Route 66

Well first off I have to say GO GREEEEEEEN! Awesome job Riders, and awesome job Rider Nation! From what we could see, a great time was had by all.  We managed to watch the game online via a slightly-sketchy website that Jen found…. the picture was not crystal clear but was totally fine and it was pretty cool to sit in Buckeye, AZ and see our boys win the Grey Cup at Taylor Field.

We spent one night at Sam’s in Palm Springs.  Remy was NOT happy there.  It was a very strange thing.  She’s been such a great traveller, and settles down like an old pro when we park.  But in Palm Springs she was whiny all evening.  When we moved on to Phoenix (Buckeye) she was once again fine.

Tonight we are in Gallup, New Mexico, a small town about an hour west of Albuquerque.  It’s cool here - just 3 degrees C right now and supposed to go to -8.  There’s a bit of snow on the ground. We drove today from Phoenix up through Flagstaff then east on the I-40, which is also the old Route 66.  Seeing all the old billboards and “Indian Stores” along the way was kinda fun.

But friends, we are headed home.  As I explained to friends and neighbours in an email, it turns out we are not snowbirds at heart. It's safe to say we have enjoyed all the new sights and cool places we've seen, and all pets have been great, and we have been comfy in the moho, but despite all that, we both feel like we've been on the road for months already and we are just tired, even though it's not even been 3 weeks. We are realizing that neither of us enjoys being on the move and driving every day.  Our original plan was to spend much of the winter boondocking (dry camping in the desert) and it seemed like a great plan at home, but once down here, we realized that if we stop for more than a day or so in one place, we get bored.  

Combine that with the fact that we are very much missing the routines and comforts of home and family and friends, and it just seems silly to keep on keeping on.

It has been bizarre weather all over California, Arizona, and New Mexico this week. Cold, rainy, windy, snowy and stormy (sound familiar?!). Sheeeesh. This means we are choosing our route home carefully, to avoid as much of it all as possible.  Once we clear the mountains one way or another I will feel better. I would drive the prairies in the snow in this beast any day but some of those high passes are just plain spooky.

Compounding my anxiety is the fact that the moho has started acting up - just a tiny bit.  She starts fine, runs fine, and about 10 minutes later starts to misfire and hiccup, which is accompanied by a strong smell of coolant.  That lasts a few minutes, until she’s well warmed up, then so far she has settled down and run fine for the rest of the days.  There are no leaks, and all gauges read normal; the check engine light flickers on and off during the episode, but then goes off.  Bad gas? Spark plug? Catalytic converter? The smart thing to do would be to take her to a Ford dealer for a code check, wouldn’t it?  Maybe we will see if Gallup has one before we head out tomorrow.