Marathon Cross Country Trip

Marathon Cross Country Trip
Round trip from Weston MA. to Apache Junction Arizona.
Purpose: Spend Christmas Holiday with my daughter. She is a "Special Needs" teacher in the Phoenix Arizona area.

Total Trip Duration: 12/20 - 12/31/2011 = 12 Days and 11 Nights on the road.
West Bound travel duration: 5 Days
Visiting in Apache Junction Arizona: 3 Days
East Bound travel durations: 3 Days

Names: Chris, Jerry and dog Chip
Vehicle: 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe
Odometer Start: 45,791 Mi.
Odometer End: 51,787 Mi.
Total distance traveled: 5,996

Trailer Camp-Inn 2006 Model No: 550 Ultra
S/N: 140

Locations traveled during the trip:

First Leg of Trip.
Weston Ma.
Little Rock, Arkansas
After several on the road phone calls coordinating intersecting routes ( Austin, Texas to Detroit, Michigan and Weston, Mass. to Apache Junction Arizona), we managed to meet with old friends in Little Rock, Arkansas for dinner. Arriving 5 minutes apart. After spending 1-½ hrs. together, we went our separate ways driving through the night.

After leaving Arkansas, another traveler told us we had no rear lights on our car and our trailer. The nearest Hyundai dealership was in Amarillo Texas, 150 Mi. ahead. We raced to arrive with just enough time to make the repairs before closing.
In Amarillo we had to replace a braking circuit switch under the dash board to fix the trailer and car lights. We also found that the road ahead, Rt. 40 West, through the mountain was closed due to snow and ice conditions.

We changed direction and took Rt 60 to Rt 70 To Roswell, New Mexico
Rt 380 West from Roswell was closed due to snow, ice and traffic accidents.
Our only option was to continue S.W. on Rt. 70.

At White Sands, New Mexico, weather conditions closed our planned route across the mountains, Rt. 54W. Again we were forced further south on Rt. 70.

Because all roads west were closed, we spent the night, Dec 24, in El Paso Texas. Temperatures were below 25 degrees.
Early the next morning, news and weather broadcasts indicated all the roads ahead were open to traffic. About 5:00 Am we left El Paso westbound on Rt. 10 , we continued west only to find we were caught in the middle of more weather related travel stoppages, "We were dead in the water" with no other alternatives. After 2-3 hrs at a standstill on Rt 10, the roads were cleared and we continued to our destination in Apache Junction, Arizona on Christmas Day.

Return Trip
With the threat of more bad weather and road closures for our return trip, we left Arizona earlier than planned, drove one thousand miles per day on our trip home. We stopped traveling for only 2 hrs. the first 2 nights to sleep. We arrived home in Weston MA. New Years Eve, Dec 31,2011 about 6PM. The next day we found that more snow and ice storms had caused several accidents and road closures in the mountains of Tennessee, the same roadways we had just traveled.
Apache Junction Arizona
Oklahoma City, OK.
Arkansas
Nashville Tenn.
Lexington Virginia
Jonestown PA.
Weston, MA.

 

Chris and Jerry, welcome to the forum! Sounds like a serious driving marathon. So, did any water get in your tear when it was all covered with snow?

 

Chris and Jerry nice pictures and story. Too much bad weather for us. Steve

 

Holy mackerel, and I thought we raced through trips. Nothing like a time line to make you move like gee whiz. You made it safely and now you have one heck of a travel story.

Welcome to the forum and please do share more of your adventures.

Camp On,

Sue