YESS, We Are Ready To Take On The Long Haul Back

This morning ran up with ample sunshine and cool air. Very inviting to do a desert walk with Dixie. And we had a special goal today. Last years stay in March, we had discovered a special circle in the desert. Somebody had invested a lot of work raking aside the black rocks for this "Magic Circle Labyrinth". It invites you to start walking from the outside round and round until you reach the center of it, which is marked with white quartz rocks. 

And last year, inside that center, we had left one of Bea's painted rocks. It had been in company with other rocks and name displays, but Bea's rock had now vanished. It was gone. So, if we should come back here next year we will put another of her art pieces into the center. This year, we found the note of an "ALIEN" in the center.

Of course Bea did the full walk-around to fulfill the mystical purpose of the circle.

Thank God we got our fuel card today. But let me fill in on what's been going on.

A couple of fellow RVers had told me about the Open Road Fuel Rebate. The card is available from a trucking company in Texarkana, TX. Unlike other cards this one is also for RVers without a DOT number, and its purpose is for DIESEL fuel only. Substantial rebates are beneficial for our wallet. And one doesn't have to use a Credit Card as the fuel costs are taken out of your US bank account. Principally available also for Canadians traveling in the US and owning a US-bank account.

Now, I had made my application in mid-february, so the fuel card should have arrived at our Holtville PO Box.

However, the card was mistakenly sent to our home address in Canada.

However, we needed the card for our home run.

So a new card was then sent by USPS priority to our Holtville PO Box. That didn't go very well, as USPS kept the shipment for 3 full days at their Shreveport, LA center before it slowly moved across the country. Once it had arrived in San Bernadino it sat another 2 days without moving. One might wonder what "priority" USPS putting on shipments. When I had noticed the extended stay at Shreveport and the slow move after that, I contacted the company again.  Meanwhile, we had run up to Quartzsite and had given up our mail box in Holtville. Now, this time the company promised an overnight service with FEDEX. And lo and behold the card arrived today at the Quartzsite pickup location. 

End of the saga. 

So after picking up the card, the van could be loaded onto the trailer. This always is a two-person operation, as there isn't much margin to make a mistake. The tie-down too takes time and mistakes made could have very costly and legal consequences.

But now we are ready to spend our first day on the long haul home.