Cheap diesel, rude people and bug juice

Interesting day on the road today. We left Amado around 9:00. Until we got to the junction with the 10 just south of Tucson we weren’t sure which way we would go. East towards home or north to Las Vegas. At the last minute we made up our minds – North. But we had a little bit of a problem. The last place we’d fueled up was Los Mochis, MX. The closest Flying J was in Eloy, AZ 90 miles away. So let’s see – around 650 miles. We have a 100 gallon tank but get on average 7.5 mpg. So we should have enough fuel – right?  Bill kept the mileage at a steady 60 mph. Watching the fuel gauge. The gauge actually hadn’t reached the yellow line yet but…this is the first time we’ve ever let it get so low. So was it accurate or not? Got closer and closer to Eloy. I suggested maybe Bill should speed up really fast so if we ran out maybe we could coast to a station. I just got A LOOK!

Well we made it fine and discovered we still had around 25 gallons in the tank. Got diesel at $2.41 a gallon and also filled the jeep with regular at $2.11 a gallon. Soooo much cheaper than Mexico. 

After filling up we decided to go in and have an early lunch. Now the Flying J in Eloy doesn’t really have RV parking except along one side of the parking lot. Or in with the trucks. We opted to park on the side of the lot. Lots of room there. We had our lunch. Just before we left I asked the waitress if they had apple pie. I’ve been craving pie since we got back in the U.S. but haven’t had any. She said yes they had apple pie and apple crisp. Yum. So I ordered an apple crisp to go. I should have been paying more attention when she said she’d go prepare it and bring it right over. A couple of minutes later she gave me my Styrofoam box with my crisp in it. We got up to leave.

As we were paying Bill glanced out the window towards the parking lot and saw that two big RVs both towing cars had pulled in to park – right in front of us! I’ve kind of drawn up a sketch of the parking lot. [I didn't take any pictures - didn't think about it.]

not to scale - both RVs were 40 footers - that's us in the rear.

*"&*# - we won’t be able to get out," said Bill as he headed out the door. He met the two couples just as they were coming in and asked them if they’d move their RVs as we were getting ready to leave and we couldn’t get around them. One guy answered, “No. That’s your problem.” And kept walking. The second guy – in the second RV said he would move his. But after checking it out he couldn’t move either as he couldn’t get around the first RV. So he went into the store.

We walked back to the Alfa and prepared to wait – for how long??? About 10 minutes later both couples came out with items they’d bought in the store. They headed for their RVs – not even nodding at us. Any way to make a long story shorter. I LOVE THIS PART. When the first RV tried to make the turn to get out he COULDN’T make it. The dumpster was in the way! He had to get out and unhook his tow car, maneuver back and forth a couple of times before he could get out. Sorry to say but that tickled both of us! Then his friend followed. Then we got out. HA! The first rig was from Colorado the other from California. What’s the matter with some people? And where’d he learn to drive?

So back on the road. Very good road all the way and some beautiful desert scenery. Tucson has some of the prettiest highway overpasses I've seen. Most of them are much nicer than this one. 

 And this is nice too. 

 The desert is so colorful this time of year. The Palo Verde are just blooming.

 Such a clear day. We could see forever. 

 More blooms. One of my favorite desert plants. 

 We took the 8 - the Phoenix bypass then up through Gila Bend to the 10. Between Gila Bend and the 10 we hit a bug blizzard! It sounded like we'd driven into a waterfall. What a mess. 

We got to Quartzite - 289 miles later around 3:30 and stopped at the Flying J there to top off - diesel is much cheaper in Arizona then in Nevada and so Bill could wash the bug juice off the windshield. From there we went to the Shady Lane RV on 95. They are almost empty. Didn't unhook or anything. 

After getting set up and the TV and MiFi working etc. etc. I decided I'd have my apple crisp. Well Crap! Like I said I should have paid attention when the waitress said she'd prepare it. What that meant was - put ice cream on it. Warm melted ice cream over soggy apple crisp. Even I couldn't eat it. So sad. 

Bill's allergies are still bothering him. Trying to keep the windows closed and not go outside too much. But that's hard to do. 

Hopefully when we get to Vegas tomorrow there won't be as much pollen in the air. Tomorrow night we are going out to one of our favorite restaurants and I'm going to get my apple pie.