New Mexico

Before we left Needles, CA:

We logged 402 miles today.  We left Fender’s after a brief walk around and watching the quiet Colorado River for a while.  The water was very low and you could see where people drove out a bit in order to launch their boats from a trailer. I guess this is to be expected at the end of the summer season and before the rain arrives in this area.  Thankfully, our drive was uneventful.  It was remarkable how much the far East part of CA and the West part of AZ looked a lot like the deserts of Jordan, Israel, and Oman!  Soon the terrain gave way to more shrubs and trees but the gagged mountains and deep, uninviting ravines could still be seen in the distance.  We stopped for a brief lunch in Williams, AZ and we made a couple gas stops, not letting our tank go below the halfway mark if possible!  It’s nice that gas is about $1. from our last stop in CA, which I am sure was higher than the average ($4.64) to the first stop in AZ ($3.62).  It will be interesting to see after the trip the actual overall cost of our gas. We pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot in Gallop, NM about 7pm taking a 1-hour time change into consideration. We joined approximately 20 other RV’s of all shapes and sizes that are taking advantage of a free place to park for the night.  They are all nicely spread out at the farthest part of the parking lot, just as Wal-Mart requests.  Chicken and veggies for dinner.  There is a lot of traffic noise as we are right by the freeway and I might have heard a train.  Hopefully, we will get a good night’s sleep though.

The evening sky AZ, almost to NM: