We loaded up and got on the road for Arizona by 10:30. Getting out of LA/Orange County was okay- traffic wasn’t too bad. The sky was so polluted it was difficult to see the landscape in the distance. The truck did great climbing the hills to get out of the city- and then we hit the desert.
my goodness- I can’t believe how HOT it was! We watched the temperatures climb and climb and climb. We didn’t run the air conditioning, because the truck was already working. When we hit 110, which was the high when we did our last road trip, I was hopeful that it would be the high- no such luck. We watched it get to 117 degrees. Good GRAVY! I think I may have had minor heat exhaustion, because when we stopped on the east side of California for gas, I had to wait for dizziness to pass before I could get out of the truck. I asked if the truck could handle having the air on if we were traveling on flat road- because we had finally gotten into Arizona and it wasn’t as hilly. We tried it- and the truck did great. I was worried that we would have overheating problems- so I didn’t want to ask- but it made such a difference! Kira, Joe and I all wore the neck coolers- Joe used his as a head band- which helped a bit, but not enough. I ended up with a migraine, and felt kind of sick, but sleeping helped and a shower made a new person out of me! The Flagstaff KOA didn't have a pool, but it was a good stopping place on the way to Mesa Verde. (Even though they never answered their phone, they did let us stay on Friday, until the truck was fixed up and didn't charge us. Nice. )
On Friday morning, we got out by 8:00 to head for Sedona and the Sinaguan Ruins. They were COOL! Pics to follow, of course. The road on the way in, 525, was washboarded and rocky, so we bounced around like we were in a buckboard. On the way back out, the truck died. Yup- died in the middle of a hill, in the middle of the road. Joe could get it to start, so we hoped that we weren't out of gas (and according to the gauge, we weren't ) but it wouldn't run. A local good Samaritan offered to pull us to the mail boxes near the main road. I got on the phone with our insurance co, looking for roadside assistance. When we were dropped off near the mail boxes, Joe popped the hood (in the safety of a parking area, not in the middle of the road!) and found that the air filter had popped off- so the engine was being flooded with air and couldn't run. Once he had fixed that, the engine ran again. Whew! (especially since the insurance girl couldn't even figure out where we were to send a tow truck!) On the positive side, there were Pink Jeep tour guides going in and out of that area, so even if we hadn't had the good luck to have our friend in the F150, we had hope of help.
That was a bit of a fright, but we did hold our calm together and dealt. Of course, once we were back on the road, we realized that the header issue needed to be addressed again. We were hoping to get it spot welded, but apparently there is a separation so the guy said he couldn't do it. (He did put on special bolts that are supposed to resist backing out- so we will see.) We didn't get on the road out of Flagstaff until nearly 3:30. The truck pulled with gusto through winds and up hills into Gallup, NM. With the time change, we arrived at close to 8:00, but with promises of a pool, the kids did well. We are a mere 150 some miles out of Mesa Verde, so will aim to get there by early afternoon. (We are going to go to 4 Corners first) and maybe start exploring. I can't wait!
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