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Date:         Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:54:40 -0500
Reply-To:     Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Trip report -- Florida Keys, State Parks, and Repairs
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On the 19th of Dec, my wife and I left Harrisonburg, VA for a trip to Florida and back. This was our first Vanagon trip to Florida and we have some suggestions for anyone taking the trip. First, we do not like to plan too much ahead of time as to the places we will spend the night and just take each day as it comes. However, if you are going to the Florida Keys, you need to change that mindset since the State Parks are fully booked for months in advance.

Also, if you plan to spend any time on Florida Toll Roads, you might consider purchasing the SunPass Mini that sticks to the windshield --- when we purchased ours, there was an introduction special and bought the pass for $4.99 and immediately received $4.99 worth of toll credits. Here is a link to the information "https://www.sunpass.com/pdf/MiniWebPDF_E.pdf"

We only decided to take the trip in early Dec and since the State Parks in Florida use Reserve America "http://www.reserveamerica.com/" for reservations, I used that service to book our campgrounds. At first, every State Park in the Keys was fully booked during the time we could be there. I kept checking back on an hourly or daily basis and finally put together consecutive nights at three different parks in the Keys as people canceled their reservations and ended up with an ocean site at each state park. Sometimes you just get lucky.

We left Harrisonburg in freezing weather and spent the first night in Colleton Sate Park in SC and other than the camp ground host, we were the only people in the park. Nice park and shower facilities and the place was great for what we wanted --- a place to sleep and take a shower before hitting the road. We knew we were not far enough south when the temps dropped to about 30 degrees that night.

Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine Beach.-- While the campsites are not on the beach, they are wonderfully situated and the great beach is nearby. We were lucky to get in here since we did not have reservations ahead of time. We spoke to some locals and they highly recommended O'Steen's Restaurant for seafood but the place was closed the night we could eat there.

In the Florida Keys, we spent a day in Key West just being tourist and stayed at the following State Parks. For us, Bahia Honda was our favorite.

Curry Hammock - 1 night Long Key - 2 nights Bahia Honda - 3 nights

We spent several nights in Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park -- we did not have reservations and from what I could see, they do not fill up at least during the time we were there. Lots to do in the park especially if you are into canoeing. The Ranger said campsites are free in the summer --- but that you would be crazy to fight the heat and mosquitoes and humidity then.

Collier-Seminole State Park -- does not compare to the others. The campsites are not private if that means anything to you.

Koreshan State Park--Nice park, pretty with private campsites. Historic state site of Koreshan Unity Settlement

Hillsborough River State Park -- Nice place to rent a canoe and paddle the Hillsborough river

Manatee Springs State Park -- Cold and rainy while there -- Saw Manatees in the river

Our intention was to spend time in the Florida panhandle, but we ran out of time before we had to head home.

Like many of you, I try to do all preventive maintenance and fix issues on our 1991 Westy (130,000 miles) as soon as they become evident. My goal is to take trips without issues on the road. In this case, my goal was not met and we experienced some problems. I noticed that while the clutch was not slipping, it just did not sound right. At the same time, I happened to notice a little fluid leak from the clutch master cylinder and from the high pressure rubber hose from the power steering pump to the metal line, and that an inner CV boot had separated from the flange. About 6K miles ago, I had all of the CV boots replaced by a shop and they assured me they used high quality boots so the issue with the boot was a real surprise.

Using the Roadhause repair shop list to find a good mechanic, I called Volksrepair in Sarasota and spoke to the owner (Fran Hetherington) and the technician (Ron Leftwich) who could work on the van the next day. We dropped the van off, talked to Ron and I asked him to replace the master and slave clutch cylinders, fix the power steering line, replace the CV boot, and check out the clutch. Then Fran took us to the public library where we could wait for Ron to work. After awhile, Ron called and said that 3 out of 4 CV boots were torn and that he had a used power steering hose if I was OK with him using it. I asked him to replace all four boots and that replacing the power steering hose with a used hose was fine. Later in the day, Fran brought us back to the shop and I spoke to Ron at length. While the van was drivable, he said the clutch needed replacing but he would have to order one which I asked him to do. It turned out that the original clutch lining was close to the end of its life and the throw out bearing was completely gone. After installing the clutch, Ron adjusted the shift linkage and it has never shifted smoother.

Ron said the CV boots that he replaced were not high quality and that he only used VW/Audi boots made for the front of a Golf (?) since he did not want to have to redo any of his work. He showed me the old boots and a new one like he uses and the quality difference between the boot he used and the ones he took off was apparent. I forgot to get the part number of the boot, but I am certain he would give it to me if anyone was interested.

While I do minor maintenance and work on the van, I leave the tough stuff to the real professionals. Of all the pros I have met, none have been more honest or competent than Ron. I can not say enough good things about him, the quality of his work, or his candor. He knows what he is doing and is able to work fast and minimize the number of hours he has to spend on a job. And the markup on parts was reasonable. If you need work done in Florida, I highly recommend Ron.

Volksrepair (the name of the shop) ran into problems with VW on the name of the shop and it is being changed to Sunshine Auto Garage and their website is: "http://sunshineautogarage.com/"

Here is a link to trip pictures--mostly pictures of campgrounds and the view of/from them to give you an idea in case you are considering a trip like this. " http://picasaweb.google.com/teerhb/FloridaVanTrip201011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuRiISp9JPKqgE&feat=directlink "

If you have any questions, just ask.

My next project is to caption and post pictures of our trip to Newfoundland in the summer of 2009.

Harold ________ Harold Teer 1991 Westy (Vangaux) Harrisonburg, VA


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