Thelma and Louise?

Okay, this is my first ever pre-trip post. All I can think about lately is my upcoming trip to see the Grand Canyon. Of course, I will only see it if it is really there. In fact, that is the only reason for this trip. N2S and I think it may well be a hoax, so we are going over there to see it for ourselves. We plan on spending only slightly more time than the Griswalds.

All brevity aside, the Grand Canyon is one of the only places I have ever wanted to go. I used to think I wanted to go to the Holy Land. Then I saw someone else's slides and couldn't get past the "crowdedness" of the place. I don't like crowds. We went to see Tulum and stood in a line to get in. Then we stood elbow to elbow to gawk at the temple. The Biltmore house, was another place I wanted to see. When N2S and I went, we walked through in a line of people at about twenty steps a minute. By the end, I was looking for open windows to jump out of. Hated it!

When Dad died and left me a little money, I went to see a financial advisor to preserve it for my boys when I'm gone. He told me that, with his financial planning help, I could go anywhere in the world and see the places I dreamed of visiting. I calmly explained to him that I didn't need help to do that. I only wanted to see the Grand Canyon, a place I could get myself to for the cost of a few nights in a hotel and a few tankfuls of gas. He told me I should dream bigger. I did. I bought a lazy boy recliner with some of Dad's loot. I dream  big in it all the time. In fact, I spend so much time dreaming in it that I am getting bigger!

So, here we go on a mad dash to see the Grand Canyon. It will be N2S, his buddy Storm, and me. We are going to pull the Colby T behind us. It will be a four night and five day trip. See... I told you we were just going to take a look and come home.

The canyon is approximately eighteen hours away. I plan to get on the road at 7:00 am the first day and be in Las Cruces, New Mexico by about 6:00 pm that evening. We will set up camp, eat dinner, play some games, and go to sleep at the Hacienda RV park. The second morning we will get up, break camp, and be on the road by 7:00 am and drive all the way to the Grand Canyon by 7:00 pm. We will have some mountains to climb that day, so I plan on taking it slow! That night we will set up camp again, only this time, it will be a complete set up, including sewer and water. We'll spend whatever daylight we have left exploring the immediate surroundings, then turn in for the night.

On day three, we will "do the canyon". I'm not sure what that will mean. Of course, we'll go look over the edge. We may even hike part way down, I don't know. It will totally be played by ear. When we finish, we will head back to the Colby T and rest up for the trip home, which will pretty much be the same as the first two days, done in reverse.

So why did I title this post "Thelma and Louise"? Well, to be honest, this trip scares the hell out of me. For one thing, this is the longest trip I will have taken with the Colby T. I worry about things like, finding gas stations that I can get into and out of easily, flat tires, and other mechanical failures. However, it wasn't until I started hearing from other travel trailer people that I became more than just a little nervous. It reminds me of Rachel's first pregnancy. For nine months every idiot who had ever seen a baby found it necessary to tell us everything they thought we needed to know and every "problem pregnancy" story they had ever heard. Not exactly confidence building.

My first foray into hearing too much from too many was when I routed the trip and saw that there was a "Mountain Directory Advisory" between Phoenix and Flagstaff. Stupid me did not even realize you had to go into the mountains to look down into the canyon. I thought  it was more like Palo Duro Canyon. You drive in flat land and suddenly there's this big hole. When I clicked on the advisory, there was a $20 fee to see it. Not wanting to spend the money for a one time thing, I posted a question about it on the Open Roads RV Forum. Within a few hours, I was getting all kinds of advice. Here are some quotes:


If you use the brakes anywhere near 50% or more of the time going downhill, they will fade and you are in trouble.

Be VERY careful with crosswinds - coming out of cover you can be blown across lane before you know it.

You'll spend a lot on fuel, you'll be driving long hours and you'll get there and turn around. Save this trip for when you have more time and can incorporate more things to do along the way - and there's lots! If going is a definite, at least stay in motels and forget hauling the RV that distance for 4 days. 

Now, you need to hear me say this: These people are not being mean spirited. They are giving their opinions based on their experiences (even though I only wanted to know what the advisory said). There were lots of good pieces of knowledge such as this gem from a fellow educator:

If planning on using I-10 & I-17 (no real climbs on I-10, somewhat one going up to Flagstaff area on the 17), might want to down shift in steepest going up, if returning by same route, down shift when going down. To save the breaks for when needed for stopping. Watch for road signs, the will advise when to use a lower gear or gears. 

By the way, I was born & raise in South Texas (flatter than San Antonio Area) RGV. Just remember not to rely on the breaks in mountains, use the gears & engine to help slow the rig. Be a little more prudent in watching your speed, especially when descending. The weight of the rig can get things moving faster than needed, quickly when descending & usually there will be some curves when doing this as well. 

Nothing to be overly fearful of doing, not really a hard climb (but more than what is in Texas)....Think of it as a Fun Drive. An Adventure. It's why I wanted to live in New Mexico....to have some curves to drive, hills to climb, far horizons to see, rocks to climb & canyons to awe over. Then look for real hills & curves & mountains to cross for more adventures. 

My wife & I are retired teachers, the time off in summers was the reward for being teachers. 10 weeks or so of unpaid vacation time, better than higher pay checks any day. We have many wonderful memories of our time traveling in the summers. Great way to go. IMHO.


Anyway, the second thing that got me a little nervous was when a friend of mine, whose opinion I really respect, told me to carry extra tires. He mentioned how I could get blow outs in the middle of nowhere. Even though I have a 24 hour tire service plan with which someone will come to me and take care of my tire problems, I got worried by the thought that my blowout could happen in a cell phone dead spot! I only have one spare. Would that be enough? Then I realized that I didn't even know how to change a tire on the Colby T. That led to my going back to the Open Roads RV Forum to ask about that. Some answers were helpful, others made me worry even more. Things were brought up that I never thought of. Could I even get a jack of some kind under the Colby T?  It is already really close to the ground. Torque? What the heck is torque? If I had a torque wrench, would I know how to use it?

I spent an entire afternoon learning how to change a tire, looking at different jack types, and learning about the torque wrench and how to use it. This weekend, I am going to measure the clearance on the Colby T and then go buy a jack and torque wrench somewhere. Then I am going to just practice jacking it up. I know how to change a tire once it is jacked. The torque wrench process is a step by step kind of thing that I have snapped as an image on my kindle fire.  Although I am still worried about a flat, I am not going to let it consume me.

The last worry I got was when people started telling me that I may have to drive in snow. Just yesterday,
Amarillo was practically buried. What if there is another cold front on our travel days? What if I get stuck on the side of the highway because of snow. Will some semi with chains on plow through us during the night? Okay... I need to change the subject before I just talk myself out of taking what will probably be the greatest road trip of my life!

I've done what I can to prepare for flats. I've studied up on mountain driving. I have a plan in place for when and where to get gas at travel centers, even if I don't need it at that moment. I will have my Discover card with me. If we have problems, we will take care of them.

Now it's time to focus on what we will see on the way. Where are the interesting sites and scenic overlooks? Is there a Cadillac Ranch or Giant Ball of String type of thing along the way? Whatever there is, you know I will have stories and photos for you when we get back. Later!