Well we left Parrish at around 3 pm on Tuesday the 3rd of April and headed for a gas station. Water in the motorhome is not working but we will deal with that later on in our journey. On the way to the gas station I (Rick) decided we should stop at the RV dealer and see if they could get us in on an emergency basis to see if there would be a quick fix. unfortunately when arriving they stated that they could get started looking at it in the morning and if it is a warranty related item it could take up to a week or more to resolve. Instead I suggested they call the Tucson RV dealer and see if they could get us in on Thursday morning at 8am. They did call and we were told that we could have our RV looked at in Tucson as they snickered and thought no way these guys can make it to Tucson in that short time and proceeded to tell us it was a minimum 29 hour drive so off we went.
Time to go get gas and start driving…Well Teresa starts the driving as I had not driven the RV since pulling off the lot the day we bought it. So heres how it goes….we stop immediately after leaving the RV dealer and fill up the tank. While Im in getting deep fried burritos, cinnabuns and coffee, Teresa was doing this….
Now we are ready to really hit the road….I extend the footrest, throw my feat up and recline in the passenger seat as far as it will go and get relaxed for a long drive. This relaxing ride lasted until we turn on to I-10 and head west and what’s the first issue? The sun was direct in Teresas’ eyes so we pull off a couple minutes later at a nice enough rest area in Florida. Now the wait wasn’t long, I think about 15-20 minutes and the sun was down and we are ready to get going…A long way to Tucson.
Now I’m ready for some real rest. On to the back of the motorhome, turn on a movie and go to sleep while Teresa drives. A bit later, Teresa hollers for me to come get her a coke and put the kitchen slide back in as it has started to wiggle out an inch or two as we drive down the road then back to bed and a movie for a few hours. Next stop Cottondale FL.
When I wake up at the next gas station its late, cold and windy but we get the job done. Gas, windows washed, bathroom and now onward this time with me driving. I hope Teresa will sleep a bit but instead she’s being a good navigator just as she is a good “Big Rig Driver” and she surveys the weather on the road ahead.
Needless to say, she finds a major band of rain and wind coming right at us (Its been windy on the road up to this point anyway) less than two hours later right before we plan to go over the “Mobil AL Bay Bridge” Teresa says we should stop before getting on the bridge and I get a little perturbed. Anyway we stop in a Lowes parking lot next to Sams Club (They don’t allow parking rigs, so I hear, but no-one around came and bothered us). We get out and reviewed (argue) the situation before finally agreeing (The smart mind prevailed, Teresa) and I went back to bed to go to sleep. At this point maybe 30-45 minutes later I’m awoken by hard rain pounding on the RV and the whole coach moving side to side in the wind. Boy was I glad we didn’t keep going.
Once the storm subsided I ask Teresa if she’s ready to drive somemore even though I have driven less than 2 or 3 hours total. She’s ready and I head back to sleep, this time on the couch, after I ask Teresa to turn off the RV radio so I can turn XM “The Highway” on the Sonos sound system. ZZZzzz.
After a few hours its time to stop and get some gas (only half the tank needed) or really a break from driving so we stop in Rayne LA. Teresa says she’s still good to go and I reluctantly let her drive on from there through Houston TX….
Of course no trip through Texas should miss our next stop at Buc’ees…More gas and for sure Buc’ee nuts, fudge (Multiple Flavors), Mrs Bairds pies, pulled pork sandwich, and some fresh made potato chips. And now Teresa keeps on driving.
Outside Houston somewhere I became more frustrated and worried about the amount of time Teresa was driving. First I tell her theres a stop in traffic ahead for an accident and get off on the access road (Isn’t TX great? access roads along all highways…) only to drive a quarter mile and traffic wasn’t stopped so bad and I tell her get back on the highway. Well now my navigator skills are showing not to be as great as hers so I get mad and tell her she’s not doing good and to pull over and I will take over driving. So she stops and I take over on to San Antonio rush hour traffic.
Now that we are through San Antonio and in the legitimate hill country passing along the Guadeloupe River, the sun starts to go down and is now in my eyes so one more 30 minute stop at a TX rest stop to let the sun go behind the hills before starting up again, Teresa is still pretty mad at me…
Because I am not as good at handling long drives like I use to, I need to stop every two hours minimum or I begin to fade. Now a stop at another TX rest stop but this time its freezing cold out and windy. As we get out to have a smoke and walk around a bit I see a motorcyclist (Patrick) and tell Teresa I can’t believe this guy is out tonight riding a Harley with only a long sleeve flan net shirt and jeans he must one freezing and I wouldn’t be doing that without full leather pants and jacket. Teresa mentioned at least he has a nice pair of gloves on.
Now Teresa and I are standing there watching the guy start his Harley and pull away but wait, he stops his bike turns it around and drives it back up to the front of the RV gets off and comes up to us and asks “are you the ones with the big RV?” and we say “yes, why whats up?” he says “I’m cold and hate to ask but do you have a sweatshirt I can have?” I ask Teresa to run into the RV and get my leather jacket and tell him “man we were just saying to each other that dude must be cold and we couldn’t believe you were out here tonight without a coat.” He says “I have a knife, it’s not much but I’ll trade you.” I say no I don’t need that but I will trade my pocket knife for his (Mine is a nice but small Buck knife I’ve had since I was a young teen) and he says “ok” and proceeds to hand me his knife and show me how to open and close it. Now this is a nice knife (CRKT) and I put it in my pocket as he does the same with what was once mine.
Teresa emerges with my jacket and hands it to him saying “it might be a bit big on you its a 42 but should help keep you warm”. He was very happy and said “I can’t thank you enough” to which I said “where are you headed?” and he said “Los Angeles” and I told him “hey we are going to be in Long Beach from the 7th through the 21st and told him to call me sometime in there and we would hook back up for a beer and swap everything back”. He said his cell phone service was not working where we were and as soon as he got into a service area he would text me his info (He did).
Onward now as I keep driving with exception of one stope in Fort Stockton (Maybe two stops because I think somewhere between Fort Stockton and Tucson, Teresa drove a small portion in New Mexico for a couple hours until her eyes could not take anymore abuse) for more gas and a final push on into Tucson which we made it to the RV dealer by 8:30am only 30 minutes late for opening of the service center.
When we arrived I went and found the rep who committed to meet with us at 8am. When I introduced myself he said oh yes ok give me a minute and I will be right back (Teresa swears he was going to call the Tampa RV dealer to tell them we actually made it…haha). When he came back I explained to him and a service tech what was going on with the water and the slide out. I asked how long it would take to come back with an assessment on what we were facing and they told me give them an hour and a half. So we go out to the smoking area to wait in the morning sun having had very little sleep and not knowing what would be next.
While we were waiting, I started searching for free camp sites where we could park the RV for a rest if we were going to be lucky enough to get the RV back today. I found a BLM area just outside Tucson and suggested to Teresa we take the Jeep and go check it out while we were waiting. Teresa said “no lets just wait. If they said an hour and a half lets wait until they come back and then decide”. I think she was sure they would come back with bad news and we would then need to go check into a hotel for some rest while waiting but as it turned out within fifteen minute from when she said “lets just wait”, the service rep came out and told us the water was fixed and gave us a temporary solution to the slide moving out while driving down the road.
Now with the motorhome water situation resolved it was time for some well needed rest after 35 hours of driving from Tampa to Tucson. Back to the plan at hand… going and checking out this BLM spot called Snyder Hill. We drove there and sure enough just as recommended by several other RV’rs on an app called Campendium we found our small sweet spot for rest and relaxation before beginning down the road to Long Beach to help out Teresas’ Dad for a few weeks.
Our Travels 