Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: George.Anthony <ganthony@gmail.net>
Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: The Travel Out Days
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2025 14:45:43 -0000 (UTC)
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sticks <wolverine01@charter.net> wrote:
> To be honest, I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things 
> around home after getting back from that trip.  Everything just feels 
> out of place, and I just want to go back out and get on the road again. 
> I suppose the regrets of getting both vehicles damaged in a hail storm 
> have something to do with that, but I think it has more to do with just 
> how perfect everything felt on the journey.  From getting closer to my 
> wife, to seeing new and amazing places.  It was exactly what I bought 
> the thing for.
> 
> That said, I want to get started rehashing some of the journey.  I'll 
> start with the travel days.
> 
> I was having a heck of a time trying to figure out which way to go. 
> I-70 had days it was open and days it was closed and had traction laws 
> in effect.  I-80 had terrible winds and was closed because of blow over 
> laws.  Going the safest rout via I-40/44 would add another whole day to 
> the travel and go from 3 days on the road to 4 days.  I really wanted to 
> avoid this.  So I set out west heading to Kearney, Nebraska and figured 
> I could decide the next day depending on conditions which route I would 
> have to take.  I-70 was still open, but I-80 was closed because of 
> winds.  620 miles later we were in Kearney staying at a Cabela's on the 
> Lincoln Highway.  This was our best freebie place of the trip.  There 
> were about 6 other RV's there that night.  Most even had their slides 
> out, which surprised me.  But it was away from everything, safe, and 
> quiet.  Having been my first time staying in a store parking lot, I felt 
> better about the situation after this night, though I did have my pistol 
> ready for defense if need be.
> 
> By the next morning the situation had changed and the winds calmed down 
> in Wyoming, and it had snowed up west of Denver and they had closures 
> and traction laws in effect.  So we went north on I-80 and headed toward 
> Salt Lake City.  It was windy, but manageable and we went 680 miles and 
> got to the very end of the state and stayed in the town of Evanston, WY 
> at a Walmart.  This was completely different than Cabela's with about 
> 15-20 semi's ending up in the lot overnight.  Manageable if you have to 
> I guess, and in our case we had to because I needed to go a little 
> further that day to make the last day of travel again doable.  During 
> the day, we crossed over the Sherman Summit in WY, at an elevation of 
> 8640 and they had gotten a little snow there.  It was windy and cold. 
> There is a rest area right at the top and we had pulled in for a short 
> break, and I got a valuable lesson.  I am very aware pulling the TOAD 
> you cannot back up, but I was a little stupid recognizing the ground 
> conditions.  I came to a stop on a slight incline and there was a little 
> packed snow underneath the tires.  Without the TOAD I'm sure the RV 
> would have just walked away, but trying to move the powerless 5,000lb 
> Bronco, the RV surprised me by having a hard time getting going. 
> Lesson: keep moving on snow conditions and always stop going downhill! 
> I'm sure I could have applied the old slight break pedal trick to get it 
> to stop the differential from spinning, but it eventually hooked up and 
> I didn't have to unhook the TOAD to get out of there.  Once we got down 
> to Evanston, I was very relieved having gotten through the worst of the 
> mountain passes.  I knew I would have to address the same weather 
> question on the return journey.
> 
> Both of the first two nights were cold and well below freezing, with it 
> getting down to 20F for the night in Evanston.  The anti-freeze kit I 
> installed for the Truma on demand water heater worked perfectly during 
> the day, and the furnace keep things toasty enough to sleep without the 
> pipes freezing up, and I switched the Truma to ECO mode each night and 
> used propane to keep it from freezing at the unit on the outside panel. 
> I was unsure if I would have enough DC to run things all night, or if I 
> would have to run the generator, but I still had 12.4 volts in the 
> morning.  That pleased me greatly as I knew it could do at least the 
> whole night without worrying.  Even through the mountains and with the 
> wind hitting us head on, we got over 12MPG pulling the TOAD.  I can live 
> with that.  The view is a little uncomfortable in winds above 20 MPH, 
> but slowing down helps.  When it got bad, I stayed below 65 MPH. 
> Without winds it cruises along at 70 or more quite easily.
> 
> The last day we started going through Salt Lake City, and it was much 
> warmer, around 60F, and it was a gorgeous day and pleasant drive.  The 
> entire state of Utah is like one big park, with cows.  My kind of place. 
>  Very beautiful and it has a welcoming feel to it.  People were all 
> very nice everywhere we stopped.  I could live in that state.  Rolled 
> into the campground after a leisurely 350 miles at around 3PM and just 
> relaxed for the rest of the day.
> 
> more to come...
> 
> 

Lessons learned the hard way by most of us. I would sacrifice a body part
for 12 MPG. Speaking of Utah, I will be passing through there later this
summer. I want to visit Capital Reef, which is the last of the Mighty Five
for us to see.

-- 
Biden has no idea what he is doing but he’s really, really good at it.