Moving Along QUICKLY!!! or NOT!

Yesterday, we needed to move along a little more quickly. We wanted to spend some time at the Petrified Forest, but we knew we had a long drive ahead of us. We wanted to make it to Albuquerque by dinnertime, as we had planned. To make it even more challenging, we would be losing an hour going over the border from Arizona to New Mexico. (Truthfully, we didn’t think of that until much later in the day.)

We took a very brief walk around the “RV Park” before setting off for the Petrified Forest. There are a couple museums there, but we didn’t have time to explore. We got away from there shortly after 9 a.m., 9 o’clock being our goal, so not too bad.

The Petrified Forest is a national park. I bought a National Park Pass at Death Valley last year, so I was good to go. The lady at the kiosk asked to see my card and my license, then she exclaimed, “These two signatures are nothing alike!” I asked to look at my license. It was one of those scribbled signatures you get when you use a machine to sign your name, but they were clearly the same signatures. She told me if I sign my name on the card again, she’d let me go through. Foolishly, I asked her what would happen the next time. She told me to be sure the signature on the card looks like the one on the license. I told her that would be impossible. She finally let me through. Now… What are the chances that I found a Christine M. Pettit who looked like me and a card that had the signature Christine M. Pettit. I think she took her job a little too seriously!

We stopped at the first visitors’ center. Judy went inside and I walked Lacey. Afterwards, we started out on the “trail”. It’s not real exciting, but you DO see petrified wood and you get pretty good exercise going up and down the steps. Lacey was happy because they allow dogs on the trails at the Petrified Forest. After our “hike,” I put Lacey back in the RT and went inside to get my passport stamped. I remembered to buy a postcard for my mom again and I mailed it right there. Good daughter!!!

After that, we decided we better stay in the car and enjoy the view as we drove the 25 miles or so through the park. It was a nice drive.

We found the rest of the trip to ABQ a little more challenging. We needed to stop a few times to snack/eat, then walk around to try to wake up. It’s a long mesmerizing drive. I wasn’t sure I would make it. I kept calling my dad and Mickie to let them know we’d be a little later and a little later.

We originally planned to head for the RV park and leave Judy’s RT there, but there was no time for that. Fortunately, I had called from one of our stops to make reservations. They told me they’d leave our campsite information taped to the front door, if we didn’t get there before they closed.

About 6:30, or possibly later, we finally arrived at the home of Virg and Mickie Gaul. My dad came running out to help us squeeze our two vehicles into the one spot in front of their house. He did a good job. We fit there perfectly.

We got exactly what we ordered for dinner. (My dad insisted that we tell them what we wanted.) We had delicious tri-tip with delicious potatoes and salad and veggies. For dessert we had yummy strawberries on Angel Food cake. We didn’t order the dessert, but Mickie just KNEW. Imagine that!

We had a nice visit. I think maybe Judy now knows more about my dad and Mickie than I do. She was “interviewing” them while I was running around with Lacey. Just kidding!!! Judy was her usual friendly self and we all had a good time chatting.

We were pretty wiped out, so we didn’t stay too long. I had decided early on to leave Lacey in my van. She couldn’t believe all the scary dogs around there that were barking and carrying on. She decided the RT was a good place to be. I left her some dinner, but she didn’t eat it until we were on the road to the campground. I guess she had a nervous tummy and couldn’t eat. She likes the quiet campground a lot better. Now it’s her turn to bark and be annoying.

After getting to the campground, I plugged in my electrical cord with the handy dandy gizmo that I had installed when I was in Quartzsite in January. It protects the RV from any electrical problem at the park. Well… It’s the first time I’ve used it and, of course, I couldn’t remember anything that Dan had told me. There was a flashing code and it wouldn’t allow any power to the RT. In other words, it was doing it’s job. I was too tired to deal with it, so I decided I would be fine without electricity for the night.

This morning, I got on the Internet and found a list of codes. Later, I’ll plug it in again and check out the code, so I can advise the office, if it still if it’s still telling me that there’s a problem. I’m in my favorite campsite though, so I probably won’t move. I can manage without electricity for now.

Judy will be heading for Santa Fe today. She will visit a friend she hasn’t seen for thirty years and a SoloTrekker that lives there too. I’m going to stay right here in ABQ. I told my dad not to expect me until noon or so. I got up about 5 a.m. and fixed some coffee, then started working on my photos. After that, I had a nice hot shower. It’s a GOOD DAY!