Just home from trip South

lostagain · January 31, 2016, 06:01:48 AM

Left Blackie, just S of Calgary Nov 7. Did the Dam rally, visited friends and relatives in AZ. Then to the Mex border and followed the Rio Grande on the 2 lanes. Some time in the Big Bend area. Then the Gulf Coast, New Orleans where our 2 sons flew to meet us for Christmas. They were with us for 2 weeks. We made the Arcadia rally and meandered all over Florida. The boys flew home out of Orlando. We ran mostly I10 for the way back. Spent a week with friends N of Phoenix around Black Canyon City area. Then home up I17 to Flagstaff, then Monument Valley, Moab UT, then up I15.

Fantastic trip. Saw lots of country. Loved Texas and Louisiana the most. Good old AZ looked pretty nice compared to FL which is so crowded. Met some great people all along the way. All such nice helpful people no exceptions, even the idiot who backed into the car dolly and the toad at a gas station in Arcadia after the rally. We stayed at state parks, private campgrounds, Walmarts, Home Depots, vacant lots, truck stops, quiet streets, behind restaurants, even a farm near San Antonio with the greatest hosts... Never once were we asked questions or hassled in any way. We never felt threatened in any way any time. You Americans are such nice good people. Why aren't your politicians that way too?

The bus ran totally awesomely without so much of a hick up. The biggest trouble was the car dolly. Broke and had to be welded twice, and had to buy new tires for it. PIA. Next trip we'll take a 4 wheels down toad.

Busted a water line 2 days from home high in Montana on I15 at -18C/0F. Replacing the old polyB plumbing with Pex has been on my list for a while. It is a must do now. Also spray foaming the baggage doors would help too.

17000 km/ 10500 miles. The more I drive this bus, the better it runs. The 6V92 is as reliable as anything. Doesn't leak oil, has lots of power. If it broke, I would just rebuild it.

JC

luvrbus · January 31, 2016, 06:21:33 AM

Good trip JC I will be thinking of you when we hit New Orleans next month I can't wait to add a few pounds from all the good food to eat

Scott & Heather · January 31, 2016, 06:36:28 AM

Nice that's quite the mileage

it's funny you posted this. I was just thinking about how we just finished a 5500 mile trip without any major issues. In the past year we put on around 10,000 miles and the coach ran like a champ. It's slow, but it hasn't overheated, no issues with any of the systems. Generator issues but that's not bus related. I often wonder if we could drive this for years without any major incident? Like a car?

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Dave5Cs · January 31, 2016, 07:34:20 AM

Sounds fun JC. Yep on the 4 down. We now have the Jeep and it is easy pezzy to tow. We have also been replacing the PB pipe in our's with Pex little by little.
Thanks for sharing your trip.
Dave

lostagain · January 31, 2016, 08:46:46 AM

Scott, it is like anything else: you have to do preventive maintenance and address minor issues as they come up before they develop to be big. These buses were built tough to be run 24/7. They are heavy duty. The Detroit is a heavy duty engine that, if looked after and not abused too much, will run and run down the highway around the clock. Having said that, I carry some tools and a credit card, and am ready to fix a break down if and when it happens. One of our buses is no more and no less likely to let us down than any car, new or old. As I have said before, when it breaks, all you can do is fix it, and carry on.

Meanwhile, like they say down South: y'all enjoy now!

JC

Scott & Heather · January 31, 2016, 09:50:43 AM

Right on! Especially about the credit card haha

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Scott & Heather · January 31, 2016, 09:50:46 AM

Right on! Especially about the credit card haha

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DMoedave · January 31, 2016, 01:51:44 PM

It was nice to finally meet you and your family JC. Wish you still had the old bus lol. glad you had a great trip