Tuesday, April 2, 2024, Back on the Road, move to Deming, NM

The Maritime Journey Begins

We finished the packing that started 3 days ago and headed out earlier than we expected. We will be on the road for more than six months this trip, so we made an effort to think of everything we might need. This was our first time in the motorhome since it was in the shop for warranty repairs and it will be the longest we have spent since we downsized. It will be a true test of the Greyhawk's capacity to support full-time Rving.

Today's trip was 285 miles to Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming, NM. An hour from home, as I was thinking of lunch, we realized we had forgotten the last few things in the refrigerator including the chicken tenders and potato salad that had my mouth already watering. You always forget something, so if this was the worst of it we will be fine.

Another fun game while traveling is to guess “What was that noise?” We heard a new one this trip. It sounded like a huge cooler filled with ice and water suddenly poured out in the back. Clueless as to its source, Joani investigated and found the bedroom window had shattered scattering glass all over the bedroom.

It's funny how different our perceptions are! For me, it was a small bag of ice.

And, miraculously, no glass landed on the bed or beyond.

Thank goodness it didn't suck the lowered blind out the window!

We had no option but to push on to Deming. Joani checked the weather which said it would be clear for the next few days. It did not show the storm that was between us and Deming. Luckily, we were able to outrun the rain and stay dry.

It was a nail-biter for the last 20 miles. The rain passed through the west side of Deming, but our campground was on the east side.

Maybe we outran the rain, but we did not want to risk leaving it, so we quickly taped up the window using a rain poncho but it needed much more to hold up driving. 

It was not easy to maneuver the thin plastic of the poncho in the 30mph winds while on a ladder. Can you make out where the hood is?

A trip to the trusty Walmart yielded some heavy plastic, a backing board, and a roll of super sticky duct tape. To our relief, the rain was no longer a threat and the winds had died down. As we sealed up our window, we noticed the neighbor had a shattered window as well.

This may need to keep us dry for at least a month.

We will be working with Jayco to arrange warranty repair in Sioux Falls.

At least she had an explanation – a reckless RV driver bashed her mirror and window while pulling out of a gas station. While we were on a roll, we taped some plastic over her cardboard to keep it dry until it could be replaced.

Later, I noticed something did not feel right as I opened one of the cabinets. The cabinet trim had been replaced while in for warranty work, so the technician had to remount the cabinet doors. Each door had a specific location on the cabinet and you might think he would have randomly installed at least one of them in the correct place – but no!

Last year, there had been a mystery leak that caused some of the trim to swell at the floor.To fix this, they had to replace some of the cabinet facings.

He put the center door on the bottom, the bottom door on the top, and the top door in the middle. Maybe it's an easy fix but I will have to show the dealer the pictures so they know next time.

So our first day back on the road was a little bit of the same old thing sprinkled with some weirdness. I ended the night outside gazing at a beautifully clear, dark sky.