I started calling RV repair facilities all over northern Arizona and western Colorado, attempting to find a mobile mechanic to come save us from our electrical purgatory induced by last night’s smoky converter failure. I was able to contact a repair place in Page, AZ, and the guy laughed at me when I asked if they could come save me. The only other contact I made was with Watkins RV Repair in Dolores, CO. I finally was able to talk with the owner’s daughter who said they would not come to me but I could bring the trailer to them and they could solve our electrical woes. That became the plan for tomorrow because we were scheduled to move to an RV park at a casino in Tawoac, near Dolores, CO.
Since we were scheduled for another day in the Monument Valley area before our departure, we abandoned the trailer when it started to get hot and took off going north up UT-163. We cruised about 20 miles or so and had just crossed the San Juan River into a little town called Mexican Hat. We wondered about the name until we passed through town and spotted a sizable rock formation adjacent to the road that looks just like an inverted sombrero, hence the name. We shot a few pix and then continued on to Goosenecks State Park.
Goosenecks offers spectacular views of a very unique landscape of almost switchback-like river bends around massive rock formations. From the viewpoint at the top, the drop to the river carving through the rocks below is 1000 feet. At this remote location we also encountered many bikers, almost none of whom spoke English. Many foreign bikers must have been told to go to this state park and nearby Mexican Hat because I believe they were all here. On our way back to Mexican Hat we pulled out to take some pictures of the extraordinary rock formations in the area. They are quite stunning but the weather was warm so soon we were ensconced in a small bar and restaurant in Mexican Hat, eating and asking for many water refills. There was a sign in the bar’s parking lot suggesting that nobody park below the adjacent rock bluff due to rock falls but the bikers who arrived after us parked in a big row right under the dangerous part probably because they couldn’t read the sign in English.
We got back to the trailer pretty late in the day but it made no difference because we still had a compromised electrical system and no air conditioning. We cooked outside on the portable stove and the barbecue but had great steaks and corn on the cob for dinner. After sundown, we shlepped back into the trailer for some banter and reading because our TV and almost every other electrical convenience was not available. We did have alcohol which helped make our discomfort more enjoyable. I ended the day by picking up the satellite antenna, the electrical umbilical and the coaxial cable outside the trailer because they were now temporarily useless. Another pretty early-to-bed night.
We took a few pix along the way and the can be seen by clicking here