Sunday, March 19

We leave the ranch and head towards I-10, bypassing Tucson on the west.  From I-10 we merge into I-8 to Gila Bend.  All along the way, various yellow flowers line the roads.  It’s a beautiful drive.

Flowers by the roadside.  Had to pull over and take pictures!

The windows have been up and the AC has been on for the whole trip, and when we reach the Gila Bend KOA where I’ve stayed frequently, and will stay tonight, it’s 98 degrees.  (This park used to be called ‘Augies Quail Trail’ until KOA took it over.  So far the price hasn’t been raised, I think because they are doing construction.  Some of the same people still work here too.)

Due to the heat, I plug in WS and turn on the AC and that’s where we hang out for the most part.  We take an early morning walk to the dog run, where low and behold, there is grass.  Joy and Shiloh roll around till their hearts content.

Monday March 20

Next I do a super-duper cleaning of my Gray and black tanks, because we are on our way to Little House Customs, AZ, and Konrad is going to be working on them.  Actually the black tank cleanse began when we left CLR and stopped at the store in Three Points for a 10 pound bag of ice.  I put the ice down the toilet along with some Dawn dishwashing liquid and drove on.  The ice and soap sloshed around in the tank and helped clean it.  I’ll be using RV park bathrooms until after the work is done.

We leave Gila Bend and drive on to Camp Verde.  I use this route to avoid towing through Phoenix.  The closest we come to it is the 303 which is a 30 mile route around the west edge of the city and traffic is minimal, around 10am-ish.  303 meets Hwy 17 and it’s a pretty drive on to Camp Verde and the Zane Gray RV Park. We’ve stayed here before and liked it ( these repeats are why I called this post deja vu).

The temperature is in the 80’s, and Joy, Shiloh and I walk through the park down to Clear Creek where the kids have their first swim of the season.

Walking to the creek.

Refreshing!

Tuesday, March 21

In the morning I do a final cleaning of the tanks (even the black tank water is running crystal clear at this point.  I did good!). We head over to Little House Customs, about a mile away.  ‘Casita’ means ‘little house’, thus the name of the business.  Larry Gamble started working on Casitas in Texas, not too far from the Casita factory…I don’t know…20 or 30 years ago.  His was the first and is the only other LHC.  He and Konrad specialize in all kinds of modifications which Larry has been perfecting over the years.  Konrad started his LHC with Larry’s help only a few years ago.

Konrad works from his home and he and Lynn have a nice fenced yard so Joy and Shiloh get to run free while WS is being worked on.  Mostly though they just hang out and doze or watch the goings on.  I’m getting what’s called the ‘fast gray mod’,  and a new valve for the black tank and it’s two jobs that work together nicely.  The pipe from the gray tank has come loose from the bottom of WS so I’m very glad I chose now to have this done.  Casita’s are notorious for having the gray tank empty very slowly, and then, not completely.  This mod lets it empty quickly and completely.

I have a number of other things to be looked at including battery cables, locks on the outside cubbies, the fridge door, and the support that holds the tv needs to be repaired.

Konrad finishes up, I pay the bill, we say our good-byes and we head off to Bashas for a quick run to the grocery store with WS in tow.  Miraculously I find a tree to park under, I leave the windows open and hurry in.  The weather is getting more tolerable, I’m happy to say.  Then it’s back to Zane Gray and we head for the creek where Joy and Shiloh have another swim.

Wednesday, March 22

Our drive today is only about 110 miles, and where we land is….Meteor Crater RV Park! (More deja vu).  I really like this place and I take the site right next to the one I was in last year (because it’s bigger and has more trees) in the water and electric only section.  The full hook ups section is fairly full and no one is in this section, which is why I choose it.  It’s a comfortable temp but very windy…rain is on the way tonight and tomorrow.  We walk around the park and spend some time at the dog run, but the rest of the afternoon I spend looking over my tax stuff.  UGH.  I need to go somewhere tomorrow to use a copy machine before I go any farther with them, but at least looking was a start.

Our site at Meteor Crater RV Park.

Another view.  Look at those clouds!

We are between Flagstaff and Winslow, with lots of interesting sites nearby to see.  We’ll stay a week!