Crossing The Continental Divide and Nasty Weather On The Way

Benson, AZ

41 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 77F. Winds from the SSW at 10 to 15 mph with gusts to 40 mph.
Forecast tonight = Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain, then rain showers after midnight. Low of 46F. Winds from the SSW at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Breezy. Chance of rain 60%.

We left the SKP Dreamcatcher RV park in Deming right at 10:00 and headed for I-10. We took 10 to the west side of town where Jim pulled me into the Deming Truck Terminal. There he bought me a nice drink of #2 diesel. He had looked on the Internet and determined that fuel was cheaper in NM than in AZ. Even at that, the price here was $4.09 per gallon. : (

From the Truck Stop, we continued West on I-10. It was a nice day with no wind and not much traffic, so the trip went well.

As we headed across New Mexico, I saw a sign that said that we were crossing the Continental Divide!!

What????? I didn't even go over a hill!!! Right out there where the land is almost flat, we crossed the Divide!!!!

I really don't get it, there were mountains all around us and yet they say the divide is in between them!!!! ????

Anyway, the road was good except for the last 20 miles or so in AZ, and then it wasn't really bad, just a little rough in places with some dips.

It was 1:00 when I pulled up to the stop sign near the office of the Benson I-10 RV Park, so it took us almost exactly 3 hours to drive 169 miles and get me my drink.

This is a nice park, especially since it's a Passport America Park and I'm staying here for $16.50 per night ; ) . It's a typical desert park, all gravel with a few small trees, a cement patio with a picnic table and full hook-ups with 50 amp electric. Most of the sites here are pull-through and the one I'm in is long enough for me and CLT.

Jim took some photos, but the AT&T air card Internet connection is so slow here, I can't get them to load. : (

For dinner, Jim and Linda went across the road to a Denny's Restaurant. The park owner has some kind of deal with them and if you show your paid RV Park receipt you get 10% off of the bill. : )  When they came back they both said their meals were good.

Today, we'll head further West, probably to the Casa Grande area, (about 2 1/2 hours away), South of Phoenix. I think we'll be leaving here pretty early because they're forecasting very strong winds with blowing dust starting about 10:00 or 11:00. In fact, this whole weekend is suppose to be pretty nasty with very high winds, (40+ MPH gusts), rain, falling temperatures and even snow above about 3500'.  (We're at about 3600 feet here in Benson, Casa Grande is below 1500'.)     : (

Did you know that traditional St Patrick’s Day food includes, Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, and of course, Guinness?