Lessons Relearned

We had a very relaxed drive to Gunnison, CO.  The KOA campground there was intended to be our base for visiting Black Canyon of the Gunnison, but it turns out it is about 60 miles past the park entrance.  Since the RV was too long to take to the park we decided to camp and then backtrack with only the truck.

Along the way we had a close up view of a black bear as it ran across the road in front of us.  A very big animal.  It headed down hill to the river, past an RV campground.  We also saw a herd of bighorn sheep, probably a dozen or so, right on the road.

We had not filled the fuel tank before we left, and for various reasons (excuses) we passed up opportunities to fill up.  The warning light came on that indicated we only had six gallons of diesel left, but since we only need to drive 40 miles and as that was enough fuel to drive 70 miles, as since we had no real choice we kept going. 

At one point as she was driving, Terri complained about how the truck was shifting gears.  I felt it was due to the steep up/down grades and how the tow-haul setting on the truck worked.  Within two miles, the truck completely lost power.  Terri had the pedal floored, and we were going about 10mph.  Then the check engine light came on.  Luckily there was a very big turn out and we stopped to assess our situation.  I used my PPE gadget to read the diagnostic code, but as always we were out of cell phone signal to translate the code into English.  This time it made no real difference, as it was 0087 that I remembered as low fuel pressure from earlier in our trip.  I reset the code.

As we were trying to figure out what to do, a tow truck driver pulled up and asked if we needed help.  He suggested that we should back up in the pull out and give it a try, and he would follow us and make sure we were OK.  The truck seemed "normal" so we kept going.  We made it to the KOA, set up the RV, and then went out to fill the tank.  It took over 30 gallons, indicating we still had four gallons. 

Early on the trip we "learned" the lesson of managing our fuel to not run low.  Given the hills we were climbing, the braking and accelerating we were doing, six gallons of fuel sloshing around in a 34 gallon tank was just not enough for a reliable fuel flow.

The Gunnison KOA is very nice.  All the sites are grass covered.  We are in a double wide pull through so there is a  lot of room to sit outside with the puppies.  They also have a large fenced in dog walk area for the dogs to fun around in.  The temperature is cooler than we thought it might be.  Currently 56 with an expected high of 86.