Travelogues
2007 Utah Trip

Friday, May 27

 

The Best Laid Plans

Tell me if you've heard this one before. Our plan was to leave by noon today. That should be no problem. I had permission to log out at work as soon as I finished my 8:00 call and did the follow-up emails. I figured I'd be done no later than 10:00 and then I'd have two hours to pack the Explorer. Great plan, no execution.

That crazy Win 98 project that had been silent for 3 months raised the possibility that Steve might have to wrap it up if they decided to go live while I was gone. It was 11:30 before I finally finished testing the possibilities and writing directions for Steve, and Carol wasn't nearly ready yet. Finally at 2:00, over two hours late, we were on the road and heading for Phoenix.

This was our first trip with our new Allegro motorhome, and we had a lot of new things to learn. It provided a mystery almost immediately. Although we had started the refrigerator the night before and switched it to propane, it still wasn't that cold. With all the frozen food we added to it, that was a concern. It turns out this was only the beginning...

Once we got on the road, our Allegro did great. The climb out of San Diego and over the passes put it to a bit of a test pulling the Explorer. Once it got down to the desert floor, it was ready to run. Cruise control kept it in check. Carol took her turn and also found the necessity for cruise control. As we switched drivers, the sun had just set over the mountains. Were we in Phoenix? No, we were still an hour from Gila Bend. Now, that lost two hours was going to raise its ugly head. By the time we pulled into Gila Bend, it was pitch black. We did manage to get gas without incident but couldn't find the RV park. We hoped to see a sign on the other side of town, but no luck. Our only alternative was to keep going to Phoenix. Another hour and we stopped at the first available motel. I was way too tired to keep looking. We found a good place to park where we could level the Allegro, and Carol went in the Days Inn to get a room. It turns out our $79 dollar room was now going for $119 because they had few rooms left, and it was Friday night. Now, if we just had those two hours back, we would have been early enough to go to the RV park that was only a mile away. In the dark and after 10:00, it was too late to hunt this night.