I want to record my travels from Arizona back to Wisconsin. I took in some really neat sights on the way to share, as well as just what the roads and scenery look like along that path. So this will be a first in a series of “Catching Up “

Leaving Krazy K, Camp Verde.

Once I flew back to Arizona, I needed to get from the airport to the north side of Phoenix where my truck had been undergoing repairs while I was gone. Uber was $78 and the cab driver put in the address and said he could do it for $55! Great! Cab it was! Nice ride over and nice conversation. Picked up my truck and had a nice conversation there and drove to Camp Verde. I let one of the managers, Susan, know that I was on my way. When I got there, there was a crew waiting for me and they got me hooked up and down to my site for the next week! What kind people!

I had a week to recover, made that trip to Mingus Mountain, another trip to Sedona, restocked my refrigerator and said goodbye to Krazy K.

The Drive to Winslow, AZ

April 16, 2022

I decided not to take I-17 up to Flagstaff and connect with I- 40. I know how steep and long the grades are through the 6 and 7,000 ft elevations on I-17. I did not want to put my newly repaired truck through that. So I tried to avoid it.

Looking at the map, I decided to take the state highways 260 and 87 to Winslow instead . I was hoping to avoid the 7,000 ft elevations by going east . It was worth a try.

The other advantage by going in this direction is not having to deal with all of the semis as we all try to maneuver for the best rate of speed up the hill while we ascend and then the breaking and downshifting as we descend the mountains. Momentum is key in order to save on diesel and key again in order to save on your brakes.

I discovered I was not going to avoid the 7,000 ft climbs like I had hoped. 😯 And as this picture shows, the climbs went for a couple miles as well! But at least not the 6,7,8 mi climbs that I-17 has. 😯

The road went for miles through different changes in elevation and different changes in scenery. There were also changes in the rock formations around me. I will include a series of pictures that hopefully will demonstrate that. All in all it was a scenic drive and I figured it was going to be a bit stressful no matter which way I took. At least this one had a lot less traffic!

Running at a high altitude, I run into this type of landscape most often. For most of the trip, the road continued to drop down a thousand feet or so and then go right back up.

After a couple hours of winding through the mountains, ascending , descending and timing this all out to minimize the amount of downshifting the truck would have to do, I saw a beautiful, beautiful flat road spread out before me!! Fantastic!! And it stayed this way all the way into Winslow!! Relief!! Made it! Out of the mountains!! I was never so happy to see a flat, open, boring road!!! 😅

I was very happy to be able to arive early enough in the day so that I could find my campsite, set up gradually and carefully to avoid using my right hand much, and relax.

My first day of driving through the mountains, with my rig, and with minimal use of my surgically repaired broken wrist went pretty well. Going down Hills are always more scary than the climb, as there is always that concern about it getting away from you. But it went real well and I was able to make the turns I needed to make without undue stress. 👍

Staying here for a few days will give me a chance to continue to heal. There are also a number of sights to see in this area… Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert and Winslow, AZ. 🎶

I intend to take in all of them before I head on towards home.

More blogs ahead with taking in these sights. 😊