July 3,2007

July 3, 2007

Motel 8

Earlier in the trip, Ian’s parents offered a night in a hotel as a gift for us to use when we needed to get off the road. There have already been a few nights where we thought we needed to get off the road, but we knew to save our hotel night for the desert, round two.
Helen was still overheating under the bright desert sun, so we were again limited to nighttime driving only. Leaving LA at about 10:30pm last night, we drove all night, into Arizona. It was amazing the difference a few hundred miles made in the temperature. We left LA wearing sweatshirts and drove into what would become a 112 degree desert afternoon. We needed to get out of the heat.
We all expected to use our Hotel night somewhere in the southwest but it became apparent that we needed it now. The black tar roof of the Bago absorbs heat, raising the inside temperature past the outside air temp. After a long night of driving we pulled over at a Motel 8 and checked into two rooms.
Immediately the AC was cranked to high and we moved our stuff in. Most of the day was spent in bed, catching up on the sleep that we missed out on the night before. After waking up, we took advantage of the electricity, ice, AC, and hot water. We made dinner out of the coffee pot, and used the ice bucket as a cooler for drinks. We watched movies on the hotel cable and played video games too. Looking out the window we were reminded how hot it was outside (112 degrees) and enjoyed our air conditioned room even more. After an old Bruce Willis cop movie, a raid on Ian’s room, and a knock on the door by hotel security, we packed up the Bago and got back on the road.
We’re driving all night again, trying to get through the desert as fast as we can. Tonight we’ve had few problems; a few transmission issues towards the end here, but otherwise a smooth ride. The goal is New Mexico for the 4th of July. New Mexico is a big firework state, like Indiana. Arizona and California are very strict with fireworks so we’re trying to make it someplace exciting for Independence Day.

Winnebago guys, from the desk of Aaron Tubergen
Quartzsite, Arizona