Day 19: Tuesday 13-Jul-1999
From: Munds Park, Arizona
To: Kanab, Utah
Distance : 226 mi (362 km)
Time: 6h
Today we were moving from Munds Park up to Kanab in Utah. We got up early to start wrapping things up. It took us a while to get the Hensley hooked up, in part due to the angle and our inexperience but also due to the soft gravel. By about 9am we were ready to leave. Lillemor made another call to her office back east, asking if they could send parts for the broken computer to our next campsite up in Utah.
We drove via Flagstaff and then headed out on Highway 89 towards Page up by Glen Canyon Dam. The truck struggled a little bit as we pulled through the first set of mountains north of Flagstaff. We were now above 7000ft (2000m). But once you're over the hills, so to speak, you end up on this very long down slope that takes you down to about 4000ft. The down slope lasts for at last a half hour, if not more. It then levels off a bit and you then start to climb slowly. It like you come down one side of a very wide Canyon and go up on the other side.
As we started to climb on the north side the transmission got hotter. We got to about 245F, and I let off the throttle a little bit. The engine did fine; it worked up to about 220F and then cooled back to about 205F. On one of our last climbs, which was quite long, the truck slowed down considerably. I did not want to push it harder because the transmission was a bit warm. Luckily we had two lanes. As our climbing speed dropped to about 30 mph, I decided to turn on the hazard lights to warn anyone who may be coming up behind be that I was moving slowly. Suddenly the truck started rocking lengthwise, like we were on very uneven surface. I hand shifted down into first and continued a little bit. It kept rocking. I was now really concerned something was really wrong. There was no breakdown lane. I stopped in the middle of the road (we're now on a steep uphill). It let it rest for a few moments. I then started it again and it jerked big time again. I thought I had blown our tranny. What a practical spot to do it. In the middle of the desert. Lillemor and I looked at each other in despair. But wait ... what if ... I backed off the trailer brakes with the brake controller and then started the truck again .... no rocking. Duh! My trailer brakes were pulsating with my hazard blinkers. No wonder it was so rocky and tough to accelerate uphill. By now the engine started to heat up due to lack of cooling and the transmission was hot too. Luckily there was a rest area some 1500ft further up the hill. We pulled over right there. I popped the hood and could hear it boiling in the engine block. We decided to take a lunch break here.
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| Giving the Suburban a hood-pop on our way to Page, Arizona |
We ate in lunch in the trailer as there was no shade on hot rest area. From the rest area you could see for miles and miles into the desert. There were a few stands with jewelry and pottery on the rest area. Isabella bought a glass turtle for a necklace. It is made of clear glass.
A scenic view met us as we drove over the hills and started our descent towards Page and Glen Canyon Dam. The hills around us are different earth tones, mostly reddish. The Dam has blue:ish water in it. As we approached Page, we could see plenty of power lines and towers parked in the naked colorful desert. We drove over a bridge near the dam, which is quite impressive. We did not stop and instead continued on towards Kanab. We arrived there with almost no gas. The town is at base of tall hills. The campground is nice, but once again a southwestern style gravel parking lot. It was nice and tidy. They had left a note on their office door about what site was ours, as they were not there. We parked and started upacking things. From habit we nailed our front door mat to the ground and later learned that this campground did not permit nails or sticks in the ground as they have laid a plastic film under the gravel to stop weed from growing. Oh, well. The nails are down now, so there is little point in taking them up until we're leaving.
Dark clouds were rolling in and we decided to eat inside. The kids were out for a brief moment and came back with muddy sandals. Lillemor rinsed off the kids and got yelled at by the campground owners because this would stain their immaculate gravel. Curious campground. Lillemor wanted to move, but Per convinced her we should not do it. We watched TV and went to bed. This had been a tough day.