ignored the warning signs and tried to take his rig over the mountain, carrying
construction equipment on the trailer. He lost it on a hairpin curve. He had then
caught a ride back to Rodeo where he stayed at the campground/motel while waiting
for assistance from his employer. The NM and AZ police arrived and it was
determined that he was wanted in AZ. That was the reason he had tried to “slip”
through the back roads, avoiding the multiple checkpoints. The AZ police could not
apprehend him since he was in NM and the previous offenses he had committed were
in AZ. He was allowed to leave and travel back to KY where he will then be
extradited back to AZ. The USA has a long way to go in such matters.
We went to bed early and left the following morning for our trip to Chiricahua National
Monument . The trip was unforgettable, not only for the rock formations
and beautiful views (see photos), but the repercussions from the rough ride. The road
is not paved, very dusty and winds through the mountains, valleys and canyons. We
barely squeezed past the overturned tractor/trailer (see photos) which had not yet
been retrieved. On the western side of the Chiricahuas, the roads were much better.
The rock formations and views were spectacular. We returned to Rodeo and our RV
via Willcox and I-10 back to Highway 80 where we passed through the ghost town
Granite Gap (also see photos).
As we were getting ready to leave the following morning, Chuck noticed a large chunk
(about 2 inches square) of rubber missing on the left front tire of the truck. The
other truck tires appeared to be okay. We exchanged the tire with the spare,
knowing that we would need to get a replacement as soon as possible. This caused us
to closely inspect the RV tires also and we noticed a very unusual wear pattern. On
the left side the front tire was worn on the inside while the rear tire was worn on the
outside. We decided to make an appointment with the nearest Crossroad dealer to
have it checked.
We received a bag of fresh pecans from the campground lady as we left and we then
drove further south on Highway 80 to the Geronimo Monument (see photos) then on to
Douglas and Bisbee along the US/Mexico border and on to the infamous town of
Tombstone where we stayed at a campground with swimming pool, which we tried out.
We found a Crossroads dealer in Huachuca City, near Fort Huachuca/Sierra Vista, so
we moved the RV to the Fort Huachuca RV park.
The pickup tire was not available in Sierra Vista and had to be ordered from
California, and we could not get an appointment with the Crossroads dealer until
Monday, June 19th, so on June 17th we took a leisurely drive back to
Tombstone and spent a day of seeing the sights there, drove to Tucson
on Sunday, June 18th and visited our friends, Bea and Phil Shapiro. It was Father’s
day and their neighborhood had an all-day celebration. We had a very nice time. In
the afternoon we had a nice swim in the Shapiro’s pool.
On Monday, we learned that both axles on the RV were bent. After inspecting them,
the mechanic pointed out where they had both been struck or improperly jacked up.
We immediately recalled that in April 2005, the mechanic in Maryland (where we
bought the RV) had jacked up the side of the RV to adjust the brakes and dropped it
on the jack, with quite a jolt. Unfortunately, it was one of those short visits to the
dealer where no paperwork was involved so we could not prove negligence. Long
story, but the short version is new axles, drums, brakes, tires =$3000, not covered
by the extended warranty either!
Our time in Sierra Vista/Fort Huachuca was spent on short local sightseeing trips and
to Coronado National Monument . After the RV repair was finished on
June 21st, the pickup tire had still not arrived, so we made arrangements to have it
“follow” us to Tucson and have it installed there by one of their chain stores. To our
pleasant surprise, it really happened that way!
We spent the few days in Tucson with final preparations for the trip to Alaska. On
the evening before we left, we invited Bea and Phil to the Poca Cosa, a Mexican
restaurant, not Southwestern but more à la Mexico City. Bea and Phil gave us a very
nice set of grilling and mesquite smoking accessories to help us improve on our “Beer
Can Chicken” in the future.
On June 29th at 10:15 AM, mileage 42030 on our odometer, we left Tucson and
headed north. On the first day we made it to Cameron, a small Navajo-Indian town
north of Flagstaff, AZ. The desolate conditions, poverty and surroundings were quite
depressing. Although it was quite near, we intentionally did not go to the Grand
Canyon. We had been to the southern rim several years ago and the northern rim was
closed due to the fires. But we had plenty of other things to see.
The first stop was 174 miles further at Mount Carmel Junction in southern Utah,
where we spent two nights with full hookups in a somewhat neglected RV park near a
gas station. We immediately unhooked and spent the rest of the day at Zion National
Park and the following day at Bryce Canyon.
Thank goodness it was cooler and raining since the worthwhile sightseeing at Zion can
only be done with their tour buses which Lobo could not ride, so he had to remain in the
truck. The area is closed to all other traffic in an effort to preserve its natural
beauty.
We visited Bryce Canyon on July 1st and that is to be continued….
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