Rawlins, WY, home of the early Wyoming state prison, is at an altitude of 6,700 to 6,900 ft where US287 leaves I-80. The town is about 50 miles east of one of the two"continental divides" that wend their way through the state, enclosing the Great Divide Basin.
We reached Rawlins mid-afternoon of the 17th and checked in to the Western Hills RV Park, a good choice. A line of mountain showers was active south and west of us, and it was breezy. Another couple, Art and Jo, in a Phaeton pulled in about the same time and parked two spaces away. They had been full-timing for 11 years, and we all sat outside having a good talk about the joys of having no stick home to worry about and all the things to see out on the road.
When the showers reached us, the wind started to blow fiercely and kicked up dust, but it was comfortable in the rig.
On the way east I had been bothered with shortness of breath in bed when I removed my cPAP machine early. I did some calculations and found that it added about 0.53 psi to the air in my lungs, so I made a resolution to keep with it during the night. That would make my effective altitude about 5,600 feet, near where I had been in Barr Lake.
My strategy worked, and I had a good night's rest. We decided to stay another night rather than race for lower elevations.
On Monday we drove on to Evanston, WY and stayed at the Phillips RV Park, another good selection we had enjoyed a couple of years back. Again we were at near 7,000 feet elevation, and the cPAP machine did its thing again.
Yesterday we drove across Utah to Wendover, NV and camped at an elevation of 4,400 ft. My breathing was decidedly easier, though I did use the cPAP during most of the night. The only problem is that the temperature is now about 15 degrees hotter than up at altitude in Wyoming.
So we plan 2 nights here, 2 nights in Winnemucca (4,300ft), and some time in Reno (4,400ft), and the forecast all along the way is for hot -- in the high 90s. I am now in a physical state where the altitude does make a difference, and that correlates inversely to the temperature this time of year. Bummer!
Sam Penny, the Prudent RVer (www.prudentrver.com)
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