Better Late, than Never

Happy New Year and may 2024 bring everyone good health, and  be a year of peace.

Usually we start our trek south in late October, but due to us deciding to move, and a few medical tests, our departure was delayed.  And what a year to have this happen – the weather co-operated and stayed unseasonally warm and we spent Christmas at home with the kids.

Of course, no trip is without the odd hitch.  It started when we went to pick up the motorhome – it wouldn’t start.  The strange thing is that it had been running just 10 days prior so after much coaxing, and threatening, and two new batteries – away it went.  We parked it on the street in front of.   our place, woke the neighbourhood at 6:30 a.m. with the rumble of the motor, packed (poorly I must add) and we were off.  Driving conditions were ideal – sunny skies, clear roads and little to no wind.

We found a fairgrounds which was off the highway, and not right next door to a train track and called it a night.  Travel on day two was much the same although in the mountains, there had been a bit of snow so there was some moisture on the highways so enough to make a huge mess of everything.  But when we stopped for fuel we realized that our step did not retract when we left so, another repair.  With some spray and a bit of shoving, it is now working again.  I guess in time, a lot of crap gets into the moving parts.   We found a large, flat parking lot and called it a night.

As with any big city, Las Vegas traffic was rather slow at times.  Due to constant construction, here is a sample of the slow moving traffic with extends for miles.

There are some huge solar installations in Nevada.  What you see is not a lake or body of water - this is all solar.

As we were coming out of Las Vegas on day three,  oops, hot engine.  So we limped into Searchlight, NV, stopped at a service station where a nice gentleman let us clean the road crap off our radiator, and as we had hoped, we were good to go.  It was great to be able to call it a day before nightfall,

and not have to leave before dawn.  We made it down to Yuma on day four and it was time to relax – well almost.  At home we will often see large bales of hay.  Here in Yuma, it is large bales of cotton.

 We found that the tailpipe broke off from the muffler so once the repair shops are up and running after the holidays, we will be looking for a repair shop.  In the meantime, we are going to enjoy the sun, enjoy our visits, and bring in 2024 quietly.

Despite the little challenges, it was marvelous to have three plus days of great driving, good roads, decent temperatures.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and the new year will be filled with health and happiness.