Colorado sucks!

I think of Colorado as a giant vacuum; it sucked up all the green out of New Mexico, the mountains from the plains states, the trees from Nevada and the blue skies from the atmosphere above.

The steep roads are sucking the fuel out of my tank! You can’t travel to any town here without going up and going down some very steep roads; the up is just a matter of pedal to the metal, the down gets much more difficult.  Driving a motor home weighing 32,000 pounds with a 5,000 pound car pushing from behind requires a lot of concentration when heading down a twisting mountain road at a 5 to 7 percent grade. I have a book that gives me all the grades for mountain roads, Anything over 7 percent I try to avoid. Unlike a gas vehicle, the diesel has an exhaust brake to help slow down all that weight, depending on which of the six gears selected; first gear has the most braking power but must be initiated at just below 35 m.p.h., second is next at just below 45 m.p.h., third has the least holding power and after about 55 m.p.h. it is hooweee!  So, when you see the signs about trucks you look for the percent of grade, most roads tell you, some, not so much. If the grade is 5%, I will slow to about 50 m.p.h., 6% - 43 m.p.h., 7% - 33 m.p.h. and then engage the exhaust brake, if the speed holds I’m good.  If the speed continues to the next threshold, I have to firmly apply the main brakes to get the speed down below the speed that will shift into the next lower gear. There is no falling asleep going downhill!

But when we do stop it sure is green and gorgeous. We stopped for a couple nights at Elk Creek campground, its proximity to the “Black Canyon of the Gunnison, National Park” and being on the largest lake in Colorado made it ideal.  Next morning we drove the rim of the canyon, it was unlike the Grand Canyon, instead of limestone this canyon’s walls were dark rock. Not as deep and a lot narrower, some of the walls were dark rock. Not as deep and a lot narrower, some of the walls seemed almost vertical, definitely a Wow!