Day 60: Homeward Bound

Sunday, June 2, 2019:

Passing through two time zones yesterday really set us up well for an early wake up today. We technically still slept in becuase it would have been 830am, but in Arizona, it was 630am. So that was pretty cool. We took advantage of the early start and had a SUPER liesurely morning.

We had breakfast and I hardboiled some eggs for the week. (It takes forever on the RV stove. I should have done it outside on the single burner Coleman.) Fred groomed his goatee, chatted with his mom, and then took a nap.

It was 10am before we knew it, so we took showers in the park bathrooms to save some time. They were actually pretty nice.

I showered quickly and then walked back and grabbed the Jeep to pick up Fred so he could ride back to the RV with AC and save some energy. I like to spoil him like that even though it bugs him. He knows he would have done it for me if he had finished his shower first.

We rolled out of the Tombstone RV Park about 11:15am. The departure was accentuated by an RVi brake check as I was walking back to my seat with an apple in my hand. Fred pressed the “test button” on the tablet which brought the RV to a sudden halt. My body, however, did not halt and I launched forward toward the windshield, yelling out an expletive as I caught myself on my seat. It made Fred angry that I yelled. It made me angry that he pressed the button without telling me. So we really primed the morning with a little negative energy.

We talked about that for a while and then we were distracted by a checkpoint. Being so close to the Mexican border, we had to stop at a makeshift Border Patrol checkpoint. I figured that’s all we needed today was to get selected for a vehicle search and add some more negative energy to the mix. But luckily the officer chatted with us for a bit and sent us on our way.

I was still pretty hungry after I ate my apple so I was calling out the restaurants as we drove by them. There were quite a few of them too. Fred drove passed them all because it wasn’t lunch time yet. In fairness, I never said I wanted to stop at them. As it neared noon-time, I noticed there were no more restaurants to stop at. I said, “Dang it… Do you ever notice we always pass the good places to eat way too early to stop at them.” This didn’t go over well… Fred took it as criticism towards him. That compounded by my earlier yelled expletive sparked some interesting conversation.

It figures Fred and I would wait until the last week of our adventure to finally “discuss” our differences when it comes to roadtrip meal timing, the logistics of planning of gas stops in a giant RV, and nap breaks.

We each laid out our reasoning for the strategies we preferred. The discussion didn’t get too heated because we have both agreed that life is too short to argue about stupid stuff. By the end of it, I agreed to eat a bigger breakfast so I wasn’t hungry by mid-morning and we could lay down some good mileage before lunch. I also agreed to stop fusing over Fred and just trust him to get us home safely.

After we settled that, we stopped for lunch just outside of Tucson AZ. We ate at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and then grabbed gas at the Pilot Truck Stop just up the road.

Now with full bellies, a full tank of gas, and a settled disposition, we were all set to drive for quite a while. Our goal was to get to Phoenix and have a relatively short day.

We drove straight through with only one bathroom stop. We found the difficult thing about today was that all the RV parks we had pre-screened this morning were closed. We couldn’t call or talk to anyone to see if they had room for us.

We stopped at one park in Goodyear, Arizona and the place was a ghost town. There was no one we could even flag down to ask how to check in. Usually there’s a camp host or a self check-in station. But this place had nothing.

So we went to the next one on the list just a few miles up the road. We found the security guard at that place and he was able to check us in. So traveling on a Sunday is always a crapshoot and a little stressful if you’re weary from the road. Luckily, it’s always worked out for us. Our home for the night:

It was nasty hot in Goodyear, AZ. The thermometer inside the RV said 104 by the time we had everything hooked. 🥵 We tried to run the generator while we were setting up but it kept kicking off and wouldn’t run the A/C. It was only 96 degrees outside but these rigs heat up quickly like an easy bake oven.

When we finished setting up, we
stretched out on the couch in front of the NBA playoff game to cool down. And then Fred took a little pre-dinner nap.

Later, Fred felt like staying in for dinner. So I cooked, sort of… I microwaved a selection of frozen foods 😁

Fred seemed to enjoy it, and cooking it didn’t make it any hotter in the RV. It seemed to work out ok. Those meatballs were delicious. 👌 If they sit well in our bellies tonight, they will become an easy go to meal for us!

I took a walk after dinner to throw out the trash. Side note: Never leave broccoli or brussel sprouts in your RV. And you really shouldn’t cook it in your RV either. The smell never goes away!

But on my walk, I noticed this is a really nice park! It’s mostly long term folks in really expensive RV’s. It was however still 90 degrees outside at 8pm! So I’m not planning to ever live in Arizona.

We lowered the temp on the A/C just a little bit more and eased into our evening routine. It’s pretty much the same in the RV as it is at home… relaxation positions on the couch with our cozy companions Mr. Laptop and Mrs. TV. A few hours of that, and we are ready for bed.

We decided today that we are ready to be home. 60 days on the road and something like 8,000 miles has been incredible and absolutely priceless, but we are ready for our return to Sacramento. We are probably headed to Cathedral City, CA Monday, Santa Clarita, CA on Tuesday, then sweet home Sacramento, CA by the weeks end.