June 27, 2017 - We left NAVSUBBASE - Kings Bay early on Friday, June 23rd, and headed north up I-95 and everything went smoothly. We had packed lunch so we stopped at a rest area in South Carolina for lunch and then we were back on the road. Arrived at Twin Lakes RV Resort around 6:00 PM and got checked in. Then back out into the rig to drive to our camp site. Started the engine and went to shift into drive and the gear shift lever just flopped to the bottom of its travel. There was no connection between the shift lever and the transmission so we were dead in the water. Camp manager and a friend tried to trouble shoot but no luck.
Believe it or not this is the same problem I had 44 years ago, also in a Winnebago. The work around I figured out then is the same one I used this time. With someone in the driver's seat with their foot firmly on the brake, you crawl under the rig, find where the shift cable connects to the transmission (it's a lever on the side of the transmission) and physically move the lever by hand. You then get the hell out from under the RV and proceed to drive. This worked and we were able to get to our camp site, but since it was now 6:30 on a Friday evening there was nothing we could do until Monday when we were supposed to be headed north to Virginia. Talked to Ford Road Side Assistance on Saturday and found out from them where we could take it for repairs. Nearest dealer that could handle an RV was in Greenville about 30 miles away.
Anyway, the reason we stopped here was to visit some friends, John & Linda Schafer. John and I worked in the same program office when I was stationed at Los Angeles AFS in the mid 70's and in the mid 80's we were both in the Pentagon and lived close to each other. He helped me build the deck on my house and I helped him build his. We had a nice visit on Saturday and John grilled a couple of rib-eye steaks that we shared. They have a really nice house in a great development with lots of big hardwood trees and really green grass.
Sunday I did some more investigating into what happened to the shift mechanism. On this vehicle there is a cable that connects the shift mechanism to the transmission. What I found was that the cable had been resting against the exhaust manifold and the heat from the manifold had burned through the cable breaking the connection.
Monday morning we got up very early, broke camp and Pat kept her foot firmly on the brake while I crawled under the RV and put it in drive. We then drove to the Ford dealer to see how fast he could get it fixed. Turned out the nearest replacement cable was in Detroit. So they ordered it as a critical warranty repair item. John and Linda had volunteered to put us up while the RV was in for repairs, so we headed over to their place. We all went out to a very nice Italian restaurant in Washington, NC which is just across the Pamlico River from Chocowinity.
Tuesday morning I was on the phone to the Ford dealer seeing if the cable had come in. Finally around 11:00 AM, it came in so we had lunch and then headed over to the Ford dealer. They were just finishing up the paperwork when we got there so I turned in our rental car and by 2:45 PM we were on our way to Ft. Belvoir, VA which is our next stop. This has put us one day behind our schedule so we will have to make changes in reservations once we get set up at Ft. Belvoir.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Thursday, June 22, 2017
02 - Our First Stop
June 22, 2017 - We hit the road about 10:40 AM on Tuesday, June 20th. Headed north thru central Florida cutting the diagonal from Weeki Wachee to Jacksonville. Then passed Jacksonville and into Georgia. We then exited at the first off ramp in Georgia and headed to the town of St. Mary with our destination being Eagle Hammock RV Park on Naval Submarine base, Kings Bay. We then had a devil of a time finding our way onto the base as our GPS kept trying to route us to an entrance to the base that had been closed. After meandering around for a while we finally found an open gate and the campground.
This is to be a stop to unwind from a very hectic week. The Knights of Columbus had their Summer Fun BBQ Buffet Dinner and Dance on Saturday, June 17th and I was the guy running it. That meant doing all of the planning, assigning table reservations, doing the shopping, manning the deep fryer and supervising the whole shebang. Went off well with over a 100 guests. Then on Sunday and Monday had to finish up all of the accounting and turn in the proceeds. Also on Sunday and Monday, Pat and I had to pack the RV and check it out for the trip.
We will be here 3 nights/2 days just relaxing. Very nice campground on a lake. Here is our rig all set up in the campground
This is the view from our campsite looking towards the lake. We had a very nice view out our windshield.
And here are a couple of photos of the lake.
It's a good size lake with a fishing pier that I tried out, no luck, but there are bass, blue gills and catfish in the lake as well as alligators as you can tell from all of the warning signs.
Tomorrow we head to Chocowinity, NC where we will meet up with some old friends from Los Angeles and Virginia. Going to be a long drive as we have just under 500 miles to go.
This is to be a stop to unwind from a very hectic week. The Knights of Columbus had their Summer Fun BBQ Buffet Dinner and Dance on Saturday, June 17th and I was the guy running it. That meant doing all of the planning, assigning table reservations, doing the shopping, manning the deep fryer and supervising the whole shebang. Went off well with over a 100 guests. Then on Sunday and Monday had to finish up all of the accounting and turn in the proceeds. Also on Sunday and Monday, Pat and I had to pack the RV and check it out for the trip.
We will be here 3 nights/2 days just relaxing. Very nice campground on a lake. Here is our rig all set up in the campground
This is the view from our campsite looking towards the lake. We had a very nice view out our windshield.
And here are a couple of photos of the lake.
It's a good size lake with a fishing pier that I tried out, no luck, but there are bass, blue gills and catfish in the lake as well as alligators as you can tell from all of the warning signs.
Tomorrow we head to Chocowinity, NC where we will meet up with some old friends from Los Angeles and Virginia. Going to be a long drive as we have just under 500 miles to go.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
01 - Our 2017 Summer Tour
Well we will be taking our Winnebago on the road again this summer. This year we will be driving up the east coast with stops in Georgia; North Carolina; Virginia; West Point, NY; Massachusetts and then Maine. From there we will be entering Canada and spending time in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Montreal and Toronto. We will be crossing back into the USA at Detroit then heading south with stops in Dayton, OH; Sweetwater, TN; Georgia and then home. We will be taking several ferry rides in Canada including one that is 16 hours long. We will be leaving on June 20th and getting home on August 23rd.
We have one schedule driver and that is that we have to be in Sweetwater, TN on August 21st. Why you ask? That is the location on I-75 where the path of the total eclipse of the sun will pass over head on that date and so that is where we have to be to see it. If you haven't heard about it or looked into it you should definitely do so.
The path of the total eclipse starts on the Oregon coast and cuts across the US and exits the US in South Carolina. Do a Google search for 2017 eclipse and you can find charts that show when and how much of an eclipse you will see from any where in the US. Get yourself a pair of eclipse glasses (really, really dark sun glasses).
We have one schedule driver and that is that we have to be in Sweetwater, TN on August 21st. Why you ask? That is the location on I-75 where the path of the total eclipse of the sun will pass over head on that date and so that is where we have to be to see it. If you haven't heard about it or looked into it you should definitely do so.
The path of the total eclipse starts on the Oregon coast and cuts across the US and exits the US in South Carolina. Do a Google search for 2017 eclipse and you can find charts that show when and how much of an eclipse you will see from any where in the US. Get yourself a pair of eclipse glasses (really, really dark sun glasses).
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