The morning greeted me with pouring rain. (What the heck?) I braved the weather, and went in search of some real brewed coffee instead of the instant I was drinking. (I couldn't fit a coffee maker in my luggage.) I found the LoW clubhouse, but no one seemed to be out and about so I made some instant coffee there while I looked around. I wish I had more time to stay and visit here, but my schedule insisted that I press on if I was to get home in the time I had allotted myself.
The rain let up for a bit, so I checked out the RV. I had tried the water the day before with no luck. When I turned on the pump it made noise, and a little water and a lot of air came out of the faucets. I still couldn't get it to work, even after studying the instructions. Then I tried attaching a hose to the water faucet outside, but I couldn't get a good seal where it screws onto the RV and it sprayed all over the place. Well, I needed to move on, and it was working fine to carry water in jugs from outside, so I quit trying to solve the plumbing problem. The only other obvious problem I found was that one of the large sliding side windows was missing the little locking levers. I hadn't tried the furnace yet, but it was warm enough that I didn't need to.
Before I left I did get the chance to meet some of the folks in the office building and found out that a group goes to Mexico every Tuesday for lunch. It was Thursday, and I missed it, but I couldn't stay here until next week, so I headed back to the RV to pack up for the next leg of the trip. My next destination was to be Guadalupe Mountains National Park at Salt Flat, Texas.
Guadalupe Mountains
I was traveling on Interstate 10, near El Paso, TX, when I encountered a Homeland Security/Border Patrol checkpoint. The closest thing to this that I have seen was crossing into Canada, or the checkpoints when entering some states to make sure you are not transporting fruit that could carry diseases to their crops. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I thought about telling them I had no fruit with me, but I suspected that they were looking for something else.
Now I might mention here that I did not have license plates on the RV, because I sort of forgot to find out where and how I was to acquire temporary tags for the purpose of driving through multiple states to get home where I could get it properly titled and licensed. This didn't seem so important until I was pulling up to the inspection area where I noticed multiple official law enforcement type vehicles all over the place to remind me that they may have a problem with my forgetfulness. Well, too late now.
I pulled up to the stop sign. A uniformed man approached the drivers window. I was already nervous. I attempted to lower the power window. I say "attempted" due to the fact that I had never had a reason to lower it, and fumbled for a ridiculously long time trying in vain to lower the window. Note to self: Learning how your windows work is best done prior to encountering law enforcement officials. As it happened, the window controls were opposite the way my car worked, so when I finally hit the right buttons, I kept flipping the windows up, when I thought they should go down. This went on for a ridiculously long time, while the man stood on the other side of the closed window waiting patiently.
When the window finally lowered, the man just stood there. I said, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." He said, "Well, you could start by stating your citizenship." Ok, so here's where you need to know that I'm a red-headed, pale-skinned, freckled, middle-aged female. A number of smart answers came to mind. I really wanted to tell him I was Irish, but I ended up sweetly smiling and proudly declaring that I was a United States Citizen.
So then the interrogation started.
Him: "Where are you going?"
Me: "I just bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas."
Him: "So you drove to Arizona, and now you're driving home to Arkansas?"
Me: "I just bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas."
Him: How did you get to Arizona?
Me: I took a one-way flight, then I bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas."
Him: (Oh, please don't ask me again!) "So... you flew to Arizona, and now your driving it to Arkansas."
Me: YES!!! I took a one-way flight, then I bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas! I have the title and Bill of Sale in the back, let me show you.
Him: "No, that' o.k. So... How come you didn't know how to use your windows?"
Me: "I just bought it and I'm not used to the window controls."
Him: "And you bought it in Arizona, and you're driving it to Arkansas?"
Me: (You've got to be kidding!!!) "Yes Sir, I have the title and Bill of Sale with me, let me show you. Would you like to look inside?" (Please look inside and see that I'm not hauling illegal aliens, and let me go!)
Him: "So why did you buy an RV?"
Me: "I want to travel. Can I go travel now?"
Him: "You can go. Have a nice trip ma'am."
I drove away praying that he wouldn't come after me and ask why there were no license plates on the vehicle. Thankfully, no one came after me.