PaHunter's Great Big Gulf Adventure Trip Report

Amazing that you made it half way across the country and the hose stayed on. Glad you caught it before it blew off completely.

j
 
Amazing that you made it half way across the country and the hose stayed on. Glad you caught it before it blew off completely.

j

Guess running bobtail, I was not generating the engine heat. And well yesterday's hill climb was a steep one. Waiting on the hardware store to open, hose clamp and we are on our way.
 
Be safe. See you soon.

I agree that it's hard to believe that it didn't blow off. Figured even without a load it would have blow apart.
 
Be safe. See you soon.

I agree that it's hard to believe that it didn't blow off. Figured even without a load it would have blow apart.

Sadly that was not it, totally. Happened again today, but we can not figure out where it is coming from. Seems to occur when the fan unit kicks on, ugh.
 


So my hope is to get out of here about 7, 730, maybe 8 in the morning. Think the directions were showing about 6 hours left, not including any stops. We took on fuel and def today, so we have no worries there. See everyone tomorrow, get your tickets for your seats and get them early, sorry no over 55 discounts, and no refunds.
 
I've got my ponchos out and ready Chris.

It only runs hot when fan kicks in? Is the water level dropping in the reserve by chance?

Holler if you get into any issues and I'll form a crew and meet you if needed.
 


I drove in today Chris from Tuscaloosa and picked up I65 in Montgomery and rode it down to exit 37. No problems other than traffic.

6 hours should be plenty unless you have a food stop or a couple other breaks.

See you then.

Bama Ed
 
I've got my ponchos out and ready Chris.

It only runs hot when fan kicks in? Is the water level dropping in the reserve by chance?

Holler if you get into any issues and I'll form a crew and meet you if needed.

Yes the level in the reservoir drops, we have been topping it off. Seems from an online search last night, it may have something to do with the compressor being bad ? Or internal engine issues, I am hoping maybe just compressor. Seems it can be driven this way, just have to keep a closer eye on it. When it runs hot enough for the fan to kick in is when it seems to blow all the coolant out the overflow. After the fan kicked in both times this trip is when it showed coolant critical. So we stopped and sure enough, was below the minimum level with spray patterns on to the inside of the hood, on both ends, of the radiator. one being the overflow, the other maybe from the cap. Just guesses on my part here. :teacher:

But we are up, :coffee: getting some food, and will be hooking up and on our way. See you all later in the day. To the others traveling today, safe travels. :drive:
 
Randy and Chris,

Both of your sites are open and empty.

ED
 
Chris,

Check (or replace) the radiator cap. It sounds like it is weak and opening at too low a pressure. That will fill (and overfill) the overflow and potentially spray around the cap, leaving the pattern you see.

j
 
Now from there, we left to head down to Gulf Shore SP. The trip down, pretty uneventful, until we got to the last stretch of highway 59. All right, who thought it would be a good idea to put a traffic light, every 10 feet ?? Oh my, and the traffic....OK. I know it was Friday of the holiday weekend, but, there were like 10 million cars, and we were the only ones with a camper ???

Sit down and grab your popcorn, popcorn:: here is where the story gets good......:banana:
 
So we had finally gotten thru town, my navigator was well, occupying the passenger seat anyway. We get to the state park, and DW says, take a left, OK, I does. She says, half a mile make a right, well about 3 miles later and I am coming to a sign that says Park Exit....So we pull in to the park office. Nice lady in there says, go back the way you came. What ?? Have you seen the traffic in front of your building, oh yea, and my set up is a bit bigger than most. So she sends us around the country block. Oh yea, maybe I should have bought that GPS.
And.....look at that, I am back on super crowded Highway 59 again. Of course at this point Flametamr sends me a text, where are you ?? Well we took a tour of the park.
Second time around we got it right, and ended up at the campground office. We got checked in and meet with Flametamr who was then so gracious to lead us to our campsite. Wow, this is better service than I get at Disney.
 
Chris would love to hear your impression of Ft Chiswell I've looked over the website and am considering it. For now I am looking at KOA in Charlottesville in Sept. to see if it will work when my nephew gets married next year.
 
So with Flametamr leading the way on his bicycle we round the corner, :cheer2::jumping1::cheer2::welcome::cheer2:

and there is the Disboards welcoming committee all sitting on Tiggerdad's site to watch me roll on by. Now of course everyone wants to watch me back in to this site, as it is the first time I have had to back this rig in.

I was provided with a very capable ground guide, and we got it backed in to the site.....almost. :faint:

You see, I got the very shady site:umbrella:. The only problem was I had a vent cover in the way of a big ole tree limb. So now it was time to jockey the trailer around, and by now the group had moved from their original seats down to be close to the action.

It may be legal to ride in a fifth wheel in Alabama, but I am not sure on the legality of Surfing on top of one ???:confused3

But when all was said and done, we were in our spot and had our rig nestled right there.

20180525_170512_resized.jpg
 
Chris would love to hear your impression of Ft Chiswell I've looked over the website and am considering it. For now I am looking at KOA in Charlottesville in Sept. to see if it will work when my nephew gets married next year.

We adore Fort Chiswell. We have stayed there before on the way to and from Disney. It is close to the highway, great ease of access, but when in it you do not hear the highway. They were adding 10 sites when we arrived. Right now they have a big influx of Electric workers living there, but they were well behaved. The sites are plenty big, and most down the main area have shade.
 
So now that the hard part was over, we commenced with the introductions all around. :chat:

The group then dispersed giving us time to set up our rig and get ready for dinner down on BamaEd's site.
 

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