Kathy and I just completed another cross country trip from Tucson to East Central Pennsylvania. Total mileage, eastbound: 2443.3 miles. Total westbound mileage: 2683.6 miles. Grand total 5126.9 41 days away from home (in our traveling second home). We stayed with Kathy's sister for the two and a half weeks in Fredericksburg/Jonestown, PA. Took 11 days to get there and 12 days to get home. We spent two days in Branson, MO on the eastbound trip and two days in Delaware on the westbound leg.
We accomplished a couple of milestones during this trip, number one was that we finally visited the last state we hadn't been to together. We have now been to all 50 states and spent at least one night (not all of them in the GMC, of course). The second was that we passed the 100,000 mile mark during our ownership since 2008.
We had very few minor problems with the coach, the only time I had to get out and get under was when I changed the oil when we were in PA. We did have a couple of roof leaks that I need to track down and try to fix (again), also the fresh water tank has sprung a leak somewhere that I also need to track down.
The only mechanical issues were that the cruise control (OEM) was acting strangely for about 3/4 of the trip. It would keep the speed reasonably steady, but would surge quite a bit while doing it. It got so annoying that I had to control the speed with my foot most of the time. The last few days (about 800 miles) it worked almost flawlessly. I noticed the speedometer jumping a little when it was acting up, and of course the vacuum gauge was jumping up and down.
The other issue was a lag in the carburetor response at certain throttle positions. It seemed like it would fall flat just as the secondaries were starting to open while trying to pull a grade. I suspect the metering rods were not functioning correctly. This started just after getting gas and I thought maybe a large can of Seafoam might help. It didn't seem to, but shortly after I gassed up the next day, the problem went away. I like problems that fix themselves, but they make me nervous.
All in all, it was a very good trip. We stayed at some really nice places and some not so nice ones that were just a place to park overnight. Bought lots of gas, stayed at mostly state parks, city parks, COE parks (Seemingly unaffected by the Govt shutdown), a couple of Harvest Hosts location and an unscheduled stay in a Walmart parking lot, plus a couple of private RV parks. The average cost per day (gas and lodging) was $115.00 per day, eastbound and the same westbound, not including food. The least we paid for gas (at least without the big grocery store discount we get locally) was $2.239/gallon. Love's gives a ten cent per gallon discount with their App, plus an additional three cents by adding our AAA membership number. Pilot/Flying-J does a ten cent discount per gallon with their App as well. Those discounts may not sound like much, but they add up, especially when you are buying hundreds of gallons of gas on a trip like this.
We accomplished a couple of milestones during this trip, number one was that we finally visited the last state we hadn't been to together. We have now been to all 50 states and spent at least one night (not all of them in the GMC, of course). The second was that we passed the 100,000 mile mark during our ownership since 2008.
We had very few minor problems with the coach, the only time I had to get out and get under was when I changed the oil when we were in PA. We did have a couple of roof leaks that I need to track down and try to fix (again), also the fresh water tank has sprung a leak somewhere that I also need to track down.
The only mechanical issues were that the cruise control (OEM) was acting strangely for about 3/4 of the trip. It would keep the speed reasonably steady, but would surge quite a bit while doing it. It got so annoying that I had to control the speed with my foot most of the time. The last few days (about 800 miles) it worked almost flawlessly. I noticed the speedometer jumping a little when it was acting up, and of course the vacuum gauge was jumping up and down.
The other issue was a lag in the carburetor response at certain throttle positions. It seemed like it would fall flat just as the secondaries were starting to open while trying to pull a grade. I suspect the metering rods were not functioning correctly. This started just after getting gas and I thought maybe a large can of Seafoam might help. It didn't seem to, but shortly after I gassed up the next day, the problem went away. I like problems that fix themselves, but they make me nervous.
All in all, it was a very good trip. We stayed at some really nice places and some not so nice ones that were just a place to park overnight. Bought lots of gas, stayed at mostly state parks, city parks, COE parks (Seemingly unaffected by the Govt shutdown), a couple of Harvest Hosts location and an unscheduled stay in a Walmart parking lot, plus a couple of private RV parks. The average cost per day (gas and lodging) was $115.00 per day, eastbound and the same westbound, not including food. The least we paid for gas (at least without the big grocery store discount we get locally) was $2.239/gallon. Love's gives a ten cent per gallon discount with their App, plus an additional three cents by adding our AAA membership number. Pilot/Flying-J does a ten cent discount per gallon with their App as well. Those discounts may not sound like much, but they add up, especially when you are buying hundreds of gallons of gas on a trip like this.
