nothing special motorhome thread

[Nothing Special]

I've put stuff about some of our motorhome trips in the "what have you done..." thread, but I thought it might be fun to start my own thread.  This really is nothing special, it's not just my screen name.  We drive around in a motorhome, stay in campgrounds and do some fun stuff, sometimes with my '71 Bronco but often without it.  Still, it's been fun to share and I've had enough positive feedback that I decided I'd go for it.

We just got back from a week-long trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.  And this might be a good time to mention that Lesley is a self-admitted Disney Freak.  I'm not that, but I'm certainly an enabler!  We like Disney.  A lot.  Our motorhome decorations are HEAVILY Disney-inspired and Disney trips are not uncommon.

This trip was pretty spontaneous by Fort Wilderness standards.  Fort Wilderness is the on-property campground at Disney World and it fills up a long time in advance.  But a month or two ago we were able to get reservations for Monday night through Thursday night.  Weekends nights weren't available, but that worked pretty well for us driving from Minnesota.  We left Friday after work and got home around noon on Sunday.  With parts of four days to drive down and almost three full days to drive home we could take an easier pace and not burn me out so much (Lesley doesn't drive the motorhome).  Plus we got to spend Saturday evening and Sunday morning on the drive down with Lesley's brother in Nashville, which was nice.

We decided we needed another trip because this last year has been tough (like it's been for most people).  With the health issues I've been dealing with since March (that I talked more about in my Bronco thread) we thought we should do it.  And I will say that when taking a road trip while dealing with urinary tract issues, a motorhome is the only way to "go"!  'Nuff said on that.

We tow the Bronco on a lot of our motorhome trips, but not this one.  We've found no need to have a car when we're staying on property at Disney World.  Instead we just brought our bikes so we could ride around the campground.  We could take Disney buses as well.

Here's our first "camp site."  Being able to park a motorhome in a rest area makes it so much easier and quicker to stop for the night than checking into a motel.  But rest stops in the eastern US are a lot easier than those in the west.  The western ones are a lot smaller and it can be hard to find a space.


On this trip we decided to keep it a little slower paced.  Along with the 4 and 3 day drives (we've usually done it in 2 days each way) we didn't go to any of the Disney parks on this trip.  Mini golfing has been a popular family vacation event for us for us since our kids were little.  Or should I say "Minnie" golfing in this case?  Anyway, we've never taken the time to do that on a Disney World trip before, but we got a couple rounds in this time.


This gives you a little idea of what the campground is like, as well as a glimpse of our motorhome decorations.  Fort Wilderness Campground is 50 year old, and campers today are a lot bigger than they were 50 years ago.  Our motorhome isn't that big (nominally 28') but some bigger rigs have a hard time getting in and out.  And the characters in the windshield represent our family.  Mickey and Minnie are me and Lesley, Chip and Dale are our sons, Lady and Stitch are our son's wife and girlfriend (one per son!) and the two Plutos are our dogs.  (Olaf and Sven don't represent anyone, but they're too darn cute to leave out.)


While we didn't go to any Disney parks, we did go to Universal Studios to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter one day.  That's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time (I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan too) and this seemed like a good time to fit it in.  So here's Hogwarts castle.


While Harry Potter fit into the schedule well, the weather didn't make it a great fit.  Temps were actually about the same in Orlando as they were in Minnesota, with highs in the low 90s.  But while Minnesota had dew points ranging from the 40s to the 60s, Orlando had 80 degree dew points, giving heat indexes over 100.  It was hot!  So we had to consume a few Butterbeers to keep our fluids up while at Hogwarts.  And yes, that's a Disney T-shirt and hat.  But nowhere near as flagrant as many were wearing there.


We didn't bring our dogs, but since Pluto is my favorite Disney character Lesley had to take this picture.  This T-shirt is worth mentioning too.  I bought it on the first trip we took to Disney World in October of 1999.  They were starting to sell "2000" merchandise by then, and Lesley thought we should buy that.  But I told her that "2000" would be really cool for a few months, but having merch from the previous millennium would get even cooler as years went by!  I don't wear white T-shirts much (they don't go well with working on trucks) so this one is lasting.


Then it was time to head home.  "Camping" in a rest stop in northern Georgia required running the generator all night so we could use the AC (first time we've done that, although we do use the AC when we're plugged in).  And if anyone wonders why they're called the Smoky Mountains...


So that was our trip.  Even though we stretched out the driving there were still some long days:  294, 614, 491 and 206 miles per day driving down and 512, 768 and 313 heading home.  We had no issues with the motorhome (typical, but not always the case).  We averaged 8.5 mpg on this trip, which is the best we've done if you don't count a couple of trips that were less than one tank of gas so probably can't be trusted.  Not towing the Bronco and not pushing the speed limit since we had more time both helped there.  Previous trips have been as low as 6.5 mpg, and our overall average since getting this motorhome in 2017 is 7.6.

[grumpin]

That’s cool! What fun!

We were in Disneyland in 2005. Space Mountain was closed for renovation. It was fun. Our kids were 12, 9 and 5.

[Nothing Special]

Those ages are perfect for taking kids to Disney World!

I went a couple of times in the '70s as a kid with my family.  Lesley and I went once before kids.  Then we took our kids in '99, '02 and '05 (kids ages 4&5, 7&8 and 10&11).  And we've gone as empty-nesters in 2018, 2020 (got home about 2 weeks before Disney World closed due to Covid) and now in 2021.  Plus we have another trip booked for this fall!

The first trip with our kids was in a borrowed pop-up tent trailer.  That trip convinced us we needed a camper.  The next two were in a slide-in pickup camper, and the empty-net trips have all been in the motorhome.  All of those trips we stayed in Fort Wilderness.

[Gary Lewis]

Bob - That sounds like an amazing trip.  And save for the 700+ mile day, the driving looks reasonable.  Hopefully that day was one where you were on the super-slab with few big cities, although if you went through Nashville you may have had to navigate Atlanta.  

We, too, have slowed down on how far we drive in a day, especially when driving back-to-back days, and 600 miles is towards the upper limit.  But then, I'm 74 so you still have more slowing down to do.  

Janey and I made it to Disney Land in about '72 as we were driving the new '72 F250 w/a slide-in camper on it.  And we did Disney World about 5 years ago with our whole family to celebrate the 3 grandchild's first birthday.  And then we did the Disney cruise two years ago for our 50th wedding anniversary with the whole family.  Janey and I like Disney, but our daughter and daughter-in-law love it.  However, I don't think they've decorated quite to the extent you have.  

Anyway, thanks for sharing.  It makes me want to do a road trip.  Oh wait, I am in about a month.  

[Nothing Special]

Back when we were going with our kids we drove straight through.  That worked great because it shortened the trip up a lot for the kids, and it was possible because we split the driving so we could both get some sleep on the trip.  But a pickup with a slide-in camper is pushing Lesley's comfort zone.  Her driving a motorhome isn't going to happen.

In 2020 we drove back in 2 days of 747 and 834 miles.  I can still do that, but it just isn't worth it any more.  The 700+ mile day on this trip wasn't that bad.  We got going when we woke up (no setting an alarm and hurrying).  I mostly set the speed control at about 65 (going a little slower than most traffic makes it easier instead of constantly changing lanes in a vehicle with big blind spots) and I quit when I wanted to quit (instead of NEEDING to get to a certain point to make it possible to get home the next day).  So even though it was a long day, it wasn't stressful, so it wasn't hard to cover a lot of ground.  Hey, I can sit in the driver's seat as easily as I can sit on the couch!

As to the big cities, yes, Atlanta and Nashville are the issues on our route.  We've found that going around Atlanta to the west on 285 and going around Nashville to the east on 155 is a lot easier.  Maybe no quicker, but definitely less stressful with fewer times that you don't know what lane you need to be in.  And we got through Atlanta pretty late Friday evening, and went around Nashville around noon on Saturday.  So probably not bad times and separated into two days, which was nice.


On the Disnification of our motorhome, you should see our house and T-shirt drawers!  Back when we did our first Disney cruise in 2015 (I've been on 4 now and Lesley on 5, and we have another booked for March) Lesley found a Facebook group of Disney crafters.  At that time she said to me "some of these people are just freaks!"  Then a year or so ago she said "Remember when i said those people were freaks?  I think I might be getting there."  I told her she had nothing to worry about.  She wasn't "getting there" anymore, she'd long since arrived!


edit to add:  Another thing that made that 700+ mile day possible was stopping to take a nap once.  Traveling in a motorhome makes that easy.  And as I pointed out above, not needing to take time to find and check into a motel makes it easy to keep driving right up to bed time.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, back in the day I used to drive long distances.  My son and I drove from my home town in KS to where we lived in SE PA straight through by taking turns driving.  But while Janey drove our '72 F250 w/the 9 1/2' self-contained camper on it, that was "back in the day" as well and she hasn't even driven Blue, much less Big Blue.  So the driving falls on me and "a man's got to know his limitations".  

On our recent trip where we drove from OK to Charleston, Palm Beach, and back I considered taking Big Blue.  But when we got to Atlanta and I had to change lanes constantly, and quickly, I was extremely glad we were in the GLK that drives like a go kart.

As for Nashville, since our daughter and family lived there and our travel companions still do we haven't had the luxury of bypassing it.  But we also know it well enough to know the times to avoid, and it isn't too bad then.

And on the Disneyfication, as I was reading your note I was thinking "but she's already there!"  So I'm glad you recognize that as well.  Nothing wrong with it, but you just need to know that you are "there".  

[jdavidsmi]

This thread reminded me, back in the early 70s I was stationed in Orlando at McCoy AFB. And like most young Airmen with a family. I occasionally would find a short term job, to help with the budget. Any way they were in the process of building Disney World, and I worked on Main Street painting the new shops.

Like most of us at a certain age, 10 feet tall and bulletproof. My first wife was from Kansas City, Kansas and we would take a weeks leave. Start driving after duty on Friday afternoon and drive straight through to her parents home, and same thing going back.

Well needless to say I don’t do that any more. Now it’s get the motor home ready over a couple of days. Leave mid morning, and stop when we get ready. Very seldom more than 400 miles. It’s 465 miles between my home in Tennessee, and my sister’s house in lake City, Florida. Usually we stop south of Atlanta.

Using the motor home allows us to take the dogs, so we stay longer, and parking at my sisters farm makes it a nice relaxing visit.

Going through or around Atlanta and pulling the Traverse sometimes gets a little scary. But most of the time people give me the space I need for the motor home and the car, over 55 feet combined. Been thinking about upgrading the motor home to a diesel pusher, then think why, this one’s in good shape and the ford V10 is a good motor. And only 62,000 miles. Plus it’s ours, which makes a huge difference.

We’re will be heading down in Aug and I’m looking forward to some golf and fishing in the gulf.

[Nothing Special]

We still don't take our dogs in the motorhome much.  It would probably be different if we were visiting family like you mention, but on this trip for instance, on one day we left camp around 8:00 AM to go to Universal Studios and we got back around 8:00 PM.  We couldn't have brought the dogs obviously, and 12 hours alone in the motorhome wouldn't have been good.  Plus one day while we were hanging out at the campground the power went out for a while.  It was only about an hour, but if that happened for much longer when we were gone for the day and the dogs were counting on the A/C... that'd be really bad.

I don't think I want to switch to a class A.  I've never thought the driving position was as comfortable as an E-series van, and there's no way I could do long days if it wasn't comfortable in the driver's seat.  But I'd REALLY like to get away from the V-10.  It's just too busy/buzzy with its high torque curve.  I don't know if there's a diesel that would be quiet enough to be better, or if the newer 7.3L gasser has a torque curve I'd like better.  But like you, I've got what I've got and it's awfully hard to justify buying something else.

I don't find it too hard to change lanes, even when towing the Bronco (which puts me around 50' overall).  There are usually big enough holes, or people will give way if needed.  But lane changes don't happen fast, and when driving through Nashville or Atlanta on this trip, it's not uncommon to kind of suddenly need to realize you need to be in a different lane.  Not such an issue if you know the city (Minneapolis is probably just as bad, but I know which lane I'm going to need), but it adds stress when you don't.  That's why I like the bypasses.  There I can pretty much just get in the right lane and take my time putting around.

[jdavidsmi]

I understand what you said about the noise, I have added noise pads inside the dog house, help some. That V10 really screams climbing hills. One thing I have noticed it really does not make much difference in the mileage if I’m pulling the traverse or not. So I try to keep the speed down to 65 , a lot less stress.

I put a steering stabilizer on a couple of years ago, that one upgrade made the most difference in the handling of an F53 chassis that we done.

The squirrels got to the passenger side brake line, ABS cable, and leveling jacks hose. Replace them but I’m having a heck of a time getting the brake bleeding screw loose, I’m soaking it but it just doesn’t want to brake free.

[85lebaront2]

Yes, Ford's V10 really isn't a great truck engine. My son has a V10 Excursion, 3.73 gears, he towed his 86 F150 down from West Virginia to Chesapeake Virginia on a borrowed trailer, he was down into 2nd gear on US17 crossing the Eastern Continental divide (Blue Ridge Mountains) which is a pretty gentle grade. Pulling a similar load with my 86 F350, 460 converted to MAF/SEFI and only running maybe 8:1 compression, and a 3.55 gear, I never got below 3rd in the E4OD (same ratios as the 4R100 in the Excursion) at 54 mph. Even a super low compression well used 460 pulls better than a V10.

[Nothing Special]

I had a 5.4L V8 in my '08 F-250.  The 5.4L is 80% of the 6.8L V10.  I'm not a fan of either engine as a truck engine.  But in their defense, both do make lots of power and can give good mileage.  My motorhome can hold it's speed up Vail pass when towing my Bronco.  And it gets around 8 mpg while towing as well (not up Vail pass!).  I'm not sure a 460 in my motorhome could do either of those.

Having said that, I still might prefer a 460 (the mileage is where the "might" comes in, no "might" on the power).  Because the V10 needs to spin at 5500 rpm to hold its speed on Vail Pass.  I did that once, but I just don't like driving like that.

The 5.4L was the same way.  A total dog below 3000 rpm, but a screamer if you were willing to listen to it, which I wasn't.  But on the plus side it would get 15 mpg in a 3/4 ton crew cab.  None of my other trucks could touch that.  But I still absolutely hated that truck.  And while the 6 speed manual trans was its worst feature, the engine was a close second in my book.

[Nothing Special]

About a week ago we finished another motorhome trip.  And another Walt Disney World trip.  I mentioned above that we were at Walt Disney World in Feb 2020, a couple weeks before everything closed down.  Right after that trip (I think still before everything closed down) we booked this one.  Lesley had wanted to see Walt Disney World decorated for Christmas, but after driving down and back in February I wasn't real eager to take another winter motorhome trip.  Fortunately Christmas starts on November 1 at Disney, so we were able to make a fall Christmas trip!

The 4 days to drive down / 3 days to drive back we did in July worked well, so we did the same thing on this trip.  But with spending 7 nights at Fort Wilderness Campground, this ended up being almost a 2 week trip (which was kinda nice!).

Our daily mileage on the way down was 370 (to northern Illinois), 541 (to Nashville), 503 (to the Florida state line) and 203 (to Disney).  We started day 1 after I got off work, finished day 2 early and started day 3 late to spend time with Lesley's brother, and arrived at Disney about 10:00 AM, giving us most of that first day to get set up and still do a bunch of sightseeing and shopping.

We didn't have great weather, but it wasn't terrible either.  We got a LOT of rain the last part of the drive down, but it stopped just before we got to Disney.  That first day was pretty cool (temp around 60, it was actually warmer in Minnesota that day, in the upper 60s!) and we ran the furnace that first night.  But it warmed up as the week went on.  It rained a few hours one day, and for maybe an hour or so a couple others, but we wore ponchos and we were fine.

Anyway, here's the Magic Kingdom decorated for Christmas...


... here's our campsite decorated for Christmas...


... and here we are decorated for Christmas!



The drive home went a little different than last time due to a detour.  The first day (590 miles to southern Tennessee) was about the same.  And the 620 miles on day 2 was pretty similar.  But rather than day 2 leaving us in northern Illinois with about 300 miles to go to get home, instead we were near Kansas City, leaving 497 miles for day 3.  The Kansas City detour was to stop at a junk yard to get a "new" tailgate for my pickup (more on that in another thread after I actually get it on the truck).

Temps were going below freezing that first night back in Minnesota, so I had to winterize the motorhome right away after we got home, but at least I didn't have to winterize it before we left for home like I had on the February trip.  Traveling in a motorhome has some pluses and minuses, and not being able to use the toilet or shower on the trip negates some of the biggest pluses, so being able to keep water in it for the entire trip was a lot nicer!

Anyway, that was that trip.  No adventure (if you don't count the trip to the junk yard!), but not all vacations have to be an adventure!  The motorhome is now parked for the winter, and we don't have any definite plans for any future motorhome trips at this point.  But we are tentatively planning a trip to southwestern Utah in fall of 2022, and I'm sure we'll get something else worked in next summer as well.

[grumpin]

Nice! Man, great you guys could do a trip like this.

I have a question or two. How are the campgrounds now after covid? Hard to find spots?

[Gary Lewis]

Sounds like a fun trip!  Glad the weather worked out pretty well for you.  And the temps cooperated - having to winterize quickly is kind of scary.  Been there, done that.

KC?  That seems way out of the way.  Anxious to see what you got.

Utah!  Sounds like fun!

[Nothing Special]

grumpin wrote

....  I have a question or two. How are the campgrounds now after covid? Hard to find spots?

It's always tough to get reservations at Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground.  When we went last summer we got reservations 2 months in advance and could only get Monday night through Thursday night.  Weekend nights were non-existent.  This trip was scheduled a LONG time ago, I think actually even pre-Covid, so we had our pick.  But there weren't very many empty sites while we were there, and none of them was empty for more than one night.

But yes, camping has gotten more popular with the pandemic.  We really noticed it in 2020 when people couldn't go anywhere else, it was hard to get campground reservations anywhere.  And finding outdoor recreational equipment was just as nuts.  A friend of mine owns a boat shop.  Even if his supply chain was working at its normal level he'd still be sold out.  People want to do things, and for a long time it's been hard to do anything indoors.

Gary Lewis wrote

Sounds like a fun trip!  Glad the weather worked out pretty well for you.  And the temps cooperated - having to winterize quickly is kind of scary.  Been there, done that.

KC?  That seems way out of the way.  Anxious to see what you got.

Utah!  Sounds like fun!

The winterizing wasn't that bad.  We got home about 5:00 so I had time, it just made for a busy evening unpacking and then winterizing.  It was still above freezing for a few hours after I finished.

KC added about 100 miles to the trip, so definitely not "on the way."  But looking at it another way, I wouldn't have hesitated to drive 50 miles each way to go to a "local" junkyard to get a rust-free (I hope) tailgate, so it certainly wasn't a ridiculous detour.

And we went to Moab Utah in 2019 and 2021, hitting Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  We're loving Utah and thought we might try to hit Zion and/or Bryce Canyon National Parks and try fourwheeling around Sand Hollow State Park on this trip.

[Gary Lewis]

I'm going to have to get BB out to Utah.  Been there several times for boating or just sightseeing, including  those parks, and loved it.  Haven't stopped at Sand Hollow, but it looks like fun.  

[Nothing Special]

No motorhome trip yet, but unfortunately I'm having some adventures anyway.

The first issue to pop up was a problem with the generator.  A couple years ago I had to take it in to have the carb replaced.  (OK, "had to take it in" is a little strong, but it's really hard to get at the generator without having the motorhome on a lift, and that's not going to happen.  So I choose not to do much of my own work on it.) Anyway, I'd been told to run it at least moderately hard once a month to keep the carb from getting gummed up, but I hadn't really worried about it, hence the clogged up carb.

So now I'm faithfully running it every month.  When I ran it in early February it died sometime before I went out to shut it off, and when I tried to restart it I found it had set a trouble code.  I decided not to sweat it at that time, but when it wouldn't run in March I decided to make an appointment for it.


That appointment was to be yesterday, but when I tried to start the motorhome to drive it to the service center I couldn't get it to run.  At first it was hunting between about 400 - 1500 rpm and moving the throttle didn't change anything.  Then it settled down to what it's still doing now, firing right up, but shutting down after only about one second.  And still no reaction at all if I'm moving the throttle pedal.

I checked codes and all it's showing is P2111, which I found to be "throttle actuator control system stuck open." From a little more Googling I guess I'll be replacing the throttle body.  I might prefer to have a shop do this as well, but as I can't drive it in and I don't relish the thought of the towing bill this would have I guess I'll do it myself.  If it is the throttle body it shouldn't be too bad, but I'd rather be working on my Bronco.

[grumpin]

Bummer, not the kind of adventures you want. Hopefully works out well.

[Gary Lewis]

Right, not the adventure you want.  Is the engine accessible by pulling a cover in the motorhome?  That would make pulling the throttlebody much easier.

[Nothing Special]

I first looked under the hood and couldn't see accessing anything that way.  Then I tried removing the dog house, but after loosening the clips I could hardly move it.  It was "loose", but was sticking on something before moving more than 1/4" or so.  So then I Googled it and found that you are supposed to go through the hood.  Looking closer I see that if I take the air filter and ducting off I will have a pretty straight shot.  It's back under the cowl a bit so it will mean leaning over and reaching it quite a ways.  But it is a lot closer to the hood than to the dog house, so that's definitely going to be the path to take.