Tucson and Beyond...

Since last we spoke, things have - well, let's just say, this trip hasn't been going as expected.  Let's go back to Yuma.

Part 1 - Tuesday, February 2nd

When we left Yuma, things were (seemingly) fine with the motorhome.  We had a great time there, I finished the half marathon and didn't die.

We stayed for a few more days, then headed east toward Tucson.  The plan was to have a tire checked that seemed a little "off", spend a couple of days in the sun and head toward Central, AZ, where The Gila Valley Temple is located.

While in Tucson we were able to find the Tucson Temple site.  We talked with the senior missionary couple there and learned a bit more about their work there on site.

In Tucson, the tire guy we went to told us that not only did the one cracked tire need replacing ALL EIGHT HUGE tires needed to be replaced.  Turns out they were not two years old, as we had been told, they were NINE years old and waaaay out of date.  Too dangerous to continue on the long trip we had planned.  So, we bit the bullet and had all the tires changed out for new ones.

Thinking we were set, we headed out of Tucson and started driving toward Safford, AZ.  Our plan was to get there, Walmart camp, go the The Gila Valley Temple in the morning, then head out for San Antonio.  However, along the way, it was clear the tires needed an alignment.  Why hadn't the guys in Tucson done it?  No clue.  But, the shimmying told us, we needed it.  So, now what.  We were close to Safford, but it was Friday afternoon and there was NO ONE in the town that would touch our rig.  So, we made the painful decision to turn around and head to El Paso where we finally found someone who could do the alignment on a Saturday morning.  BUT, we had to BE there at 8am.  That meant driving 4 hours either that night or getting up at 3am to get there in time.  We opted for the former and headed out.

When we arrived in El Paso, it was around 9-10pm.  We were in a Walmart parking lot and didn't feel comfortable opening the slideouts.  So we were pretty cramped.  We fed the cats, got some dinner at Chick Filet and got ready for bed.  We went to turn the heat on (it was around 30 degrees there) and there was no heat.  WHAT?? We JUST spent a boatload of $$ in Las Vegas getting it fixed!! It was too late to do anything, so we just grabbed extra blankets and slept fitfully throughout the night - very glad we brought more blankets than we thought we needed and had a 20 pound cat that liked to sleep on the bed.

To be continued...