Arizona To Kansas On Back Roads

Hitting The Back Roads From Arizona To Kansas. Unfiltered. I like to drive. And share unvarnished observations about what I am seeing. Back on the road ... for real. And loving every minute of it. From the gorgeous mountains of Northern Arizona... Through the Navajo Nation... Through New Mexico with a fuel emergency... On through Oklahoma with giant storms... Including Hail. And yes, a minor Mechanical with the star of our show... Mobile Podcast Command Unit 11. A 1999 Freightliner FL-70 converted Fire Truck. After delay upon delay and sitting in the desert for weeks. I was just about fried from the heat. When I started my desert ordeal in April the temperatures were in the 80's and 90.s When I rolled out to shoot Arizona To Kansas on The Back Roads... It was above 100 and approaching 115. That triggered a change of plan. Rather than running directly across Southern Arizona and New Mexico, I decided to take the northern route. Mountains. Cooler temps. North To Kingman again... Then Flagstaff. Finally across the Navajo Nation on into the Carson National Forest in New Mexico. I encountered many challenges along the way. Starting with a tire check. Then battling the twists and turns in the mountains and discovering how to use the transmission on my Freightliner. Details in the video. Overall... An incredible trip. Most of it on back roads. US 89, US 160, US 64, US 54, and US 50. Some of these highways are in better shape than others. What sticks we me is how different the landscape is on the plains after spending so much time in the Arizona Southwestern Deserts this Spring. It really hit home when one of those massive storms in Eastern New Mexico and Oklahoma dumped a ton of rain. The smell! The humidity! Finally the Hail! I managed to get under an overhang at a truck stop and suffered no damage. From a campground where I camped for free high in the mountains to a rest stop on the plains. Dealing with tiny streets in a big truck in a town that smelled like weed... Taos. From Deserts to Plains. This is a mega roadtrip .... And one for the books. No, I don’t like to stop when I travel. The experience of often being the only vehicle on a lonely road, for a long stretch of time, is therapeutic. Even more, moving through the middle of nowhere, on through small towns is great. I’m not impressed with tourist traps and overhyped stuff. In fact simple small towns people don’t usually stop for are my cup of tea. I say these places aren’t ‘special’ …. Which is what makes them actually special. We’re searching for authenticity in this country. Unfortunately many people are searching for what is real … in places that used to be real … but they are over promoted and over visited until they become… Fake. If you want real…stay on the road until you come to a place no one stops at. I didn’t see any ghost towns. Wasn’t accosted by any aliens. Had a couple cheeseburgers that were just ok. Didn’t stop to talk to the one weird guy in town. This is a channel about travel. That means driving. The road. So I travel. I drive. And share my experiences. It’s real. Thanks for watching. #roadtrip #arizona #newmexico #navajonation #nomadlife #rvlife #vanlife #desertheat #plainsuits #summerstorm #hail #tireservice #freightliner