Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Trip Report and some Thank Yous (Trip Report and some Thank Yous)
| Trip Report and some Thank Yous [message #266938] |
Sun, 30 November 2014 09:32  |
jknezek
Messages: 1057
Registered: December 2007
Karma:
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Our Thanksgiving trip has successfully ended, even if it wasn't without a few hiccups. We once again loaded the coach with 3 small kids, a parrot, a large dog, and my wife and I for the trip from Birmingham AL to the east side of Lake Okeechobee. Day 1 involved a 2:15 a.m. departure and we smoothly sailed with sleeping family to Tallahassee. A quick breakfast stop and we were back on the road when we hit our first snag.
Showers north of Gainesville led to the discovery of a dead electric wiper motor. I pulled Ken H. away from his lunch for a quick discussion and an attempt to secure a replacement. Thank you Ken for your reassurance. No dice until the next day, and the trip couldn't wait. So I Rain-X'd the windshield and we moved on. If you haven't Rain-X'd your windshield I can tell you that we passed through heavy storms with no problem as everyone else furiously used wipers. I prefer wipers, but Rain-X was a wonderful backstop so long as we kept moving at 30mph+.
A late afternoon arrival in Tampa after 11 hours on the road had camp set up and a wonderful motor home dinner. The next day was a nice visit with my wife's maternal grandparents who, despite both being over/under 90 were easily able to climb into a lowered coach for a trip to lunch. After dropping them back off, we headed out over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. 40+ mph crosswinds and the big signs saying "High Wind Advisory, Trucks Use Alternative Route" were minor obstacles. We white knuckled our way over the bridge before setting off across Florida's cattle country.
Snag number 2 developed as the transmission started shifting early and then slipping between second and third. A quick call to Jim Bounds, who answered his phone on a Sunday, suggested vacuum problems, either the hose or the modulator. I was able to successfully shift using manual, so we proceeded to the in-laws place in Indiantown FL.
Monday had me scurrying out to Okeechobee, about 30 miles back the way we came, for my annual visit with Jeff at Alex Sirum's. The transmission wouldn't repeat its problems, but we changed some rubber hose, fluid and filter, looked into some other squeaks and squeals, and spent a nice day puttering around and learning things. After being poked and prodded, the coach then rested while I replaced the bad wiper motor, put on some new geegaws I picked up, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Nothing beats a good cajun fried turkey!
Our return journey started Saturday morning at 7:15 CST. The coach ran great, the traffic did not. At 1p.m. CST we finally hit I10 and gassed up. 2 hours later as we approached the turn to Dothan, my wife and I discussed our options. We were still 4.5 hours from home, it was getting late, and Sunday after Thanksgiving traffic was going to be even worse than Saturday.
Instead of camping, we stopped for food and gas on the northern outskirts of Dothan and decided to put the kids to bed and press on through to home. The coach ran well, something still needs to be addressed with the transmission as I think the vacuum modulator needs to be replaced, but we arrived safely in the driveway at 10:30 CST. The kids were transferred to the house and my wife and I went to bed.
After 1500 miles and more hours underway than I recommend at any one time, we completed our trip with only minor issues. The GMC remains my favorite way to travel with small kids. Nothing beats an easy to drive house on wheels!
Thanks to Ken H., Jim B., and Jeff S., for all the help underway. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and for those that were out and about I hope you arrive safely, happily and on time from wherever you ventured.
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
|
|
|
|
Current Time: Wed Nov 20 10:39:41 CST 2024
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.00860 seconds
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
