HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022 - PART 2 of the 2021/22 Winter Adventure Begins!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022!

Part Two of the 2021/22 Winter Adventure.

Well we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did and we want to wish you all a Healthy, Happy & Prosperous 2022 as well! One of our biggest wishes is a quick end to the Covid Pandemic and I know we share that wish with all of you.

Two of our 7 Grandchildren!

JANUARY 8, 2022

All the more reason for Barb and I to Bound some more Borders and try to forget the realities of living during a pandemic. As I sit and write this I reflect with thankfulness.

As I have always said, “I have to eat and sleep somewhere” why not in the back of a motorhome some where else where it is warm? After decades of working outside in Canada’s winters, the longer I live the more this makes sense for me. Both Barb and I are thankful we are able to do this as we know many who can not get away for one reason or another whether it be family, health or financial reasons. We agreed a long time ago (pre 2010) that we better travel while we are still able! So for these thoughts and reasons, we give thanks.

Going back to southern AZ helped us to get away from the Covid madness and strict lockdowns. It felt a bit uncomfortable for me the first few days we were down here in the fall as very few people wore masks anywhere. Seemed to me that the only place you had to wear them was a government facility or a health facility. Grocery stores & Costco looked like pre-covid days. I still wore my mask until Omicron was winding down. Barb un-masked a bit earlier as she not only was vaccinated but had caught Covid back in the fall so she felt she was pretty immune.

We stopped in Pocatello Idaho for the 1st night.

So this (Saturday) was the day (January 8th) we left home again and drove the car (Honda CRV) back down to Arizona where our motorhome has been in storage and hiding out. Again it was a un-eventful trip thankfully and one that took us the usual 3 days. For a bit of a change we pushed it a bit and made our last night (2nd) on the road in a nice hotel in Flagstaff in northern AZ. It was called the Residence Inn by Marriott in the downtown area & quite a relaxing treat!

I’d recommend this hotel to anyone travelling this route especially this time of year when the rates drop to reasonable for someone like us on a pension. Make sure you get the right one its located at 100 N. Humphrey Street in downtown Flagstaff. Book it yourself and be careful of some of those booking services they are not always the cheapest or easiest to deal with especially if plans change. Talk to Barb and she can advise you.

BACK TO APACHE JUNCTION AZ - MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2022.
Now our last day’s drive (Monday, January 10th) was only a short 3 - 4 hours which was good because we had to get our motorhome out of storage before they closed late that afternoon.

We decided to take a different route south from Flagstaff, a more scenic route. We’d done this drive before and we recommend this way if your trip is more of a leisurely type.
Start by taking S. Lake Mary Road out of Flagstaff and follow it down past the lakes and into Coconino National Forest where it turns into Highway 3. Keep following it as it goes through towns like Strawberry, Pine and Payson. 

There are various Highway number changes but you end up on 87 where you can pick your route to enter the part of Phoenix that you are headed to. If you have the time to do this you will enjoy it I assure you. However if the weather is bad with lots of snow around Flagstaff then I’m not sure I would go this way I might rather take Highway 17 as usual.

We were able to get our motorhome out of storage as planned. There were no issues and no rodent damage, so either they didn’t come to the motorhome or the poison scared them off! We were told back in December that our old camp spot at Golden Sun on Broadway in Apache Junction would be booked and no way to get in. 

Pulling back into Golden Sun RV Resort in Apache Junction

Went to Costco & Got our Supplies! 
Look what we found outside!

Dinner out with some friends from back home!
(Left Side: Barb & Ruth.
Right Side is Don at front, Tom & Bev (at the back).

As it turned out it was a fake Tarantula - Thankfully!

Our stall at Golden Sun RV Resort
As you can see they are often narrow spots and not very roomy.

A quick call found that wasn’t the case and we stayed there for a week just because it was familiar and so we could re-boot all the systems for our next adventures. One of these systems was getting the all important groceries, filling up the fridge, getting fuel and propane.
We needed to load up on everything for what was coming next!