Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » [GMCnet] Trip Report 20100708-11 RIC > Hershey PA and back (The Continuing Adventures of the Joll
| [GMCnet] Trip Report 20100708-11 RIC > Hershey PA and back (The Continuing Adventures of the Joll [message #92583] |
Mon, 19 July 2010 14:13  |
Eddie Pettit
Messages: 71
Registered: May 2009
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Ok, this was a relatively short trip, but the longest that the coach has
made -- 250 miles each way.
As you may recall, on it's last voyage, the coach lost the engine water
pump. It got us home so repairs were done in the driveway. I had one weekend
in which to repair the coach before the trip to Hershey. The repair process
took about 4.5 hours, spanned 2 days and involved using a thread repair kit
on one of the bolts -- it was a relatively easy exercise and I do mean
exercise because of the manner in which you have to twist, contort and hold
yourself above the hole in the floor where the engine is. With the repair
complete, I took two short (less than 10 miles) test drives and experienced
no leakage. I was quite pleased with myself and figured that I saved at
least $300.
We loaded up the coach on Wednesday night and my son, Zach, and I left early
Thursday morning even though we didn't need to be in Hershey until 5PM. We
stopped at Sam's for fuel before getting on the road. I put about 20 gallons
in at $2.41 a gallon. I haven't yet filled the coach up yet because the fill
hoses need to be replaces, however, I did notice that if you fill slowly
there isn't a leak up by the fill point. It also doesn't seam to leak in the
back near the tanks as well -- maybe at the cross-over for the tanks?
Anyway, that's a repair for a later date, but means that I can't track
mileage on these voyages.
We actually hit the road at around 8:15AM. We traveled up I95 towards DC,
traffic was relatively light since we were behind rush hour. That is, until
we got near Tysons Corner on the inner loop. That's when traffic came to a
stop for construction. We spent the next 20 minutes stopped and crawling
along at speeds approaching a scorching 15mph. By now, the air temperature
was above 90F, but the coach didn't seem to notice the slow travel combined
with the high temp as the stock temperature gauge only rose about 2
needle-widths. Once we cleared the construction, the gauge returned to
normal. Oh, now might be a good time to say that the dash AC is less than
impressive, we had the windows open. We weren't running the roof air because
we didn't have anyone following us and I notice a hot spot in the wood
directly above the generator. I can only guess that this was from one of the
PO's adventures and wasn't going to take any chances.
Initially, I was going to go around DC, then Baltimore and up I83 to
Hershey, however, once I got going, I decided that we'd go around DC, up
I270, then get on US15 and follow that to Hershey. We stopped just before
the PA border to add more fuel. I can't read the gas gauge fluctuates like
crazy going up and down hills so I can never really tell what's in the main
tank and what's in the auxiliary tank. I think I got a handle on it on the
way back. We put 20 gallons, @ $2.60 a gallon, in the tanks, grabbed some
hot dogs and let the dog do her business, which of course, she didn't... She
doesn't like to go when she's on the leash. After about 20 minutes, we got
back in and finished the journey.
We arrived in Hershey at around 1PM. We didn't have anything else to do so
we went to the KOA. When we got there we were told that there'd be an extra
$5 charged because check-in wasn't until 3PM. I reluctantly agreed, because
we had nothing else to do, but stated my displeasure and told the clerk that
I felt cheated. It's not like there were packed and would have to do
anything special to get me into a site, all they had to do was assign one
and show me on the map. They assigned me a spit on top of the hill and
charged my card. You know, it's funny how things work out... As I was
reviewing the charges and signing the slip, the clerk noted that the $5 fee
didn't appear on the bill and that she wasn't certain why, she had placed it
on their, but she couldn't make it stick... That gave me a little chuckle.
We left the office and went to the site assigned. It was a nice site, but
not very wide and a ways from the pond. I wanted to be near the pond so that
my daughter could fish if she wanted and still be within earshot. It turns
out that she didn't ask to fish the entire stay... So, I went back to the
office and asked for another spot, the next spot was wider and had a view of
the pond, so all was good. However, it was an upgrade and would cost more..
How much more you ask? $5. They got that extra $5 from me anyway, but I
didn't feel cheated.
My wife, Carolyn, had to work Thursday, so she was going to come up later in
the day with our daughter, Mercedes. That meant that I was going to have to
use the coach as a car for the first day, which isn't that big of a deal,
but meant that I couldn't setup completely until all of the running was
done. I setup the rv mat and overhead while Zach went played some mini golf
and took a shower. He didn't use the coach's shower because I still don't
have the water fixed yet, but the campground's showers are much larger
anyway and were quite clean for public showers. Once we were somewhat setup,
I took Zach to the Hershey Arena and dropped him off for his ice hockey
goalie camp, which was the whole purpose of the trip. I had to go into the
arena to ensure all paperwork was completed and that Zach was good to go,
while I did this I left the generator running for our dog in the coach. It
probably ran for about 30 minutes without problems, although, I planned
ahead and found a spot where I could leave the generator out and the
generator door propped open because of the above mentioned hot spot. Once
Zach was checked in, I went back to the KOA and finished setting up camp.
Carolyn and Mercedes had left RIC and were on their way up. Their arrival
time coincided with camp day's end so I set camp up completely.
Friday was a very hot day and the site had absolutely no shade, it was very
hot in the coach even with the roof air on. I attributed this to the lack of
blinds on the sides and the white roof vents. Once the sun goes down, even
if the temps stay high, the coach cools right down.
Saturday was a rainy cool day. We found that we have two leaks in the coach,
I could clearly see one by the right window near the door. The other was in
the back, on the right, dripping off a piece of aluminum that runs the
length of the coach, so there's no telling where that's coming from... I do
know that it's not coming from the new roof vents. I haven't yet installed
the headliner in the rear and there wasn't any moisture around the vent back
there. It's probably leaking at one of the bathroom or refrigerator vents on
that side of the coach. A problem for another time.
Sunday was the day to come home. Problem was, check out was at 11AM and my
son's camp wasn't over until 5PM. That by itself wouldn't be a problem but
we had two dogs with us and temps were back up in the mid-90s. We drove the
coach to Hershey and parked it by the Arena. Again, I parked where I could
leave the generator out and the door open. I can't remember what all we did,
but we did look at another campground closer to Hershey Park, but didn't
like it as much as the KOA, even though they had better sites, the campers
weren't our type.
We had returned to the coach a couple times during this waiting period to
check on the generator. We made our final return to the Arena at around 4PM,
the generator humming along and the dogs were relatively cool in the coach,
which was in direct sunlight. It'd be another hour before we would finally
leave and start our way home.
Our trip home began with Carolyn following me in the Edge, she drove up
separately, we haven't yet set it up for flat towing and didn't bother
renting a dolly or a trailer for the return trip. To me, this just meant
that I could run the generator while someone followed behind me to watch for
smoke since I couldn't leave the tray out and it'd have a chance to heat up
in the little generator compartment. We stopped at Hoss's before we left and
ate before the final journey. Once we were full we continued the journey
with the generator powering the roof air and the dash air on. It wasn't cool
in the coach, but it was about 80F, which I don't think was bad because we
were in direct sunlight for a few more hours. At some point, the generator
stopped because the fuel was low, as I understand it, the generator runs off
the auxiliary tank. I believe this happened somewhere around the time the
sun was going down because I never noticed it getting hot in the coach, even
though it was 90F outside, it was actually cool with just the dash air once
the sun went down.
This has gotten a lot longer than I had initially imagined it would be,
maybe that's why I put it off for so long... Anyway, we got home without
issue and I spent the past weekend installing blinds in the front. I have
some for the rear as well and hope to have them installed by this weekend's
trip. It's forecast to be a hot one, mid to upper 90s again. We'll be
leaving for Virginia Beach on Friday and returning on Sunday, about 125
miles each way.
Photos of the journey can be found here. I've set it up so everyone can view
them even if you don't have a Facebook account.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26511&id=1789817178&l=907a6baa48
Eddie Pettit
Midlothian VA
73 GMC -- the Jolly Roger
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