Drive To Show Low, Arizona

Above, the new (and final) chaise lounge. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a chaise lounge from Wayfair that was supposed to be "partially assembled". It turned out that the whole thing needed assembling.

The directions were terrible and the bolts and parts didn't line up and attach right.

I complained to their customer service that I didn't like it and wanted to return it. They instead refunded my money and said I didn't need to return the item. I'll see who around here wants it. It is probably fixable, but I don't have the patience to do it myself after several attempts already.

Above, my view of The Beast from my dining table at Speedy's. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I noticed on Home Depot's website that they had chaise lounges for roughly the same price and no assembly was necessary. The only problem was that the Gallup Home Depot didn't carry them and they told me the nearest one that did was in Show Low, Arizona, 165 miles away.

Since I had nothing else to do yesterday, I decided that I would make the 330-mile round trip to pick one up (I verified that they had plenty).

Above, dinner at Speedy's Truck Stop in Lupton, Arizona. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I am glad that I did. I enjoyed the ride and was able to see a part of Arizona that I had never been to before.

The route took me west on Interstate 40 to Holbrook, Arizona and then south on Highway 77.

The views were scenic and the route took me through Snowflake, a nice horsey town with rolling hills and pines. There were a lot of horse and cattle ranches there. Then, further on, I reached Show Low. It, too, was a beautiful,but larger, town with mountains and hills covered with pines. It was also quite a busy town with lots of traffic. Thankfully, I was able to find the Home Depot through Google Maps.

I got the lounge and headed back to New Mexico. I was pleasantly surprised that the lounge was $11.00 cheaper than the posted price.

Once I got into the eastern part of Arizona, a storm pelted The Beast along with gusty winds. I decided to take a coffee and, as it turned out, a dinner break at Speedy's Truck Stop in Lupton. It was nice to be able to dine in somewhere instead of going the take-out route.

The winds and rain kind of tapered off by the time I was done and I made it home without incident.

Still, it was a good ride and gave me something to do for the day.