El Paso to Spruce Pine

Thurs, Feb 23 we got an early start and were headed North from El Paso to Albuquerque.

One thing we have not experienced so far driving the motorhome is strong winds.  I had read some stories about driving in strong winds and today, we had the experience.  The winds were generally out of the West about 20 to 30 mph - and we were headed North, so we had a strong crosswind.  The motorhome sometimes felt like the sailboat in a strong wind with the rocking (except for the heeling thank goodness).  It was trying to go all over the road.  We slowed down and eventually got use to it, but it was a harrowing ride for 280 miles.

We arrived at Kirkland AFB, settled into a space at their RV park and then took the RV to a truck wash and cleaned it up.  By the time we had finished that and started getting the motorhome cleaned, our clothes packed, it was the end of another long day.

Fri, Feb 24 was a full day.  We took the motorhome to Tom's RV service early to have them winterize it.  While there, we left the Tow Dolly with them on consignment to sale.  We've decided that towing with a tow dolly is not the best way.  We had continuing problems with the brakes on it overheating, and the wheel tie down straps were wearing badly.  We had lost confidence in the system, and will switch to a standard "four wheels down" towing system when we come back out next summer - which means we'll have to buy a car that can be towed in that configuration.

We spent a good part of the rest of the day cleaning and closing down the RV and putting it in storage where we had it stored before.  It's a good, secure facility and we are comfortable with it.

The motorhome is safely (I hope) in storage in Albuquerque, NM

The best part of the day was a late lunch/early supper at Sadie's, our 4th or 5th time eating there.  It is the best Mexican food we've had - and the Sopapillas are fantastic.  We bought two boxes of their mix and hope we can repeat their performance.

Sat, Feb 25 we got up early and drove the 580 miles to Wichita to Tony and Jill's home.

It wasn't a bad drive.  The speed limit most of the way was 75 mph.  However, in Oklahoma and Southwest Kansas, we drove a couple hundred miles through a dust storm.  We later learned that the winds were gusting up to 55 mph.  We would meet big trucks that looked like they were heeling about 5 degrees as well as crabbing into the wind.  We heard that it is not uncommon for the wind to actually blow trucks over occasionally.  After seeing the trucks and experiencing strong winds in the RV, I can understand how it can happen.

Driving in a dust storm

Sun, Feb 26 through Wed Feb 29 we had a great time at Tony and Jill's relaxing, going out to eat and just having fun.  Tuesday morning we left early (7:15 am) and headed East.  I had hoped to make it to Spruce Pine by 1 am Wednesday morning, however, we followed the GPS, which took us off course (or at least not the fastest route) and we had some traffic delays and ended up in Lexington Kentucky at 10 pm with another 5-6 hours to Spruce Pine.  So we stayed in a Motel 6 (which was completely adequate for sleeping) and had a nice, leisurely drive back to Spruce Pine Wednesday, arriving in early afternoon (1,100 miles).

Thurs, Mar 1 and Fri Mar 2 we enjoyed some quiet time at the Mountain Home, went swimming and Thurs night went out to dinner with Bill, Judy and Kit.  Saturday morning we'll get up early and go to Raleigh and spend the night with the kids, then back to Beaufort.

It's been another great adventure seeing more of this great country.  Right now we hope to go back to the RV in late August for some more traveling the Western US - hopefully getting to Utha, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho before the cold weather runs us back South.