Note, Kent is driving the motorhome pulling the big trailer and I am in the pick-up following. Not the usual or preferred travel arrangement. Start to finish we drive 2300 miles on mostly interstate highways (10, 20, 30 and 40) and log 41 hours in the truck seat over the span of 5 days. On a positive note, traveling interstate at just under 60 the pickup gets 33.3 mpg for the trip, Yeah!
Once again, I am reminded to thank Kent for his thousands of hours behind the wheel over the years. I definitely prefer watching the scenery!
Day 1: We are up a little early to break camp and make one last check of the weather. Rats, forecasts still expect 3-6 inches of snow on near Gallup NM. So much for the shorter route taking I-40 all the way to Tennessee. Looks like we are taking the southern route. We connect the big trailer, loaded last night, and off we go. Our goal today is Bowie AZ.
Day 2: Destination, Midland TX. Turns out we planned a little too far for today and traffic through Dallas Fort Worth is terrible. In Midland, road construction further delays arrival as closed frontage roads made getting to the RV park seemingly impossible. We get separated and end up independently finding our way to camp facing glaring sun, dodging orange barrels and running slalom courses between narrowly spaced concrete barriers. The sun is setting as we pull into camp. To brighten up a long day, in what seemed like a good idea at the time, Lynn took a detour to get ice cream treats and bring some to Kent. The motorhome rumbles along at under 60 while the speed limit here is 80. So, the thought was she could run the speed limit, go ahead a few miles for a quick stop at Dairy Queen then catch up with the ice cream. It didn’t work out quite as planned. Ultimately, she fell 13 miles behind then speed limits dropped making her progress slower than calculated. She was just about caught up when we entered Midland. Kent’s milkshake was a bit soft by the time he claimed it, in camp.
Day 3: We are heading for Texarkana AR. We are up and set to go earlier today to prevent another after dark arrival. Not so fast, when we pulled in last night, I rhythmically put the stabilizing jacks down, then noted how soft the ground was and immediately pulled them back up. Or maybe just part of the way back up, before I shut off the engine. Whatever the cause, the jacks went into alarm when we tried to start out for the day. So much for the early start! Out comes the owner’s manual to refresh the error clearing button pushing sequence. It seemed to clear…but nope, I still get an error. It isn’t a glamorous solution but I disconnect power and communication wires to each jack. Now it at least won’t do anything unexpected while driving down the road. The controller still blinks and sounds an alarm but I can calm all that by turning it off then on again. That will have to do for now. We are heading out with repairs to be made at a later date.
Day 4: Today, Hurricane Mills TN, just east of the Tennessee River. We catch a bit of traffic in Nashville morning rush hour but the day is otherwise pretty smooth. I will call it cumulative driver fatigue but I just don’t feel like cooking tonight. We head for the Log Cabin Diner. Lynn tries the meatloaf with mashed potatoes recommended by locals and Kent some chicken fried steak. All is good and portions generous. We take a piece of pecan pie home for later.
Day 5: Newland NC, where we are planning on month to month at Plumtree Campground until we find our place. The day’s drive is thankfully a bit shorter than others and we wind our way back the holler to Plumtree Campground on Big Plumtree Creek Rd off twisty turny 19E. The whole place is terraced into a rolling mountainside and sites a bit smaller than described. We drop the trailer and with the help of lots of leveling blocks lay claim to our home for a while, site D5. The groundskeeper/host, Jimmy, is friendly and helpful as we settle in.
We have been and enjoyed this place several times but it is a bit different every time. Well worth another visit. The last 5 miles or so of the drive is dusty and bumpy, like always. But wow, when we get there, we find the place nearly doubled in size. There are official restaurants, in buildings not food trucks. Lots more seating surrounding new stages and a huge new bar being built. They have added restrooms, necessary of course but very boring and mundane compared to the original rustic ones. There is live music and the band is pretty good – country and oldies rock. Our first trip to the bar is a bit odd. What we assume was a stand-in barkeep makes Kent a Margaretta, sort of. Tequilla and soda water, yuck. We climb around on the grounds to check out desert views and to scope out the place. Food is pretty good and the atmosphere fun but I think too developed and the rustic charm is really diluted. Probably won’t be back this way again.
our way home to show Brian that “Yes, the London Bridge is really here”. We stroll, gaze at the lake a bit, shop a little and have dinner out at Burgers By the Bridge. It is all lovely at twilight as holiday and city lights come on.
t here, Oatman AZ. Burros are plentiful today and of course we have to feed them. We cruise all the shops then take in the gunfight. It is a little underwhelming. Just two guys show up and it feels a little unorganized but it is fun all the same. The mics aren’t working so well making it hard to catch all the silly quips and repartee. We enjoy lunch at the hotel restaurant…still love those burros ears potatoes, then head on home.
to see the petroglyphs.
The resident desert tortoise makes an 
appearance as do a number of large tarantulas. We explore a bit more of the area while we are out. It is a fun outing.
town in search of the aforementioned labyrinth(es). After a little stumbling around with directions we come a long a flat spot in the desert to our left, a little parking area, and a tiny sign announcing we have arrived. We stroll the area to find a half dozen or so elaborate rock paths. It is all wonderfully done and pretty impressive. Brian and I cannot resist walking several of them. Ok, that was fun.
dinner in the motorhome since our first year (2010). Today we have roast turkey – just the breast and carefully chosen so it fits in the 6 ½ clearance of my oven! Homemade cranberry – thanks Kent for the suggestion, it is delicious. Mashed potatoes and gravy (thanks Kinder bone broth gravy mix) of course, stuffing – bummed that can’t make any in the bird, and asparagus for our low carb guest. It is all delicious. I search out a keto friendly dessert, baked marscapone with blueberries. That is a disaster – it separates into a water-logged spongey layer topped with congealed grease. Awful!
and we are in town tomorrow so we celebrate early with delicious grilled steaks and of course a cake. Keto makes cake baking a challenge so I go with a mix this time, Duncan Heinz low carb brownie and premade keto icing. It looks great and is actually pretty good. Whew, not another dessert disaster.
First just the structure, then the AI robots the crowd chats with, plus demos of the technology while we all wait in the atrium. Crowds are too thick and lines too long to get scanned for our avatars…. Brian is the only one of us who actually regrets that! We find our seats, section 405 isn’t bad, and anxiously await the show. It is visually spectacular as the screen seems to wrap around us bringing creatures close and seemingly alive (spoiler alert, the spider does jump at you) and soaring mountain views are breath taking. Sound plus theatre hepatics pull us further into the experience. I do recommend it. I am not certain how this all augments live music performances, perhaps?
We are surprised to spot a coyote napping contentedly on the bank of one of the coves. He raises his head a couple times to check us out but we leave him just where we found him when we motor off. Look at those giant ears!
Swollen with snow-melt the water roars across the rock ledge and spray completely engulfs the upper observation deck. I get drenched. It is pretty cold up here!
complete reconstruction of the 1880 settlement. Descendants have contributed items from the actual period and tell the stories of hardship and determination in the words as passed down through their families. One can visit other sites along the Hole-in-the rock Trail. They are very remote in rugged country. We’ll settle for this insight into the journey.
River is a huge petroglyph panel. Hundreds of figures cover the heavily patinaed sections of the cliffs along the river flood plain. It is inside Sand Island campground in an area that sees lots of foot traffic. There has been some vandalism but a great number of the figures are still visible. We are on a scavenger hunt for a Columbian mammoth with a bison figure overlaid. It is highlighted at the Education Center as it dates the site to over 13,000 years ago. We didn’t find it but still, a fun and amazing stop. I wonder what the original authors are thinking as they hear us speculate as to the intent of these writings.
The road is not as bad as many reviews declared but not great either. Kent makes it around in 2-wheel drive, so not too bad. Prominent buttes are named, some easily identified like “the mittens” others like “the elephant” require a bit more imagination and a view from just the right angle. It is cool to wind our way among them as shadows change with the rising sun angle. My favorite is probably the totem pole and adjacent dancers, The Yei Bi Chei. We leave with a lot of pictures! I am not certain which drive is the more impressive, Monument Valley or Valley of the Gods. Monument Valley is immense and the raw scale as we move through it makes one feel small in comparison. The drive through the narrower Valley of the Gods brings us closer to the features making it seem like a more personal experience. Both could be improved by removing distracting human intrusions: boondocking RVs all over Valley of the Gods and rooftops of homesteads among the buttes of the Tribal Park. Both have tipped too far in the scale balancing right-to-use and preservation, in my opinion. But yes, I too would have loved to have spent a silent night under a star-filled sky in Valley of the Gods.