Sunday, December 30, 2018

Heading back North: squeezing in a mini New-Year's vaca....

Hello everyone! We're on our way back from the outlaws and are working our way north from Florida back up the east coast. We decided to try and make a short stop in St. Augustine for New Years. The folks at the St. Augustine KOA were really cool in helping us find a spot to camp on such short notice. 


Just a quick pic at one of two fast food stops before heading into St. Augustine. Heaven forbid we just skip the burger and fries!
We made it to another KOA! Carburetor issues seem to be the main focus of the day... both on the Onan and the 454.
 On the road up from south Florida we experienced the same surging of the engine while cruising on the highway. At the same time, the Onan was continually shutting down so I pulled into a rest area to adjust the Onan's carb and on the way back onto the highway the engine nearly conked out from all the hesitation and backfiring. Nearly all at once, the exhaust barked out a couple of times and she came to life. Drove very well and the vacuum gauge showed a jump of at least 5-6 pounds from what we were getting prior to the blow out. My last math showed we also got about 7.5 mpg compared to the dismal 5.3 mpg on the way down with the carb issues not resolved.

Typical lineup of campers and RV's when we visit. We're the oldest rig in the place.

The beach at St. Augustine near the KOA was just a 3/4 mile walk away. Great day at the end of the year to hit the beach. 80F degrees out and the water was pretty chilly! New Years Festival on the pier tomorrow evening.
 Hope everyone had a good Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Years in 2019! Thanks for reading and be sure to check out the videos on the YouTube channel under The Vintage RV'er.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Road Trip 2.0: Three Days on the Road....

Hello all from Sunny Florida because we managed to make it down here! We spent Saturday heading down and overnighted in a Flying J in VA. That was a cold night! Glad to have the heater working on that night.

Second day had us heading down into SC were we stopped near Lake Santee, nice KOA there right off I-95. We had much nicer weather and the sunset was wonderful after a somewhat stressful day of stopping for gas only to have the rig do a "click, no-start" right after filling up! Nothing like turning the key and having NOTHING happen.... A battery swap, checking wires, etc. and finally she came back to life for the rest of the trip.  Needless to say, I didn't shut her down until we parked at the campground. Next morning, the same. A jump start later we were off for day three.

Second evening after that no-start. Glad to have the warmer weather and scenery....

Pulled into Apopka about 20 mins before closing time on Christmas Eve! Glad to have made it! Again, oldest rig in the place!

If you haven't read the old blog from 2015 where we wound up stranded in FL, you may not appreciate the almost PTSD reaction (would not say it was that because I don't want to insult anyone) from listening to any noise, or blip, anything that could signal a breakdown. The engine hesitation was the newest thing happening but I believe it's due to water in the gas from taking the last fuel from that one station the day before.

Hoping for better results tomorrow am! The no-start issue appears to be a worn neutral safety switch, fiddling with the gearshift appears to solve the issue. One is available nearby for pick up, so hope that a simple swap later will correct that issue.

Happy RV'ing All and Merry Christmas and Happy New Years from the Vintage RV'er! Check out the YouTube Channel for video versions of this blog.


Thursday, December 20, 2018

The Weather Outside is Frightful....

I've been watching the weather the last few days, just like a flight controller making sure that all systems are go and the conditions are right to launch. Looks like we will just squeak through a narrow window of weather....
Just love seeing this stuff on the web....


So I have the destination plugged in for weather and it shows severe thunderstorms in the morning. What???? It's as if Mother Nature has about had it at the end of 2018.

Okay. so I'm supposed to feel soooo confident driving down into this? Hey, I'm all about into having fun but I lived in FL for 3 years and wasn't so thrilled about the severe weather back in the '80's.

I guess we will just make sure we drive safely and do what we can to make it to Orlando next week....

Monday, December 17, 2018

T-minus 5 days and Counting! Road Trip 2.0

It's just past the middle of December and a couple of big snow events later since the November post. The snow is gone again and I've been busy getting the RV ready to go on the road.
November snowstorm. About 11 inches that day. Will be glad to have a break from Winter!

The trip plans are about the same and I'd like to avoid any really big hills on the way down. Don't know if that's going to be possible but will try.

This blog took a back seat to the YouTube channel the last couple of months, showing the repair and upgrade work being done to get the LH 2 ready to go. Furnace, genset both gave me issues that are now resolved.

Along with a fixed furnace and genset is a new set of wheel bling for the road trip! Just like the original ones!

You can watch the progress here:  TheVintageRV'er YouTube Channel

I'll be posting videos of the trip starting Saturday or Sunday (Dec 22-23) if all works as intended. Day 2 is going to be the BIG part of the trip from MD to SC but hope that's on more flat terrain.