We planned to get up and get going this morning- not too early, because we were up late last night- but early enough to maybe hit the National Park today. Sadly, yet again, it didn't happen. Last night, Joe said, "We should take the plug in cooler out of the truck so it doesn't kill the battery." But, we didn't. So guess what, it killed the truck battery- and we had to address that before we could leave. Luckily, Joe brought along a trickle charger, but to fully charge it would take 4 hours!!! It would have worked, because we had only about 160 miles to get to Mesa Verde, so we had the time, but good grief! Again, we were saved by a good Samaritan! She came along and asked if we needed a jump start. We had jumper cables, so WHOO HOOO- the truck started. We left it running while we took the trailer down to leave, and by the time we headed out, it had enough of a charge to start on its own.
After a Walmart stop, to pick up (among other things, an extention cord and a longer water hose), we made an iced coffee attempt, which turned into a 20 minute delay, because they had to clean the machine before we could get any coffee- and of course they told us that after paying for the drinks. sigh. We stopped to get gas on the way out of Gallup, for the low price of 3.69 for premium. Score!
It was nearly 11:30 by the time we were ready to head out. Again, not an early start- Joe said, only semi- kidding, maybe he should say we would leave late, and we would be able to get out earlier! :o) We did decide to stop at Four Corners, to stand in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico all at once. The wind- oh, my, goodness- the wind! It comes whipping across the hills of New Mexico at amazing speeds. We were being blown all over- luckily, Joe had figured out that by using only the trailer brakes, not the truck breaks, he could stop the trailer from wagging. Between the wind and the construction- our trip was longer than it should have been. On the way, we stopped in some little town to use the facilities and make sandwiches for lunch. They had a self-service ice machine that sold 16 pounds of ice for $2! Totally cool, since the plug in cooler that killed the truck blew the fuse in the car adapter, so all of our cool water wasn't. We filled containers with ice for water, put some in the freezer, and some in the no-longer-plugged-in cooler. (If we had needed it, we could have had 20 pounds for a cooler!) Again, SCORE!
We made it to Four Corners at around 4:00. It has become quite the money earner for the local Navajos- which I didn't mind too much! All of us picked up momentos- ended up spending about an hour there, between the wait in line and the shopping. We had Navajo Fry Bread, too. The temp was in the 90s, it is sooo dry! The truck threw another code- Joe thinks the header is lose again, dog-gone it. It was pretty cool, even all commercialized.
Even though going through Four Corners added 50 miles to the trip, it was on the way to Mesa Verde- where we are staying for the next two (maybe three) nights. Joe found an RV resort (less than 1 mile from the entrance to Mesa Verde NP) that has a 10 rating for their bathrooms (they are gorgeous!) and super friendly owners. It has been a relaxing afternoon/evening. Our neighbors are from Santa Barbara, CA. He teaches wood shop to high schoolers in that area. They are friendly, too. The scenery is beautiful and it feels like it might cool off tonight. The pool was pristine and brought body temps down. Dinner was grilled chicken thighs and salad. yum. We are settling in to get ready for an early start tomorrow (should be interesting to see if it happens! :o)
We made it to Mesa Verde! I am so looking forward to seeing the ruins here.
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