Me and Dave's mini-rally

[MyronL]

My beloved 18 year old Tahoe is now traded in and gone (sniff) no doubt to the great Parts Rally in the sky. So it was Corrales Dave and me, Escape-19-ing over the weekend with spouses and dogs. We did a very-mini-rally to Northern New Mexico, Heron Lake SP. Nancy brought the home-made blueberry pie, Cheryl did the enchiladas and the cookies. Great company and common interests aside, this was also the first ever time I am towing my E-19 with a new tow, the 2014 Silverado LS pick-up crew cab.

It is a 5.3L V-8, 4WD. I just brought it home a few days earlier. Performance so far as expected; no issues. Actual towing miles this weekend was 345. Chevy’s amazing (to me) dashboard electronics display claimed total average fuel consumption was 16.6 mpg. The engine switches seamlessly from 8 to 4 cylinders. The 6-speed auto tranny is also a manual on-demand tranny and there’s a towing mode governor. What a quiet, roomy, comfortable tow!

I used the stinger that Escape provided from off the Tahoe. Saw immediately trailer level bubble was too far to the front - trailer tongue was canted slightly up, but we towed anyway. A bigger issue arose when de-hitching. The ball was hung up into the cup. It took serious persuasion to uncouple. I do not and did not feel any need for a weight distribution apparatus.

Saturday we took a non-towing day trip high and deep (all gravel) into the San Juan National Forest of Pagosa Springs area. Much fun driving. Must go back there. At camp, Dave saved my bacon twice. I could not unfurl the canopy. Did not know how to de-clamp the track clamps. He and Cheryl also rolled my canopy back up for me while we were gone for the day when a big windstorm swept in. Lesson learned. I owe ya, Dave.

Drove 565 total miles.

[JohnB]

Sorry to hear about the passing of your 18 year old tow. They don't make em like they used to!
The fun just never stops when you can Escape.
Great story Myron, keep sending in your exploits.

[MyronL]

Ya, Roger that, JB.

Here's pictures of my campsite, and Dave's campsite, which was a mere 30 yards down the road. I felt for the guy. Poor fellow had to deal with all that drive-through space on his. When time came to re-hitch I had fun using the little back up camera built into Silvey's tailgate.

Note I set up my home-boy tv antenna mast on the bumper. Alas, we must have been in a dead spot. Zero channels. So we missed Blue Bloods, and the Belmont Stakes. Dinner with Dave and Cheryl more than made up for that.

Though during the day it got to 87 degrees inside the trailer we did not miss not having an air conditioner. Maxi fan pulled nice breezes in, and at night the temp dropped 40 degrees.