c - Smooth Roads to Arizona

'Lets just get further west - it will be warmer' - suuure thing. Not
quite...... We are one again in a campground covered in snow....
After driving down the exit road from the campground on Thursday
morning.......... funny how that hill got steeper as the night hours
stretched on......... we were very happy to see that the interstate
was totally cleared off. Bunches of snow on the sides but we could
see the road again! I never thought I would be so happy to see an
interstate and be able to go screaming down it alongside the truckers!

Doglets were restless and we were both a bit tired, so it was really
good that Thursday was smooth riding, open roads, dry and lots of
sunshine. We had lots of good coffee and the best news of the day (of
the year so far) was that Steven's blood tests came back just great -
again! I sat and watched the time go by, swearing that I would not
call. But call I did, the news was good and my day improved
dramatically after that. :) Great stuff, Steven.

We spent the night in Santa Rosa, New Mexico - the campground had its
own restaurant so we spoiled ourselves and got some baby back ribs and
all the 'fixings' to go with it. We shared a plate, which left us
with a lovely leftover lunch today... I also had internet connection
there and was able to upload some of the photos of the day.

This morning we woke up cold and found the sewage hose frozen and
frozen to the ground too...... A little bit of warm water, another
pot of coffee brewed and we hit the highway again around 8am.
Beautiful sunshine beaming at us all day long....... The snow pretty
much cleared up for much of the way, until this evening. This is a
road that we have driven about 4 times already and many times I did
not snap a photograph simply because I know I have it somewhere on a
disk at home already. But there is still so much to see and much of
it makes me think about life and living and stuff. We drove past so
many old, broken down, abandoned houses and wonder why no one bothers
to fix them up. Right nearby would be a grubby old trailer, obviously
lived in and we would wonder why that would be a better option than
the block house that stood empty. There are an astounding number of
dead cars littering almost every place you can see. It's sometimes
difficult to get a photo without getting a good many rusted, wheel-
less cars in the pic.

The Indian Reservations particularly, are all run down, dusty looking,
surrounded by old cars and un-cared for yards. Such a pity that so
many communities live like this. And then the road leads one through
Alberquerque where everything is so new, and beautifully kept and
painted in colors that brighten without being glaring. Most of the
housing communities around Alberquerque are all in toned down colors
and it was lovely to see, about an hour past this, a row of houses
brilliantly painted in a different primary color each... Strange how
I still find myself with sweaty palms going through the middle of
major towns.

The interstate winds it's way almost parallel to the Historic Route 66
and there is a never ending supply of billboards trying to get you to
head to the old road and spend some much needed dollars... Coming
into any little town, the billboards quickly grow, towering over one
while advertising everything imaginable and one more Casino. Many,
many places advertising Mexican imports and Indian made goodies.
Occasionally there is a little pull off on the side of the interstate,
and a few stands where the locals sell their wares. It was at one of
these that we stopped to eat lunch. They advertise that its a 'scenic
overlook' - but the scenery is a bunch of houses on a hill! Ah well,
lunch was good :)

Even though the road was really good and smooth and I know that many
would find it boring, its quite amazing how the scenery changes
totally just going over a hill or around a bend in the road. One
minute we are driving with short scrubby bushes and nothing to see but
empty houses and then as we go around the corner, there are awesome
orange/red hills, actual trees and a mountain in the distance with
snow sprinkled on top! One year on the way to Alaska, we met a couple
at one of our multiple tire stops........the woman said that she slept
all the way there and back! I was horrified and often think of just
how much is missed - even on a 'boring' road. I hate even going to
the bathroom while we are driving for fear of missing something weird
or interesting!

Oh yes, that's one of the things that I really like about this rv. I
can get up to get some more coffee, stretch my legs, pet the dogs,
make a sandwich, go to the bathroom and peer out of the side windows
all while trundling on down the road! I can hardly imagine being
'stuck' in a seat not able to get up and move around a bit.

Anyway - so over the San Mateo Mountain range we tootled, past mud and
stone houses built right up next to the rocky outcrops almost
perfectly camouflaged and right back into snow-land! They must have
had one heck of a storm out here too - the snow lay thick between the
trees and covering all the open fields. We crossed over the
Continental Divide at 7545 feet just east of Gallup New Mexico. The
colors here are lovely - purple, orange, red, burned rust and heavily
dotted with pure white snow too - really pretty.

Into Arizona, past the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert - we have
been there twice so were quite content to bypass them this
time....then past the Meteor Crater as well and through terrain that
really had me thinking. It is literally barren ground, sandy and only
very small shrubs dotted around the place. This whole area used to be
a thick forest with huge trees and now its literally a dust pit! I
looked into the distance as we drove, trying to imagine what it looked
like all those years ago as thick, lush, green forest and all the life
that goes along with that....... quite sad, really.

And then we headed towards the San Fransisco Mountain Range that had a
goodly dollop of snow all over it! The trees grew up quickly,
stretching high up into the blue sky and they must be quite old too as
a good many of them had a fair girth....... Seeing proper trees like
this after a long run of literally just shrubs, is like greeting an
old friend again..... so good.

We had to laugh as we were trundling through Kingman,
Arizona.......... Blondie (the GPS) said "keep left and head towards
Los Van Habalas". So I grabbed the map and tried to find this place.
I loooooked and looked and then she said it again. Both Frank and I
swear thats what she said, but started laughing and decided to wait
for the signboard to see what she meant.........it's Los Angeles! Oh
boy. It's almost worth turning around and driving the same route
again just to hear her say it again.....almost.

And so another long but lovely day ended with us finding a KOA
campground just west of Kingman and about 300 miles from Joleen at
Twentynine Palms California. Yes, its all white outside, pretty white
with very muddy roads and a definite beyond-chill in the air. We are
trying to tell ourselves to enjoy it as we wont get this cold again in
a while, but its not easy to do in this tin can! :)

We will probably get to Joleen early in the afternoon tomorrow. It's
really been a lovely ride so far - even the excitement of the Ice
Road.......all part of the fun. Stop laughing, Kate!!

Doglets are doing fine traveling too. Allie does not seem so freaked
out this time and it was really cute to have them all bundled together
in their 'cave' for a good while today. Sophie definitely has a
'look' that says that she needs to go out *now* and we have learned
that we need to listen to that look.

We will spend the weekend with Joleen and Billy, head to the vet to
get the dogs a clean bill of health certificate again on Monday and
then head directly south into solid sunshine on Tuesday morning! The
dogs certificates of health are only valid for 72 hours, so we had
them done at home with their vet and will get them re-certified in
California.

Thats me for tonight. Frank is already in dreamland, trying to stay
warm there...... We had a good Frank-made dinner with the last of
Ken's awesome bread and the last of the eggs and a fruit salad made
with as much fruit as we could use........ the State of California
will confiscate the rest when we get there tomorrow - ah well.

love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09