Griffin RVing: Montrose Colorado to Moab Utah

Today was another one of our short drives, only 190 miles. It is warmer in Moab, 80 degrees today and forecast of 45 for tonight. Yesterday the high in Montrose was 70, last nite our over nite low was 37 degrees which has been the typical low there for the last week.

I am really glad I put Koni shocks on the Bus in Februrary, it makes a huge difference in terms of handling and how it handles the dips and undulations in the road. I thought the konis would be too stiff and give a harsh ride but they are not. The oem Sachs shocks were really bad and the Bus was hard to control at times.

Regarding the roads we traveled today. Highway 50 from Montrose to Delta was just fine. Highway 50 between Delta and Grand Junction has a lot of long dips/undulations in the road such that it caused the Bus to bounce pretty badly and we had to go slower than the posted speed limit which was between 55-65. Then on I70 from Grand Junction heading West the road was very rough in sections and it too had dips/undulations that caused the Bus to bounce. We only drive 65 on the interstates even though the posted speed is 75. At 65 the road was still too rough and in places we had to slow down to 55-60. Sometimes the road was smooth, but then it would quickly turn rough. As a comparison I10 in the Florida panhandle is a very smooth interstate road and great to drive on and I would rate that section of road a 10. I70 from Grand Junction to exit 182 in Utah was rough, and I would rate it about a 7.

Then we took 191 south from I70 to get to Moab, wow, a really rough road for the first 5 miles. Speed limit was 65 but we had to slow down to 55 and I would have driven slower but due to the traffic had to keep it at 55. Then we encountered a 4 lane section for about 5 miles which was really smooth and we then were able to drive the speed limit of 65 mph then we went back to a 2 lane road which was really rough again and back to 55 mph for about another 5 miles. The Bus was really shaking and the cabinets were rattling a lot. Then we encountered a newly repaved 2 lane section that was really smooth and allowed us to drive the speed limit of 65 mph again until we got into the northern city limits of Moab.

No steep climbs or descents today. Driving in the Rockies was challenging. Today was a "normal" day of driving. We are now at 4000 feet elevation. Our RV Park in Montrose was at 6000.

We are staying at Portal RV Park on the south side of the park, the newer section. Paved interior roads and all concrete pad for both the Bus and the car for $40.50 per night ( after 10% FMCA discount) plus taxes. As usual, there are tourist taxes to be paid. Sales tax is 7.85% then there is a Utah transient tax of 1.5%, then there is another County transient tax of 3%, (so basically a 4.5% tourist tax) so total taxes are 12.35%. Regardless, a very nice place to stay and we have a great view of the southern edge of Arches National Park and we have views of Red stone and Red mountains all around us.