KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
We left Winslow March 27, arriving back in Apache Jct. Friday, we picked up my nephew Tim and his wife Mary at the Phoenix airport, then stopped by the storage unit to pick up the Four Winds. Tim and Mary are the new owners of the Four Winds. They spent the weekend camping with us, doing a little sight-seeing, and learning how everything works in the RV. Sunday morning they began their new adventure as first-time RV owners driving the Four Winds back to Texas. We had a great time with these two and hope Tim and Mary will enjoy RVing as much as we do.
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| R V having fun yet? |
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| "I'm driving this bad boy?!" |
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| Mary and Tim - Tonto National Forest, AZ. |
The saga of the Southwind's brake issue continues. Monday, April 1st, we had an appointment in Phoenix at Sand Chevrolet, a Certified Workhorse Service Center, to have the front brakes replaced. We recently found out that in addition to back brake failure, the front brakes were also under a recall. Even though the perfectly working back brakes had been replaced only a few weeks earlier with the correct parts, they insisted on replacing those too since the work hadn't been done by a "certified" Workhorse mechanic. Now, Workhorse is refusing to reimburse us for the cost of the first work done when we had the emergency situation with complete back brake failure. FOOLS!
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| "CERTIFIED" Service. |
SANTA FE - April 2nd
The drive out of Arizona into New Mexico was sunny and the scenery magnificent; wild flowers were blooming in the desert with a beautiful array of colors. As we got further into New Mexico the wind started to blow; around Albuquerque it was ridiculous. Along with dirt and sand, tumble weeds were tumbling across the road and flying through the air. Strong gusts of wind would jerk and push the RV while Jim held onto the steering wheel trying to keep us from being blown off the road. By the time we got to our campsite outside of Santa Fe the wind was gone, but freezing temps and snows were predicted for overnight. We were relieved when we woke and saw the weatherman's prediction was wrong, so we didn't have to travel on snow or ice covered mountain roads. BIRTHDAY BOY- April 3rd
It's Jim's birthday today! We arrived in Woodland Park, CO and set up camp in my sister's front yard. The view of snow-capped Pikes Peak was spectacular. Lori cooked up a delicious birthday dinner, with Blue Bell ice cream for desert.
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| Lori, Jim, John & Kelsey Blue Bell Pistachio Almond ice cream...eat it and you will think you died and went to heaven. |
We left Woodland Park on Saturday and migrated as far as Kearney, NE where we joined some other snowbirds heading north. Kearney is known as the Sandhill Crane Capital of the World, with more than 80% of the world's population of Sandhill Cranes stopping here for about 6 weeks to rest and refuel along the Platte River as they travel from their southern wintering grounds to their northern breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and Siberia. We stayed overnight in a newly developed campground next to a corn field where hundreds of Sandhill Cranes were congregating and singing/chattering with each other. Every year, birdwatchers from all over flock to Kearney to witness this incredible sight.
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| View from our campsite. Nebraska farmland! |
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| A group of Sandhill Cranes in the field by our campsite. I had to use the telephoto lens, and the picture doesn't capture the size of these birds. |
We arrived home on April 7th, looking forward to Spring and pleasantly surprised to see most of snow had melted. A few days later we were rudely slapped back into reality with a cruel winter storm. I'm starting to plan a longer trip south for next winter.
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| The "April Fools" jokes just keep on coming. |
