Update from Arizona!

Hey it's my birthday!!! We are in Flagstaff at a really nice campground, so I am definitely not in a rush to get up. We are headed to the Grand Canyon today after some errands.

I left off talking about us headed up Rt 3. in Colorado...

So we can't make it over the snow with the popup on the side of this mountain. No real big surprise there. So Dave starts backing it down the road we just came up. He gets annoyed and tries to back the camper up the side of the hill in order to turn around. While going forward...he gets completely off-camber and I'm fucking scared shitless. He asks if I'm ready, and I say no. He says we have to do something, I tell him to back up, but he can't. So...I ask if I can get out. If we're going to roll, one of us needs to not be hurt. He tells me to climb out over him, so the weight of my door doesn't pull the jeep over. So I climb out, my heart beating a million miles a minute. He asks if I'm shaking yet, we both are. This is a bad situation.

We take weight off the top of the car, we stack rocks around the tires, we even dig up dirt to pack around them. But when he goes forward, the tires still lift. If it wasn't for the camper still attached and on flat ground, it would have rolled already. Finally Dave gets the idea to un-attach the rear driveshaft, so the rear tires don't spin, and burn the front tires a bit so the Jeep straightens out. Ok. It works. Phew.

Now what? Theres a car coming. Win, it's 3 dudes. They help Dave get the camper off the hitch, and back onto the path, so we can drive the Jeep down the hill and back up and re attach the camper. Nice. So that's done.

Now, to take some of the weight off the roof, Dave took his spare tire off and rolled it down the hill where he told me to stand and stop it. I had done that, and was knocked to the ground, considering the tires weigh more than I do. But I stopped it from rolling down the mountain.

Now it was time to figure out what to do with the tire since we are all straightened out on the mountain with the Jeep. Roll it up the hill? Walk it down? I was going to walk it down but Dave said to just roll it towards the road. I did, but it hit a rock and bounced and changed direction. It rolled allllllll the way down the mountain to where we couldn't see it anymore. So we go back down the road, and stop where we think it might be near and unhook the popup. Then we go searching.

We get stuck, in this marsh basically. And cannot get the Jeep out. After a couple hours I go looking for the tire on foot...I guess I was gone for like an hour and a half. When I got back, nothing had been accomplished. Still stuck. We try everything we can to get out, until the sun goes down. 30 degree temp drop instantly. The kids who helped us with the camper on the mountain were stuck with us, so one called his dad...

His dad came to get them, and Dave and I went up into the popup. We walked through hail and pouring rain, freezing to get there. What a miserable day.

The next day the kids and their dad and their dads friend came back, and Dave went down to the car while I stayed in the camper. We were at about 11,000 ft elevation, so breathing was a chore, I didn't want to even get out of bed. I kept trying to motivate myself to get the camper ready to close up, but every time I got up I'd get tired and sit back down. Definitely not used to the lack of oxygen. Neither were our muscles, we were sore for 4 days after.

We had slept in hoodies and flannel pants under the blanket and the sleeping bag, and we weren't too cold. Without the sleeping bag we would have froze, it was definitely chilly. The popup was all un-level too, so we were slanted with our heads lower than our feet...oof.

Finally the Jeep comes back, I was so excited. We pack up and get the fuck out of there. We meet the guys for lunch, which we buy for them in thanks for all their help. We then go back to the RV Corral to shower and do laundry because we are completely covered in mud. Our toenails are still dirty.

Then we head to Roswell. Looongg drive. I drove for the last 2.5 hours, and we arrived at the campground, after getting a bit lost, at 230 am. We were both a bit irritable, so we went to bed.

Woke up the next day soaked. Completely soaked, so hot. I shower, and we pack up and head to the UFO festival. First we go to Tractor Supply though, because after the other night...we need some way to get unstuck, so Dave buys a winch. We hook it up in the parking lot, I had to help because Daves wrists were still sore from the mountain situation.

We visit the visitor's center, which is the convention center too, and look at all the stuff to buy. I bought these nice metal cutout things by this nice guy...and Dave bought homemade salsa. We looked around there, then ate some food. I had roasted corn and Dave has a roasted pork sandwich that was actually guarenteed to be good. He said it was. We went back to seconds. My corn was amazing too. We then went exploring, shopping a bit. We then watched the parade, until around 830, then went to find a place to stay. We couldn't find anything, so we went to eat. Then we went back to the planetarium, for a laser show. It was awesome, all set to popular 80's music. We left there and continued trying to find a place to stay, but there was nothing.

So Dave decided to drive to Carlsbad. 90ish miles. We got there around 12 and there was an RV park. We set up the camper, and were just chilling out. I went out to get the paper from the car, when all of a sudden I feel pricks on my feet. Dave is in the camper, and he hears me saying Ow Ow Ow...I walk into the camper and look at my feet and there is a red ant on it. OW. Fire ants. The next morning we find out Dave had parked right over their nest. No wonder it bit me. I didn't swell up or anything, so all was well.

We pack up the camper, and leave it in the site and go for lunch. We write out a ton of postcards too. Outside the restaurant there is an old castle like house thing on the hill. So we walk up and go inside and take a bunch of pictures, then walk back down. We get the camper, and go to Carlsbas Caverns. We have the Annual National Parks Pass, so we get in for free. It was a long walk down. Really dark and cool. My skin was cold to the touch. The batteries of the camera got low while down at the bottom, so we took the elevator back up, which was fine, because I was done. We bought some postcards, and ate some food. Dave got stickers for his car.

Then we left, and went back to the store near the RV park for ice, and to drop the postcards in the mail. Happy 4th of July.

We drive towards Arizona, but don't make it quite there. We see fireworks going off, so we park on the side of the road and watch. One went off on the ground, and then ambulances and stuff were going on and flashing their lights and sirens and then it was over, so we left...

We stop in Socorro NM, right near Rt. 60. We find an RV park, and get set up, then find out that there are no bathrooms or showers due to renovations. Ridiculous. I was pretty pissed. We went to sleep to the sound of fireworks still going off outside.

Wake in the morning, miserable because no showers, and we stop at a gas station so I can atleast wash my face. Then we get to Rt. 60, and see tons of RV parks, oh well.

Dave drives until AZ where I drive the whole time we are on Rt. 180. We drive by the petrified forest, and stop and look in the museum. AZ was really hot, and the pavement was too, so the car started overheating again...I pulled over to the side, and we sat for a bit.

When we get to Rt. 40 I stop, and Dave drives again. We get to Flagstaff around 730, and find the KOA. It's beautiful. Shaded, and big. I'm so content right now, even though we should be out of here, like now.

Oh well. We need to head to the RV store, because in the mountain troubles we lost both rear stabilizers, and then we are headed to the Grand Canyon. Only problem is something happened to our camera, and the lens is all effed up, and we don't know where to go to get it fixed. Shitty.

Later dudes.