hondo in seattle

Thanks to everyone for the timely and useful advice!!! I've downloaded the Mountain Guide and am looking at milebymile, Trip Wizard, and more closely at Google Maps. All these help. To answer some questions... I've been afraid of heights all my life though until now I've managed it pretty well. Like bigjim, my fear seems to be growing with age. I only bought my 38 foot class A motorhome a few months ago. It's the first vehicle I've owned bigger than a car and this is our first big trip. We don't have any towing gear yet so my wife is following me in the SUV. Stupidly, I planned 3 weeks in Oregon and Northern California zigzagging across the Coastal Range, Cascades and Sierra Nevadas. And I've been unpleasantly surprised by how much driving the RV triggers my fear of heights. Instead of gaining confidence with every mountain pass I successfully navigate, the discomfort and stress seems just seems to accumulate. So, somewhat weirdly, I'm now more nervous driving the car on mountain roads than I used to be. I feel like I've surpassed my mountain road quota but still have to drive north out of South Lake Tahoe and eventually west over the Cascades again. I'll get it done but won't enjoy it. But, with your help, maybe I can figure out a route that doesn't cause my cortisol level to skyrocket. Thanks again all! Zulu - the pic you shared gives me nightmares!

I don't actually view myself as a terrible coward. I've scuba dived... been attacked by drugged up knife wielding maniacs... rappelled down a 160 foot vertical cliff... led soldiers into combat. But all that was a piece of cake compared to driving a RV on a mountain road! I'm camped on the west side of the Sierra Nevadas right now dreading my trip back home to Seattle via Tahoe and other scenic spots. Yesterday I took CA HWY 49 past CA 120 to CA 140 to avoid the infamous Priest Grade on my way to Yosemite. I ended up on a narrow hillside road with no shoulder or guardrails and a drop (though not nearly vertical) of 100+ feet. I was zooming along at 5 or 10 mph for miles, thinking how I would sell my RV here locally and drive the SUV back home as fast as I could. Once in Iraq, I found myself driving in a minefield. Driving on HWY 49, to me, was much scarier. And I was in the foothills of the Sierras, not in the mountains themselves. Driving my car. My question to the group is how do I know in advance what roads are scary. To me a scary road is a road with drop-offs. To compound my terror, make it narrow and leave out the guardrails. I have a trucker GPS app but that tells me grades, clearances and so forth - not fear factor. I don't mind a grade and a corner as long as the road isn't near a cliff. Any suggestions or advice?