Indio to Indiana– Part 1: Phoenix, Flagstaff and Albuquerque

Before all the pandemic closures we had made plans and reservations to take Elsie, our Motorhome, back to the Newmar factory in Napanee, Indiana for the one year maintenance and some simple warranty issues. For a while we figured that wasn’t going to happen and were worried our one year warranty date would pass and we lose any claims. But with the exception of a de-laminated window issue our problems were pretty minor. But as time went on, the factory reopened with what we thought were strong safety measures, and they told us they were honoring our claims. So we decided to drive Elsie back and break up the monotony of our days if nothing else.

We did a lot of planning and set up enough time for us to drive 250-350 miles per day and stop for 2 nights in some places to make the trip easier and more relaxing. So we left on Saturday May 16 for our 1st stop in Candler, Arizona which is just outside of Phoenix. We stayed at the Motorcoach Resort, where we have stayed several times. On the evening we arrived our oldest son James drove down and brought 2 pizzas, one for us and one for him. We sat outside to maintain social distance but had a great time and really enjoyed seeing him in person again. The next morning our good friend Butch came by early for a quick cup of coffee before we hit the road for Flagstaff.

The drive to Flagstaff from Phoenix is just about 3 hours and we stayed at the KOA in Flagstaff. Decent place but nothing special. We were only there for one night and didn’t leave the RV Park.

The next morning we left for Albuquerque. Our good friends Darrell and Nancy Frisse live there and have an alley type of area right next to their house. So we were able to squeeze our rig into that alley and spent the night there. They made a terrific dinner that we had outside on their large patio that included some roasted vegetables and a sauce that I have now stolen and will call my own in the future. While there we also had one of our group video chats with our mutual friends Dominic, Rich, Joe and Craig. Even though we didn’t go into their house, and stayed at least 6 feet away from them, it was great to spend some time in person with these wonderful people.