Regina, SK to Surprise, AZ (just NW of Phoenix)

Sunday, January 12, 2014
Surprise, Arizona, United States
We left Regina on Thursday, January 9 in a thick fog (the weather, not us). Other than the fog, the only serious event is that Roger realized his sweetheart "Jill" (GPS voice) had been discontinued and replaced by "Jack" on his last update. OMG. They were not seeing eye to eye - between the two of them, too much testosterone in the truck for my liking. In the past, Roger has cuddled up with Jill in the trailer at nite to plan the next day of driving. Cuddling up with Jack just doesn't have the same ring to it. Could be a long trip. Anyway, we landed safely in Sheridan, Wyoming for the nite.

The next day, we set out in high winds with advisories against travel with light trailers . With temperatures hovering around 0 degrees C, the wind whipping the snow over the highway was creating slippery sections. After two "change your underpants" incidents where the trailer went into a fishtail and Roger had to madly correct to stay on the road, I begged him to slow down as I didn't think we needed to tempt fate with a third loss of control. We ended up in Loveland, Colorado (how romantic!) and, as temperatures were around 0 C, we decided to camp in the trailer that nite at Loveland RV Resort. We slammed the trailer into the snow, and turned on the heat in the trailer and plugged in the electrical. We didn't connect anything else (water, sewer), which meant that any night-time bathroom visits required dressing, donning coat and mitts, and running to the shower/bathroom building in the cold. We had a romantic stroll (read "quickstep") to the bathroom together at 5 a.m. that night.

Saturday, Jan 11 brought us a beautiful morning and 33 degrees F, and snow in the fields with beautiful mountain views . By the time we hit Colorado Springs, the temperature was up to 51 F, the fields were brown, and I was finally able to take my winter coat off in the truck. ;o) Our "change your underpants" moment that day was hitting a semi tire on the highway at dusk - with no time to go around it, Roger made the wise decision to hit it straight on. It clunked and bumped under the truck and trailer, but no harm done as far as we could tell. Our stop that night was just outside Albuquerque, New Mexico at Hidden Valley RV Resort. Snow in the hills and high winds, so chilly again. I noted unhappily that the temperature at 8 p.m. there was the same as in Regina. Boo!! That was a lot of driving for no benefit! However, the difference is that while the night-time temps hover around 0 C, the daytime highs are worth the effort. With no eating establishments within walking distance, and not wanting to unhook the trailer, we pulled out some canned soup from our supplies. Frozen solid. :oP

Our fourth day on the road would be our last for a few days, if all went according to plan . We pointed the truck in the direction of Phoenix, Arizona area and my brother Gil & sister-in-law Lois' winter house rental in Surprise, Arizona. We got an early start, but that was quickly eaten away when we noticed that the dust cap on one of the trailer wheel axles had fallen off (presumably having not been put on tight enough when we had the bearings packed just before leaving Regina). So we puttered around Albuquerque area for an hour looking for a trailer or auto shop with a dust cap that would fit on. We finally found one, but we saw at our next stop that it had promptly fallen off again.Then Roger battled extremely high winds again as we continued on to Surprise. We hit darkness in the middle of construction in the mountainous area around Flagstaff/Sedona, and Roger was exhausted by the time we hugged Gil & Lois around 8 p.m.

We are here in Surprise until Friday, when we head off to Sedona.




Comments

Eva
2014-01-14

OMG! I am stressed out :( Been there, done that ... not for us old folks any more. And I am hoping that your reference to C degrees really should be F degrees, as 51C is something like 132F!! So glad you are in Surprise, safe and sound. Enjoy your days of warmth and sunshine. Store it up before heading to Sedona :) Love your writing ...

Lorraine
2014-01-14

I agree with Eva. Your road 'adventures' would have been too much for me. I too love your writing. so glad you are doing this ;o)

Brie
2014-01-14

I really enjoy reading your travel blog. I'm really glad you're both safe... it sounds like it was a rough first few days! I would love it if you sent me an email when you write a blog post. Love you!

Claudia
2014-01-15

Love your blog too and will try to follow you wherever you go.... have been to the places you've mentioned. You're not missing much here as far as weather goes!! It is warming up tho!!!
Hi Lorraine; Hi Eva..... take care y'all and have fun!!!

Ed
2014-01-15

Sounds like a trip on the wild side. Glad you made it safely. We look forward to your updates as you enjoy the sunny south.

2025-02-07

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