A Long and Winding Road

May 1, 2020 by seabreeze223 1 Comment

I guess it is time to update you on our departure from Mexico and about our meandering trip toward home.

We left San Carlos at 5:45 a.m. Sunday morning, April 26th and headed toward home. We decided not to go through the border at Nogales, but instead take a longer route in Mexico to the Sonoyta/Lukeville crossing. The border wait times at Nogales were averaging 50 minutes and there was no wait time at Sonoyta. Plus we wanted to spend Sunday night in Ajo, Arizona, which is about 30 or 40 minutes from the border.

The trip went fine but for the first time there actually were Mexicans manning the inspection stations at Benjamin Hill and in Sonoyta. Usually you are just waived through, but this time at both stops we were asked to pull over and our motorhome and the trailer were thoroughly inspected. The people all wore masks and gloves and were very polite. The worse part of the day was the weather. It was incredibly hot and humid. It got up to 106 degrees at one point and the air conditioning in the motorhome had a hard time keeping us cool. The U. S. Customs part of crossing the border was easy. We were the only vehicle going through. They checked our passports, asked a couple questions and we were back in the States. About 10 miles later there is a Border Patrol stop and they ask a couple questions and off we go. Then there is a second Border Patrol stop just before Ajo. Again, a few questions and we are off.

We stopped at the local IGA in Ajo before going to our RV Park because we could not bring any meat or produce across the border and we needed that plus milk, cheese and a whole variety of things. It was our first experience with social distancing and grocery shopping in the states. It was all very friendly and easy. The store was not busy. I wore my mask in the store and many did, but not all.

We got set up in the RV park and the temperature and dropped all the way down to 103! It was a pretty miserable night. Even with air conditioning and a fan it was stifling hot. Garry suggested I sleep on the couch where the air conditioning worked the best, which was fine with me. After a bit I realized how short the couch was so I took a comforter, folded it a few times and slept on that on the floor. It worked great! I think it was much better than the hot bedroom!

We were both awake super early so hit the road out of Ajo at 4:50 a.m. Our goal was to get through Las Vegas and head up the high desert route home on Hwy 95. I was really curious how empty Vegas would seem as we drove through. I was shocked how much traffic there was for a city in lockdown. We stayed in a little RV Park in Beatty, Nevada.

Let me explain traveling by RV during Covid-19. Many RV parks are closed and those that are open usually have restrooms and laundry closed. Fortunately we are fully self-contained so that is not an issue for us. I follow some RV web sites and RV Life indicates RV parks reported open or closed due to Covid-19, or indicates they don’t know either way. Then I call a few to make sure they would have room for us. So far that has worked out fine.

After Beatty we went to Hawthorne, Nevada and stayed at a park we had been to a few years back. We ended up staying two nights and got some projects done, hit the Dollar Tree store and Safeway by our RV park and just relaxed. The days were still hot – high 80s and low 90s but the nights were cooler..

We are now in Battle Mountain, Nevada which is 54 miles east of Winnemucca. We took a fun leisurely-no traffic route and passed through part of the Pony Express trail. We saw partial remains of three Pony Express stations. It really was pretty cool!!!

We are staying two nights here in Battle Mountain. Again, just relaxing and doing little projects on the motorhome. Last night we got adventurous and did take out from a local Mexican restaurant. It was the first meal I had not cooked since March 19 because we didn’t do any take out in San Carlos. It was really good.. was it because I didn’t have to cook or was it really that good? I don’t know but tonight we are going to go get a pizza for take out dinner on Friday night date night.

A nice couple from Washington heading to Florida parked near us last night. They are planning on a two week trip. They had the strangest most interesting rig. I am posting pictures. It is a truck and in the truck bed is a collapsible tent system that hangs over the truck bed and out the back. On the side opposite us is some type of awning thing. They have an inflatable queen size mattress. We didn’t ask what they will do in places where restrooms and showers are locked. There is a port a potty here they could use but most places don’t have that. So two adults, a large dog and this ‘camper’ thing for 2 weeks.

The fun about doing backroads is the opportunity to see country side you normally won’t see if traveling the main interstate. Every part of Nevada has been beautiful in its own way. Even some of the mining areas are pretty. This is the first time ever we have done the high desert in late April. It is surprising how green things are. I am not sure if it is because it has been wetter this spring like it was in San Carlos, but all the shades of green in the desert are gorgeous.

As we head in a general direction toward home we are basing our route on where we can spend our nights. We would love to do the Oregon coast but is is mostly shut down so we have ruled that out. So far this part of our winter adventure has been really nice and relaxing. Hopefully that will continue.

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  Sunrise leaving San Carlos

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  Empty roads I. Mexico

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  Garry repairing our much needed fan

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  Degrees of green in the desert

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  Desert scenery

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  Scored at Dollar Tree

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  Sunset in Hawthorne

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  Magnesia mine in the distance

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  Break time in the desert

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  More desert

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  RV Park in Battle Mountain

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  Old sign in Battle Mountain

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  Mexican take out

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  Pop up trailer on truck

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  Pop up popped down on truck