Help Us Spike!

We left Flagstaff around 11 this morning. The problem with the motorhome fixed, with a $22 part, and 4 hours or research labor. What was the problem, you ask? I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say it involved a part that I mentioned on the very first post on our trip.

Besides.. we have bigger problems now than some old K&N filter with too much oil on it.

We travelled 235 miles today, to roughly 25 miles west of Needles, California. We were into our second climbing stage out of the Colorado River basin when there was a loud noise, and it only took a second to realize that while the engine was still running, we didn't have any power steering. Cataclysmic destruction of the serpentine belt.

So, here we're parked, behind the Colorado River Cheverolet Dealership in Needles, waiting for them to open in the morning, so we can get the damn belt replaced, and not miss more than two deerhound events.. (LGRA, ASFA Lure Coursing).

You know you've heard of Needles if you watch your local weathercasts: "And the hottest place in the nation again was Needles, CA at 107 degrees". Fortunately, we'll be gone before Wednesday, when it will get really hot.

Oh.. and gas here? $4.99/gal. Yeah.. we could live here. It's hot... but it's a dry heat.

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Talk about a vertical profile! That trip down Oak Creek Canyon was nothing. In 4 hours today, we went from around 7000', cool-ish temps, at Flagstaff, to the California border at the Colorado River: 326' and 102 degrees. A shock to the system.

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And who is this "Spike"? You know. Click on the title.

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Decent little Chinese place here.... right up on the corner. Dinner specials packaged like lunch specials, including rice, soup, and soft noodles. Hmmm, noodles in Needles.

See Ya.

"That's it then...we're all going to die."- Arthur Dent.

Another Perspective.

This is the vertical profile from the GPS track of our 113.1 mile "Saturday Joy Ride". We lost a lot of altitude in that first 25 miles, didn't we? That's the drop into the canyon, which included those incredible switchbacks in yesterday's photo. The higher portion there at the 50 mile marker is Sedona; the lowest elevation was where we picked up I-17 to return to Flagstaff. First time under 4000' in over a week!

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We had Fanny and Sandia with us. We can now add Afghan Hound, Wolfhound, and...... Whippet(!) to the list of things they've been called.. as in: "Is that a......?"

Sedona Road Trip

It's unusual that we have an opportunity to visit a place neither of us have evern been before. Today was that day.

We started by hopping off Interstate 17 at US Hwy 89A... the "alternate" route. That took us down, down, down through Oak Creek Canyon. Did I say around and around and around, as well?

...Count 'em...

The canyon ends at the city limits of Sedona. We took a look, and drove right on through, having no current need for any crystals, T-shirts, cappucino, palm readings or anything else on the main drag marketplaces.

We wanted to see Red Rock Canyon. And we did.

This is Cathedral Rock. Just one of the hundreds of amazing rock formations in the Red Rock area. We took lots of pictures. Lots. We'll put up a slide show when we have a better signal. We haven't had a slide show here in quite a while.

Robert Earl Keen Said...

"...the road goes on forever, and the party never ends." We think this unique sculpture was in Gallup, NM, but we can't be sure. It's all a blur any more.

Stuck in Flagstaff, Mile 1852.

I "knocked on wood" goddammit! You all read it here. So why, some sixty miles or so after our stop at the Jackrabbit Trading Post, did the engine suddenly lose power?

We had to pull off on the shoulder, where it finally died. We waited a couple of minutes, and on the second attempt it started right up. It was flooding for some reason. Back on the highway, we made it another 10 miles before it did it again.

We called our road service and got the phone number for a service center in Flagstaff. We had two more "episodes" before we finally made it to the Flagstaff RV Service Center.

The problem: It was a Friday afternoon, they closed at 5:30, there were 3 rigs in front of us... and they're not open Saturday. About 5:30 they at least got in to check the fuel pressure- good. Problem is not yet another fuel pump. Filter was clear, no blockages. Code reader showed a couple of sensors having problems that could conceivably be sucking the power down. All that pollution equipment that wasn't in vehicles when I was a kid!

Time was up. We found "Black Bart's RV Park, Steakhouse, Music Hall with Singing Waiters". Holy Cow! We didn't eat there, as the menu was way overpriced, and the parking lot was packed to the rafters, so to speak. Instead, we found yet another great Mexican restaurant... Salsa Brava. It was a "pork night". I had the Adovada Combo, and Margaret had the Carnitas Combo. It was good, good, good! The pineapple-habanero salsa was delicious, but not nearly as hot as advertised. My only disappointment of the night.

Since we're stuck here for the weekend, and going to miss the small Scottish Deerhound LGRA (8 entries) on Monday morning, we decided to "make lemonade". Today we're going to Sedona... gonna get our auras and chi adjusted to some new age brain-mush music or something. Or maybe we'll just go see the Red Rocks. Stand by.

Here It Is

Well you just know we had to stop at the Jackrabbit Trading Post near Joseph City, AZ.

So. How much did we spend in the Jackrabbit Trading Post? You tell us!