Better Late Than Never
Four months after the original planned dates for the trip, we finally managed to start our trip to New Mexico and Utah. Carol and I both caught terrible colds during our April trip to the Alabama Hills. Because the planned May trip was so hiking-intensive, we decided that starting the trip with lingering colds wasn't a good idea. We skipped our spring trip and began planning an extra-long fall trip. By the time I was finished researching the trip, I had enough destinations for 118 days. I managed to pare that down to 8 weeks and began finalizing plans.
And then we decided to get a solar energy system. Although Baker Solar Electric made a special effort to get our system in and inspected efficiently, our departure date slipped from September 6 to September 17. And we were lucky it wasn't any later.
Although we got a late start, had an uncooperative EvenBrake (it provides braking for our "toad"), and hit painfully slow traffic leaving San Diego, we managed to get set up before sunset in Williams, Arizona. The higher altitude at Williams was a welcome respite from the 95 degree temperatures crossing the Mojave Desert. When it reached 93 degrees in the motorhome, we decided drastic action was needed. We turned on the generator and ran the motorhome air conditioner in addition to the air conditioner run off the engine to keep cool. Thankfully, Williams is at a higher elevation and was pleasantly cool.
We ate dinner at our favorite Pine Country Restaurant in Williams. That turned out to be a mistake. The food had nearly always been excellent in the past, but tonight certainly didn't reach that expectation. We may have to find a new place to eat in Williams.
We like the little town of Williams, but unfortunately, it's always on the way to somewhere else. We stay one night, and then we're on the road again.
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