Stuck in Grants, New Mexico

Our three month reservation at a 55+ Resort in Arizona was ending on April 1. We planned on leaving about a week early, because a new granddaughter was due around April 4 back in Minnesota. At the last minute, we decided to get on the road on Tuesday, March 25, in order to get ahead of some wintery weather at home over the weekend. That meant scrambling to get everything packed up for the trip home in one day instead of two days.

People think it is hot in Arizona when we are there in January, February, and March, but that is not usually the case. We have now spent parts of six winters there, at Gold Canyon Golf & RV Resort on the far eastern edge of the Phoenix metro. Until the last week, we could count on one hand the number of days when the temperature got above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It is perfect for the things we like to do, and it is much better than the snow and cold at home. The last couple of days we were there, the high temperature reached 90. We had to turn the air conditioning on in the RV for the first time.

On Wednesday March 25, the day of departure, it took all morning to do the final preparations for leaving, including winterizing the RV water system, putting the slides in, disconnecting the utilities, loading all our stuff in the truck and RV storage areas, and connecting the truck to the RV. Some people use their RV on the journey back to their home state, staying at RV parks along the way, but we have never done that. It will still get below freezing in Minnesota after we get back home, so Wayne prefers to turn the water off in the RV and stay in budget hotels on the way home. It was 90 degrees at noon when we pulled out of the resort. I saw later that it got up to record highs that day of 96 degrees in Gold Canyon, and 99 degrees in Phoenix proper.

When stopping at a hotel for the night, we do not drive the truck with the RV attached to a restaurant for dinner. We have to find a place to eat within walking distance, or look for a place to eat before we get to the hotel. On Day One of this journey, the timing was right to stop for dinner at Jerry’s Cafe in Gallop, New Mexico. There was an empty area where Wayne could easily park our rig on the side of the street about a block away.

We had been watching the TV series “Dark Winds” that is described as a “psychological thriller” and takes place in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. Gallup is mentioned a few times. The story is based on the Leaphorn & Chee novels by Tony Hillerman, about Native Tribal Police officers solving crimes. Some of the books that my mom had read are at our house. I liked the TV series and thought the photography was fantastic. Wayne did not like that the bad guys killed off so many people. He thinks that is not, and never was, like anything in real life. I did not like that part of the show either.

After dinner, as we approached our destination for the night of Grants, New Mexico, the truck started making bad noises. We had expected to get up early and get on the road again the next morning, but Wayne had an idea what was wrong and knew that was not going to happen. Luckily there is a Ford dealer in Grants, which has a population of about 9,000. In the morning Wayne called and got an appointment for them to look at the truck. They confirmed what Wayne was thinking, and had to order parts from Denver. We were going to be in Grants, NM, for a few days.

We were not going to get home ahead of the bad weather, and this repair was going to cost $6,000. On the bright side, we were grateful that the truck did not break down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Following was the view behind our hotel. At the base of the hill a train ran regularly. A couple of times we watched a train with four engines, pulling an impossibly long string of double decker container cars.

There was a fence, some parking lots, and a lot of litter nearby. The next photo was also taken behind our hotel, which was just off Interstate 40 along with several other typical road trip hotels and gas stations, a couple of restaurants and a Walmart. The actual town was a couple of miles away.

Although we had reserved a budget hotel room, it was roomy and clean, had a sofa and coffee table, and a desk. Since we had rushed getting ready to leave Arizona, I had not had time to finish and publish a blog post, or work on some family cabin bookkeeping that I meant to do before we left. Now I had all kinds of time for catching up on those things while we hung out in Grants. I also realized that I could work on the taxes, instead of waiting until we got home. And of course I always have several knitting projects I can work on.

I like my mocha in the morning. At home, and living in the RV, I make one myself using a moka pot as shown in the photo below.

When we are on the road it can be hard to find, or inconvenient to get, a mocha. McDonald’s has good espresso drinks at a reasonable price, but last November they shut down all their espresso machines due to a potential safety risk with the machine. I read that they might be back soon. In any case there was not a McDonalds or any place to get a mocha near our hotel. I found a coffee shop over two miles away in the actual town of Grants, but our truck was at the Ford dealer so we had no transportation.

Normally I would not walk that far just for a coffee, but given we had not gotten any exercise the previous day, and we were just sitting in the hotel room, we decided that a long walk was a good outing.

We had to walk along a busy road and across a bridge that was not designed for pedestrians. It was a little scary on that bridge with traffic whizzing by and a tiny shoulder. A couple of times we stopped and pressed ourselves against the guardrail until a car went by. On the other side of the bridge and the rest of the way there was a sidewalk.

We were on old Route 66 as we walked toward the main part of town and the coffee shop. We passed three abandoned motels that were in various stages of disrepair. Wayne commented that the interstate highway system should pay for getting those properties cleaned up, since building the highway bypassing the town caused the motels to go out of business. We were ready to sit down when we finally got to “1912 Market on 66”. In addition to fancy coffee, they sold some local fresh produce and other products.

I carried two mochas in a cardboard carrier all the way back, to put in the motel refrigerator for the next two mornings. The walk back seemed to go faster. We got 13,000 steps in and I collapsed on the bed when we were back at the hotel.

The car dealer got the parts on Thursday, and thought maybe they could have the truck repaired by the middle of the day on Saturday. If that worked out, we could be back home in Minnesota by Monday, March 31.

We kept busy using our laptops in the hotel room, and going for walks. We figured out how to watch our TV shows on my laptop. We browsed in Walmart and a farm supply store a couple of times. Restaurants in walking distance included Denny’s, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Subway, and an Asian Buffet. We frequented them all several times each. A long time ago I could eat a lot at an Asian Buffet. Today I am full after a small amount, so All-You-Can-Eat is not a good deal or a good idea. However they had a by-the-pound take-out option that worked for us. We could get a full plate of food, including plenty of vegetables, for less than $9 each. I had brought apples and carrot sticks in the car from Arizona. We bought pea pods and bananas at Walmart. Our situation could have been so much worse.

On Saturday Wayne got an update from the car dealer. They had an emergency job on Friday and were not able to work on our truck. They were only open until 1:00 on Saturday. They are closed on Sunday. They might be able to get the work done on our truck by Tuesday, April 1. It was not terrible hanging around there, but who knew when the truck would really be ready. I was worried about getting home in time for the upcoming birth of our granddaughter. With Wayne’s blessing, I started researching how I could fly back to Minnesota. Wayne was OK with staying in Grants until the truck was ready, and then driving back home by himself towing the RV.

I was able to figure out the logistics of getting home, and made the reservations on Saturday (March 29) for travelling on Sunday (March 30). I only had a few clothes that were accessible, a small duffle bag and a backpack. Ideally I wanted to bring a few more things with me, but they were in the truck at the auto dealer, and I did not have enough room in the small bag for anything else. I did not sleep well that night, fretting about whether all the parts of this journey were going to go smoothly, or if I was going to be stuck somewhere else all by myself.

I had to get up very early to catch the Greyhound bus at the gas station across the road for a one hour ride to Albuquerque. They had touristy New Mexico stuff for sale there.

The bus was about 15 minutes late, so I was concerned about whether it was really going to come and if I was waiting in the right place. It finally came and I got on. There was a diverse mix of passengers on the full bus, some who were riding all the way to St. Louis or farther. It was quiet and many people were sleeping and/or had covered themselves with jackets or blankets. The only seats left were next to someone else, so I found one that looked OK and sat down with my backpack on my lap and duffle at my feet.

My biggest worry was about the next part of the trip, taking the city bus to the airport after arriving in Albuquerque. I knew the bus route number and time, but I was not sure where the city bus stop would be or how to get a ticket. When I arrived in Albuquerque it was pretty deserted, being Sunday morning. It turned out that the city bus stop was very close to the Greyhound station, and the city busses are free. The bus came on time and it took about a half hour to get to the airport. The Albuquerque airport is not very big and I was able to breeze through security and find my gate with time to spare. I even had enough time to get a mocha!

I had a layover in Denver with just enough time to walk down a very long hall on three moving sidewalks to the gate for my second flight. My son picked me up at the airport in Minneapolis, and you can bet I was very relieved when we got to his house.

After I left Grants that morning, Wayne checked out of the hotel. He spent the next couple of nights in the RV in the parking of the hotel, without any electricity, water, or heat. To each his own. The RV looked very sad all alone in the parking lot.

I had some productive time in the Twin Cities, going back and forth between my sister’s house and my son’s house. I got a few errands done, met a friend for coffee, and finished knitting two baby hats. There were a couple of possibilities for me to get a ride to our house in west central Minnesota, but another snow storm was forecast and I did not want to get stuck there. And then as the days went by, I was on call to stay at the house with my 21 month old granddaughter Blair, when James and Kelsey had to go to the hospital for the birth.

The truck repair was finally complete late on Tuesday, April 1, a week after we had arrived in Grants, New Mexico. Wayne got on the road Wednesday morning, and arrived back at our house on Friday afternoon, April 4. There was a lot to do there, after being gone for three months and with company arriving for the weekend to help with our extended family biannual maple syrup making operation. I would have enjoyed being there for that, but it made more sense for me to stay in the cities waiting for the baby.

The weather was perfect for the flow of sap this spring, with a long stretch of daytime high temperatures above freezing and overnight lows below freezing. There may be as much as 50 gallons of syrup bottled by the end of this week. My cousins are manning the syrup evaporator in the following photo. Looks like they are set for snacks with a Costco size container of Cheez-Its.

Meanwhile back in the Twin Cities I continued to hang out and help as I could. On Saturday, April 5, James, Kelsey, Blair and I went to the Minnesota Children’s Museum. Kelsey looked like she was ready to pop any time.

Early Sunday morning at about 5:00 am I woke up and saw lights on. I heard people up, so I was pretty sure it was “time”. Soon James brought me the baby monitor, and they left for the hospital. I was worried that Blair would be confused in the morning when I went in her room to get her up, but after first saying “no” and “bye bye” to me, she was fine. Wayne drove down from our house to St. Paul. Around the middle of the day we got word that Nora Jane was born at 10:10 am.

I finally arrived at my house on Tuesday, April 8, two weeks after leaving Arizona. New hardwood flooring was installed at the end of December just before we left, so we have no furniture in the living room, dining area and main floor bedroom. The laundry room, three season porch and some basement areas are full of all the furniture and other things that go in those rooms. There is a lot to do here now putting away all the stuff we brought back from Arizona, and getting ready for more company to help with syrup making again this coming weekend. Despite the chaos, I am glad to be home.