It is with a mix of trepidation and excitement as we embark on an epic trip to visit numerous National Parks. Our journey will take us from Ft Myers up to the panhandle, then west to Yosemite, up the Oregon coast to Olympic National Park in WA. From there we will head off to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and then the Badlands.
We are equipped with masks, hand sanitizer and common sense – we hope it is sufficient to survive Covid 19. We will isolate in Ushingi. This trip will be about connecting with nature with lots of hiking, fresh air and sunshine.
May 9th – our first night in Live Oak FL at the Spirit of Suwanee campground.
Now that I have surfaced from my hammock I can update the blog for today.
The three of us went for a two hour hike along the Suwanee River – so peaceful and quiet. I think Bambo overdid it, he kept aiming for the shady parts on the way home. We keep forgetting he is 13 years old 😀
Bambo encountered the cunning of the Suwanee squirrels – he chased one only to find the squirrel’s door slammed in his face 🐿.
Day 3 – Driving from Suwanee to Mobile AL the dreaded CEL (check engine light) came on. Really!
Our master plan for keeping Ushingi Covid clear has been derailed – no alternative but to go to the dealership in Mobile. After a day of testing Mercedes Benz diagnosed a failed NOX sensor which of course they didn’t have in stock but it was shipped overnight.
Lynne and Bambo chilled out in our bug tent at the Meaher State Park campground while I drove the van back to the dealership and rode the scooter, now named “Umfana” (little boy) back and forth. Our great campsite neighbors from Alabama offered us the use of their car, food, water – such nice people.
Day 5 – Wed May 13 – we are sitting in Sage Park for a few hours while a new NOX sensor is installed. Keeping fingers crossed that will clear the CEL and we can continue our journey today. 🙏🏻 🤞🏻
Now they say it was a faulty Adblu pump for the DEF that was activating the CEL so they replaced the pump and not the NOX sensor??
9:55am – phew – CEL is off!
We stopped at a great roadside farm produce market in Louisiana to buy fresh fruit and vegetables – a lot of masked customers even though it was an outside market. It was right next to the train track and this came by – I count 148 freight cars 😀
If not skip it
An early start on Thursday for a long drive to Wichita Falls in TX. As we merged onto I-20 – you will never guess what happened!
Yup – the little orange #¥&@ CEL light!
The nearest MB dealership now is Dallas/Fort Worth area. 260 miles later we hand over Ushingi to masked technicians and 3 hours later they advise that the NOX sensor is faulty and of course they don’t have one. They cleared the sensor and said it may stay off for 5 minutes or 500 miles. Screw it – we are off to our next vineyard stop.
If the orange CEL comes on again I will fix it with black tape – right over the little bastard (bah-stahd) 😎
Day 7 (feels like weeks already)
An uneventful drive to Amarillo TX. We thought we deserved a short drive today. No sign of the dreaded CEL. Now we have a conundrum – we found a MB dealer in Las Vegas that has a NOX sensor – do we feel lucky? 🎲 🎲
We are leaning toward taking a detour to Vegas to get the little “bah-stahd” replaced.
Lynne did some research and Amarillo was once the self proclaimed Helium Capital of the World” for having one of the country’s most productive helium fields. The city is also known as “The Yellow Rose of Texas”taking its name from the Spanish word for yellow, the color of the abundant wildflowers. Amarillo operates one of the largest meat packing areas in the United States – uh oh!
Pantex, the only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer. The location of this facility also gave rise to the nickname Bomb City. Route 66 also passed through the city so I had to get another cap 😎.
The drive through the Texas prairies to the Rockies in New Mexico was stunning. Very little traffic as you will see in the video below.
We crossed into New Mexico at the town of Clayton – very quintessential and we spotted a little war memorial at the rotary.
I swear I could feel the ancient spirits 5 minutes into New Mexico – very eery and unnerving but calm resumed after a few more miles.
So many stunning vistas – we will have to take more photos and videos when we leave Angel Fire, NM
The drive from Taos to Santa Fe was amazing – I am stiff from hurling our rig around countless hairpin bends and switchbacks. We need to come back here and rent a Harley!
Covid is being taken seriously in Santa Fe – check out the video below to witness everyone abiding by the “mask up” rule.
Our plans have changed. No longer going to Vegas for NOX sensor repair. The CEL hasn’t come on for 2 days so I realized – why drive to Vegas when Fedex can deliver overnight? I persuaded the MB Vegas parts department to ship the sensor to MB Santa Fe where I paid and collected the part the next day.
We therefore extended our stay in Santa Fe by two days, one of which was walking and riding around the town. It was incredibly sad to see so many shuttered businesses, just can’t imagine how they recover. Even the Georgia O’Keefe museum was closed but we did manage to sneak into the garden to take a few photos.
We rode “Umfana” through the art districts, so quaint. Numerous galleries were open but with no-one going inside (including us). Click on the photos below for a small sample.
More photos to come when I get a Flash card/lightning adapter.
When we returned to our campground there was an email from Yosemite advising that our reservation had been cancelled! Two days earlier our anticipation was building as we received confirmations that our May 24th was still a go. How fast things change with Covid 19!
So disappointing but we have to roll with it and be thankful that we are still out here seeing this amazing country. Traveling from New Mexico to Arizona today was an incredible experience. This is such a beautiful country, so much still to see. Below are a few videos of our long drive. RV miles take so much longer than BMW miles 😎.
We now need to regroup and work out what is next in store for us as the Yosemite cancellation has blown a huge hole into our meticulous plan.
This “page” was getting too long so I have created another page called – “not as epic”
ushingi 