Crater Lake - 8/16/23

Carrie and Ken bought a 30 foot travel trailer that sleeps 9, and a Ford Expedition. On August 16, 2023 Jeff, Ruth, Carrie and Summer began a trip across the USA. Ken stayed behind to work. The plan included visiting as many states as possible (especially national parks), Emily and Doug in Connecticut, 10 nights at free campgrounds and 25 nights at paid campgrounds.

 The first day of our trailer odyssey we spent a night at Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the USA at 1943 feet. We did some hiking and exploring, saw flowers and lots of golden mantled ground squirrels. There were lots of PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers camped there, being a major waypoint on their 2000 mile hike. It got me thinking again about doing that myself.

Getting used to towing a huge, 5 ton trailer took some time. After a very hilly section we pulled over and found the Ford Expedition brakes smoking on all 4 wheels. We let them cool and started using the trailer brakes more. The next day I increased their settings to the maximum and the brakes feel much more responsive.

Travel times are longer than expected. We climb hills slowly (often 40 mph) due to the weight and engine limitations. Freeway speeds are slow because the trailer tires are rated at 60 mph.








Comments

  1. TylerAugust 18, 2023 at 5:46 PM

    Hooray! You've hit the road! Hope your brakes hold out.

    ReplyDelete

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