Current RV Trip

[SteveR]

We are now camping in a very nice RV Resort (WillowTree) in Longs, SC which is about 10 miles from Myrtle Beach. We are finally able to chill out a bit and get some maintenance items done on the coach after our nearly 3000 mile trip from Salt Lake City to here. We almost lost the exhaust pipe to the generator during our drive through the mountains in western NC. The pipe hanger saved us losing the whole thing as both bolts holding the exhaust pipe to the muffler came off. Guess the folks on the assembly line were asleep that day.

It is cool and a bit cloudy with a breeze to keep things cool. The resort has extra large spaces so we have lots of room between sites which is not usually the case so we are enjoying the "park like" setting.

We will be here a few days before heading over to Hilton Head Island for a week where we will do some sight seeing before we turn back West again.

[Sarah in SC]

Glad you are getting some good weather here! Enjoy!

Good you kept the generator & exhaust pipe after the mountains! We've got an old beast of an Onan--I'd kinda like losing it and replacing it with a nice quiet new one! We have a friend with what he calls a "assembled on Friday at 4:30 pop-up camper".
They love it, but man, does it have some missing/shoddy/what the heck! components.

Wishing you a safe trip down the coast....and back west!

[SteveR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Glad you are getting some good weather here! Enjoy! Good you kept the generator & exhaust pipe after the mountains! We've got an old beast of an Onan--I'd kinda like losing it and replacing it with a nice quiet new one!...

We have the newer "Quiet" ones; quiet being a relative term. Ours is a 10kW beast but needs to be to run all the stuff in the RV. I believe all RVs are poorly made from our experience and that of others we talk to daily. Some companies are worse than others and we believe our coach is on of the better ones so you can imagine what the ones on the bottom of the ladder are like.

Most of our stuff has been small compared with our last coach. Mostly assembly-related issues with poor workmanship or attention to detail or problems with new technologies in this model year. Other than those items, we have not had any major issues (knock on wood) compared with our previous coach which was considered the top of the line in Class C's. We had a lemon and according to other owners, the only one in the past several years.

We are enjoying the area and plan on going to the beach tomorrow. The dogs are going into the ocean (already been in the Pacific) so they can have bragging rights to being in both oceans before they are six months old.

Will keep you posted...

[SteveR]

We have decided to change our trip plans and stay here another week. That means we will have to skip the Arizona portion of the trip but the up side is we get to see this view out our front windshield for another week.

[TexasGal]

Oh wow, Steve, I am getting relaxed just looking at the picture! Don't blame you for changing your plans. Enjoy!
TG

[CRABBY JERRY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveR We are now camping in a very nice RV Resort (WillowTree) in Longs, SC which is about 10 miles from Myrtle Beach. We are finally able to chill out a bit and get some maintenance items done on the coach after our nearly 3000 mile trip from Salt Lake City to here. We almost lost the exhaust pipe to the generator during our drive through the mountains in western NC. The pipe hanger saved us losing the whole thing as both bolts holding the exhaust pipe to the muffler came off. Guess the folks on the assembly line were asleep that day. It is cool and a bit cloudy with a breeze to keep things cool. The resort has extra large spaces so we have lots of room between sites which is not usually the case so we are enjoying the "park like" setting. We will be here a few days before heading over to Hilton Head Island for a week where we will do some sight seeing before we turn back West again.

We also stayed there this summer. Nice park, isn't it?

[wcv56]

Wow I guess my 1992 Toyota Warrior with a microquiet 2.8KW and a small scooter would not make it for some. Not one single
problem in the least other than could use a larger fuel tank.
I like the 12 mpg with gen running for rear aircon most of the time. The trip from West Palm Fla to Lake Superior at a steady 60 mph was most enjoyable and affordable for 3 adults.
The $7.5K I paid for the RV last year with 46K miles on it and the Gen had 25 hours was a steal.
Been looking to pick up a second one off e-bay for my younger brother but then a good deal on one of The View Winnebago Diesels may be a better option. I sure could do some South of the Boarder Central America trips quite easy. Still might even leave
some petro in the ground for the grand kids.
Single and loving the options for retirement next year.
Like that the RV can park in a normal parking space most places and with the savings will have a few extra rounds of golf, day at the horse races or casino hotel.
No path or street to small and will enjoy life in the small lane soon.

[ijuba]

Steve, we stayed at WT back in April for a week. Loved it!
My 9 yo daughter was especially enamored with the golf carts. She caught her first fish in the lake there.


After camping around...I'm sure you know what a top shelf place Willow Tree is! Enjoy.....

[SteveR]

Update:
We stayed 2 weeks in Hilton Head at a very nice resort. We hated to leave but our time on this trip is getting short so we turned west on our way back home.

We survived the 8 inches of rain in New Orleans but it washed out our French Quarter visit. We were camped on the banks of a canal next to a marina and watched as the boats floated higher and higher with the constant rainfall. Luckily, the rain stopped and we were able to "float" our way out in a foot of water on the road. Our next night was outside of Scott, LA where we had a service appointment to get the water heating system repaired. The only shop that was authorized for the repair and who had an opening was out in the sticks and getting there was a challenge with low hanging trees, narrow roads and single lane 90 degree turns. The repairs were made and we headed west to Texas.

Next was the Houston traffic and freeway construction followed by a very very windy 6 hours into the heart of Texas to Seguin for a couple of days or R&R (rest and repairs.) Our departure this morning was delayed by a couple of hours as I managed to smack my head into an open slide edge and had to visit the local ER for some stiches. We then drove through San Antonio and the Hill Country and stopped in Fort Stockton for the night. Tomorrow we head out again to New Mexico then Lauglin, AZ and then home. Our list of repairs is growing faster than I can fix them.

More to come...

[73ss454]

Wow Steve, sounds like owning a motor home is like owning a boat. The repairs just never end. But hey, that's part of the fun.

[REWahoo]

Steve, I've thought about wearing a hard hat around mine. Those slide corners and bay door edges are definitely a hazard.

I'm not going to make any comments about frequency of repairs for fear I'll jinx myself. Here's hoping things improve once you get the bugs worked out.

Enjoy beautiful Fort Stockton and I hope you have a smooth trip home.

[SteveR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Steve, I've thought about wearing a hard hat around mine. Those slide corners and bay door edges are definitely a hazard. I'm not going to make any comments about frequency of repairs for fear I'll jinx myself. Here's hoping things improve once you get the bugs worked out. Enjoy beautiful Fort Stockton and I hope you have a smooth trip home.

After our other motorhome, this one is near perfect despite the repairs.

Most motorhomes are made by assembling thousands of parts from different manufacturers all with different tollerances and most installed on an assembly line. I don't have any false expectations about the quality of these parts as I have seen them first hand many times and realize that most are less than perfect. Failure is a way of life and if one is to RV one has to be handy to keep the thing working.

An RV is a hole in the road you throw money into but it is a personal choice and I don't regret it at all. We have traveled over 6000 miles since Sept. 5th and have seen some wonderful places in the US. We have only begun our RVing life and have many years yet to go. Repairs will be a part of that life as it is with anything mechanical; especially a house on wheels.