Morning came quickly in Fort Stockton. Â We still had a good drive ahead of us just to get out of Texas! Â We were now heading for the border and El Paso. Â Several hours later, we managed to wind our way through El Paso and into New Mexico. Â The stop also gave Ethan a chance to get Carter out of the truck so he could run around a bit.
A quick stop at the NM Port of Entry to buy our “trip permit,” and we were on our way through the New Mexico desert. Â Not a big change in scenery here BUT the winds were crazy! Â We were getting beaten up pretty badly by the wind from border to border.
A few hours later, we pulled into Arizona. Â Our stop for the night would be Tucson. Â A very good day, another 634 miles and more than half way across the country.
We were up early the next day, but didn’t need to get on the road so fast. Â We were making good time and there’s no way we could pull into California today anyway. Â Our “trip/fuel permit” doesn’t allow us to enter the state until Friday, 4/3/09 at midnight. I called Andre Kole in Tempe to see if he and his wife, Kathy, would like to meet us for lunch.
We all decided to meet at the Arizona Mills because the parking would be much easier for us in the rig. Â We ate at this really great restaurant but I can’t remember the name – something “Jumper.” Â The portions were HUGE including the piece of 7 layer chocolate cake that is so massive, you can’t imagine!
After a very enjoyable lunch – and some GREAT conversation – we needed to hit the road. Â We were still three hours from the Arizona/California border. Â We fueled up the truck and were on our way. Â We stopped only once at a Rest Area to walk Carter and stretch.
We had made plans to spend the night in Blythe, CA – the border town. Â Unfortunately, California DOT wouldn’t let us cross the border for 7 hours because our permits didn’t start until midnight. Â Oh, we could have paid them another $100 for the privilege but I’d already spent enough money on these permits so we decided to stay in Ehrenberg, AZ at a hotel there. Â Not much to do so Ethan and I washed some clothes and talked for a while.
This was a much shorter day for us – only about 300 miles. Â It was nice to have a more leisurely pace than the last few days!