicated bicycle lane going in each direction, and works well because TLE prefers riding on bike paths, or in bike lanes as opposed to riding in the traffic lane with the cars.  I spent about an hour putting the bikes together, and otherwise getting them ready to ride, and then we left on our ride around 2 pm.

Since we were riding I suggested we ride out to the Flying 'J' truck stop about 1.6 miles distant to check out their RV dump facilities.  There is no dump station here at the Elks Lodge, and we will need to dump our tanks in a few days.  As far as we can determine this is the only place within a reasonable driving distance to dump one's effluent.

We covered the 1.6 miles in about 10 minutes, and after checking out the more than adequate dump facilities we continued on our ride going west on Route 66 back into town.  I was mindful of the fact that TLE has not ridden for a while, and when that is the case I take her lead as to when it is time to head for 'home'.   About 6 minutes after we passed the Elks Lodge going west I heard TLE say "Okay, I'm done....let's head home", so we turned around and were back at the Newell in just a few minutes.  In all we covered just 5.3 miles, but half of that was into a slight headwind.  I know TLE will be good for more mileage in a couple of days, so we'll give it another shot then and see if we can break the 10 mile barrier.

As is the case in the high desert it begins to cool rapidly around 3 pm, and that was shortly after we returned home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon inside....for me a nice nap was in order, and for TLE there is always reading.

We are enjoying our time here in Winslow at the Elks Lodge.  After 6 weeks of moving every few days it is nice to be sitting still in one place for an extended period of time.  Since we left Southwest Harbor in the middle of September we have covered just under 5,000 miles,  since we left Fontana back on April 12, 2018 we have covered over 8,300 miles, and passed through some 26 different states.  By the time we get back to SoCal we will be close to 9,000 miles on our journey.  Life is good, and as we close in on the end of our 7th year of living on the road full time I have to say it does not feel like it has been 7 years.  In fact, it feels as if we have only begun.....just barely scratched the surface of seeing what we want to see.  Since we ended our 3+ season sojourn in South Lake Tahoe we have made it a point to see, and do as much as we can, and we have been pretty successful.  Next up......Alaska!

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Color it Turquoise......

6:50 am - Monday - January 28th - Winslow, AZ - 20º F, 78% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the southeast......sunny today with a forecast high of 58º F.

When we passed through Winslow back in April, 2018 on our way to Maine for the summer we were only here for one night.  We did take a walk from the Walmart down to see the 'Standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ' display, and over to the La Posada Hotel, but we didn't take time to check out the restaurant inside the hotel, or any of the local eateries, so this time around we determined to rectify that deficiency.  TLE's check online Sunday morning found most of the local coffee shops closed, but the Turquoise Room inside the La Posada, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, was open.  The hotel is just .5 miles from the Elks Lodge, so we decided to walk over around 10:30 am when it was finally getting into the high 30's.

We both wore our pea coats for the walk, and were thankful it was not windy.  There is about a 3 block stretch of  'Old Route 66' that is the heart of the downtown area of Winslow, and virtually all the businesses along this stretch play off the 'Standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ' theme.  Other than that 3 block stretch most of 'Old Route 66' through Winslow has one shuttered business after another......

.....we arrived at the La Posada Hotel a little after 11:30 am and were quickly shown to a table in the Turquoise Room.......

.....the dining room is very elegant, and strains of Nat King Cole can be heard in the background.....

.....since we walked to the restaurant I opted to start my brunch with a 'Bloody Mary', and what a great one it was.....very spicey!  The decor includes the original lighting fixtures to which this picture does no justice......

.......I had their 'Arizona Green Chile Egg' dish, and TLE their 'Corn Maiden's Delight'......my dish was amazing, and I cherished every single bite.....the menu description goes like this....."Creamy polenta in a pool of green chili, tomatillo sauce topped with two eggs, covered in melted jalapeno jack cheese and garnished with roasted corn salsa and diced fresh tomatoes, black beans and served with warm corn tortillas"....I could not have written that better myself......

.....TLE's dish description read as follows: "A bowl of warm yellow corn polenta topped with fire roasted tomatoes, fresh spinach, two poached eggs, Jalapeno jack cheese and a fresh roasted corn salsa".    Don't you agree that the menu description of any dish is very important?  For me the description of my dish sold me 100% on trying the dish, and I was not disappointed!  Both Yelp and Tripadvisor give the Turquoise Room 4.5 stars on hundreds of reviews.  If you are in Winslow, and looking for a good meal with great ambiance, this is the place hands down.

 Yes, I do feel very contented.....

After breakfast we took a leisurely walk home covering another 1.5 miles for a total morning walk of 2 miles.   By 3 pm the humidity level was down to an astonishing low of 27%....I had to take a screen shot of it as proof....amazing!

While TLE spent the afternoon reading, I spent time out in the trailer tinkering around, including taking apart the MAC air valve which failed in Inverness, FL to see what caused it to fail.  The jury is still out, but I will dig into it further on Monday.  I enjoyed puttering around the trailer for a couple of hours before the late afternoon chill in the air chased me back inside the Newell for the balance of the day.  I finished reading another book, and then we watched some recorded shows from our DVR to finish out the night.

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Surprise, surprise......

7:14 am - Sunday - January 27th - Winslow, AZ - 24º F, 71% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the southeast......clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 54º F.....a virtual heatwave!

We only had 41 miles to travel to our destination for Saturday.....Winslow, AZ.  Winslow has an Elks Lodge with 20 & 30 amp service (I thought)....no water, or sewer, but only 50 miles from Flagstaff.  Way back when we began our trek back to the west my thought had been to stay here at the Elks Lodge which is at a much lower elevation than Flagstaff, therefore a little warmer, and commute to my doctors appointments.  The added bonus is that the Elks Lodge is located on old Route 66, just a short walk from downtown, and they only charge $10/night.  The parking for RV's is just a large dirt lot, but it is extremely easy to get in and out.  The Elks own the entire square block, and have been on this site since 1937.....

Google Street View

.....as we drew closer to Winslow I began to see very cold overnight temps in the teens and 20's.  At the time I thought they had 20 &30 amp receptacles.  When we were in Winslow back in April of 2018 we walked by this Elks Lodge and checked out the electrical hookups, and for some reason I came away thinking they only had 20 and 30 amp.  With overnight temps in the teens and 20's 30 amp would mean we could only run the basement electric heater, and one electric heater inside, so I had figured we would just hang out a day, or two and then head up to frigid Flagstaff where I knew we could get 50 amp service, but at a premium price of $50/day......I really, really did not want to stay in Flagstaff at 7,200' elevation in the winter.....I had enough of that last winter at the Grand Canyon....:-).....

 My 'Street View'

 Constructed circa 1937

Benevolent Protective Order of Elks - Lodge 536

....we were in no hurry to leave Sun Valley, AZ until the temp got out of the 'teens', and at least into the 30's, and that did not occur until about 11 am.

It took us about 45 minutes to cover the distance into Winslow, and we were parking our home just before noon time.  As I approached the power pole where the electrical outlets are I discovered they did, indeed, have a 50 amp outlet (50 amp is really 100 amp as each 'leg' of the plug carries 50 amps)....surprise, surprise.....

.....with 100 amps you can run a lot of electric heaters, and when it is this cold overnight we prefer electric heaters to the Suburban gas heaters as the electric heaters are much quieter at night.  Typically an electric heater on low draws about 10 amps....we have 4 electric heaters we run in this kind of weather (one in the water bay, one in the salon, one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom) so we are drawing 40 amps at any given time, which would not work on 30 amp service.

At any rate, we were set up in about 30 minutes, and had immediately determined we would be staying in Winslow and commuting to Flagstaff for my appointments......plenty of electricity here at $10/day....easy choice.....plus there is no snow on the ground!

About 2 pm we took the VW out of the trailer and drove up to the Walmart to do some shopping....TLE wanted to make some of her world famous salsa, and I will never attempt to talk her out of that notion!

Around 4 pm we walked inside the Elks Lodge to pay for our stay and met Brian, the bartender.  He gave us a tour of the lodge, and talked a lot about the local area.  This is one of the things I love about Elks Lodges as you can spend time talking to locals about the area and learn what to do, and see from their point of view.

So, we are settled in for about 5 days......once we know the date of my surgery we will make a decision about whether to stay here, or move into Flagstaff....thanks for stopping by!

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'My cup runneth over......'

6:46 am - Saturday - January 26th - Sun Valley, AZ - 18º F, 84% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south by southwest....clear skies today with a forecast high of 51º F.  Ironically, in Flagstaff which is 2,000' higher in elevation it is 30º F this morning!

As Friday morning wore on more and more pictures began to appear on social media as family members began to arrive at the hospital to welcome Crosby Mark into the world....

Back row, right to left: Tim (father), Cynthia (grand daughter), Jennifer (Laila's mother), Rochelle (daughter-in-law), Chris (son) Front row, right to left: Crosby, Laila, Cathy (Laila's grand mother), Alexis (cousin of Laila)

 The happy, but exhausted parents and Crosby

......'My cup runneth over....'

We planned to roll our wheels a little later in the morning so we would not arrive at our destination too early in the day.  The Jello plan was for us to roll our wheels out of the Route 66 Casino RV Resort around 10 am, and then 'pay the rent' at the Route 66 Fuel Station at the entrance to the property.  Their CASH price for diesel was $2.71, and that is about the best we can expect for a while.  We took on just shy of 111 gallons for $300, and that will probably be the last time we fill up for a while as we are within 100 miles of our destination....Flagstaff.

We were merging back on I-40 around 10:30 am with clear blue skies from horizon to horizon, and no wind whatsoever......

......the driving was easy, and traffic was light.  We began gaining elevation almost immediately and eventually found ourselves crossing the Continental Divide for the last time in along time at just under 7,300'......

.....of course with the elevation gain we began to see snow on the ground, and I had to turn on our chassis heater to keep us warm.....

.....between us and our destination was the Petrified Forest National Park, emphasis on 'National'.   We had passed by this National Park several times over the years always telling ourselves we would stop 'next time'.  Well 'next time' was Friday.  Regretfully, the park was closed, except for the Visitors Center, due to the Federal government being shut down.  Nevertheless, we decided to stop and check out the Visitors Center, see the ubiquitous movie that is always offered at most National Parks, and then take a short 2.5 mile hike to the Painted Desert vista point.....

....the vista point was spectacular, and I wish we had been able to drive into, and through the park, but alas that will have to be 'next time'......

 Click on this pano to enlarge.....

 Hopi House

.....we arrived at the Visitors Center around 1:30 pm and did not leave until almost 3:30....our 2.5 mile round trip hike took us about an hour of that time.  We were only 17 miles east of our destination for the day, a Passport America park in Sun Valley, AZ (just east of Holbrook, AZ)......

......we chose site #2 which faces away from the Interstate and gave us a great, unobstructed view of the giant horizon....after I finished setting up for the night I sat down and just stared at the view......nothing like the high desert near sundown......

Old sign on premises...you can just make out the words....'GAS Sold Here'.....very cool!

.....my medical appointments in Flagstaff are on the 29th and 30th, so we will continue on to Winslow, AZ Saturday where we will hang out at lower elevations for a few days before heading up to frigid Flagstaff (4,300' elevation versus 7,200' elevation).

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8 lbs 11 oz........

6:57 am - Friday - January 25th - Albuquerque, NM - 20º F ('feels like' 13º F), 79% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the northwest.......clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 46º F.  We roll our wheels in 3 hours!

Our Jello plan was to be on the road between 10 and 11 am Thursday headed further west, but by 9 am, after very little discussion, we opted to stay put for another day at the lovely Route 66 Casino RV Park.  I needed to dump our black tank, clean a month of road grime off the outside of our many windows,  lube the cruise control cable, and frankly, just enjoy being outside in the sun with no wind.  Additionally, we had noted in the RV park brochure that we were 1.2 miles away from the "World Famous" Laguna Burger in Rio Puerco, NM at the 66 Pit Stop fuel station (exit 140 off I-40 westbound) just across I-40......

......Yelp gives them 4.5 stars on 131 reviews....there are currently 3 locations (Laguna, NM; Albuquerque, NM; Rio Puerco, NM).....there is no way we can be this close to a world famous burger and not check it out........

 The famous Laguna Burger......1/2 lb certified Angus Beef, cheese, jalapenos, lettuce, tomato, salsa....one of the 5 best I have ever had!

Love their simple menu....

.....about 1 pm (after completing the tasks I listed above) we walked the 1.2 miles over to Laguna Burger.  By this time the wind had risen to 15-17 mph (not in the forecast), but the sun was out to somewhat mitigate the chilly wind.  Laguna Burger has a very simple menu which revolves around their famous burger.

We ended up covering 2.5 miles on our round trip walk to Laguna Burger

On our way home we stopped off to view the 'Historic Route 66 Rio Puerco Bridge', a 'Parker Through Truss' bridge which is among the longest truss bridges in New Mexico at 250' long....

.....good on the state of New Mexico for preserving this bridge....it is no longer in use, but still there for us to view a great example of truss bridges in general.

We were home just before 3 pm.....it's a good thing we had the 1.2 mile walk home....it helped burn off a few of those Laguna Burger calories.  Being that the sun sets around 5:30 pm it had already begun to cool off significantly, so we found ourselves staying inside the balance of the afternoon and evening.

Since Tuesday afternoon our daughter-in-law, Laila, had been at the hospital waiting to deliver our 7th grandchild, Crosby Mark, and finally, on January 24, 2019 around 8:22 pm (Pacific Time) after 2.5 days he was delivered into the world by Laila weighing in at 8 lbs, 11 oz.....he is 20" long and looks like he is a month old already.......

.......our son Tim, and Laila are doing great, and totally in love with their son, as are we.  We are looking forward to being formally introduced to this young man!  Congratulations to Tim and Laila!

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Completely deflated.....

6:54 am - Thursday - January 24th - Albuquerque, NM - 30º F ('feels like' 24º F), 55% humidity (love it!), wind 6 mph out of the north by northwest.  Crystal clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 48º F.  Sunrise is 7:11 am, and sunset is 5:28 pm.

As you will recall we awoke to a frozen world Wednesday morning.....the 'feels like' temperature was 10º.  At one time we had three electric heaters, plus all 3 gas heaters running full blast to take the chill off the Newell interior.  Sometimes when it is bitter cold we will lose some air from our airbags which we use to level the coach, and this was the case Wednesday morning.  Often it is the right side of the coach that settles, and I simply turn on the leveling system and let a little air out of the driver side airbags to bring it level again, but when I attempted this nothing happened.  I looked at the air pressure gauges (there are two) and saw that the PSI was just above 10 PSI, which essentially means we have no air pressure....

Note the red lines I have drawn on this picture in the upper left of each gauge...that is where the gauges were Wednesday morning

......hmmmm, that is worrying, right?  Of course my mind always goes to the worst case scenario, and that is there are more MAC air valves going bad.  Of course, the worst is rarely ever the case.   We planned to roll our wheels about 9 am, so about 8 am I attempted to fire up the Detroit Diesel, but I was unable to give it any throttle as I had no air pressure, and my throttle, of course, is air activated......air pressure is needed to operate the throttle.  Since I could give it no throttle the engine kept dying.  Okay, I can solve that problem!   I go out side to the passenger side engine bay and set up my pancake compressor to feed air back into my system. It takes about 10 minutes to bring the air pressure to just shy of 110 PSI, and I am then able to start the big DD 6V92.  While it is idling I quickly put away the pancake compressor.  

All the while TLE has been putting the interior into travel order so by the time I get back inside we are ready to roll.....it is just 8:30 am.....a little earlier than we like, but we rolled our wheels anyway.  By the time we merged onto I-40 the PSI was running at 120 PSI, which is where it should be.   As we left frigid Amarillo in our rear view mirror......

.....the views gradually opened up, which we had missed for such a long time.....

.....just shy of noontime we entered New Mexico, and the Mountain Time Zone, so now it was just shy of 11 am.....another hour retrieved on our way back to the Pacific Time Zone.....

.....in Amarillo we were sitting at about 3,600' elevation, but as we put mile after mile behind us we were gaining elevation.....soon we passed 5,000' elevation, and about 50 miles east of Albuquerque we topped out at 7,200' elevation

7,200' elevation....heading downhill into Albuquerque now

......as we passed through Albuquerque about 1:30 pm we were back down to 5,200' elevation, and when we exited I-40 westbound we were at 5,300' elevation.  We had covered some 320 miles, but it did not feel like 320 miles.  The drive Wednesday was such a pleasure we blew right by our originally planned stop about 40 miles east of Albuquerque, and continued on another 60 miles to our present location......Route 66 Casino and RV Resort, about 20 miles west of Albuquerque.....

......there are 100 sites in this pretty new RV park at the Casino, and all the interior roads are paved, with each site having a 45' concrete pad.  There were very few RV's in the park when we arrived at 2 pm, but by nightfall there were probably a dozen.  The views are gigantic, and unspoiled.....we may just be tempted to stay here for more than one night.....suweet.  There was, and is not a breath of wind, and the sun feels so good.  Of course, the low humidity (55%) doesn't hurt even a little.

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