After being home for a bit over a week, I realize that he was probably sicker than I was, perhaps since he is less than six months past open heart surgery. Needless to say, our trip home was a totally different type of trip than the earlier parts had been. Our focus was getting home without driving too far, since we both were still not feeling our best. Most days, we still only travelled around 350 miles, but as much as possible, we left the truck and trailer hooked together and did the minimum amount of setup. Several times, we even picked up pre-cooked food for dinner, since setting up took all the energy we had left. All of that being said, I did want to finish blogging about the final days.
Day one ended in Kingsman, AZ, where we stayed in Blake Ranch RV Park, which literally had stables for horses for folks that needed them. We had picked up some groceries on our way into town, and fueled up the truck. Safeway had some decent looking fried chicken and microwaveable mashed potatoes, so that sufficed for supper, and we settled in for the evening. Tired, but moving toward home!
USA RV Park in Gallup, NM was our home for the second night. We did unhook the truck and trailer here, and headed into town for fuel and ate supper at a local Mexican restaurant recommended by the girl at the front desk. This campground was a family-run business, with Dad and two adult kids running the show. It was fine for a night, but oh, the wind was back! I have not missed that midwest wind since we got back to SC. One really nice note about this park: active duty military stay for free!
We stayed "on the cheap" at the Historic Cactus RV Park in Tucumcari, NM for our third night on the road. I had joined Passport America before we left and this site cost us less than $20. Once again, we did not unhook and we had picked up a meat and two vegetables dinners for each of us at a Loves Truck Stop at lunchtime. This campground is on the site of an old Route 66 Motel that is being restored. It was pretty neat. No amenities at all, but full hookups, so plenty good for one night. The picture is the old Cactus Motor Lodge, in the 1930's.
Of course, weather was looming once again in Oklahoma and Texas, with a second weekend of possible tornadoes in the forecast for Oklahoma City, so we decided to stay in a motel there, so we could get on the road super early, with no breaking of camp required. On the road at 4:30 AM and drove a whopping 467 miles to West Memphis, AR! We stayed at the Tom Sawyer Campground, right on the Mississippi River. It was stormy, with thunderstorms rolling through in the afternoon and evening both days we were there. This was our "rest stop," so we stayed two nights and got our laundry done(for free!) and just relaxed. We saw two of the cruise boats go by while we were there. We also met a really nice couple who were full time RVers and had a very interesting conversation with them about living in a fifth wheel on the road. They were headed TO OKC with their son, who had just graduated from college and was reporting to Fort Sill there. Sure do hope they made there' safely! I really loved this campground, and it was another Passport America member, so the price was super low. I definitely want to stay here again on another trip west.
Would I do this full time? No, even though I LOVE being on the road and I feel that hubby and I are different people and a different, less stressed couple when we are gone. But, we do love our "dirt" and neither of us can imagine giving up the home we have worked so hard to make just like we want it here in the area where essentially all of our family lives. Since 3 of our 4 parents are living but in their 80's, we expect that in the not so distant future, we may need to stick closer to home. And, of course, grandchildren are a possibility as well. So, for now, we will pack in all we can while we can, and let the future take care of itself! Thanks for sharing our journey with us, and I hope you will join us on our next adventure, hopefully Alaska!