Slow Burn

Loaded all of the last minute items into and onto the RV. Enjoyed our last breakfast of Ray’s specialty poached eggs for a while. Cleaned ourselves up, packed up and said our curbside goodbyes. Pulled out at around 10:30 looking forward to an uneventful drive up highway 15 to Las Vegas. 

The first part of the journey went relatively smoothly. We took a break just past Riverside and put in some gas and bought Subway sandwiches. The dogs got a short walk and we were back in the saddle. Lots of desert but not too hot. The wind cooled things down a bit but also pushed the motorhome around some.

Just outside of Baker, a car crashed in the center divide and started a brush fire that burned on both sides of the highway. Traffic crawled to a halt near the top of a 12 mile climb that already had several cars overheating. Sixty-six miles from our destination. We sat for over two hours going nowhere. We’d inch up a few yards every so often, but we were basically parked. The radio said that traffic was backed up for 15 miles. We were right in the middle of it. People were getting out of their cars and walking around. Lucky for us, we have a home wherever we go with food, beverages and a bathroom. 

Finally, things started moving but people were so out of sorts that they kept changing lanes brining things to a halt again. People were racing up the shoulder on both sides and trucks would swing over to block their path. Tempers were flaring and some people were losing it acting like Armageddon. I’d hate to see the behavior during some type of real disaster. When we reached the burn site, the left lane was closed so things ground to a halt again as drivers jockeyed for position trying to pinch each other out. PJ was driving and just did her best to avoid the madness. Finally after clearing the burned area, traffic started moving semi-smoothly. The final 65 miles took us over three hours.

Felt like we were reaching the finish when we crossed the state line. A guy on a land sailing cart was ripping around a large flat and doing tricks. We were dog tired by the time we rolled into the Oasis RV park at close to 8:00 p.m. Checked in, leveled up then ate some of Carmen’s gourmet lentil soup that she sent us off with. Thanks Carmen, soup was killer and was the perfect easy dinner after our day of travel. The resort looks like a pretty cool place, but we had no energy to explore around. Nine hours to go 289 miles. That’s an average of 32 mph. Seems like I just keep getting slower.