Yesterday morning bright and early I was parked at the Camping World in Mesa, Arizona letting their service people know that I was not pleased with their installation of our new tires in February, and that I wanted them to replace the valve stems and the valve stem extensions on both inner dual wheels.

Ever since we bought the new tires, both inside duals have lost air and given false readings on my PressurePro tire monitor. Several people whose opinion I respect, as well as the service manager at the Camping World, all agreed that the problem was either that the valve stem extensions they installed were bad, and/or that they had crushed the small O rings in the valve stems when they screwed on the extensions.

A little after 8 a.m. they pulled our Winnebago into a service bay, where for the next three plus hours the mechanic talked to his co-workers, jacked the rear end  of the RV up, stopped to talk to his co-workers, took the tires off the driver’s side, stopped to talk to his co-workers, wandered away for a while, came back, talked to his co-workers, told me that he couldn’t find any leaks and that it was probably the valve stems (which I already knew), wandered over to the next bay to talk to his co-workers, installed a new valve stem on one tire, talked to his co-workers…. do you get the picture?

Finally, at 11:30, I was really ticked off, so I tracked down a service manager and told him I wanted the job done now! I guess he lit a fire under the service tech, because about noon he finished the job and pulled the motorhome out, and we hooked up the van and took off.  We spent almost $4,000 at this Camping World on new tires and house batteries, and between the fact that they never tightened the battery cables down on the house batteries, they screwed up the first valve stems on both inside duals, and then the hassle getting the valve stems replaced yesterday, I won’t be in any hurry to go back there for service, or to recommend them to anyone.

From Camping World we started up State Route 89, known locally as the Beeline Highway, toward the high country. As many years as I have spent in Arizona, the state’s topography still amazes me. In two hours of driving time, we went from cacti covered desert, where it was in the upper 90s, to thick forests of Ponderosa pine trees, and temperatures in the low to mid-70s.

One of our regular blog readers asked if I could show some photos of the trip today, so Miss Terry was clicking away with her digital camera. We started out passing tall saguaro cacti, with beautiful white flowers on them.  Saguaros have long life spans, they take up to 75 years to develop one of their arms, and can live 150 years or more.

Soon the saguaros gave way to stark rocky hillsides, with sparse vegetation.

State Route 87 is a good divided four lane highway between Mesa and Payson, 75 miles to the north. The road has a lot of curves, and a lot of 6% grades, both up and down. When we drove this route to Show Low a couple of years ago in our old MCI bus conversion, we were running hot all the time, and creeping along at 10 miles per hour in some places.

This trip, in the Winnebago, we dropped down to 35 miles per hour on a couple of steep climbs, but averaged over 50 most of the time. However, I will say that I felt a lot more confident with the Jake brake in our bus than I do with the exhaust brake on the Winnebago. It did a much better job of keeping our speed down on those steep downhill grades.

A few miles south of Payson, we passed this huge bicycle junkyard. I’ve driven by this place for years and always wanted to stop. Someday I will.       

When we hit Payson, we transitioned very quickly from desert to pine trees. In Payson we got onto State Route 260, which would carry us across the Mogollon Rim and on to Show Low. This picture was taken two hours after we were driving past saguaros.

But we weren’t done climbing yet. In Payson the elevation is 4,970 feet, and 30 miles east as we got to the top of the Mogollon Rim, we were at 7,530 feet.

Once we topped out on the Rim, this rest area makes a good place to pull over for a break, and offers some great views down the Rim.

A lake in Arizona? Actually, the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains are covered with small lakes that offer excellent fishing opportunities.

Now we were driving through a beautiful forest. To me, this is one of the prettiest places in Arizona.

Most of State Route 260 is two lane, with frequent pullouts and passing zones.

At Heber we started seeing the effects of the terrible Rodeo–Chediski Fire, which burned over 460,000 acres in 2002. It will take a lifetime for the forest to recover. The inferno actually started as two separate fires, both intentionally set, that merged into one terrible blaze that destroyed over 400 homes, and did over $50 million in damage.

It makes me sick to know that all of this destruction was caused by a couple of idiots with no regard for anyone or anything.

We arrived at the Elks Lodge in Show Low about 3:30 p.m. When we made this same trip in our bus, it took eight hours, and in the Winnebago it was less than half of that.

The Elks Lodge has a campground with full hookup 50 amp RV sites, all for $15 a night, and we managed to get one that offered us a clear shot through the trees so our satellite TV dish would work, even if it is not 100% level. We do love our HWH jacks!

By the time I finished registering at the lodge, my daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Hailey were there to greet us.  Seven year old Hailey helped Grandpa hook up our water, electric, and sewer connections, and it only took me about twice as long as the chore usually does. Once we were settled in, Tiffany picked up her younger daughter, Destiny, and hubby Jim, and we all headed for dinner at Pizza Hut. I’m glad, because by then we were famished.

We’ll be here a couple of weeks, or maybe more, as we enjoy family time with Tiffany and her family before we start our summer travels. It’s a good place to be.

Thought For The Day – Learn from the mistakes of others. Trust me, you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. I’ve tried!

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

Yesterday was our last day in Apache Junction, and as much as we enjoy visiting with Terry’s parents, Pete and Bess Weber, we’re ready to get back up to Show Low, where it is a little cooler, and we can get another grandkid fix.

I spent part of yesterday doing some bookwork and maintenance on our subscriber mailing lists, and logging in several vendor registrations for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally in Elkhart, Indiana.

As of now, we have less than 20 of the 50 amp full hookup sites left, and twelve 30 amp full hookup sites. We still have quite a few 30 amp water and electric sites, and lots of 20 amp water and electric sites, but the folks who wait too long to register, and then expect full hookups, may be disappointed.

While I was doing that, Miss Terry installed another set of the Levolor window blinds that I mentioned in yesterday’s blog. These went on the small window in our bedroom, and I think they look pretty good.

A few people asked me if the blinds would rattle going down the highway. I don’t think so, since they come with metal brackets that attach to the wall or inside the window frame, depending on your installation. The bottom of the blinds slide into these brackets, which holds them securely and prevents any movement or rattling. At least that’s the game plan, we’ll know for sure after we actually do any traveling.  Plus, there is room for the blinds to pull up snugly in the header at the top of the window, where it is unlikely they can rattle.

Today we have an 8 a.m. appointment at Camping World in Mesa to get the problems with our inside dual wheels corrected, and hopefully we’ll be out of there in a couple of hours. Then we’ll head back up the hill, as local folks call it, to Show Low.

We have our choice of two routes, either U.S. Highway 60 east to Globe, and then the same road north through the Salt River Canyon to Show Low; or we can take State Route 87, the Beeline Highway, north to Payson, and then State Route 260 east to Show Low. The first route is the more scenic, with the dramatic drop down into the Salt River Canyon and the climb back up, but the route through Payson is a little easier and the road is better most of the way.

Since we came down through the Salt River Canyon, I’m leaning toward the Beeline Highway going back up, just for a change of scenery if nothing else. But I never know for sure which way I’ll go until I get there. That freedom is one of the advantages of the RV lifestyle. We usually don’t have to travel by any certain route, or be any certain place, unless we want to.

We have met a few fulltimers who are so rigidly locked into schedules that they never leave themselves any room to explore whatever comes up along the way, or even  to have a buffer in case bad weather or mechanical difficulties interrupt their trip. Most folks like this either loosen up and learn to roll with the punches, or they realize that fulltiming isn’t for them and they eventually find themselves settled down, either in a long term RV park setting, or back in a sticks and bricks house.

Thought For The Day – Everything worth knowing leaves bruises.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

Like everywhere, the State of Arizona has been hit hard by economic setbacks, and the state has announced the closure of thirteen of its 22 State Parks in the next few months. The parks on the closure list are Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, Lyman Lake State Park in St. Johns, Riordan Mansion State Historic Park in Flagstaff, Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde, Roper Lake State Park in Safford, Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, Tonto Natural Bridge State Park near Payson, Alamo Lake State Park in Wenden, Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Picacho Peak State Park near Tucson, and Red Rock State Park in Sedona. Four State Parks, Jerome State Historic Park, McFarland State Historic Park in Florence, Oracle State Park, and San Rafael State Natural Area were closed previously due to budget cuts.

We have visited many of these parks over the years, and I’m really sorry that this action was taken. It is a real loss to the people of Arizona and visitors to the state. However, do I wonder if the attitude of the folks at the State Parks might not have been a least a tiny part of the problem.

I can’t help but remember that three or four years ago, we stopped at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park and wanted to do a story on the park for the Gypsy Journal. Usually when we tell whoever is on duty at a place like this what we’re up to, we get a warm welcome and often a lot of extra help, such as pointing out behind the scenes details that most people overlook. After all, we’re giving them free publicity that will reach thousands of potential visitors.

But not at Tubac Presidio, a Spanish mission dating back to the 1600s! When the very officious Ranger on duty learned that we planned to do a feature story in the park, he demanded we surrender our cameras, and took away the park brochure I had picked up, because State Park “policy” forbade anyone from using photos of or information from the park for commercial purposes.

When I could not get anywhere with the Ranger on duty, I asked to speak to a supervisor, but he told me that would not be possible. In a follow up call to the State Parks headquarters in Phoenix, I was told that this was indeed the policy, but that if I were to submit a request in writing, weeks ahead of our visit, it would be reviewed and they would get back with me. I had a better idea – we drove a few miles further south and stopped at Tumacácori National Historical Park, another historic Spanish mission from the same period, where the folks on duty welcomed us with open arms and went out of their way to give us enough information for two or three feature stories!

Two years ago we were staying at the Thousand Trails preserve in Camp Verde, Arizona and made a day trip to Jerome. Sometime in the afternoon, as we were headed back to the campground, Miss Terry suddenly needed to make a pit stop. We were right in front of Jerome State Historic Park, so I pulled in and Terry went into the Visitor center to use the bathroom. The Ranger on duty stopped her and told her that the bathrooms were for park visitor use only, and demanded that she pay the $5 entrance fee or she could not use the bathroom, which was right there in the Visitor Center. She told him that it was rather an emergency, but he did not care one bit. Pay the money or go find a bush someplace!

So while I hate to see the parks closed, I keep thinking that what goes around comes around.

On another note, Bad Nick had to act like a grownup and play disciplinarian yesterday. You can read about it in the Bad Nick Blog post titled Bad Nick Plays Censor. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Thought For The Day – Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet, and they will forward dumb e-mails to you forever.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally