Dateline May 21, 2018, Off in Our 22 Foot Yacht on Wheels
We were finally off and out of the house, back in the Roadtrek for several months of touring this beautiful country and visiting friends all along the way. We have taken to calling the Roadtrek our twenty-two foot yacht on wheels, and as you will see, it earns the comparison in more ways than one.
Our first run was about seven hours, out to one of the prettiest beaches in Florida, Henderson Beach State Park at Destin. We had been before and loved it, and the thing to do on arrival was to fix a rum drink and walk down to that wonderful sand and the calm water.
West across the South. In the morning we pointed west. The first real destination was Sedona, Arizona, to spend a few days with Janice's dearest friend from high school, Marty, and her husband, the artist Jeff. The drive took us across the panhandle and through Mobile, Alabama, on to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where we spent the night just across the river from Louisiana. This was a full-speed leg, so we were up and off the next morning for Abilene, Texas.
We kept mostly to the back roads, which is where the real beauty of these states shows itself. The people we met along the way were friendly and helpful, always curious where in Florida we were from, and the Roadtrek is forever a conversation piece; folks come over to look it over and we wave them in for the tour, and they are always surprised how comfortable and well outfitted it is.
The Ranching Heritage Center. From Abilene we drove on to Lubbock to see the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech University, and it was worth every minute. Many original ranch homes, some going back more than a hundred and twenty years, have been moved from where they stood and set up here, along with everything from a little train station and its cattle-loading stalls to the oil rigs that worked the ranches. The houses were plain but handsome for their day.
In one of the big barns was a collection of branding irons that must have numbered several hundred.
Palo Duro. From there we headed up to Palo Duro Canyon State Park for the night. We had visited before but never stayed over, and the site they gave us was down in the canyon itself, with sensational views of the cliffs all around. Texans call Palo Duro the little Grand Canyon, and the name fits; evening came on fast, and the stars that night were something to see.
It was on toward Albuquerque the next evening when we noticed the house batteries were not holding a charge. As luck would have it we were near a Roadtrek service center, and we pulled in at a quarter to five on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. The service manager came out and had a look; the batteries were fine, he said, but we needed a part he did not have in stock. We happened to know the part, having replaced it on our previous Roadtrek, so no trouble, we would just order it and have it put in when we reached Boise, Idaho. At least that was the plan.
Sedona. We rolled into Marty and Jeff Skelley's in Sedona. Both of them were lately out of major surgery, Marty's back and Jeff's shoulder, and Jeff would be in a sling for a couple of months while Marty had to mind not to bend too far or lift more than a couple of pounds. Just the fun of getting older. Marty had arranged an RV spot for us at the timeshare right next to their community, which suited us fine, and she cooked up a storm, so every pound we had lost came right back on, good food, good drink, and the best of company. With Las Vegas in the running for the Stanley Cup, and the two of them devoted fans, the games became our evening entertainment.
Now, anyone who has owned a boat knows it described as a hole in the water you pour money into, and an RV can be the very same. On the heels of the battery trouble we found that the little refrigerator, which runs on shore power, the house battery, or propane, would not work on propane, and with the house battery down we were stuck. To the rescue came the local RV repairman, who tested and tested and tested. "I have it," he said at last, "you need a special circuit board, and I can have it for you the day after you are set to leave Sedona." Such is the joy of summer RV travel, when every reservation is booked far ahead and the smallest change just costs you money. Long story short, the part came, and it did not fix the thing. So we called the Boise people and asked whether they could get us a whole new refrigerator; they could, and we set the installation for when we would arrive.
We have no pictures from this stay, so here is one from the year before. We said a fond goodbye to Marty and Jeff and pulled out of Sedona late on a Wednesday afternoon. On their good advice, since the refrigerator was still dead, we bought a cheap cooler, threw the food in, and headed for Page, Arizona. Running a day behind, we had to give up our stay at Zion and missed that fabulous park, but there was plenty more waiting in Utah.
