Sat, Jun 8, 2013

STATS
Departure: Tucumcari, New Mexico
Arrival: Gallup, New Mexico
Miles: 319 miles
Travel Time: 7 hours

Yesterday I talked about the El Reno tornado that struck on May 31. Today, I can talk about another tornado, one that we experienced—well, I guess it was a little smaller than a full-blown (pun intended) tornado, it’s not like it could have carried me to Oz. All right, it was a dust devil. But those things are strong little b*****s. We drove pretty much the whole length of New Mexico today, and the wind was rockin’ the boat. More than once, my seven or eight tons of RV and tow-car were blown out of my lane. It’s rather disconcerting when you’re in the slow lane, and your RV starts moving onto the shoulder by itself.

Anyway, I was driving, and we were ascending a long upgrade (that means going up a hill). I was pushing the RV to go as fast as it could, and it was huffing and puffing and slowing down as we got closer to the top. I swear I could hear it chanting, “I think I can, I think I can.” We were about half-way up (long way to go yet), and I saw dust swirling about a hundred yards off the road to my right. I pointed it out to Barbara, because I thought it was really interesting to see a dust devil being born so close to us. It looked like it was picking up speed—and more dust—and moving toward the interstate. I did a quick calculation in my head and figured (read “hoped”) that I could outrun it. I pushed my foot to the floor, and the RV responded. Not the way I had hoped, though. It continued to slow down, and I swear I heard it laugh. Then the dust devil hit us on the front of the cab. The RV shook, I heard a rock hit somewhere on the driver’s door (interesting, since the twister came from the right), and we started moving toward the shoulder, beyond which was a rather disturbing drop-off.

Just as quickly as it had hit, it was over. I eased the juggernaut back into the slow lane, and it lumbered up to the top of the hill. On the way down the other side, I could hear it trying to catch its breath.

I turned to Barbara and said, “Wow!” (The size of my vocabulary sometimes amazes me.) She didn’t say anything, just sat there staring straight ahead with this strange look on her face. It was a cross between “Did that really just happen,” “Am I dead,” and “Would you please drop me off at the nearest airport.” She stayed that way for what seemed an eternity but was probably only three or four seconds. Then she threw her head back and a guttural, almost animal cry emitted from her mouth, and she shouted, “Ahhhhhhhh! When will the adventure end?”

Well, not yet.

A little later, Barbara was driving, and the RV started losing power. Remember that northern New Mexico is high desert. Tucumcari, where we started this morning, has an elevation of about 4000 feet. As you go west, the elevation rises up to 7300 feet at the continental divide. I had noticed that the engine didn’t seem to have as much power as it should, but I attributed it to the altitude and the constant climbing we had been doing all day. It was never as bad as Barbara experienced, though. We limped to a gas station, and when I removed the gas cap, there was a rush of air into the gas tank. My theory is that somehow the gas cap got clogged, and air couldn’t get into the tank. The engine couldn’t get the gas it needed. Since then, the engine seems to be working okay. I’m hoping it will stay that way until we get home. Otherwise, it will mean trip number four to a Camping World.

Oh, and Barbara’s fine now. She’s lying down on the bed in the back, mumbling something about munchkins and mechanics. Every once in a while a single word will come through loud and crystal clear.

I can’t repeat those.