Back in Arizona

 

I spent a night in Deming, New Mexico.  When I got up early the next morning and went outside to get ready to leave, I found sparkly frost crystals on the picnic table just outside my door.  I'm not a happy camper when it's cold, so I had on three layers plus a warm coat.... and furry gloves!  Time to get further south and at less elevation!  Days in the desert are nice and sunny warm, but the temps at night can be 20-30 degrees cooler, or more.

I stopped at a mechanic shop where I had made a reservation for first thing to get my 5th wheel bearings greased.  I was there before they opened, and it only took him about a half hour to get that done.  After that, I was on my way west.

I took Interstate 10 to Benson, Arizona.  Luckily it was not windy since there were multiple signs telling me that there could be dust storms and lack of visibility.  I was in a dust storm last year and it wipes out visibility enough that you can see only about 10' - not a good thing on an interstate!  The previous two days were pretty windy with nasty gusts, so I picked a good day to travel.

The trip was fine, except that I'm unhappy with Arizona - they decided to close the rest area just inside their border from New Mexico.  The next one is almost 70 miles and I really needed to stop!  I finally found a travel center and stopped there.  It was so packed with big RVs and semi trucks that I parked across the street in a vacant lot and walked over.  Whew - what a relief.   Back on the road!

This was the scene on the home stretch into Benson, Arizona, where I stayed for the weekend.  Rocks like this were piled up on both sides of the road for miles - a very interesting contrast to the flat desert I had been traveling through.