08-07-2019, 11:15 AM
This year we decided to go ahead and use our month long vacation again and go on the Newell and explore the places we've always wanted explore.
I really wanted to go to Moab Utah but wasn't too sure about that. We left Sarasota at the end of June and started driving on I-75 north. By the time we got to I-10 I decided to go left and started driving West so Utah it is!
On every state we crossed we spent a couple of days (Texas was the longest and we spent days in Arlington and Amarillo, never thought that Amarillo was going to be so nice!) after leaving Amarillo we had some comments from people that the road getting to Monument Valley, AZ was not in really good shape and we were concerned about that, it was really late at night by the time we go to KOA at Monument Valley, AZ. No problems whatsoever with the roads.
We stopped the RV and did the checkin, got the paperwork from the front office and we started driving to our spot, it was pitch dark, no moon light outside, after we settled we stepped outside and we were in awe with what we saw, I don't remember seeing so many stars on the sky, we were even able to see the milky way with our naked eyes! it was something that needs to be lived to absolutely understand the beauty of it. Really really amazing. Monument Valley in itself was spectacular for us, we really loved it.
After spending 5 days there we continue our journey to Moab, UT another amazing place that I'm so happy to have visited. We went to several state parks there and they are really amazing. One we really loved was Canyonlands National Park and Island in the Sky. The drive in between Monument Valley and Moab got me a little bit scared because there was a 10% incline at one point (just a mile I think it was) but it wasn't a problem.
When we were in Moab, UT we decided to go to Denver, CO and spent some time in Aspen as well, lovely little town, must be amazing at winter. We went on our toad to Denver, CO as I was really nervous about I-70 and the long descents got me really concerned as I don't think I've been to anything like that before. While I'm glad I went to my SUV now I'm really curious to drive the coach thru I-70 now, I don't think that with my one stage Jake brake I can't pull it off, on regular descends I need to apply the brake every now and then because the coach gains speed and goes above the RPM I feel comfortable with (2000).
Beautiful scenery on I-70 in between Moab and Denver, highly recommended.
On our way back we stopped pretty much at the same spots that we used getting there but we took our time to make it last as much as possible. Visited the Sandia Peaks on Albuquerque, beautiful views from up there! We also spent 3 days a week after the 'tornado' hit New Orleans but everything was perfectly fine. Loved the food and music there, but by the 3rd day I was ready to leave.
The coach was AMAZING! the more I drive it, the more I love it.
I decided to balance the drive tires because of a little vibration I was experiencing on the back of the coach (I've found it because the microwave was vibrating and causing noise) so I stopped at a Love's in Alexandria, LA and they tried to remove the nuts from driving tire and tighten the nut instead of removing it and they broke it off. Wasn't happy because they said that it was like that when I got there but I have been driving at 70Mph before I got there so there was no chance that by me pulling the nut cap caused the nut breaking off from the wheel.
In the end after leaving New Orleans I stopped at another Love's and installed Centramatics to avoid balancing my wheels in the future, and I have to say that I should've done this as soon as I got the coach, it is probably known for some of you but to me was a complete revelation, no more vibration and the tires for some reason are even cooler now so pretty happy with this things.
All in all we did around 5000 miles on the coach and 2500 on the SUV. We all loved the drive and the places we visited.
Can't wait for next year! I started dreaming about driving north on I-95 and then crossing to Canada to drive all the way to the East coast and then down to San Diego and head back home. I'll prepare 2/3 months for next year and see if I can do that in that amount of time. One can only dream!
I wanted to post some pictures but they are in a format I don't know (HEIC) so will need to find out what is going on with that.
Found how to convert the photos.
I really wanted to go to Moab Utah but wasn't too sure about that. We left Sarasota at the end of June and started driving on I-75 north. By the time we got to I-10 I decided to go left and started driving West so Utah it is!
On every state we crossed we spent a couple of days (Texas was the longest and we spent days in Arlington and Amarillo, never thought that Amarillo was going to be so nice!) after leaving Amarillo we had some comments from people that the road getting to Monument Valley, AZ was not in really good shape and we were concerned about that, it was really late at night by the time we go to KOA at Monument Valley, AZ. No problems whatsoever with the roads.
We stopped the RV and did the checkin, got the paperwork from the front office and we started driving to our spot, it was pitch dark, no moon light outside, after we settled we stepped outside and we were in awe with what we saw, I don't remember seeing so many stars on the sky, we were even able to see the milky way with our naked eyes! it was something that needs to be lived to absolutely understand the beauty of it. Really really amazing. Monument Valley in itself was spectacular for us, we really loved it.
After spending 5 days there we continue our journey to Moab, UT another amazing place that I'm so happy to have visited. We went to several state parks there and they are really amazing. One we really loved was Canyonlands National Park and Island in the Sky. The drive in between Monument Valley and Moab got me a little bit scared because there was a 10% incline at one point (just a mile I think it was) but it wasn't a problem.
When we were in Moab, UT we decided to go to Denver, CO and spent some time in Aspen as well, lovely little town, must be amazing at winter. We went on our toad to Denver, CO as I was really nervous about I-70 and the long descents got me really concerned as I don't think I've been to anything like that before. While I'm glad I went to my SUV now I'm really curious to drive the coach thru I-70 now, I don't think that with my one stage Jake brake I can't pull it off, on regular descends I need to apply the brake every now and then because the coach gains speed and goes above the RPM I feel comfortable with (2000).
Beautiful scenery on I-70 in between Moab and Denver, highly recommended.
On our way back we stopped pretty much at the same spots that we used getting there but we took our time to make it last as much as possible. Visited the Sandia Peaks on Albuquerque, beautiful views from up there! We also spent 3 days a week after the 'tornado' hit New Orleans but everything was perfectly fine. Loved the food and music there, but by the 3rd day I was ready to leave.
The coach was AMAZING! the more I drive it, the more I love it.
I decided to balance the drive tires because of a little vibration I was experiencing on the back of the coach (I've found it because the microwave was vibrating and causing noise) so I stopped at a Love's in Alexandria, LA and they tried to remove the nuts from driving tire and tighten the nut instead of removing it and they broke it off. Wasn't happy because they said that it was like that when I got there but I have been driving at 70Mph before I got there so there was no chance that by me pulling the nut cap caused the nut breaking off from the wheel.
In the end after leaving New Orleans I stopped at another Love's and installed Centramatics to avoid balancing my wheels in the future, and I have to say that I should've done this as soon as I got the coach, it is probably known for some of you but to me was a complete revelation, no more vibration and the tires for some reason are even cooler now so pretty happy with this things.
All in all we did around 5000 miles on the coach and 2500 on the SUV. We all loved the drive and the places we visited.
Can't wait for next year! I started dreaming about driving north on I-95 and then crossing to Canada to drive all the way to the East coast and then down to San Diego and head back home. I'll prepare 2/3 months for next year and see if I can do that in that amount of time. One can only dream!
I wanted to post some pictures but they are in a format I don't know (HEIC) so will need to find out what is going on with that.
Found how to convert the photos.
1988 40ft Newell Classic
8V92 TA Mechanic
Allison 740 (4 speed)