Well the day finally came and it was time for us to depart Mesa Arizona! My physical therapist cleared me to leave and provided instructions to continue my PT at home. With temperatures in excess of 110° every day, I am really happy to be pronounced well enough to resume life on the road.
We began packing up the RV and preparing for our departure on Thursday. Our first stop would be some 270 mi away to Gallup, NM which would be a very long drive for us. This plan would hopefully take us far enough from the excessive heat and be at a place that was nice and cool.
We left first thing Thursday morning accomplishing our goal of an early start. We left Mesa and headed northeast toward Payson, Arizona following the scenic Salt River part of the way. We were on mostly two-lane roads. We began climbing the mountains and after about an hour and a half of driving we were in the pine trees with cooler temperatures.
It wasn't long before we hit our first of several road construction stops. The traffic delays took about 10 to 15 minutes each before we were escorted down a one-lane road while the other traffic waited for us. Just what we didn't want on a long travel day.
The rest of the day wasn't totally uneventful either as we had to stop twice because one of our side bin doors flew open while driving. This has happened before because we have one bin that is a recurring problem and will pop open on really rough roads like we were on in New Mexico.
The second time it happened was in a really intense wind storm due to an outflow from a thunderstorn nearby. I actually believe a wind gust blew the bin open. Pulling over to the side of the highway as well as getting in and out of the door of the RV was a challenge with the gusty winds.
We were almost to Gallup and really hoping there would be no more issues. Not so, as an amber check engine light decided to illuminate on the dash. We quickly analyzed the code displayed on our scanner. Fortunately, it only seemed to be a communication error so we continued on and would further analyze the code later.
We finally pulled into our campground feeling grateful that the challenges we had this day were minor albeit irritating. The check engine light turned out to indeed be a communication error code and I researched the steps to resolve it at the campground. We'll spend just one night in Gallup with temperatures in the upper 50s by morning. The plan will be to move on to Bernalllilo NM the next day.
Everyday is an adventure and this day certainly was but we are so happy to be back on the Road of Retirement.
