Today's drive was pretty straightforward, south on I-25 to Springer, NM. It was 255.4 miles (90,294.6 total) from our beautiful site in Cherry Creek State Park.
I had hoped we were going to miss a lot of mountain climbing, but then, Colorado is pretty famous for its mountains. It was pretty level until we neared the NM border. Then we climbed up and over Raton Pass at 7,834 ft from somewhere around 6,200 ft. I shifted to 4th and tried to keep the RPMs around 2,000, but near the top of the pass the temperature jumped up and the alarms started blaring. Fortunately, there was a convenient shoulder so I stopped to let things cool for a while. When I started up the hill again I was much more conservative. This time I stayed in 3rd gear (and quite a bit slower) and the temperature behaved, staying around 195 degrees. I hope that someday I will be able to say I know how to drive a big diesel pusher, but for now, I guess I have to say I'm still learning.
Our site was a pull-thru (only $18 a night) and since we were only here for the night and we had nowhere to explore we did not even unhook our toad. I don't think we even extended our slides for the night.
Sam and I saw five or six deer grazing while he took me on his late afternoon walk. We had to wait until the rain stopped but the clouds meant we enjoyed a colorful sunset. I loved watching the deer effortlessly jumping over the fences that were presumably there to keep them out of the fields.
Unfortunately, we were so close to the road I could not simply pull out to the left the next morning. Instead, I had to turn to the right and make a huge loop through some muddy roads to exit the park. It was certainly one of our shorter stays, but AZ and the "Fall Special" (four months for $995 at Val Vista Villages in Mesa) was calling to us so we headed out early.
I'll have to add the Denver Museum to our to do document. Looking forward to reading as you catch up!
ReplyDelete