We were up about 7:30 yesterday morning, which is much earlier than normal for us but we wanted to get on the road before the predicted winds kicked into high gear. We’ve been caught in a Arizona sandstorm once in our motorhome, and it’s an experience we are not in any hurry to re-live.
I needed fuel, and though I knew it would probably be cheaper at the Flying J in Eloy, I also know how hard it can be to get into and out of their fuel island. More than once we’ve had problems there, either with pumps that won’t activate until you go inside and stand in line at the fuel desk or with vehicles blocking access in or out. So we stopped at the Triple T Truck Stop, which was only a block or two away from Crazy Horse RV Park, where we spent the last week.
It may have cost a few cents more a gallon, but wow! The diesel pumps were easy to access, and while I was pumping the diesel, a lot attendant washed our windshield, side glass, and mirrors. In over thirteen years of fulltime RVing, we’ve never had service like that anywhere!
Traffic was light as we rolled through Tucson on Interstate 10 and we got lucky and the wind didn’t pick up until we reached Casa Grande. Then it really started beating us up, slamming into our Winnebago sideways and keeping me on my toes for the next forty miles or so.
A while back a representative from Blue Ox contacted me and offered to send me one of their TruCenter steering controls to evaluate. Unfortunately, when the guys from Redlands Truck & RV Performance Center tried to install it at our rally in Yuma, they discovered that it came with the wrong bracket, so it’s still in a box in the back of our Explorer. I was sure wishing I had it yesterday!
When we got onto the eastbound 202 Loop around the south side of the Phoenix metropolitan area the wind died down, and the final 30 miles or so of our trip was easy, with light traffic. We arrived at Patio Gardens, a small mobile home park with a few RV sites that is our usual base when in the East Mesa/Apache Junction area, about 1 p.m. with 133 miles behind us. All in all an easy traveling day, in spite of the wind.
They have new managers at Patio Gardens since our stay back in February before the rally, and I think it’s an improvement. They’ve only been on the job a few days and are still feeling their way around, but they obviously want to do things the right way.
Once we were parked and hooked up, and had a chance to catch our breath, we drove the mile or so to Terry’s parents and had a nice visit with them. I know they were relieved to see that Terry is making headway and feeling considerably better than she has the last couple of weeks.
We’ll be here for a month, and we’ll be busy getting the new issue of the Gypsy Journal done and mailed out, and hopefully a lot of other chores that we need to get done before we start on our summer travels.
Thought For The Day – One doesn’t discover new lands without losing sight of the shore for a very long time.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Flying J fuel stations are vastly overrated in my humble opinion.
Glad you are stopping for a month and let the “batteries recharge.” Miss Terry can use her new toy and you can type madly.
Nick, why do you not use the truck lanes at Flying Js? My money spends just as well as the truckers and I NEVER block up the fuel pumps for them. I always pull forward when finished. Now, with my new card from them I should be able to fuel up and pay right at the pump, so I don’t even have to pull forward. I just leave.
Happy to hear you made it to your destination safely. The winds here are still having us rock and rolling. the sway bar on our rig makes it so much easier to drive in the winds. It also helps when the big rigs in a hurry pass us. Since Terry is with her mom, let her mom spoil the two of you for the Flying J because of the fact most of them have the RV fill slots. We are bracing for the outrageous fuel price in California when we leave here Friday but it will be worth it just to have the first hug from our grandson when we get to Lake Minden.
Had our new TOYO tires installed at Firebird Tire this morning in Phoenix and headed out in the wind to Bisbee. What a difference in the way the coach handled,especially in all of that wind!!
Before we left,Paul , the owner looked up the prices close to where we were and found diesel at $3.99 per gallon!
I like my new Good Sam Pilot – Flying J card. It gives a six cent discount at the truck pumps.