A PEFO farewell. We bid adieu to PEFO quite suddenly this morning. It was 14 degrees for a low this morning and the prospects over the next 5 days were for the temperatures to go lower. We got tired of living in our motorhome with the slides in to conserve heat, using propane at an unsustainable rate, and worrying about frozen water system. We called it quits. The amount of visitors to PEFO has dropped sharply, the number of days we were scheduled to work was reduced, and the shifts when we did work had us doing project work as much as visitor contact work. (Project work is sitting in the office and training ourselves by reading materials and watching videos.) We thought maybe it was time to move on.

We do feel guilty about ending our stay early. We had warned our volunteer coordinator that we were concerned with the weather and might pull out early. But we had relented and said we would at least stay through next week. And so, she was like a deer caught in the headlights when we showed up in her office with armfuls of uniforms and announced we were moving on. In all fairness we were both scheduled to work today, and our pulling out led to the volunteer coordinator having to scramble to cover our shifts. So, we let her down. But we also knew that it would not be hard to fill in behind us. And, after we had packed and hooked up, Shannon went back to the office to return her keys, and the volunteer coordinator gave Shannon a hug and said she was sorry to see us go.

We headed to Camp Verde where we had stayed during the government shutdown. It's 2 to 3,000 feet lower in elevation which makes all the difference. It was sunny and warm with little evidence that winter had arrived. It was still in the low 20's this morning we were told and the forecast is for lows in the teens on Sunday and Monday, but the days will be warmer and the lows will be higher than if we had stayed at PEFO. We also know now that the propane furnace can keep the water system from freezing down to at least 14-degrees as long as the propane supply lasts. So, Winnebago was correct in their advice.

Our plan is to sit here until next week when the weather is suppose to moderate, and then we will go back. We will have some important mail that should be at PEFO to pick up, and our car has some body work scheduled. We had hit a largish dog in October and have finally leaped all the hurdles with the insurance and body shop to get the work done. Unfortunately it will be done in Holbrook; so, back to the PEFO area we will go. And from there we will probably head to Albuquerque and points south. We truly are aimlessly wandering at this point. Not a bad state to be in if you can do it.