Thursday, September 22
The weather forecast is the coaxing I need in order to pack up, hitch up, grab the Reggieman, and leave peaceful Luna Lake, Alpine, Arizona.
Tomorrow (Friday) Reggie and I could wake up to temperatures in the twenties! We need to leave this elevation (around 8,000 feet) and drive to where it is warm. Wind is strong today, not the kind of weather I choose for a driving day. However, we must get away before the cold arrives.
So off we go!
Our itinerary is north to Springerville, west to Show Low, north to Snowflake, followed by Holbrook, west on the interstate to Winslow . . . . . I don’t know how far we will go today or where we will stop for the night. We might have to stay at an RV park in order to run the heat feature of our ceiling A/C unit.
Crosswinds batter us all morning.
Which I find unfair! How does one experience crosswinds the entire trip when one drives north, then west, then, north? The grass and cedar trees bend to our right all morning.
By the time we reach Show Low around noon, I’m starving. I skipped breakfast because our cupboards are almost bare, although there was some chicken for Reggie.
Gassing up at the Maverick Station, I go inside and score a freshly made, turkey-and-cheese hoagie which Reggie and I devour together. Thus fortified, we continue northward with the wind our constant and annoying companion.
At Taylor, a small town south of Snowflake, a Wal-Mart appears!
I pull into the parking lot with the intention of loading up the Best Little Trailer with groceries, buying a new bed for Reggie, and then returning to the road.
“Ya’ know, Reg? Maybe we should stay here for tonight. This wind is pretty bad.”
I ask the Wal-Mart greeter if it’s okay and he tells me where to park.
After we’re settled in our spot for the night, Reggie begs for a walk. I take him over by the garden center.
The wind is still strong. It isn’t long before Reggie has had enough. Notice the ears — As accurate as any windsock!
We hurry to the comfort of the BLT.
Later, during a lull in the wind, Reggie and I try again for a walk, this time around the parking lot. Reggie follows the curb with a sense of purpose that I don’t notice at first.
My gaze is downward as I check for possible hazards he could get into. My mind is elsewhere and I don’t pay attention to where we are going.
Suddenly Reggie sprints across a break in the curb, pulling on his tether.
“Wha?”
“Oh, I see where you’re going! You’re after a Big Whopper! You think we can walk up to the window and a hand will stick out holding a burger patty for you. Sorry, Reg . . . . ”
Surprisingly, the Wal-Mart parking lot is quiet and we sleep well. Taylor’s elevation is 5,761 feet, much lower than Alpine, and the temperature doesn’t drop real low overnight.
Reggie and I wake up and I immediately rise to make coffee.
I glance at the clock. “One o’clock? It’s only one o’clock?”
The security lights at Wal-Mart are so bright that Reggie and I are fooled into thinking it’s dawn.
“C’mon, Reg. We’re going back to sleep.”
Friday, September 23
More wind. We board I-40 at Holbrook. Signs warn of possible low visibility due to dust. The sky is tinged with tan as we roll across Winslow, Arizona, a much larger town than I had imagined.
At Flagstaff we take Route 89 north.
That’s right. We’re going north to get warm! Whereas Alpine is around 8,000 feet, Page in northern Arizona is only 4,118 feet.
In the next post . . .
Our new camp at Lone Rock!
rvsue
NOTE: Because of the wind and dust, I don’t have many photos for this post. More pics next time!
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Clear, blue skies ahead!
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