We are officially back in Morongo Valley, California after a long weekend of traveling.
Friday I worked a half day from Sanger, Texas. I got off around noon and we began packing up our RV to get ready to head out. I never realized how much work it was to get a trailer ready to travel. All the glass in the cabinets have to go into bins, everything on shelves, counters, tables, etc., has to be put away. All the doors and windows have to be latched and tied shut, water valves unplugged and sewage emptied and taken apart. I’m still learning how I can be of any help to Jordan with this process so let’s just say he did 91% of this process. I supervised. Some would call me a great leader.
Anyway, around 2pm everything was safely assembled and packed up. We had the two dogs with me in my car and Jordan with his truck hooked up to tow the RV and off we went. Jordan decided to purchase walkie talkies for us so we could communicate with each other throughout the trip even when we lost service. It was hilarious to me because he is so used to truck driving for work that he couldn’t help but say “copy” or “Roger” every time he responded to me.
Friday evening we made it all the way to Santa Rosa, where we slept at a truck stop side by side all the 18 wheelers. We got in late and just immediately hopped in the RV with everything still closed up and went to bed. The next morning I moved one of our bins with kitchenware from the floor onto the couch to clear room for the dogs to eat their food and forgot to move it back to the floor…which resulted in half of our plates and bowls being shattered. Wonderful. Jordan was not a happy camper (pun very much intended).
Saturday we were back on the road around 7am. Our goal was to make it all the way to Parker, Arizona, where we planned to put our trailer for the summer. It was about a 10 hour drive without any stops (and we knew there would be a lot of stops). It’s tough driving so slow behind an RV, let me tell you.
We ended up taking route 40 home, which we hadn’t done before so that we could make a stop at Petrified Forest National Park. It’s a big life goal of mine to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks someday and Petrified Forest marks number 16 for me!
After a long day of traveling, I looked at my phone and it was about 10pm Arizona time (midnight Texas time). My phone said 6 minutes to our destination. SIX. Hallelujah. We just had to cross over the Parker Dam and we were in the clear. Jordan gets to the dam and comes to a complete stop. I was so confused. He gets out of his truck and signals the 5 cars behind us to go around us and walks over to my car. “RV’s can’t cross over the dam” he says. 6 minutes away. Ugh. Also, if you’re aware of the dam I’m taking about, it’s almost impossible to flip a trailer around. There’s literally just a steep driveway off to the right that you have to reverse up in order to turn yourself back around. We thought we were going to have to dent his truck in some way. 30 minutes later, Jordan got the trailer turned around without a scratch somehow and we then drove another 40 minutes to go around the dam. Damn.
11:30pm rolls around and we made it the RV park we’re staying at. Space 89. It’s pitch black. I pull my car over to the spot and shine my brights over it to help Jordan back the trailer in.
Jordan: “I don’t get it.”
Me: Get what?
Jordan: “How the heck is the trailer supposed to fit there?”
Another 40 minutes pass by. It’s 1am Arizona time, 3am Texas time. We get the trailer in. Jordan plugs the water and sewage in and opens everything up so we can just sleep in tomorrow and have everything already set up.
The next morning we wake up and Jordan goes to check-in with the park. When he comes back in he says, “Well we’re definitely backwards and supposed to be in space 90.” We unplug everything, close everything back up, turn it around, re-level the trailer. AHHHH. Also by we, I mean Jordan. I placed the little blocks under the tires after Jordan yelled HELP.
After everything was finally situated and unpacked, we enjoyed the river for a bit with the pups and then loaded up what we needed to take home. We left the RV behind and got back on the road to head home to Morongo. We finally arrived Sunday evening and were greeted by a few friends waiting for us.
Ya, it was a long weekend. But, we are sure excited to be back.
As always, travel on my friends.
