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Date:         Mon, 31 Jul 2017 18:18:24 -0700
Reply-To:     David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: What can go wrong..... (followup and short trip report)
Comments: To: Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <CAGXJJtyz=BjrL-YcqTMQ2yeF6vnkWDVysB9YVbRK6WzxZwB51g@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

I thought EVERYONE drove their VW campers at 60 mph on the highway (or slower, depending on conditions). I know I never drive it faster than that.

On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 6:05 PM, Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, as disturbing as this episode was I can say I safely made it back to > the > West coast without incident. My wife and I drove from Raleigh, NC to the > Wilmington, NC area and visited with family there. > > I had previously had driven up to Maryland and on the way back had the > alternator light come on and shortly after the temp gauge light on and the > needle climbing to the top. Then had it towed to my rental and then to a > shop to have the belts replaced and coolant added. > > I also had the propane fill valve, bleeder and shut-off valve > installed/replaced. > > I had no trouble with the fridge. It worked admirably. > > I also filled the AC system up with Freeze 12 including the oil and leak > stop. > > So we visited with the nephew and niece for a few days and headed up to > Maryland to visit my cousin again. Then we drove the next day to Ocean > City where the end of highway 50 is and took pictures of the sign that says > that it is 3073 miles to Sacramento. As luck would have it the bridge was > raised so we had plenty of time to take pictures. > > We drove back towards DC and did a short drive up to Delaware to say we've > been there. > > After that we drove down towards Virginia and spent the night in a hotel > near > the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The next day we enjoyed > the drive in the beautiful greenery and plenty of wild flowers. We > finished the > drive below the Buena Vista entrance and headed towards Knoxville on I-81. > > Our next stop was in Nashville and from there we needed to catch some of > Kentucky as the wife had not been there. So off we went. Had some stopped > traffic as the there was construction further north where the highway > splits to > Chicago or St. Louis. Ended the day just west of St. Louis and stopped to > see > the Arch and had a nice dinner at a nice restaurant. > > The next day we headed south toward the Branson, MO area where more cousins > and relatives live and we were treated with great hospitality. Also did a > quick jaunt to Arkansas to say we've been there. > > Side note: because of the issue and high miles the camper has I was driving > no greater than 60 mph this trip. I wanted to get as far west as I > could. I know > that sound excruciating to many but it was actually not bad and allowed me > to > see more scenery along the way. > > So after several days visiting with family we headed north again to > Nebraska > where some of the family ancestors lived and spent some time in a small > community outside of Omaha. > > Next we, headed further north as we wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse > and also, Devil's Tower. After a couple days we arrived and enjoyed the > sites. One sign at Rushmore caught my eye was the one that said "No > drones". > Crazy Horse was very moving. I hope I get to see it completed but I > doubt > that will happen. > > Next we went north again and eventually made it through to North Dakota and > did a quick jaunt to Minnesota. Yep, we've been there! > > Next, we headed south west and into Yellowstone. Lot's of switchbacks to > get up the the top of the peak (10,900 feet) from the northeast entrance. > Then > on down into Yellowstone to see some bison and elk. Quite a drive. We > finished > the day at old faithful. We stayed in a hotel just outside the park and > went back > in the next day to some of the geyser pools. Very fascinating. > > After that we headed out and noon to get some lunch in West Yellowstone. > The > drove all afternoon and into the evening to Boise to stay with another > family > member. We stayed there for a few days and drove the last day to our home > in California. > > We logged about 5,000 plus miles with no issues. Just keep adding oil as > needed and coolant. Oh, and don't drive it too hard. > > I feel very fortunate indeed. Thanks to all that gave advice on the > original > post. It may have gone completely differently. The camper now has > 253,000 miles with the original engine and heads. > > Steven > 91 Westy >


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