April 29, Kingman, AZ
I’ve always wanted to start a posting with the word “Yikes!”, to convey a feeling of potential danger, or a strangely threatening situation. I think maybe I can use it today!

Yikes! First a sand storm, then a snow storm, finally a wind storm, all in 24 hours!
First the sandstorm, at Monument Valley; it was blowing all afternoon, as I reported, but it continued through the night, rocking the coach like a cradle gone wrong. Naturally, Don slept through it soundly, thinking he was back aboard ship. Geri and I didn’t take it quite so well. By the time daylight came, the winds had died down, but there was red sand all over the coach, a lot on the outside and some on the inside. Likewise the truck. It took awhile to get the mess cleaned up enough for the rig to be liveable, and then to get it ready for the road, so we weren’t underway until after eleven in the morning. I got the bare essentials in the way of walks and personal time, but I understood that other considerations took precedence. We headed south to Kayenta, where Geri and Don had stayed some years ago with Genevieve and Matthew while on their way to Colorado. They were impressed with the growth of the town, and how many motels it had spawned. We continued down the road through the Navajo Nation to Tuba City, where Don wanted to stop to find out how it got its name. I’m kind of curious, too.

We had hit a few flurries of snow along the way, but as we came into Flagstaff, it became fairly heavy and constant. As we entered our refueling stop, the snow was coming down pretty heavily, and Geri started enquiring about road conditions. She found out that eastbound Highway 40 had been closed yesterday due to snow. One of the truckers informed her that she could call 511 on her cell phone and get a road condition report. Back in the coach, she made the call and got a lot of happy talk about Williams being sunny and clear, Seligman warm and dry, but one Rest Area closed. Lacking any negative reports, Don said we were moving forward. We don’t argue with the skipper; well, not often. We headed out of Flagstaff in a driving snowstorm, windshield wipers at full speed, through the mountains to the 7000 foot Flagstaff Divide. The snow continued through the downhill side, almost to Williams, where it suddenly became bright and cheery. We were tempted to stop there, because of the great time we all had there last year, but we pressed on regardless. Successfully negotiating the grades down the hill to Seligman, we were faced with a new threat; high winds! Tumbleweed were shooting across the highway at high speed, big rigs were wandering all over the road, and we were being buffeted severely. We were able to maintain our course and stay on the road until we arrived at our destination a little after five, the Blake Ranch RV Park & Horse Motel, just east of Kingman. The wind was still blowing coldly, but Geri devotedly attended to my outdoor needs while Don fixed up a nice ham and yam dinner, resulting in some good yamskin plates for me. A good end to a really Yikey day.
Tomorrow we’re off to one of our favorite places; I’ll keep it a secret until we’re there. How’s that for always leaving them guessing? Check with you tomorrow!