Today’s drive of 384.2 miles was another long drive as we make our way back home.

We traversed the Mojave desert today and we ran into a little snag. We noticed that the cab air conditioner start blowing warm air. This was not a great place for this to happen since it was extremely hot. We eventually turned on the generator and ran the roof A/C units to keep things cool. We will definitely have to get this worked out when we get home.

Today’s drive of 368.4 miles was a long day, however,  the views were very nice. Farms and mountains were abundant. This leg of the trip starts our trek home, which means we will be on the road every day for the next 9 days. It would be nice to take our time, but all vacations must come to an end sometime.

Farms

Barstow KOA

Camper are different. 99.9% of the time we look for nice, quiet, full hook-up campgrounds with concrete, level pads, etc. But when you are trying to get from point A to point B, full hook-ups is a good starting point and this KOA offered that. Let’s face it, Barstow KOA is in the middle of nowhere, at a crossroads between California and Las Vegas. However, this was a very nice place to stay for the night and recharge for another long drive the next day.

Today’s drive of 128 miles was a breath of fresh air. It was a short drive and we were finally at a stopping point in our journey. For the last 8 days we had moved to a different place each day, packing up and setting up each day. It wears on you a bit, but when you have a goal ahead of you, it keeps you going. Once we got to our campsite on the south rim of Grand Canyon’s Trailer Village, we will be stationary for 6 whole days. I am on vacation from work, so I will be able to rest up from the wear and tear of the journey thus far.

We stopped at a Walmart Super Center on the way to the Grand Canyon to resupply for our stay. Here, Christopher saw and touched snow for the very first time. We were able to have a small snow ball fight.

Finally on the road to the Canyon

Christopher is happy to be here

Elk are plentiful at Trailer Village

Today’s drive of 276 miles was better. Amber drove for 2-3 hours today until she had to stop because her eyes were bothering her. She is going to try again tomorrow. Winds were not as strong as yesterday, but at times I had to keep Irving from heading off into the nothingness on either side of us. We left New Mexico and entered Arizona, one more day until we get to the Grand Canyon. The step grades were enough to slow Irving down again, but he did great. We crossed the Continental Divide in New Mexico, which is 7,275 ft. above sea level.

New Mexico driving:

We crossed the Continental Divide (7,275 ft.) in New Mexico:

We crossed into Arizona:

Before setting up camp, we visited Meteor Crater:

We added two more states to our travels:

Today’s drive of 288 miles was pretty stressful. Winds were strong and I had to keep Irving from swaying all over the road. We left Texas and entered New Mexico and the terrain got very mountainous very fast. Irving was great, but the grades were enough to slow him down. Amber got to rest again. She said she is feeling more like herself and we will assess whether she can drive in the morning. We may get her in the drivers seat for a hour to start the day to see how things go.

After 3 days in Texas, we crossed the border into New Mexico

Christopher got some great shots of the mountains as we went through them

Today’s drive of 238 miles was pretty uneventful and Amber got to rest while I handled the driving. She is feeling a little better today, but is still having headaches and feeling very tired. I will be taking the day off of work again to drive while she continues to regain her strength.

We left Jellystone

And saw a wind farm

Today’s drive of 250 miles was very stressful. We had to drive through Dallas and Waze changed the route a few times while we were driving. We are going to check into using a different app from now on to try to avoid the stress. Amber is still having lingering effects of hitting her head. I will be taking the day off of work again to drive while she tries to regain her strength.

Here are some pictures of Jellystone Park at Coyote Ranch.

And some of the facilities.

Today’s drive of 245 miles was pretty uneventful. It was welcome after yesterday’s drama. Amber is having lingering effects of hitting her head. She is having headaches, nausea and sometimes does not remember things. The paperwork we got from the urgent care clinic says this is normal, but Amber cannot drive tomorrow, so I will be taking the day off of work to drive while she tries to regain her strength.

We crossed the Mississippi River

Left Mississippi into Louisiana

And had an uneventful drive on I-20 into Texas

Where we are staying the night. Hope you like the pictures!

Our third day started very badly. Amber decided to check Irving’s tires while I was on the other side of our coach. While she was checking the pressure of the passenger side back tire under a slide, she hit her head and opened up a large cut in her scalp.

My first feeling was panic. We were far from home and we didn’t know the area. She went to the campground office and both a retired nurse and former EMT said it looked like she needed stitches. We immediately got on our phones looking for an urgent care facility we could go to. Fortunately we found one relatively close by, so we finished getting Irving ready to roll and headed down I-10 to the clinic. She is fine now thanks to the staff.

We then focused on getting food and getting back on the road ASAP. With such a late start, I focused on getting to our next stop as quickly as I could.

I-10 eventually led to the rolling hills of Hwy 98 and Hwy 49.

With all that happened the earlier today, a long drive through mostly “back” roads was enough to make all the worries melt away.

The second leg of our trip was about 231 miles and it took us about 5 hours with stops.

We knew that meeting people at campgrounds was part of RV life. We met Ms. Gaye, the owner of Azalea Acres RV Park while walking around the park after dinner. She loved talking and telling us about the park and shared a bit of her life with us. Christopher enjoyed talking with her, telling her random things about his life. I can’t help think about what our son is learning from this trip. I hope he remembers this for the rest of his life.