Back in Arizona

Finally, we are back in warm weather!  We arrived Queen Valley on Monday at 4 pm and have been getting things resettled since then.

We left Corning, CA early Sunday morning.  After learning there was no traffic restrictions on I-80, we decided to take it east to Nevada then on to AZ from there.  What a difference crossing there then it would have been going east on one of the Oregon passes (22 or 58).  The road was well graded even though there was several feet of snow piled on each side.  Oregon's passes east had packed snow and required chains on most (not 4 wheel drive) vehicles.

This is I-80 with some incredible views.

That is Reno up ahead of us!

The temp while crossing was a balmy 39 degrees with high clouds.  We made great time and got through Reno by Noon and stopped in Fallon for lunch and a short break.  We reached Tonopah around 3:20 pm.  It was 25 degrees with lots of snow on the ground but not on the road.

This is Tonopah!

Since it was early, we decided to try for Beatty which was another 90 miles.  We knew there was a new Inn (Death Valley Inn) that had just opened in July, so we thought it would be a great place to stay the night (yeah right -- big mistake).  We got there at dusk (5 pm ) and went inside to register for a room.

The inept clerk (only person around) had no idea what he was doing and it took forever to get a room assigned.  Ken (with bags in hand) was the first to open the door and discovered it had not been cleaned.  Back to the desk we went and told him what was up and that we wanted another room.  He fumbled around and found another one (yep, it wasn't clean either).  We thought about changing motels, but this place had our credit information and we didn't want to take the chance of being billed for something we didn't use.  Anyhow, he finally found us a room and Ken checked it out beforehand and said it was ok.

We were hungry, so didn't unpack the Jeep and just went to get dinner at the Stagecoach Inn and Casino (Rita's Cafe).  The food was great and we took our time eating and enjoying the place.  When we got back to our room, Ken tried the key and "OOPS" found someone in there......seems the "stupid" clerk gave our room to someone else, and we still had the key.  Well,we stormed back to the clerk and as he was stumbling over himself apologizing, he found one of the better rooms for us (no extra charge....should have been free!!).  Again, we checked it out and yes, it was ok.  BUT, there was NO Internet and the cell towers nearby were soooo slow that the Aircard took forever to get anything opened or sent, so we did minor stuff and called it a night.  We will NEVER stay there again!!!

We actually got a good night's sleep (after blocking the door with a chair) and got up at 5 am to make the long drive to Queen Valley (NO, we did not turn our key back in either).  It was 33 degrees when we left Beatty, but before we got to Las Vegas it dropped to 25.  All the way from I-80, we had snow, but none was on the road.  All the mountains from Reno to just south of Las Vegas were covered with snow.  In some of the areas, it looked neat with the white ground and sage brush sticking out and above it.

Pretty isn't it?  This is just north of Las Vegas.

Once we got past Las Vegas and through Kingman (Arizona) the temperature started rising.  After we passed Wickenberg, Arizona, we stopped for another break, it was warm enough (70) for Ken to change from a sweat shirt to a short sleeve shirt.  The rest of the way through Phoenix (via I-17, 101 and 202 loops) we made it to Queen Valley at 4 pm (Mtn Time) and quickly got stuff unloaded and got coach back to living condition (slides and awnings out).  The best part, it was 73 degrees and no wind.  It is soooo nice back to sleeping in our own place!!