Southern Route Spring 2016

My foot has healed enough to allow us to do moderate hikes, so we loaded up the 5th wheel and headed East for the spring travels.  We have to be back home before the middle of March because our first grandson is due to arrive in April.  Our first planned stop was to be in Salome, AZ.  We stopped in Blythe at Albertsons to pick up some veggies before we arrived at Tom and Patty's casita.  Jay walked around the rig and smelled burning rubber. It couldn't be us.  We were really good about checking everything before we left.  We even took it into the RV center to deal with the landing gear that was acting up.  But as Jay glanced down he noticed that the two rear wheels were touching and rubbing together.  Not a good thing.  The shackle had broken and we couldn't move on.  We called Good Sam's roadside assistance and they told us they found a mobile RV guy in Parker, AZ.  He charged $1.50 a mile both ways and $100/hr for repairs.  What could we do?  Pay or live at Albertson's for the rest of our life?  Ok, send the guy out.  Our friends in Salome talked to the guy who does their repairs and he agreed to come out and get us and repair the shackle.  Canceled the Parker guy and followed our 5th wheel to Salome.  I think the truck is supposed to be in the front of the trailer.

The owner at the automotive shop, Tony, did a really good job.  He not only welded and reinforced that shackle, he did the same to all of the others too.  The landing gear acted up again.  He couldn't figure that one out, but put a metal strap around the motor so it wouldn't wobble all over the place.  $1600 later, we had the rig back.

Meanwhile back at the casita, we had a really nice time visiting with Tom and Patty.  We went to their local golf course and played nine holes.  They let us stay in their tiny house for a couple of nights while we waited for our rig to be repaired.

We left and headed east ahead of the weather front that was directly behind us.  We drove to New Mexico the first night and stayed at Rock Hound State Park.  Cute little campground, but full.  We spent the night in the day use area.  Then on to Texas.  The first night we stayed at Hill Top RV in Fort Stockton, TX.  Nothing but wind and dirt.  Then to the KOA in San Antonio.  I don't recommend driving through downtown San Antonio with a 5th wheel.  The campground was nice and a bus ride to river walk and the Alamo, but it has an automatic gate around it's 40 acres and in an industrial part of town.  Kinda spooky for me.  We didn't go sight seeing because we didn't want to leave the dog and we were dog tired from driving.  On the way home we plan to stop and do the sightseeing.

The view from our campground at Fort Stockton, TX.  Not much anywhere.  Jay was looking for green somewhere.

We found green at the KOA in San Antonio.

Stella was dog tired too.

Now we are at my brother's home in Houston.  The 5th wheel is back in the shop, hopefully getting the landing gear fixed.  I would complain, but it is 10 years old and this is one of the few times we had to take it in.  We will just call it maintenance.