Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Homeward bound – April 3 -4, 2012

The Wrap-Up post of April 2 was supposed to be the last one for the Mexico trip, but I wanted to share a little of our drive back from Arizona to Colorado.

We left Scottsdale about 8am on Tuesday, April 3 for Fort Collins. While we were loading the RV Penny stayed very close, making sure she was going along! It was cool, but sunny, and the desert landscape was beautiful. We did have our first problem with the another vehicle and the RV today, however. A car passed us throwing a rock onto the windshield, causing quite a large pit which will need to be repaired. We drove 8000 miles in Mexico on their rough roads with no problems and get back to the US to get our first ding!
North of Payson, Arizona we crossed into the pine forests along the Mogollon Rim. I love this part of the drive. The road has been improved over the years and it is quite wide and smooth. The scenery is breathtaking.

We stopped in Holbrook, AZ for lunch and headed east to Albuquerque. We had seen the forecast for bad weather and a friend even called and suggested we delay our return since it was snowing at home, but we were anxious to get on our way. By the time we got to Gallup, NM, the following picture was what we saw! Fortunately, the storm was moving east ahead of us, so we just had light rain showers, although there was a pretty strong crosswind.

The further east we drove, the more ominous it looked. Just before Albuquerque, we noticed this strange white stuff on the ground. What could it be? SNOW … but none on the road. The sky was clearing and we saw blue ahead.

We spent the night at the Sandia Casino where they offer free boondock parking. So how free is it really? Since both Tobey and I spent our allotment of entertainment money  at the casino, we can assure you that the casino came out ahead!

Wednesday – April 4

We got on the road about 7am after a chilly night in Albuquerque – below 40°N! As we headed north, we saw more and more snow on the ground and began to wonder if we should have stayed south. There were some snowplows out clearing the shoulders so the melt-off didn’t cause any splash-back. It was beautiful to see, but I am glad we didn’t’ have to drive in it.

This is always one of my favorite sights as we return from any trip – the welcome to Colorado sign!
As we came down Raton Pass into Colorado we got a view of the beautiful Rocky Mountains. We finally pulled into Fort Collins about 5pm. Penny  was a good passenger the entire trip, but was on the lookout for her street as we got closer to home.

It was so nice to pull into town and see all of the trees starting to bloom. Tobey said it’s nice to come home to Colorado in April.

It was beautiful seeing all the trees in bloom. We had a great time on our Mexico adventure, but it is good to be home where we were treated to a delicious dinner by our wonderful neighbor, Susan. It’s like Dorothy says in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.”

Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Wrap Up

We are back to Scottsdale, Arizona collecting our dog and visiting with our family before venturing north to Colorado. Penny has been happy to see us and we only have “a little” un-spoiling to do! We are taking advantage of the delightfully warm weather to get the RV cleaned inside and one final outside rinse down and roof cleaning. While Tobey called this his 90-day in Mexico trip, we have actually been gone from home since December 18 and should return April 4. He still feels cheated because he didn’t get 90 nights in Mexico!

The following is a summary of our trip round trip Fort Collins, CO through Mexico and back:

Gas – $3441

Food – $1007

Tolls – $323

Camping – $668

Insurance – $505 (Mexico RV and Scooter)

Miscellaneous – $1648 (entertainment and maintenance)

Total $7592.00

ROUNDTRIP MILEAGE  - 9829   Fort Collins, CO – Mexico – Fort Collins, CO

We average 10 mpg in the RV. We boondocked 42 nights during the 90 nights of camping. We have a solar panel so that allowed us to recover our house battery use almost daily – even in cloudy conditions. The 48 nights of camping averaged just under $14 USD per night. We included maintenance of our scooter, washing and waxing the RV, oil changes, and gifts in the Miscellaneous category. We tend to cook 70% of our meals, and often eat lunch out rather than dinner. We rarely buy alcoholic drinks with meals, so that saves quite a bit of money.

I have a list of all the different places we overnighted, whether it was a pay campground or a boondock site. The boondock sites have GPS locations. If you would like me to email a copy, send me your email address and I will forward the word document.

The next trip is scheduled in May so we may not many posts until then. Remember, you can sign up to receive email notification when we post by submitting your email address in the upper right hand corner where it says to “follow by email”.  Once you have filled it out, you will receive an email and you have to verify your request by responding to the email. Until the next time, happy travels!