Hello, Jay. I just made the trip from MI. to AZ. in nearly the same coach as yours, only a year older, mine is an '05. I can't tell you about the trans gauge, because I took it out and installed a Pyrometer, because the tranny gauge didn't seem to work anyway. The water temp gauge, didn't read as high as yours, but I kept an eye on the Aladdin system. The highest I saw on the Aladdin, was 193. I did have a problem climbing the hill out of Albuquerque, she blew the intake hose, between the down pipe and the Charge Air Cooler. After finding the problem, 3-4 inch hose clamps fixed it and we finished the trip unobstructed. BTW, I really like my Beaver!
Dale