Our return from Quartzite culminated in a week-long stay in Apache Junction, where cool, rainy weather awaited and our friend, Anna, was down and out with the flu. One day I walked a few hundred yards to the clubhouse to play Scrabble, and nearly needed a boat to get back to our motorhome a few hours later! Water 3" deep rushed down the middle of the roads from heavy rains while I was inside, and there was nothing I could do but soak my sneakers traversing them. 

January 31st, we left Apache Junction, and were supposed to go across the mountains on a 2-lane highway to see our niece, Delann. Probably due to the heavy rains, I'd not had good feelings about it since the day before. We were headed over there in spite of my ill feelings as there was no evident reason not to; but God intervened. Just before we left, I checked the status of our route online and the roads were open, but as we traveled, a highway sign flashed just before our last opportunity to exit that the road was closed further ahead due to poor visibility. (Interestingly, the AZ DOT map still only shows an advisory, not a closure!)  I insisted that this was a validation of my ill feelings, and we rerouted to Tucson instead. As we entered Tucson, Fritz began to notice the steering becoming more difficult and the engine temperature rising. We pulled into a mall parking lot to find we had lost all the hydraulic oil that provides for power steering and engine cooling! I shudder to think what would have happened had we lost steering on our original route. Praise God!!!

We called our Emergency Roadside Assistance company and they sent a mobile mechanic, who could not diagnose the problem. $110 later, Fritz decided he could limp to our destination in Green Valley, where he could troubleshoot and not have to do so in the rain (did I mention it was still raining???) Before doing so, however, I had to find a car wash as the car was covered in the 2 gallons of power steering fluid that had mysteriously leaked out.

We got underway, but on our way to the freeway, had to traverse a railroad crossing with a very uneven track. Driving behind Fritz, although he approached the track slowly and cautiously, I saw the motorhome heave and yaw across the tracks. We weren't on the highway but a few minutes when I started seeing smoke come out the engine compartment. Before I could call Fritz, he pulled over. Apparently, when crossing the tracks, a bottle of wine catapulted from its 'secure' place on the counter, the cap bounced off and it flung its contents across the breadth of the motorhome. Yes, of course, it was red wine! The same action caused my coffee maker to jump off the counter and hang by its cord. Fritz saw something fly forward and heard the crash, so pulled over to investigate, unknowing that I was about to call him about the smoke coming out of the engine compartment!  But, wait, there's more!!!

Fritz studied the engine compartment but could not find a leak, though the engine was heating up again. After a cool-down, we proceeded once again. About five miles further down the freeway, smoke and oil billowing out the engine compartment, Fritz pulled over again. This time, he was able to spot the general location of a leak and set about to repair it as best he could. By this time, he was an oily, wet mess, as was the car. Happy to have found and temporarily fixed the problem, we got underway yet again. But not very far. Another five miles and he pulled over again. The engine compartment is under the bed, so he immediately lifted the bed and discovered the leak was actually in the hose NEXT TO the one he repaired! We limped off the exit and parked in a WalMart parking lot for the night. Fritz, for one, was just glad he finally found the problem, and it's a problem HE could fix quite inexpensively (he will replace the hose).

So I began making dinner and opened the cupboard to retrieve a plate, only to have a glass tumble out and crash onto the floor, shattering into pieces. I did not respond well to the latest hiccup in our day, I must admit. The rest of the evening got better as I drank the remaining wine in the bottle! The following day, we made it within a few miles of our destination when Fritz's repair failed, but we limped into the park, dripping oil all the way. Once we got situated, we made a trip back into Tucson to have a hose made-to-order, which Fritz replaced and tested. W-h-e-w! 

We had a week to recover from that event, then took the motorhome to Tucson to have the engine compartment steam cleaned and the oil changed on our way to Safford. It took all day for that to be done(!), but it's done!

Safford is a decent-sized town northeast of Tucson, home to several mining operations. The WalMart there provided comfortable dry-camping, and it was so good to see our niece and her boyfriend, and sister Sue and husband Don had driven down from Chewelah too! What a pleasant piece of home! We celebrated Sue's birthday in the park with a BBQ and made plans to head out early the following day for Tombstone.

As we drove back to the motorhome, the "Low Tire Pressure" light flashed on the car's dash. Fritz got the compressor out and checked all the tires, and one we had previously had repaired was low. He aired it up and headed for bed. The next morning, the tire was nearly flat. He eased it across the parking lot to the WalMart Tire Center and awaited their analysis, which was 'not repairable'. Knowing we needed to replace the tires soon anyhow, we bit the bullet and ordered up a set of tires. By the time they were installed, it was too late to go to Tombstone, so we drove out Interstate 10 to Texas Canyon, then drove down to see the 'Cochise Stronghold'.

rock formations in Texas Canyon

Cochise was an Indian Chief of the Apaches who holed up where he and his party couldn't be found and was the last group of Indians corralled onto a reservation. His stronghold was a beautiful, lush canyon where scouts in the hills above could easily spot anyone approaching. Don, Fritz and I took a short hike to examine some of the beautiful rock formations in the canyon.

Fritz and Don observing something in the distance

Look at all the green!!!

In the parking lot of the Cochise Stronghold

Little did we know we would have to traverse several streams to reach the stronghold!  Woo Hoo!

So the day was not lost. Sue and Don went to Tombstone the next day as we headed back to Green Valley, and we'll make a day trip there some other time. It felt SO GOOD to return, take a shower, swim, and ease back into our routine! We have nowhere else to go now in the motorhome until Yuma the end of the month. Ahhhhhhh......

It's been a tough month, financially and emotionally with all the failures we've experienced, but I frequently praise God that Fritz is such an excellent troubleshooter and skilled at all kinds of repairs. He has saved us so much money over the years!

Spending time with Sue and Don, Delann and Derek, helped curb my homesickness for the time being. I can't believe our adventure will be wrapping up in a few months! Let's hope all the system failures are behind us so we can hit home full of energy! 

Til next time down the road.........