ON THE ROAD AGAIN….

The morning of our departure dawns.  It is a beautiful clear, sunny, Arizona summer morning! We finish our packing which includes a few last minute food items into the ice box, closing up the house, and farewell to the dogs. Our goal was to be on the road early to avoid as much heat as possible. In July – in Arizona – that means really early. Remember, we are driving a ’61 Westfalia camper with great amenities like an efficient super cold ice box and a comfortable inner-spring mattress, but the air conditioning is 55 mph, windows slid back or popped open, and a spray bottle with water!

It is 8 o’clock in the morning  and already 100 degrees (not early enough!), as we turn eagerly onto AZ Highway 95 heading north on our adventure and toward cooler temperatures.  Our first stop: Las Vegas. Of course, Las Vegas is almost as warm as Lake Havasu in the summer, so we won’t find any relief from the heat until a long way past Las Vegas. We stop to refuel the bus and to cool ourselves off before the next leg of the trip which will basically be to the next fuel stop! As you will learn, we like Starbucks®, and other fun coffee establishments (see: Peace, Love, and Espresso!). So we take a break from driving and the heat and visit our favorite Starbucks® in Henderson, Nevada (a suburb of Las Vegas). Once revived, we brave the midday heat and continue north. Our goal for today is Ely, Nevada.