Kingman, AZ

Oh yes, traveling is fun.  Our time at the AirBnB was up, and thus we were schedule driven and so we left.  First there was the loading of the wagons.  We rented a 4 x 8 trailer from U Haul.  Originally we had the idea that we could put it in the garage, but there was not enough space available to get it in trail, and in there.  Had we realized that earlier, we would have gotten a 5 x 8.  Crouching in that thing is painful, not to mention the hitting of the head.

It's a new trailer.  If you look carefully, you will see that the "safety chains" have been replaced by cables that attach to the trailer with snap shackles.  Anybody can walk up to it and unhook the trailer and take it away.  Jim went to Home Depot and got 5 feet of chain that firmly affixes the trailer to the car.  I guess U Haul is ok with people losing their stuff.

The back of the car.  I did not think we would still be looking like the Clampetts on the return trip, but we do.  Part of the issue is the water proof boots needed their own box for the trip, there's a cactus in a box up there, and there was some accumulation of things.  When we drove down it was so cold we wore the same clothes every day, so packing was easy.  We're having more than one climate on the way back.

So, we left for Kingman, AZ.  It was a miserable drive, for some reason people kept wrecking their cars, causing giant backups and waits.  The bloom is on, though.  Last year's monsoon, and this winter's frequent rains have been good for the flowers.  This is Brittle Bush growing along the road.

Fields of Globe Mallows out in the distance.

Joshua Trees.  There is quite the forest of them.  It's hard to tell, but they are also blooming.  They're a member of the Yucca family, widely known for their unattractive foliage, but their fabulous blossoms.

Upon arriving Kingman, we checked the weather on the route and discovered that Pocatello was under a storm warning of 9 to 12 inches of snow.  So, we're in Kingman for two nights waiting for that to move east.  I hate Kingman, it's always windy, the traffic is terrible, and there are people wearing guns in the grocery store.  Really.  Apart from letting the terrible weather move on through, a closer inspection of the bikes in the trailer revealed that they had moved in transit.  The paint on one of Jim's forks is dinged, as is the front rim.  It's cosmetic, but it's still crazy making.  The extra day gave us time to re-do the packing.  Here is Jim, reefing on the tie downs which restrain the bike rack.  That is a really heavy bike rack, and it is NEVER making the trip to Tucson again.

Here is me, tying  Jim's bike to the side wall of the trailer.  Note the cramped working conditions.

We ended up with this, again, but with more straps used to hold them in place.  We are NEVER doing this again, either.  Over the years we have made bike racks to go in a mini-van, and in the back of a truck or two.  Go here for details of one we did.  The through axles make it more difficult than the quick release skewers we used to have, but there are things that can be purchased to perform the same function as the old fork blocks.  So, we'll be getting two of these, lumber and plywood for a rack to go in December's 5 x 8 U Haul trailer.  We're also getting one of these to take to Tucson and leave there.  It's not a great bike rack but it's good enough.

This time in Kingman, we stayed at the Hampton Inn.  They have a bigger parking lot than La Quinta, which is where we were New Year's Eve, 2022.  It's an ok hotel, the internet is a little slow, but it's ok.  There are refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms.  The first night we got Subway for dinner, tonight we're having bagged salad, chicken from the grocery store deli and King's Hawaiian rolls.  Tomorrow we're in Beaver, Utah which is out in the middle of no where so it looks like Subway again.  I will not order the multi-grain bread again, it was awful.

Here is one last picture taken from the front the AirBnB.

That's it!  That's all I've got.