Mountains

I finally found a book that scared the devil out of me. The title is “Mountain Directory West.” When the introduction begins “There is an old saying among over-the-road truckers. “There are two kinds of drivers – those who’ve been in trouble on a mountain grade and those who will be,” you know this book is not for the faint of heart.



As I finished reading the introduction and studied the maps and the descriptions of the mountain passes it became crystal clear to me that I will not be going through them in my little house on wheels. The scare I had going into El Paso has damaged me for life. The good thing is it does show the roads that go around and if I can’t get around then I am not going. Sorry son but you are surrounded by mountains.



It is a great book to have though. If you still want to travel into the mountains then this would be a great book for your library.



What scared mom was the following passage from the book:

“Imagine yourself descending a mountain grade in your RV. You didn’t know there was such a long, steep grade on this highway. What a surprise! And things are not going well. You have a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. The engine is not holding back all of this weight, the brakes are smelling hot or even smoking, you’re pushing harder on the brake pedal but your speed keeps increasing. All you can see ahead is more mountains. Your mind is racing through all of the available options and none of them are good. “I’ve got to do something,” you say “or I’m not going to make it.” The options include: run into the rock wall, go over the side, hit those trees, or see if you can make the next curve and ride it out.



A highway patrol officer in Oregon told us that in the summer an average of one motorhome per week burns to the ground while trying to climb Cabbage Hill on I-84 east of Pendleton.”

On that note I am happy to say we are heading west tomorrow….



Location:  Lordsburg