WATCH OUT FOR THE TIRE SCAM IN KINGMAN, ARIZONA

Today was a travel day so no photos. It's certainly not because there wasn't anything to photograph! The scenery between St. George and the Nevada border was nothing less than breathtaking in the early morning hours.

Our path took me across Hoover Dam and that was quite an experience. It looks like they are in the process of building a by-pass so the road doesn't cross over the damn anymore. Obviously, there are security concerns and every vehicle not a passenger car must stop for a thorough inspection. But, back to the by-pass my goodness what an engineering feat. I do wish I could have photographed it for you because I can't really explain it except to say it's going to be a suspended bridge high above the dam. Check out this link Colorado River Bridge for photos and info on it. It really is going to be an amazing span.

The security guards were very thorough but also very pleasant. Koty even got a cookie. The little tramp! He simply seduces everyone. :)

From Hoover Dam to Kingman, Arizona it's pretty much just a divided road through the desert so we just zoomed right through. When we got to Kingman I pulled into a Chevron station to get diesel. BIG MISTAKE! When I was a kid I used only Chevron. This may have had something to do with my father giving me a Chevron gas card. Of course, in those days a gallon of gas was thirty-five cents! Over the years I started avoiding them because they seemed to be consistently more expensive than anyone else.

Anyway, I go against my better judgment and pull into the one in Kingman. The first thing I notice is the price is $3.45/gal. Since this is my first fill up in Arizona I'm thinking, "Wow, they have high road taxes here.", because in Utah I had paid $2.99. I'm unhappily filling up when a fellow comes around and tells me I have low tire pressure over on the other side. But, he says, if I pull over to their tire store he'll check it for me. I look at the tire and it looks fine to me but I say OK anyway. I pay my outlandish gas bill and pull over to the tire center. Next thing I know the guy is asking how old the rig is cuz this tire looks awful bad. I say it's a 2007 and says yeah but the tire says 2006! Like, a two year old tire is way round the bend. Mind you these are Michelin tires with 13,000 miles on them. He then asks where am I headed and I say Tucson "Oh," he says "I don't think you can make that."

I might not be the brightest bulb in the pack but this wasn't smelling right to me. So, I handed the guy a buck for a nice try and went on my way. Down the street a few blocks I see another tire place and a big motorhome up on blocks with the tires off. Looked like that guy was getting a complete new set. Then just outside of Kingman we pass a gas station on the left that was selling diesel for $2.89! My first thought was to be really mad about getting scammed fifty-five cents a gallon on the diesel but I decided I should be grateful I didn't get scammed on tires too! I advise watching your wallet if you're traveling through Kingman, AZ.

Nevertheless, I held on tighter to the steering wheel all the way to Wickenburg. More photo ops were to be had south of Kingman as we drove Joshua Forest Scenic Drive. The Joshua trees are simply beautiful.

By the time we reached Wickenburg I was pooped. I hadn't picked out an RV park in advance, which I normally do and that was a mistake too. We passed through town without seeing anything enticing and ended up pulling in to the first RV park I saw south of town for fear of missing out altogether. The last pull through had been let just moments before we arrived. When I stay just overnight I don't like to have to detach Shadow and go through all that rigamarole. Well, all they had was a place right in the roadway with nothing but water and power. I took one look at it and thought "Good grief" but I was too tired to fight it and it was only for the night. They actually put orange cones out to keep people from running in to us.

As it turned out this may be one of the friendliest parks we've ever stayed at. I hadn't noticed the name of the place when I pulled in but it's "Horsepitality" and it provides not only RV parking but horse boarding as well. In just a couple of hours we had met more people from Montana that we would in a year of living there. We even met two gals from Kalispell, practically neighbors. Lacking as the accommodation was it was more than made up for by the really cool people.

Oh, and about those tires. When we got parked I was going around looking at the tires, which all looked the same to me, a couple of fellows came up and asked if I was having a problem. I told them my Kingman story. They looked at the tires and said they couldn't see anything wrong with them. I'm sure if we get a flat you'll be hearing about it. So, we'll see what happens.

If you're dying for photos you can see all of our trip so far in high resolution at TRIP GALLERY.

Ciao for now,
Koty & Kinsey

©Kinsey Barnard Photography