OT. Synopsis Of Our Trip West

We just got online with a dial up connection here in Portland Fairview RV park. This material was written offline and pasted here.

We departerd KC on Tuesday, 9-16, and towed our Travel Supreme across Kansas, (a boring drive all the way), to Denver. We stayed at a RV Park in Aurora CO, and spent the better part of 5 days with my Son and his fiance' Denise. Friday we Rode with them in his 03 Dodge diesel dooley to The Pueblo CO, State Park Lake. MY son and Denise have their new Yacht berthed there. That's where the largest lake in CO is located. The four of us, and Bear, Lon's Akita, spent three days on their Yacht. As soon as I upload the pictures to a webpage, I'll post the page with pictures on this site. Their Yacht has two Staterooms, each with it's own shower and head. We had a terriffic time. We all returned to Denver Sunday night, and went to the Denver-Oakland game Monday night.

Tuesday Morning Sherrie and I hitched up, and headed toward Portland OR. We had previously experienced 15 to 25 MPH headwinds all the way from KC to Denver, and according to the computer, we averaged 9.4 MPG, cruising 65 all the way. Leaving Denver Tuesday late morning, we had strong side winds all the way to Cheyenne WY. We fueled in Cheyenne, having driven 918 miles since fueling before leaving KC. Diesel was only $1.21.9 in Cheyenne, so I filled both tanks as full as possible. 103 gallons total.

From Cheyenne to Evanston WY, we had dead on headwinds, 23 MPH gusting to 40 MPH. We cruised 66 MPH into the wind all the way. The Shark pulls as smoothly as anyone could imagine, but those winds really cut her mileage. I topped off in Evanston Wednesday morning. I filled her full again. She took 41.3 gallons, having driven 357 Miles since filling in Cheyenne. We averaged only 8.7 MPG for that leg. Fuel at Pilot, still in WY, was $1.44.9. We won't fuel again until we arrive at Jubbit's Truck Stop in Portland.

I have been extremely pleased with the way the Shark handles and tows our Travel Supreme. We're probably pretty close to the Travel Supreme's GVW of 19,000. There aren't any real mountains in WY on I-80, even though we were above 8,000 feet on several occassions. The shark pulled every hill easily with the cruise set at 66 MPH, just as she went down the road. Descending, the Jake held us below 70 MPH. At times it slowed us so much I had to add throttle to stay above 60. With the windows up, there is no wind noise at all. very quiet inside the cab. At this point, I have only driven her about 4,000 miles. She hasn't used any oil.

We drove from Evanston WY to 17 miles short of the Oregon State line on Wednesday. The winds died down to about 10 to 15 MPH and mileage improved to 10.3 overall from WY to OR. I bumped the cruise to 67 and she never slowed for any hill including those with truck lanes.

Thursday morning we took the Shark and the T.S., to the Ontario OR DMV. I registered the Volvo as a motorhome, and the trailer. $397 total cost for both for 2 year plates. Registration took less than an hour. We then drove on to Portland. We still had 10 to 15 MPH headwinds. We got 9.8 MPG overall from Evanston to Portland. On Cabbage Patch, If I could keep the boost up, and didn't have to slow down for traffic, we could easily maintain 65 MPH on cruise control. If I had to slow up under 45 due to traffic, I could only get back up to about 62 on a 6% grade. I descended all grades in 10th gear. The Jake always held us under 70. I only used the service brakes for curves requiring 55 MPH speeds. We didn't have a single problem with either truck or trailer all the way to Portalnd. I just got phone service at the Park we are staying in today (Friday) . this dial up connection seems so slow after becoming accustomed to DSL connections.

Driving up the Oregon Gorge was beautiful, right beside the Columbia River all the way. We would have gotten at least a mile per hour better mileage if it hadn't been for those dang head winds. Still, it was a fun trip. We'll be here one month until the titles arrive for the Volvo and the T.S. Then we head for Las Vegas. My son is getting married at the Bellagio in November.

I am having a minor problem with the images to my new ad site for my A to Z conversion guide. I hope to post it within a day or so.

onezman