Valley of the Sun

Okay, I'm settled enough to sit down and start typing. Sunday before last, we left Saint Helena Island and drove through Atlanta to Morton, Mississippi. We stopped for a night at the Roosevelt State Park (really cool park with lake and recreation areas plus updated campgrounds). We stayed up most of the night worrying about our converter and what might be shot next on the rig. The next day we drove through Louisiana (finding our first Whataburger of the trip!) and then onto miles and miles of Texas. We pulled in Wild Country RV Park outside Eastland, Texas. No diesel for almost 60 miles. We passed through Cisco, Texas (name of my Dad's old ornery horse) and finally met up with I-10 westbound just before El Paso. From the smell of burning tires we knew we were closing in on Ciudad Juarez and old Mexico. El Paso hit us with heavy rains and extreme traffic, so needless to say we were glad to get out just before rush hour. The rain followed us through most of New Mexico and we wheeled it in one more time to stop near Lordsburg, NM for the night. The next day (Wednesday) we drove the rest of the trip and made it to Tonopah around 2:00 pm.
Temperatures were around 110 degrees, hotter on the asphalt. We lost about 10 lbs. setting up camp. We've already had a taste of the Arizona monsoon season (which lasts through September). I've been schooled on the many predators of the Sonoran Desert, including but not limited to tarantulas, Gila monsters, Colorado toads, scorpions and the downright lovable rattlesnake!Today was Keith's first day at Palo Verde, let's hope he passes his psychological tests!