Our second trip with our GMC - The Flying Dutchman
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Flight from Düsseldorf over Atlanta to Tucson, AZ
Long stop over .... been a trip, including taxi drive,of much more the 24 hours .... very tired.
Wednesday, February 27
After a journey of 25 hours .... last plain took off an hour later because of brakes problem ... we arrived safely in Tucson, where our good friends
Carol and Armand waited for us at the airport.
Yesterday we had to adapt after that long flight, but still got the GMC at Calypso Automotive, where they did some maintenance, replacing Alternator
and worked on a ground and flasher indicator problem. The FiTech cable was replaced and is some better now, but still not at a optimum.
It turned out that the excessive stiffness was from a new throttle cable that was nicked during install ..... !!
After that we drove back to Marana and went on arranging stuff, filling tanks etc ...
Weather was excellent today sun shining !!
Today the parking break has to adjust just a bit and some shopping to be done.
Just now sun already starts shining and it looks like a bright day again.
Tuesday, February 28
Some R&R ... some shopping etc ...
We went getting the GMC, yesterday at Calypso Automotive and Jim there took his time explaining and showing everything, he did and we even got help
installing that new house battery.
Afterwards we got to fill up .... 43 gallon ... 85$ ... so that GMC tanks were really empty.
At a rate of 1.99 a gallon that's not bad.
In the rest of the day we got groceries, did some cleaning and in de evening we went for a nice dinner, with Carol, Armand and Barbara, who came
also to visit us. We enjoyed the evening together.
Friday, March 1
This morning shortly after 9 am we drove off, leaving Dove Mountain and Carol and Armand, behind ... they wouldn't accompany us this time. "Sonny the
Sunseeker" was waiting for them on the parking lot and eager to travel again.
But this time in a different direction.
Along the I10 traffic was busy but not that bad and we passed, Benson, Deming and stopped somewhere near Las Cruses ... weather was good and not too
hot, and only some side winds.
... the AC, who did work yesterday during our short trip to the shopping Mall, very good, refused this time, no reaction, but luckily the blower was
still willing to give us some refreshing air, so that was good ... only after a coffee break that part of the ventilation system, got apparently a day
off, also ...
For sure, the internals of that, by us "repaired" switch shifted every time when used, a bit more out of line.
Yesterday, AC was only in between the NORM and VENT position possible, while last drive last Autumn it was between , or around the NORM position ...
and then the blower also worked.
That working blower at first this morning must have been just at the edge of "still making contact" after the break ... well... it took a Break
itself...
Something to attend too, and yes I just closed up the dash in the afternoon, yesterday ... Mmmmmm ...
But the Flying Dutchman ran nice, I personally found the vacuum some low, after those changes made at Calypso Automotive but I don't exactly remember
the values before.
Now cruising at 65 gave a vacuum of 10 ... and acceleration gave quickly 5 or less ... going downhill I saw 15 at the most.
They did switch off the vacuum advance, leaned the idle more in the menu of the FiTech. And block off plates were installed, an new Alternator some
electrical work, alignment etc ....
But it ran and started nice ... so ...
A second fill up in Deming only needed, $50 and off we went.
The throttle cable is still stiff but only half of what was in the Autumn, could still be improved I hope, but for now the Cruise Control is able to
hold and regulate the speed as it should do, which is a big advantage for the drivers right leg ...
Saterday, March 2
40 years ago .... we got married.... celebrating it with a glass of wine on the campground Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton, outside temps are .....
freezing !!
Yesterday we drove through Las Cruses and drove to the National Border Patrol Museum in El Paso. Nice little and informative museum.
Afterwards we enjoyed driving scenic route down to El Paso, had to stop for a new phone for Marjon, and went on our way in the afternoon, to the Hueco
Tank State Park, were we luckily got the last vacant site.
The rest of the afternoon was enjoying and relaxing the surroundings
Sunday, March 4
From El Paso we took the little bypass to Fort Hancook and from there the Flying Dutchman, drove south on the I10 and winds were not to annoying.
I noticed this morning that sometimes in P he doesn't shift past the 2 .... so engine rpm goes up, I helped manually by going to N and then again to
P ..... hmmmmmm
Today happened first at the early morning and several times on the road .... mostly while accelerating some more, pressing the throttle to the max
can't be the cause (Kickdown Switch) because that is with this stiff pedal almost impossible.
On a rest stop we got some unexpected but very nice company from John, from Florida, who pulled up behind us as we were taking a brake. We had a nice
talk and he told us he was also heading for the Tallahassee, GMCMI Meeting.
... here in Texas as we passed Davis Mountains, I10/I20 junction, suddenly, it became very foggy and temps dropped ... believe it or not .... to
almost freezing temps!
.... but still almost no heat .... we are freezing while driving.
Marjon had 2 sweaters and blankets wrapped around .... brrrrrrrr.
I am now defrosting on a nice campsite near Fort Stockton with electricity.
BTW Added the nice Picture John made ....
Monday, March 5
It was freaking cold this last night at Fort Stockton .... freezing ... not only outside but also inside the GMC it was really cold. We had to put our
sweaters on ...
Everybody was amazed over this sudden temp change.
We drove this morning and part of the afternoon to San Antonio, about 300 miles, so we can stay tomorrow here and do some site seeing. We arrived at
the Alamo City RV Park, were we got not only a nice spot, but a lot of free info and brochures.
The bus to town stops right at front of the campground.
The receptionist was in a funny mood ... he asked us if he should wake us for the first bus .... at 5.30 am ....
We thanked him for his help, gracefully .... some later busses would be fine too .... LOL
Our clock was at 6 am this morning .... Arizona time, so over here in San Antonio it was already 7 am. Got a good night sleep so I made some
breakfast, Marjon got the benefit of an extra downer .... mine .... and she got finely warm ....
After an hour she also got up. It was nice and cozy inside, outside still chilly, but we did some extra clothes on, even thought we could use our
gloves but forgot as we went to the bus
24 , that stops right at the RV Park, very convenient ant for a fee of 2,75$ you get a day pass for all
their lines.
Well for 62+ even less ... 1,35$ .... you can't park a Car in downtown for that amount for a few minutes ...
The ride was not bad, but that stop-and-go, made Marjon again a little nauseous, luckily it went away and we started at the Alamo, a Spanish-Mexican
complex were they had a mission, they got in a big battle which became a legend ....
Impressive to see and read how and when all happened.
It was still very cold, but slowly the sun came and after a while, standing in the sun almost was nice!
Second on the todo list, or better the tosee list, is the Riverwalk, this is really amazing and it is worthwhile taking your time as we did, many nice
building, the way they situated all around that river, shaped by men, but not misshaped.
We enjoyed walking, talking and sightseeing this beautiful route along the San Antonio River.
After that walk we got hungry and still had to celebrate our wedding day with a delicious lunch/dinner.
We had a nice skillet with sweet sour chicken and Marjon her favorite salmon with wild rice and broccoli ... jummy
After this long break we did some walking around the Riverside Shopping Center and at last visited the famous Buckhorn Saloon and Museum, Long with
the Texas Ranger Museum. Very interesting, although too much stuffed animals for my taste.
The ride back in the bus went quickly and it was now even nice whilst in the sun! So back at the RV Park I took some tools, the Batterie Combiner I
bought at Jim 's place and installed it, quite easily, but discovered some thing weird, the house battery wasn't charging, it was a new battery and
big so voltage was still 12,7 but further investigation showed that the charger wasn't working ..... hmmmmm !!
Why ? Last time we used the GMC it worked fine.
So some measuring showed, there was no visual tripped breaker, and measuring at the outlet, no electricity. Although the GMC was plugged in and other
outlets worked fine.
So could that combined breaker for AC and Heather gone bad ? I opened that outlet/switch unit, but could not see any lose wires, nor could measure
some current.
Ok, a temporary solution is in taking a extension cable and connect the Charger to a good source and instantly it started charging and after a 10
minutes also through the combiner, the starter battery. But a 30 minute job became a 1,5 hour job, but also made me realize a new thing has to be
straightened out ....
Tuesday, March 6
Installed a battery combiner.
Yandina Combiner 100, model C100.
Came to a stop at the McDonald Parkinglot I10 W, near Seguin,TX, on the truck and RV parking .
Drove this morning from San Antonio, had to drive max 56 mph 3300 rpm, to not obstruct the traffic too much. drove about 30 minutes, at start at
campground oil pressure was 35-40. Because have absolutely no 3 gear!!
..... then oil pressure dropped first to 20 and while cruising down to parkinglot only some above zero!
While checking saw also a cooling fluid leak somewhere front which splashed a little to the co-driver-side Hood and some below, lost about 1/3 - 1/2
qt
Oil level is good, almost max.
Still think to better reach out and not right away start driving.
I will try to contact Stephen Wilhite, in Seguin, who is on the Blacklist, at first, now going to the gas station to buy some cooling fluid, so I can
add.
Help and suggestion are appreciated ....
Wednesday, March 7
The day began with a decent breakfast at the American Best Value Inn .... we were told the Wheel lift wrecker would come after lunch .... so ....
WRONG!
The guy came unexpectedly after 9 am, did not find us, and left .... so we sat waiting till later in the afternoon, whilst Billy was trying to help us
... and then he came, we had aired up the bags so the GMC was much higher on the back ... but, not high enough for the wrecker driver and he refused
to tow it after consulting with his manager ....
In fact he was right, it could do too much harm, and they had to pay for it, we had the problems ...
So luckily, Stephen who lived in this town who visited us, could call another company, who had a landol with winch, they promised to come tomorrow
morning between 8.30-9 am .... fingers crossed again, to bring us and the GMC to Cedar Park.
I also was lucky in get connected with Paul Arrey and Budd deGroot, who offered their help and assistance too.
Wonderfull. Billy contacted the shop at Cedar Park to tell them we came hopefully tomorrow ....
Here some pictures of the testing and trying to lift the GMC, what did go well, but the safety distance from rear to the ground, due to liability
issues, was too less ...
So we go for another try tomorrow ....
In the meantime the American Best Value Inn gets us as regular customers ....
Friday , March 8
Yesterday a busy day .... San Antonio wrecker company came nice on time 8.40am and it took the driver 40 minutes to get the GMC secured ... he was
very thoroughly ...
The drive to Cedar Park was about two hours going over the toll roads ...
At Cedar Park Don Virta Garage, first Diagnose made it clear engine and transmission has to come out ....
He will take the whole clip out....
We got us a rental RV for the next 4 weeks.
Picking it up tomorrow.....
Saterday, March 9
4 weeks a rental of Cruise America booked and this morning with the help of Paul Arrey, he brought us to San Antonio, we picked it up, then a ride
(rush hour .... 2,5 hours) back to Cedar Park. Luckily weather was nice and warm.
We took from the GMC everything we needed and packed it in the Cruise America MH ... took 2 hours.
Talked to Don Virta, he is going over engine and transmission totally, starting Monday, taking the whole clip out.
Also going to try to get FiTech stiff throttle cable better, AC and heating etc ....
Sunday, March 10
Woke up this this morning in the Bastrop State Park, nice and qu..... nice but not that quiet as we hoped, not really too disturbing, but the 71 goes
close by ....
Today we drive in the direction of Houston ....
Early this morning we woke up ... the find out, it wasn't that early anymore ... time again did give us an extra hour to add ... it was not 7.30 it
was already 8.30 on the Bastrop SP, after breakfast we drove in the direction of Houston and finally after the traffic jams, this busy Sunday traffic
let us reach the NASA Space Center....
Monday, March 11
Yesterday, after visiting Houston NASA Space Center, we stopped at a nearby Walmart did some shopping and since it was already late, decided to stay
there. Beside a little traffic noise it was a warm, humid but calm night.
Temp and humidity is raising again and we drove, today, in the morning towards Galveston for a visit and made a walk.
The only thing, parking a RV in Old Downtown is a pain in the ....
Afterwards, we drove north, and decided to take a longer break, after passing Baytown, on the "Pine Lakes RV Resort", a combined RV Park and Inn.
(Scottish Inns & Suites)
Not to much facilities but a laundry, full hookups, Internet .... so sufficient!
Tuesday, March 12
Despite the fact, that The Flying Dutchman isn't around to accompany us ...
.... we try to make the best of it. Trying to give you a trip
report and i hope you still enjoy our travel story .....
From Baytown, TX we drove towards Lafayette, LA .... what bad, bad .... again bad condition those roads are ... this is not only uncomfortable, no it
is plain dangerous, and even at most points no speed limits ...
Ok, saying that, it started with very light rains and a little foggy, and after a short gas break (2,12 p/gallon) we went on and arrived in the
beginning of the afternoon in Lafayette.
A light lunch and off we went to the "Vermillionville Living Historic Museum" a really nice visit with many info on the life and habits from the
1765-1890 period, many people from many countries, came and lived here ....
Vermilionville: is a somewhat larger and newer cultural park than Acadian Village. History is also central here: attention is paid to indigenous
people, Creoles (descendants of settlers in general) and Acadians (descendants of French settlers from Canada). The focus is on the period from 1765
to 1890. There are people who demonstrate the traditional professions such as blacksmith, butcher and weaver. You can participate in guided tours,
watch daily shows and music performances and taste traditional food.
Afterwards we stopped at a Royal Panda, restaurant, had a fantastic buffet at a reasonable price and it was wonderful, we were (wonder)FULL .... TOO
...
Wednesday, March 13 - 2019
From Lafayette, LA over Morgan City was an more interesting route, but again parts of the road were worse then in a third World country .... and very
stormy winds were blowing on the side of the MH .... trying to make it alter it's course....
No success ... we reached New Orleans at 12.30 pm.
On a simple RV Park, a few miles from the center of town.
Park d'Orleans RV .... well it is loud, caused by railroads and roads on both sides, the washrooms and showers were at their absolute minimum and not
that very clean, but ... hé, we have a Motorhome with all those things on board and in this case we only needed a stay to get easily to town ... and
the French Quarter and other sights in and near New Orleans.
The bus stop was right on the other way of the road, we went for a visit by bus and tram .... it was nice ...
The bus ride took us about an hour and an hour back.
It was cheap and easy and the driver was very nice in telling us where to get out and which next bus to take ...
Thursday, March 14
Visiting New Orleans again .... humid warm weather, with some possible rain showers, is predicted ....
We will see ... we continue our travel to Tallahassee ....
Will try to keep you updated ...
Bye, Daniel and Marjon.
--
Daniel Jacobs, NL-USA 1977 GMC Eleganza II, 455 newer Tranny+3.55 FD. FiTech and FCC, new Hoses, Selector Valve and Electric Pump, insulated Tanks,
APC, McDash, Dash AC to Enviro Safe. Schräder V+extern Fills, Ceramic Film TPMS FlexSteel Seats
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Flight from Düsseldorf over Atlanta to Tucson, AZ
Long stop over .... been a trip, including taxi drive,of much more the 24 hours .... very tired.
Wednesday, February 27
After a journey of 25 hours .... last plain took off an hour later because of brakes problem ... we arrived safely in Tucson, where our good friends
Carol and Armand waited for us at the airport.
Yesterday we had to adapt after that long flight, but still got the GMC at Calypso Automotive, where they did some maintenance, replacing Alternator
and worked on a ground and flasher indicator problem. The FiTech cable was replaced and is some better now, but still not at a optimum.
It turned out that the excessive stiffness was from a new throttle cable that was nicked during install ..... !!
After that we drove back to Marana and went on arranging stuff, filling tanks etc ...
Weather was excellent today sun shining !!
Today the parking break has to adjust just a bit and some shopping to be done.
Just now sun already starts shining and it looks like a bright day again.
Tuesday, February 28
Some R&R ... some shopping etc ...
We went getting the GMC, yesterday at Calypso Automotive and Jim there took his time explaining and showing everything, he did and we even got help
installing that new house battery.
Afterwards we got to fill up .... 43 gallon ... 85$ ... so that GMC tanks were really empty.
At a rate of 1.99 a gallon that's not bad.
In the rest of the day we got groceries, did some cleaning and in de evening we went for a nice dinner, with Carol, Armand and Barbara, who came
also to visit us. We enjoyed the evening together.
Friday, March 1
This morning shortly after 9 am we drove off, leaving Dove Mountain and Carol and Armand, behind ... they wouldn't accompany us this time. "Sonny the
Sunseeker" was waiting for them on the parking lot and eager to travel again.
But this time in a different direction.
Along the I10 traffic was busy but not that bad and we passed, Benson, Deming and stopped somewhere near Las Cruses ... weather was good and not too
hot, and only some side winds.
... the AC, who did work yesterday during our short trip to the shopping Mall, very good, refused this time, no reaction, but luckily the blower was
still willing to give us some refreshing air, so that was good ... only after a coffee break that part of the ventilation system, got apparently a day
off, also ...
For sure, the internals of that, by us "repaired" switch shifted every time when used, a bit more out of line.
Yesterday, AC was only in between the NORM and VENT position possible, while last drive last Autumn it was between , or around the NORM position ...
and then the blower also worked.
That working blower at first this morning must have been just at the edge of "still making contact" after the break ... well... it took a Break
itself...
Something to attend too, and yes I just closed up the dash in the afternoon, yesterday ... Mmmmmm ...
But the Flying Dutchman ran nice, I personally found the vacuum some low, after those changes made at Calypso Automotive but I don't exactly remember
the values before.
Now cruising at 65 gave a vacuum of 10 ... and acceleration gave quickly 5 or less ... going downhill I saw 15 at the most.
They did switch off the vacuum advance, leaned the idle more in the menu of the FiTech. And block off plates were installed, an new Alternator some
electrical work, alignment etc ....
But it ran and started nice ... so ...
A second fill up in Deming only needed, $50 and off we went.
The throttle cable is still stiff but only half of what was in the Autumn, could still be improved I hope, but for now the Cruise Control is able to
hold and regulate the speed as it should do, which is a big advantage for the drivers right leg ...
Saterday, March 2
40 years ago .... we got married.... celebrating it with a glass of wine on the campground Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton, outside temps are .....
freezing !!
Yesterday we drove through Las Cruses and drove to the National Border Patrol Museum in El Paso. Nice little and informative museum.
Afterwards we enjoyed driving scenic route down to El Paso, had to stop for a new phone for Marjon, and went on our way in the afternoon, to the Hueco
Tank State Park, were we luckily got the last vacant site.
The rest of the afternoon was enjoying and relaxing the surroundings
Sunday, March 4
From El Paso we took the little bypass to Fort Hancook and from there the Flying Dutchman, drove south on the I10 and winds were not to annoying.
I noticed this morning that sometimes in P he doesn't shift past the 2 .... so engine rpm goes up, I helped manually by going to N and then again to
P ..... hmmmmmm
Today happened first at the early morning and several times on the road .... mostly while accelerating some more, pressing the throttle to the max
can't be the cause (Kickdown Switch) because that is with this stiff pedal almost impossible.
On a rest stop we got some unexpected but very nice company from John, from Florida, who pulled up behind us as we were taking a brake. We had a nice
talk and he told us he was also heading for the Tallahassee, GMCMI Meeting.
... here in Texas as we passed Davis Mountains, I10/I20 junction, suddenly, it became very foggy and temps dropped ... believe it or not .... to
almost freezing temps!
.... but still almost no heat .... we are freezing while driving.
Marjon had 2 sweaters and blankets wrapped around .... brrrrrrrr.
I am now defrosting on a nice campsite near Fort Stockton with electricity.
BTW Added the nice Picture John made ....
Monday, March 5
It was freaking cold this last night at Fort Stockton .... freezing ... not only outside but also inside the GMC it was really cold. We had to put our
sweaters on ...
Everybody was amazed over this sudden temp change.
We drove this morning and part of the afternoon to San Antonio, about 300 miles, so we can stay tomorrow here and do some site seeing. We arrived at
the Alamo City RV Park, were we got not only a nice spot, but a lot of free info and brochures.
The bus to town stops right at front of the campground.
The receptionist was in a funny mood ... he asked us if he should wake us for the first bus .... at 5.30 am ....
We thanked him for his help, gracefully .... some later busses would be fine too .... LOL
Our clock was at 6 am this morning .... Arizona time, so over here in San Antonio it was already 7 am. Got a good night sleep so I made some
breakfast, Marjon got the benefit of an extra downer .... mine .... and she got finely warm ....
After an hour she also got up. It was nice and cozy inside, outside still chilly, but we did some extra clothes on, even thought we could use our
gloves but forgot as we went to the bus
24 , that stops right at the RV Park, very convenient ant for a fee of 2,75$ you get a day pass for alltheir lines.
Well for 62+ even less ... 1,35$ .... you can't park a Car in downtown for that amount for a few minutes ...
The ride was not bad, but that stop-and-go, made Marjon again a little nauseous, luckily it went away and we started at the Alamo, a Spanish-Mexican
complex were they had a mission, they got in a big battle which became a legend ....
Impressive to see and read how and when all happened.
It was still very cold, but slowly the sun came and after a while, standing in the sun almost was nice!
Second on the todo list, or better the tosee list, is the Riverwalk, this is really amazing and it is worthwhile taking your time as we did, many nice
building, the way they situated all around that river, shaped by men, but not misshaped.
We enjoyed walking, talking and sightseeing this beautiful route along the San Antonio River.
After that walk we got hungry and still had to celebrate our wedding day with a delicious lunch/dinner.
We had a nice skillet with sweet sour chicken and Marjon her favorite salmon with wild rice and broccoli ... jummy
After this long break we did some walking around the Riverside Shopping Center and at last visited the famous Buckhorn Saloon and Museum, Long with
the Texas Ranger Museum. Very interesting, although too much stuffed animals for my taste.
The ride back in the bus went quickly and it was now even nice whilst in the sun! So back at the RV Park I took some tools, the Batterie Combiner I
bought at Jim 's place and installed it, quite easily, but discovered some thing weird, the house battery wasn't charging, it was a new battery and
big so voltage was still 12,7 but further investigation showed that the charger wasn't working ..... hmmmmm !!
Why ? Last time we used the GMC it worked fine.
So some measuring showed, there was no visual tripped breaker, and measuring at the outlet, no electricity. Although the GMC was plugged in and other
outlets worked fine.
So could that combined breaker for AC and Heather gone bad ? I opened that outlet/switch unit, but could not see any lose wires, nor could measure
some current.
Ok, a temporary solution is in taking a extension cable and connect the Charger to a good source and instantly it started charging and after a 10
minutes also through the combiner, the starter battery. But a 30 minute job became a 1,5 hour job, but also made me realize a new thing has to be
straightened out ....
Tuesday, March 6
Installed a battery combiner.
Yandina Combiner 100, model C100.
Came to a stop at the McDonald Parkinglot I10 W, near Seguin,TX, on the truck and RV parking .
Drove this morning from San Antonio, had to drive max 56 mph 3300 rpm, to not obstruct the traffic too much. drove about 30 minutes, at start at
campground oil pressure was 35-40. Because have absolutely no 3 gear!!
..... then oil pressure dropped first to 20 and while cruising down to parkinglot only some above zero!
While checking saw also a cooling fluid leak somewhere front which splashed a little to the co-driver-side Hood and some below, lost about 1/3 - 1/2
qt
Oil level is good, almost max.
Still think to better reach out and not right away start driving.
I will try to contact Stephen Wilhite, in Seguin, who is on the Blacklist, at first, now going to the gas station to buy some cooling fluid, so I can
add.
Help and suggestion are appreciated ....
Wednesday, March 7
The day began with a decent breakfast at the American Best Value Inn .... we were told the Wheel lift wrecker would come after lunch .... so ....
WRONG!
The guy came unexpectedly after 9 am, did not find us, and left .... so we sat waiting till later in the afternoon, whilst Billy was trying to help us
... and then he came, we had aired up the bags so the GMC was much higher on the back ... but, not high enough for the wrecker driver and he refused
to tow it after consulting with his manager ....
In fact he was right, it could do too much harm, and they had to pay for it, we had the problems ...
So luckily, Stephen who lived in this town who visited us, could call another company, who had a landol with winch, they promised to come tomorrow
morning between 8.30-9 am .... fingers crossed again, to bring us and the GMC to Cedar Park.
I also was lucky in get connected with Paul Arrey and Budd deGroot, who offered their help and assistance too.
Wonderfull. Billy contacted the shop at Cedar Park to tell them we came hopefully tomorrow ....
Here some pictures of the testing and trying to lift the GMC, what did go well, but the safety distance from rear to the ground, due to liability
issues, was too less ...
So we go for another try tomorrow ....
In the meantime the American Best Value Inn gets us as regular customers ....
Friday , March 8
Yesterday a busy day .... San Antonio wrecker company came nice on time 8.40am and it took the driver 40 minutes to get the GMC secured ... he was
very thoroughly ...
The drive to Cedar Park was about two hours going over the toll roads ...
At Cedar Park Don Virta Garage, first Diagnose made it clear engine and transmission has to come out ....
He will take the whole clip out....
We got us a rental RV for the next 4 weeks.
Picking it up tomorrow.....
Saterday, March 9
4 weeks a rental of Cruise America booked and this morning with the help of Paul Arrey, he brought us to San Antonio, we picked it up, then a ride
(rush hour .... 2,5 hours) back to Cedar Park. Luckily weather was nice and warm.
We took from the GMC everything we needed and packed it in the Cruise America MH ... took 2 hours.
Talked to Don Virta, he is going over engine and transmission totally, starting Monday, taking the whole clip out.
Also going to try to get FiTech stiff throttle cable better, AC and heating etc ....
Sunday, March 10
Woke up this this morning in the Bastrop State Park, nice and qu..... nice but not that quiet as we hoped, not really too disturbing, but the 71 goes
close by ....
Today we drive in the direction of Houston ....
Early this morning we woke up ... the find out, it wasn't that early anymore ... time again did give us an extra hour to add ... it was not 7.30 it
was already 8.30 on the Bastrop SP, after breakfast we drove in the direction of Houston and finally after the traffic jams, this busy Sunday traffic
let us reach the NASA Space Center....
Monday, March 11
Yesterday, after visiting Houston NASA Space Center, we stopped at a nearby Walmart did some shopping and since it was already late, decided to stay
there. Beside a little traffic noise it was a warm, humid but calm night.
Temp and humidity is raising again and we drove, today, in the morning towards Galveston for a visit and made a walk.
The only thing, parking a RV in Old Downtown is a pain in the ....
Afterwards, we drove north, and decided to take a longer break, after passing Baytown, on the "Pine Lakes RV Resort", a combined RV Park and Inn.
(Scottish Inns & Suites)
Not to much facilities but a laundry, full hookups, Internet .... so sufficient!
Tuesday, March 12
Despite the fact, that The Flying Dutchman isn't around to accompany us ...
.... we try to make the best of it. Trying to give you a tripreport and i hope you still enjoy our travel story .....
From Baytown, TX we drove towards Lafayette, LA .... what bad, bad .... again bad condition those roads are ... this is not only uncomfortable, no it
is plain dangerous, and even at most points no speed limits ...
Ok, saying that, it started with very light rains and a little foggy, and after a short gas break (2,12 p/gallon) we went on and arrived in the
beginning of the afternoon in Lafayette.
A light lunch and off we went to the "Vermillionville Living Historic Museum" a really nice visit with many info on the life and habits from the
1765-1890 period, many people from many countries, came and lived here ....
Vermilionville: is a somewhat larger and newer cultural park than Acadian Village. History is also central here: attention is paid to indigenous
people, Creoles (descendants of settlers in general) and Acadians (descendants of French settlers from Canada). The focus is on the period from 1765
to 1890. There are people who demonstrate the traditional professions such as blacksmith, butcher and weaver. You can participate in guided tours,
watch daily shows and music performances and taste traditional food.
Afterwards we stopped at a Royal Panda, restaurant, had a fantastic buffet at a reasonable price and it was wonderful, we were (wonder)FULL .... TOO
...
Wednesday, March 13 - 2019
From Lafayette, LA over Morgan City was an more interesting route, but again parts of the road were worse then in a third World country .... and very
stormy winds were blowing on the side of the MH .... trying to make it alter it's course....
No success ... we reached New Orleans at 12.30 pm.
On a simple RV Park, a few miles from the center of town.
Park d'Orleans RV .... well it is loud, caused by railroads and roads on both sides, the washrooms and showers were at their absolute minimum and not
that very clean, but ... hé, we have a Motorhome with all those things on board and in this case we only needed a stay to get easily to town ... and
the French Quarter and other sights in and near New Orleans.
The bus stop was right on the other way of the road, we went for a visit by bus and tram .... it was nice ...
The bus ride took us about an hour and an hour back.
It was cheap and easy and the driver was very nice in telling us where to get out and which next bus to take ...
Thursday, March 14
Visiting New Orleans again .... humid warm weather, with some possible rain showers, is predicted ....
We will see ... we continue our travel to Tallahassee ....
Will try to keep you updated ...
Bye, Daniel and Marjon.
--
Daniel Jacobs, NL-USA 1977 GMC Eleganza II, 455 newer Tranny+3.55 FD. FiTech and FCC, new Hoses, Selector Valve and Electric Pump, insulated Tanks,
APC, McDash, Dash AC to Enviro Safe. Schräder V+extern Fills, Ceramic Film TPMS FlexSteel Seats
....
