Arizona here I come!

I headed out on a Sunday morning for Arizona.  It was my first trip with the motor home and to say I faced it with a lot of prayer is putting it mildly!  It was a beautiful fall day!  Johnny and Carol were there to see me off.  They were dressed for church so I had to do the dirty work without help but I appreciated the moral support!  They checked to make sure all my lights were working properly after I hooked up the car! I eased away from the curb and off we went!  My little dog Ellie was not sure about this new home on wheels.  That was okay I was not too confident with it either!  I had planned my route to avoid any heavy traffic, until I at least had some serious practice behind me.  I had also planned to take a route that I was fairly familiar with.  I hoped to get beyond Abilene on my first day.  As it was Sunday traffic was pretty light.  I took highway 84 west out of Mexia.  When I got to Waco I took the loop around it and hit highway 6 heading north west!  So far so good!  It was a little windy but not too bad!  About 60 miles out of Waco an alarm started going off!  My heart nearly jumped out of my chest!  Whoa, what in the world was that?  Everything seemed to be running okay!  It turned out to be my jack alarm going off!  I had to pull over to the shoulder of the road, put the gear shift in Park, set the emergency brake and then turn on the Jacks.  All I had to do then was hit the store button and the alarm immediately went off.  Whew, nothing major but still scary!  I was back on the road in short order. I hit interstate 20 at Eastland.  Shortly after that Ellie and I stopped for a break at a roadside park.  She enjoyed the walk and I needed the down time! I took the loop north around Abilene.  Traffic was not too heavy and I was beginning to get a little more comfortable with the drive.  By keeping the car in the middle of the lane I knew I was keeping the motor home in the lane!  I love my rear view camera!  I was planning to look for a campground on the west side of Abilene.  I did not want to push too hard on my first day.  Besides when you get out into west Texas those RV parks get fewer and farther between.  I stopped at the Rolling Plains RV park in Sweetwater.  As I turned on my turn signal to get off the interstate I noticed that my indicator was not working!  Hmmm...if it is not working most likely my turn signal is not working either.  I went ahead and continued to the RV park.  This is not an RV park that I would recommend for Class A motor homes.  The trees make it a little hard to negotiate.  I found the person running it very friendly and helpful but I probably won't return because I don't want to risk scratching my motor home.  It is handy to the interstate and should be great for anything smaller than a Class A. After I pulled in to my site I checked and sure enough my turn signals were not working.  I raised the dash to get to the fuse panel and replaced the blown fuse.  I was glad I had those extra fuses!  Ellie and I had a good night after a busy day! 
The next morning I got ready early for another day of driving.  After I unhooked and got ready to go I checked my turn signals and they blew again!  I knew I could not continue with out some help fixing the problem.  I went up to the office and asked if there was a place nearby where I could get some assistance.  The lady suggested the RV dealer back down the interstate about a mile.  They had a nice big parking lot so it was easy to get in.  I asked them if they could help me and they said no that they did not work on Motor homes.  They suggested I try the Chevrolet dealer across the interstate.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised that the Chevrolet dealer was willing to work me in on a Monday morning.   They were great!  before 9 o'clock they had my RV pulled around to a back door and were working on tracing the problem.  After much head scratching and even checking the wiring on the car all the way back to the tail lights they discovered the short!  It was right where the wiring connector is on the back of the motor home!  At 11 o'clock I was back on the interstate headed west!  I felt the dealership in Sweetwater was more than fair.  They only charged me for one hour of service! 
Ellie and I had a delay in the start of our trip that day but things were looking up!  Not much traffic on interstate 20 west of Sweetwater!  I was pretty much able to put the cruise on and sit back and keep it between the lines!  I had almost 300 miles ahead of me and a late start!  Ellie and I pulled over once so she could have a short walk and I could grab a snack.  We managed to pull into the Van Horn KOA before dark.  I was tired after a long day but it was not too bad. I discovered that they have a little cafe on site!  I was thrilled to be able to get something to eat and not have to cook!  All was good in my world!  I was a little nervous about going through El Paso the next day but I was not going to let it ruin my evening!  I try to take things as they come and not borrow trouble!  Believe me if i was going to let worries of what could happen enter my mind and spirit I would never leave my brother's driveway! 
Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear!  A beautiful day for a new challenge. I was on interstate 10 and would be on it all the way to Tucson. I stopped and filled my gas tank just as i got into the edge of El Paso at a Flying  J I grabbed the lane next to the center and stayed there all the way through El Paso.  Traffic was heavy in El Paso, as it always is, but I stayed calm and set the cruise to the speed limit and let everyone go around me.  I was so proud to get through!  New Mexico here I am!  On this trip I got to add New Mexico and Arizona to my map!  Just south of Las Cruses my jack alarm went off again!  This time I was not as shocked!  I pulled over and went through the store route and it went off! Both times it did this on the trip I had gone over some really rough road.  Not a fun thing but it could be worse!  I made Lordsburg early in the afternoon.  It was a little over 300 miles and while it was not a difficult drive I was ready to stop.  This is a nice RV park in a very bad neighborhood!  The site I was assigned was very spacious and easy to get in and out of.  As a new class A owner towing a car I was thrilled!  My next stop would be Desert Gardens RV park near Florence Arizona my home for the winter. 
Traffic as I left Lordsburg was not bad.  The closer I got to Tucson the heavier it got.  I was concerned about going into Tucson because I knew there was construction in the area.  A lot of the exits were closed!  Oh dear!  Of course the exit I had planned to take was one of the closed ones!  I ended up taking Orange Grove over to highway 77.  North of town I turned left onto highway 79. It was a very pretty drive with lots of Saguaro cactus.  Wow, what a change of scenery.  I arrived at Desert Gardens and was welcomed with open arms.  Carolin, one of the ladies from the office went with me to help guide me into my back in site!  She was great and I was able to back into my winter home easily with her guidance.
Ellie and I had made our first trip with the motor home!