What Is That Odor?

Today we had a pleasant experience as we left Corning, California and proceeded north on I-5. The road was more or less decent and the smoke detector stayed on the ceiling and the remainder of our fillings stayed in our teeth! Skies were overcast and we had an easy day until we got into the Siskiyou Mountains. Northern California and Southern Oregon have some mountains that have several mile climbs and descents of up to 6%. That doesn't sound like much but our gas burner doesn't do well going downhill. The coach wants to run and the engine and transmission don't do a good job of holding her back like a diesel would. As we descended into Ashland, Oregon we encountered a couple of runaway truck ramps, exits filled with gravel to stop vehicles with burned out brakes. We passed one sign that advised that the runaway ramp was 2 miles ahead and we discussed how it must feel to be in a vehicle that you could not stop and know you had to negotiate the s-turn downhill road and avoid the other traffic as well for another two minutes!. Then a few minutes later we came around a turn and there was an eighteen wheeler in the runaway ramp! We were really surprised, especially as we noted that the driver was still in the rig and looked like he was in a state of shock. The incident must have occurred just seconds before we arrived! The furrows in the gravel indicated that the truck had stopped in about 20 feet! It must have been like a cable arrest in a carrier landing. That truck must have reeked with the smell of burned brakes and fear! What do you think? Remember to test your brakes and shift into a lower gear! Be safe.