Luckily, we had water in our fresh water tank, so we made do with that, and had to skip our showers this morning.
One of the attractions we had hoped to do while in this area, was Sitting Bull Falls. It turns out they have closed the area down, because a man-made fire swept through the area this past summer, and some of the structures are not safe.
Our drive today was vastly different than the past week or so of scrub brush, cactus, and desert.
We were climbing pretty steadily while passing through the Lincoln National Forest, and soon saw snow on the side of the road.
We continued to climb through the ski resort town of Cloudcroft, and we could tell they had recently plowed the roads. Teresa was pretty tense by then ... LOL.
There were large signs saying trucks over a certain weight or a certain length, were not allowed on this stretch of highway. By this time, Teresa is super stressed !
The decent was 6% grades for over ten miles, and there were run-away lanes for trucks that might have lost their brakes.
But our mighty V10 held our rig and car back, without me having to use our brakes at all !!
We left the mountains behind as we entered the town of Alamogordo. We are at a great Passport America park with full hookups for $13.00 tonight.
When we were checking in, the friendly clerk gave us a coupon for a pistachio and wine country store, right across from us.
Did you know that pistachios grow on small trees ??
And did you also know that the World's Largest Pistachio is also on these grounds ?
They also grow grapes for their own wines. We enjoyed some free wine tasting, and made a couple of purchases.
All in all, it was a great day !!
you found the giant pistachio! we saw it when we went west a couple years ago with Anne and Scotty
ReplyDeleteThat tunnel reminds me of the one going into Bisbee, AZ. Hope you get there on this trip.
ReplyDeleteThats some pistachio.
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ReplyDeleteOops!! Let's try that again.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. I never thought about how pistachios were grown. Thanks for the pictures of the trees.
Mike and Dee
gonerving.blogspot.com
Sure looks cold up there in them there hills. But you are seeing the sights for sure. Pistachios and wine sounds good to me.
ReplyDeleteI have the same engine on my RV, what gear did you use going downhill. Thanks, Teri
ReplyDeleteHi Teri
ReplyDeleteOn most declines, I can simply turn off the overdrive and maintain a safe speed of around 45 mph. This means I am in third gear.
However, on this decline, I had to shift down into second gear, to maintain a speed of around 40 mph, which was the posted speed around the numerous curves.
The V10 will rev pretty high, but don't worry, I have been told by many mechanics that this engine will handle the high rev's with no problem.
If you do have to brake to maintain speed, NEVER ride the brakes continually. They will overheat quickly and lose most of their braking power.
What you want to do, is "stab" the brakes pretty hard, then let go of them. This will bring down your speed quickly, then allow the brakes to cool before "stabbing" them again.
Hope this helps !!!
Thanks for the info. When I was in the area of Eureka Springs, Arkansas in June, I had to shift into first gear, the speed limits on the hilly, windy roads were 10-20mph. The RV did great, I was surprised and amazed that I did not need to brake at all. I'm going to be heading in the direction that you are going in about a month or so.
ReplyDelete