My planned departure from the RGV was delayed by several weeks due to getting Covid vaccinations. My age group became eligible and I was lucky enough to find a clinic that had cancellations. Figuring in the 2 week wait for the second dose, I eagerly got my first shot. The second dose at the same clinic was delayed but I was able to find an opening at a local WalMart and saved a few extra days by doing that. I’m happy to report that I suffered ZERO side effects from either shot.

Since my departure date was chiseled in Jello, I hadn’t made any reservations although I did have a short list of places to stay depending on how far I felt like driving each day. My first day drive was supposed to be a short one, just up to Ft. Sam Houston RV park in San Antonio. I assumed that at this time of year there would certainly be open sites for me. Just in case, I called 2 days prior and discovered they were booked solid. I would have to bypass a commissary trip and a stop at an old favorite Chinese buffet there. I found another small RV park less than 1 hour NW of San Antonio and headed out.

After my last 2 trips in the RV, I was very apprehensive about mechanical breakdowns. Maybe doubly so since I had personally replaced 2 leaf springs. I was absolutely relentless about checking my sideview mirrors for signs of trouble. Anytime another vehicle (especially 18 wheelers) passed me, I made sure to look at them to see if they were signaling something. As the trip progressed, I worried a little less but it was always lingering just below the surface.

Made it to my first stop in Comfort TX with plenty of daylight left and no problems. The park had a nice, pull through site for me and Dakota and I were able to relax for a few hours before settling in for the night. Naturally, I checked driving distances and options for the next day.

My primary plan involved getting to Littlefield TX for a (free) night at Waylon Jennings Free RV Park. This is a small, no-frills park but they had 30amp and water, and a nearby Sonic restaurant. According to the website, you can stay for 4 24 hour periods without paying anything, $20/night after that. They have donation/payment boxes in the park. Since it was such a good deal, I left a donation anyway. Again, I deliberately made it a short driving day so I had time to relax and eat before going to bed.

I planned to drive to the western side of New Mexico the next day. Depending on how I felt, I had 2 options on my list. But it’s nice to be flexible too. I spotted a billboard for a casino RV park that was in the general area so I called them just to be sure they were open. (One other casino park had closed completely due to Covid.) I was in luck. They were open and had plenty of open spots. All pull through and all full hook up. The only downside was their restaurant. It was still open for dine-in but they discontinued the buffet because of the pandemic. I’m not a gambler but I did walk from the RV park back to the travel center for some snacks. If you don’t like snakes, you might not want to use the shortcut.

The next morning I was rolling westward again, crossing into AZ. I was still relaxed driving, with no signs of anything getting ready to fall off. But a couple of things combined to make my heart drop a little. The first was the radio. There was a commercial on the radio that featured a car horn. Those should be banned, just like the songs that have police sirens in them. With all the other road noises I had to contend with I couldn’t be sure if it was a real horn or not. So I checked the sideview mirror and saw a Class B conversion van very slowly overtaking me on the left. Like they were studying something on my RV so they would know exactly what to signal as they pulled next to me. They finally came even with my window and weren’t even paying attention to me. The driver was intent on watching the road ahead and the passenger had her nose buried in her phone. Just one of those coincidences.

I made it to Flagstaff and left the interstate for secondary roads for the remainder of the trip. I rolled the dice on my next stop and did not make a reservation, figuring I’d be there early enough to snag an open spot. I arrived at Cameron Trading Post very early in the afternoon and had no problem getting a spot. If you’re traveling through the area and want to stay here, I would recommend reservations. It looked like quite a few people were using this park as a home base to visit local attractions, including the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a very pleasant experience dealing with the staff. It reminded me of how most businesses were reacting to the pandemic a year ago. They sanitized a pen before handing it to me to sign the credit card receipt. The park itself is rather small and does not have 50 amp. Some of the RVs were hanging out, either at the front or back of their sites and there were some interesting ruts left after rains. I pulled into a site that I thought would be perfect to get out of in the morning, until someone pulled in next to me and pulled pretty far forward. The next morning I opted to back out of my spot instead of trying that tight turn. During the afternoon, I ordered curbside pickup from their restaurant ( a very tasty chef’s salad), then wandered around a bit. They have a decorated underpass for pedestrians to use.

And on the other side of the highway is a suspension bridge that I couldn’t quite figure out until I walked right up to it. Apparently, its sole reason for being is to support a gas pipeline going over the wash.

This is the part of the trip that got more interesting. Although only a secondary road, route 89 had quite a bit of traffic. There were a lot of RVs even though it’s still early in the season. I had filled up the tank in Cameron but knew I wouldn’t make it to my final destination on that tank alone. I only saw 1 truck stop on this route using my Trucker Path app. I got lucky and spotted a Maverik fuel station in Page AZ that had an RV island. The rest of the trip was much slower than the previous 4 days. Like I said, there were lots of RVs on the road and lots of tourist destinations. While driving on UT-12 there was a warning sign about rock tunnels ahead with a clearance of 13’6″. Well, that got me worrying again. My RV specs say it’s 13’2″ tall but I’ve never measured it myself. And 4 inches just doesn’t seem like a huge safety buffer at 50mph. As I approached the first tunnel, I aimed for the center of the road where the clearance most likely exceeded what was listed on the sign. I also slowed down, rolled down my windows and held my breath, all in the hopes of hearing any damage to the first rooftop AC unit in time to stop and save the second AC unit. Made it through both tunnels without a scratch and pulled into Escalante about an hour later. I’ll be here for a month, putting in minimal hours for my site and hiking the local countryside as much as possible.