On the road again..
The Trip
I just completed a 3,700 mile trip from Southern California through Reno, up to Yellowstone National Park, and back via Salt Lake City and Las Vegas - in an F-250, pulling an 8,000 pound travel trailer. Hit 116 degrees, 8% grades, and 9,000 foot altitudes.
Some Observations
Despite current fuel prices, nobody is slowing down! While the maximum legal speed for a pickup towing a trailer in California is 55 mph , it is 75 mph in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona for example. But few are going 75 - they are going faster! Across I-80 even class 8 trucks, 18 wheelers and some double and even triple bottom rigs are hitting 80 mph, up hill and down. Must take a lot of power. Wonder if they can stop?
Speaking of power, more is definitely better. The first full-size Diesel pickup I drove had about 160 HP (back in the mid 1980s). Not enough. The first one I owned had 195. Not enough. The next one had 235. Not enough. I'm currently at about 300 HP and 600 lb. ft. of torque. Still not enough. The pack leader is now the GM Duramax with 360 HP and 650 lb.ft coupled with a 6-speed Allison. Maybe that would suffice? They sure ran past me in Nevada, even with bigger, heavier trailers.
Not only would more power be welcome, but more brakes too. At a GCW of about 14,000 pounds, my stopping distance is pretty long. And when I leave plenty of space between my vehicle and the one in front, somebody cuts in! This must irritate heavy truck drivers to no end, especially on damp down hill runs. What are those car drivers thinking?
The vehicles in operation up in Montana and Wyoming are really different from what I see here in Orange County, California. More pickups, of course, and especially more Heavy Duty 4x4 pickups. Not so many Minivans (school back in session) and more SUVs (vacationers). Never saw so many Subarus! More Subies than Toyotas! New ones, old ones, beat up ones. Subaru is the "in" brand with rich and poor, young and old, male and female. Even the odd-looking (to me) Tribeca is very popular. And one of the most popular rental cars in the National Park area is, predictably, the Mustang convertible.
Yellowstone really is beautiful. Great geography, geology and wildlife to see. Not so crowded after Labor Day either. We'll do it again next year.
