Rv'ing across the south to Mesa....Jan 5-12, 2015

We just discovered this unpublished post from our trip to Mesa!

It was going to be unusual for me, but we have one week to get to Mesa, so I am going to be in the passenger seat, and Pam may even let me drive, which will basically be a first for this RV. 

Day one: we drove about 300 miles and stayed in Punta Gorda, Fla. We got off to a slow start because it took a while too get through all the Keys due to traffic and red lights. We drove across 'Alligator Alley' to just north of Ft. Myers on Interstate 75. This motor home rides nicely! Pam did a great job getting into a camping spot that was way too small for us, in an older campground, where she also found a masseuse across the street in a trailer. Driving makes her shoulders and neck tight, so it was a good thing.

Leaving Sugarloaf Key

Day two: 450 miles of travel got us to a Flying J where we tucked in between the big trucks in ?Marianna Fla. Which in the western panhandle. We negotiated Tampa, Gainsville, and Tallahassee and picked up Interstate 10. Florida is a big state!

Day three: 425 miles seemed like we made more progress, especially across state borders as we continue on I-10 all the way to our ultimate destination. We crossed Alabama, Mississippi, and half of Louisiana, past Baton Rouge, and into a Walmart in Breaux Bridge, LA. We are definitely not in the Keys anymore, as it went down to 20 degrees, and the water from snow and sleet froze our slide toppers, to a point where we couldn't close our slide outs, so we had to wait for a thaw to occur. 

Day four: 400 miles got us to the east side of San Antonio, where we pulled into a very small RV park, which is more for locals than for travelers, and paid $20, I think, to pull onto a piece of dirt. The RV broke an underground water line as we pulled in, so the Cowboys had to fix it before we had water. Another very cold night caused us to get another late start.

Day five: 350 miles to Ft. Stockton, where we stayed in an old KOA, in the middle of no where.  It's still cold, almost like its January. Ha ha. Pam asked me to drive, so I took the wheel for a few hours, and managed to keep it basically on the intended path of travel.

Mike forgot to mention that we had snow in Texas!

Day six: 450 miles through El Paso to a place called Bowie Arizona. We stayed in another campground that has no real reason to exist, it would seem. We had a very memorable occurrence happen when Pam turned into a truck stop for diesel fuel. I had half a canister of bear spray in a closet near the top of the left side of the bedroom. The closet door popped open and the bear spray fell onto the floor, upside down, and basically drained into the bedroom. Of course that caused some distress, and Pam and I choked and coughed and held our breath as we dragged stuff out of the bedroom and the entire RV. We had a major cleanup, and as we pulled stuff out, truckers in the lanes next to us were also coughing. For a while, it seemed as though the RV was toast, but with great perseverance which took months, we finally got things cleaned up for the most part.

Day seven: 160 miles through Tuscon, got us to our designation, Tower Point RV Resort. Pam did a great job of backing into the sight, after being inadvertently verbally harassed by a neighbor who loudly commented something about a woman driver. How do you think that went over. The look that Pam gave the guy was significant enough that he came down later and apologized to her. Needless to say, that guy never was invited for pleasant conversation on our patio!