Mahoney to Iowa, Moab, Salt Lake City and Alaska

[rhmahoney]

This is the preamble to my Mahoney to Alaska, summer of 2006 log.

4/10. Monday. 483 miles. Departed Phoenix 7 am and had overcast sky with no rain but heavy malicious cross winds in AZ and a benevolent tail wind in NM.

Stopped in Camp Verde for breakfast with Millers, Reiters and karl Korbus. Reiters, Karl and I caravanned to Flagstaff together. Reiters went N to Kanab while Karl and I headed east. Karl was on a marathon run back to WI while I pealed off and had a pleasant supper and visit with Maxwells in Belen.

The Belen address has coordinates of  N 34-38.825' and W 106-43.372'.

My route is circuitous to accomplish visiting, med appointments and Utah rallies.

After Belen, I will cross southern Kansas to visit a SCUBA buddy near Wichita. Then Med appointments in Des Moines for a week and a half.  On the 24th, I start towards Moab for the 4/28-5/7 rally.

4/11. 511 miles. sunny, and another fine tail wind. Hyway 54 from Tucumcari is great. Not too much traffic, especially in Kansas. Ended the day at Mullinville which has an eccentric folk artist who has lined his farm fence with hundreds of whirlygigs and sculptures... often with political satire.

 

[Ron]

Have a safe trip Russ.  Hope you can stop by Sam's camp this year.

 

[Chet18013]

Glad to hear you're on the road again. Have a safe trip and don't forget to remind Terry to take that picture of you entering the Yukon Territory.

Chet18103

 

[Tom and Margi]

Russ:

We're safely tucked into Site M-4 at Adventureland.  Looking forward to breakfast while youre here.  Tom will be glad to help with any storage shift you might have in mind.  There is a new Villiage Inn located between ALand and your storage location.

Margi

 

[Jeff]

Russ:

Have a good triip. You are doing your Midwest trip in short order, we're taking a month to get to Illinois.

 

[rhmahoney]

4/13. 356 miles. Sunny and 92 F, mod wind. Easy drive to Des Moines. Finished off the day with coffee from my favorite non-chain coffee shop. I am in space EF30 at Cutty's.

4/14. Dropped tax papers off at accountant (had emailed him the details last week). Washed car. Went to a maintainence meeting at wt loss clinic. Enjoyed the praise from the staff. Finished up the day with a visit to my favorite coffee shop... think I will do that every day.

 

[Betty Brewer]

Went to a maintainence meeting at wt loss clinic. Enjoyed the praise from the staff.

And well you should basque in the praise of all of us. Your committment to your health and longevity is inspiring.  Weight loss is a very tough thing to do.  Glad all is well ansd we will see you soon.

Betty

 

[Karl]

Had trouble keeping up with Russ to Belen - he lost so much weight that his 65 mph. turned out to be closer to 70! ;D
Truth be told, it was a very pleasant trip; he and I hogging FRS 5 with banter about the various sights along the way.

BTW Russ, I made it to Elkhart Lake at about 1600 on Thursday - about 1900 miles in 3+ leisurely days.

 

[Ned]

I made it to Elkhart Lake at about 1600 on Thursday - about 1900 miles in 3+ leisurely days.

Nothing leisurely about that trip

 

[Ron]

Wow approximately 600 miles a day.  That is not what many of us would refer to as leisurely.  300 miles a day is about all we want to do.

 

[BernieD]

Wow approximately 600 miles a day.  That is not what many of us would refer to as leisurely.  300 miles a day is about all we want to do.

Actually, not too bad under the right circumstances as we did the trip. We had appointments in Phoenix and had to be in Elkhart Lake for Instructor/Driver meetings less than 4 days afterward. I normally keep the cruise at around 62, but for this trip kept it at 72 until crossing the Mississippi River. The coach ran great, the time went by quickly and we had a pretty good idea of where we would be staying. Made the meetings with some time to spare

 

[Karl]

Bernie,

Yabut you didn't tell them you were piloting a 911 turbo! ;D

Actually, it's not as bad as some think. I don't use cruise control because it tends to downshift more than necessary, and the only bad stretch was thru Oklahoma "...where the winds come sweeping down the plain". Most single lane road construction was in MO that prbably added 1 1/2 hours total. Longest single stretch without stoping was 485 miles; average driving speed was 54.1 mph.

 

[BernieD]

Bernie,

Yabut you didn't tell them you were piloting a 911 turbo! ;D

No, it was an 8.9 (liter) turbo diesel with 400 hp ;D ;D. The 911 was on the trailer, but it was pushing, gee 2 rear engine rigs

The cruise on the DP is completely different from the car setups. The only time I don't have my coach cruise on is in city traffic. The engine and transmission do a good job of talking to each other and the Allison is remarkable.

 

[rhmahoney]

Karl: I made it to Elkhart Lake at about 1600 on Thursday - about 1900 miles in 3+ leisurely days.

Ron: Wow approximately 600 miles a day.  That is not what many of us would refer to as leisurely.  300 miles a day is about all we want to do.

Yeah, but... Karl told me he planned to do the entire run in TWO days! So "3+ leisurely days" is true, for Karl. I did mine in 3 days of 500 miles each.

 

[Karl]

Russ,

I stopped for some overnight naps; something I normally don't do. But the weather was so nice and Hercule insisted!

 

[Ron]

Sam & I usually like to limit our travels to 300 or less mile a day.  Much more enjoyable that way.

 

[Rollie]

Russ,
Glad you posted ... I can hardly believe this ... Friday I was playing golf on a course called Great Eagle ... we got around to hole number 12 and it was a little backed up ... I noticed some motorhomes and decide to explore .... took the cart and pulled out on to a street and the first sign I saw was a site sign for Russ Mahoney from DM.  I just about wrecked the cart!  The sight was empty so I knew you were off on an adventure.  Made my day!  Sorry I could not have introduced myself to you ... maybe some day.  Have a great trip.
Rollie

 

[Phil]

Friday I was playing golf on a course called Great Eagle ... we got around to hole number 12 and it was a little backed up ... I noticed some motorhomes and decide to explore .... took the cart and pulled out on to a street and the first sign I saw was a site sign for Russ Mahoney from DM.

Rollie,

A little more exploring around that "neighborhood" would have found three more of us.  ;D  There are 6 forum members that have a place here at Happy Trails.  I get a stray golf ball from number 12 on my patio roof once in a while.

Phil

 

[rhmahoney]

Rollie
    Check back after Nov 1 and I will be there!

 

[Ned]

We'll be just 2 doors down from Russ in Jan. and Feb.