Long pull today

[N6761U]

Left Grand Junction,CO this morning and headed through the Rockies, started out easy until just after Vail and it was almost straight up. Before the summit I was in 2nd and doing 35 mph. Reach the top and stopped for lunch and it started to snow. Coming down toward the bottom it was bumper to bumper. Leaving Denver and heading north it started to rain and the wind was blowing hard. Get to Cheyenne and set up for the night, look at the weather on the comp. and we had just gone through a tornado watch, the radar map looked pretty bad, Boy what a fun trip, need to do that again

[Dayle1]

At least you missed the tornados south of I70 and you weren't on US50 going over Monarch Pass where wind gusts were hitting 80 mph. Fortunately the RV park we are sitting in only had winds around 50 mph and light snow. Biggest problem was not being able to keep the sat dish in place.

[caberto]

We just did that run over the Rockies a few weeks ago from Arches National Park into Colorado Springs on I-70. The hill just before the Eisenhower Tunnel was not fun... we did 37-39 mph going up that hill and was watching the tranny and engine temps climb but they eventually held before reaching the tunnel and getting too hot.

The next day we got the quarter size hurricane hail in Cripple Creek, but we were already unhitched and were able to get under a gas station canopy just in time. The fiver at the campground only had damage to one of the bathroom vents, could've been a lot worse. We had a great time, but wouldn't want to do that hill again towing the fiver 🙂

Oh I almost forgot; on the downhill side of the Rockies on I-70... the slow lane is so heavily grooved by the semi's in some spots, it wasn't the downhill speed that was an issue (the Allison did its job nicely), it was trying to keep the rig going in a straight line due to some of the grooves. Where the road was smoother it was great, but they really need to fix those grooves in that slow lane, it is really bad and dangerous.

[gkainz]

yeah - you hit a wild weather day in CO yesterday!

[Dog_Folks]

N6761U wrote:
Left Grand Junction,CO this morning and headed through the Rockies, started out easy until just after Vail and it was almost straight up. Before the summit I was in 2nd and doing 35 mph. Reach the top and stopped for lunch and it started to snow. Coming down toward the bottom it was bumper to bumper. Leaving Denver and heading north it started to rain and the wind was blowing hard. Get to Cheyenne and set up for the night, look at the weather on the comp. and we had just gone through a tornado watch, the radar map looked pretty bad, Boy what a fun trip, need to do that again

Wow. Once would be enough for me. Glad you got through without trouble.

[FlatBroke]

I lived in CO since 1945. I avoid I 70 like the plague. Some times I just gotta do it. Making our trip to AZ for the winter we take the long way avoiding I 70 and I 40 passed Flagstaff. Arrive to our destination a lot less stressed.

[garysol]

Climbing out of bed now to face our 700 mile pull today. Weather looks perfect. East bound and down!

[Shepherd]

We where there last year on our way to yellowstone, head winds and rain. On our return trip the 60 mph winds on our back side made up the poor mpg out there.:)

[0rion]

the only thing missing from your story that would've made it the perfect experience are the 3 kids in the back seat hollering. haha I feel your pain....been in a couple white knuckle situations except I did have the 3 kids in the back seat. It's exhausting. Nothing feels as good as laying down to go to sleep after a day like that.

[TucsonJim]

I had a 40mph headwind today for almost 200 miles. Went from 11.5mpg to 9.5mpg. Got to Bridgeport CA tonight and was running low on diesel. The lowest price in town was $5.19 per gallon! Yikes. I only bought 15 gallons in the hopes that I can get to the next town where prices might be lower. But on the bright side, I didn't run into traffic like you did.

[2yung2rtire]

It was a balmy 103 degrees in lovely Loma Rica Ca with a 20 mph north wind.Lost power to the stick and bricks for about an hour in the hottest part of the day.I think I'll keep this weather compared to yours. Safe travels.