We were in no hurry yesterday, and that was a good thing. It was cold in Gila Bend overnight, and I was too lazy to get up and turn on the furnace, so instead I shivered half the night. Finally, about 7 a.m., I got up for a bathroom trip, and when I came back to bed I snuggled up to Miss Terry and dropped into a deep sleep. So deep that finally somewhere around 10:40 a.m. Terry woke me up and asked if I ever planned to get out of bed. There were several RVs at the Elks lodge overnight, but by the time we opened the curtain over our windshield, there was only one travel trailer parked back at the far edge of the lot, and I think he’s staying there long term.

We puttered around for an hour or so, checking e-mail and returning a couple of phone calls, and finally got on the road about noon. But we only had about 120 miles to go, so there was no pressure.

It was a beautiful day, and the storm from the day before had blown itself out. We cruised west on Interstate 8, stopping only long enough to pull into a rest area for a quick walk around the motorhome and van, making sure everything was still in one piece. It’s always a good idea to stop every hundred miles or so do a walk around and stretch your legs. It gives you an opportunity to check your tires, be sure your tow bar and safety cables are still secure, and look for anything that might need attention. We had friends who once drove 400 miles nonstop, and when they arrived at their destination, they discovered that the side window of their SUV had been shattered. They had no idea when or how that had happened, and it remains a mystery today.

I like comparing how our Winnebago motorhome compares to our MCI bus conversion on steep grades. There is a small mountain range just east of Yuma on Interstate 8, and in the past, if I had a good running start at it, we’d top out in the bus at about 15 to 18 miles per hour. We had stopped at the rest area just before the uphill climb began, so there was no running start, and I had to slow down for a big truck, but in the Winnebago, we still hit the top at about 50 miles per hour. What a difference! However, I still much prefer the Jake brake in the old bus to the exhaust brake on the Winnebago. I just felt more secure with it on steep downgrades.  

After a stop for fuel at the Flying J on the east side of town, we arrived at the fairgrounds and stopped to check in at the office. They have several other events going on between now and our rally, so we found a quiet spot away from the main area, parked next to the stables. We have 20 amp electric and water, which is plenty to sustain us indefinitely.

Once we were settled in, we called our friends Mike and Elaine Loscher and arranged to meet them for dinner at the Golden Corral. Mike and Elaine are sweet people, and very dedicated supporters of our efforts. They have been to every one of our rallies, always volunteering to help. We could never afford to pay them for all that they do, from helping with parking and registration, and a hundred other chores that come up. We feel very honored to have such wonderful friends. 

I noticed in Gila Bend, and again here in Yuma, that our Verizon air card is working much faster than it was in the Apache Junction/Mesa area. Some snowbirds had told me that they were experiencing slow service here in Yuma too, but so far, so good. We’ll be busy getting all of the last minute rally chores done in the next few days. The clock is ticking down!

Thought For The Day – Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

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By the time you read this we may be rolling down the highway, headed south. Or, we may still be tucked away snug and warm in our bed. It all depends on the weather.

Yesterday the forecast for Elkhart, Indiana was supposed to be sunny, with a high somewhere between 65 and 70 degrees. Instead, a heavy overcast hung on all day long, and it was in the low 50s all day. Today the forecast was for cold temperatures, wind, and rain.

I’m hoping that the weatherman is wrong two days in a row, and that we get yesterday’s weather today. If so we’ll leave Elkhart Campground. But if the predicted storm hits, we’ll sit it out and wait for it to pass. We’ve been here a long time, and one more day won’t make a difference one way or another.

One of the great things about the fulltime RV lifestyle is that we usually have the luxury of setting our own schedule, and we don’t have to risk life and limb to get anyplace at any time. If the weather is bad, if we didn’t sleep well the night before, or if we just wake up and feel lazy, nobody is going to be calling to tell us to get a move on.

If we are traveling and things get ugly, we find a safe place to get off the road and hunker down to wait things out. Many times we have been parked in a rest area or a truck stop while nasty storms pounded our motorhome, and watched RVs flying down the highway. That just doesn’t make sense to me. We have also been ensconced in comfortable RV parks and watched folks pull out in weather that would even make a duck seek shelter.

I have always wondered about fulltime RVers who drive into terrible weather conditions just to get someplace else. Why? They have their home with them, so where are they going in such a hurry?

We also never hit the road until around 9 a.m. I just can’t see fighting rush hour traffic to get an extra 50 or 100 miles behind me in a day. Our preferred routine on a traveling day is to pull out somewhere between 9 and 10:30 a.m. By then most of the commuters have gotten to work and traffic is much lighter.

We try to be off the road by about 4 p.m. if we’re near a town or city of any size, to avoid the evening rush hour traffic. If we absolutely have to travel more that day for some reason, we will often pull into a truck stop or rest area, have an early dinner and just relax until the rush hour is over, then we’ll put a couple more hours of driving time under our belts.

Since my night vision is terrible, we try to be off the road before dark. Besides, we became RVers to see America, and you can’t see much with just headlights illuminating the landscape.

Though I always tell people that an ideal driving day is somewhere between 250 and 300 miles, I will admit that all too often, if the weather is good and the driving is easy, we’ll cram more miles into a day than that. If we’re not tired and traveling conditions are comfortable, sometimes we just enjoy the drive so much that we’re not ready to stop. On days like that, it is not uncommon for us to cover 400 miles.

What is your traveling style like? Do you hit the road early and stop early, do you take a more leisurely pace and only cover a couple hundred miles a day? Or, like us, do you sometimes poke along in the slow lane, and other times have marathon driving days? 

If you are also stuck waiting for good weather to travel in, you can pass some time reading Bad Nick’s new blog post Halloween Is For Kids, Not Psychos And Fanatics.  

Thought For The Day – Middle age is when you have stopped growing at both ends, and have begun to grow in the middle.

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