Trip Report -- Navarre Beach FL

J

jeremy

New member
Dec 28, 2007
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Had a great trip down to Navarre Beach FL from Birmingham. Left last Saturday, returned today. A little over 500 miles round trip. No problems. Honda
EV6010 ran great both directions. Ambient temps were above 90 and probably approaching 95 both directions in the heat of the day. Feels Like Index
easily into the low 100s. Pulled a fully loaded HHR with 4 bikes off the back, so we weren't travelling light. Heard the fan clutch a lot, drank a lot
of water sitting under those big windows, but the coach ran well despite the heat and the load. The Digipanel showed stable temps in both the oil pan
and transmission pan, but the transmission outflow sensor showed a lot of variation on the hills. The orange light lit briefly on a few hills but
quickly went out on the crest and the pan temps were good. That load and temp shortens the fluid life so I'll replace it a little sooner. Love my
Digipanel!

Navarre Beach RV Resort is very nice. Shady in spots, has its own fishing pier and pool, and easy access to the gulf beach over a bridge about a mile
away. 30 minutes from Pensacola Beach, 20 minutes from Fort Walton, but very quiet area. Kids had a blast, despite the hot ride either direction. Roof
AC just can't handle those temps while pushing along at about 60 mph. Looking to add a second roof AC.

Second really solid trip in a row. Took a spring break trip down to New Orleans in March. Stayed on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain at a state
park a few miles from the Causeway. Also a very good trip with no hassles to report. Enjoy the coaches folks and see you down the road.
--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
 
Glad you had a nice visit. I live 5 minutes from that campground. Hit me up with a private message next time you plan to come to Navarre, we always
love to meet GMCers! Glad to hear the towing went well, after my transmission debacle I will be testing mine out next weekend, it will be the first
time I've towed since I had the entire cooling system replaced a new griffin radiator and a 40 row plate trans cooler added.
--
JD Lisenby- USAF Ret
1978 Royale-455
MacDash, Manny Tranny, FI-tech, 3.70 etc etc

Navarre, FL
 
When something quits on my coach and I get depressed and frustrated and ready to set it afire or sell it to the high offer, Jeremy or someone else
turns in a report like this. Which reminds me of Apopka and Bean Station and a zillion dog shows and all the other places I've had fun and no
troubles. And I soldier on so I can make the next ones. 'Illigetimi non carborundum' is the approach. The fun and camaraderie and new old friends
make it worth it.

--johnny

DOS Tip: I..N..C.. = 'don't let the bastards wear you down'
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
 
> Glad you had a nice visit. I live 5 minutes from that campground. Hit me up with a private message next time you plan to come to Navarre, we
> always love to meet GMCers! Glad to hear the towing went well, after my transmission debacle I will be testing mine out next weekend, it will be the
> first time I've towed since I had the entire cooling system replaced a new griffin radiator and a 40 row plate trans cooler added.

It's a nice campground. Very clean and always a ton of people out working. They were very nice and helpful as well. My only complaint is that they are
one of those places that charge extra for a 3rd kid, and it's pretty expensive to begin with. As a family of 5, that annoys me. But since I know that
going in, it is what it is. My parents flew in and stayed in a cabin right next to us as well, so that is always a lot of fun. We've done that on 4
trips and this was probably the second nicest cabin. A really great campground.

We have a 10 year old Manny Tranny, a 3.55 final drive, and just had the whole cooling system revamped last year. Recored the OEM radiator but pulled
the transmission fluid out entirely into a massive tranny cooler. We used the radiator from an old overhead AC unit and it works really well. Passed a
whole lot of trucks, trailers, motorhomes, etc overheating yesterday on the way home. Traffic on I65 didn't help. Without our electric fuel pump we
would have vapor locked a few times.

Overall though, a great trip. Didn't know you were down there. If we hit that area again, I'll definitely check in. Always fun meeting GMCers but we
rarely go the same place twice (excluding Gatlinburg and Fort Wilderness at Disney). Too many new places to discover! Along the Gulf Coast, we've now
camped at Dauphin Island, Wales West, Perdito Key, and Navarre Beach. We will see where we go next time, but we definitely like having a piece of the
National Seashore nearby. The kids love searching for critters on the inland waterway side.

--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
 
> When something quits on my coach and I get depressed and frustrated and ready to set it afire or sell it to the high offer, Jeremy or someone else
> turns in a report like this. Which reminds me of Apopka and Bean Station and a zillion dog shows and all the other places I've had fun and no
> troubles. And I soldier on so I can make the next ones. 'Illigetimi non carborundum' is the approach. The fun and camaraderie and new old friends
> make it worth it.
>
> --johnny
>
> DOS Tip: I..N..C.. = 'don't let the bastards wear you down'

I got to tell you Johnny, the way my fan clutch was working overtime yesterday I was thinking about you and your MB fan clutch. That might hit my
list. The clutch was coming on a whole lot when the temps weren't too bad in the fluids, and sometimes was late coming on when I wanted it to. It
worked and we got home, but I can see the advantage of the MB system.
--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
 
That's actually Tom Pryor's forward thinking. I did the electrics for the first few till we found a commercial controller for less than I can one -
off them which has some other tricks to it. And, for the FI heads, you normally don't even need the controller - most of the FI systems have one or
two fan controllers built in.

Back in The Day we used to hit a bud's place in Ft Walton over long weekends and ride the motorcycles down the beach to Destin. You had to get off
the sand for Navarre Beach State Park, the only thing on the beach at the time. SanDestin was a guy with a bulldozer cutting lanes in the scrub
across the highway from the beach. Another bud rented the only triple wide house trailer I've ever seen, just East of the Green Knight. Only
residence on the road between the Knight and Destin. http://www.thedestinlog.com/article/20130426/NEWS/304269882 Times change, not necessarily for
the better... which is why we currently eschew Navarre/SanDestin/Destin/Panam City. Not that they're bad, they're just crowded and different. Shades
of The Trashy White Band and cheap cocktail;s. Sigh.

--johnny]
--
76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
"I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell" - ol Andy, paraphrased
 
> That's actually Tom Pryor's forward thinking. I did the electrics for the first few till we found a commercial controller for less than I can one
> - off them which has some other tricks to it. And, for the FI heads, you normally don't even need the controller - most of the FI systems have one
> or two fan controllers built in.
>
> Back in The Day we used to hit a bud's place in Ft Walton over long weekends and ride the motorcycles down the beach to Destin. You had to get
> off the sand for Navarre Beach State Park, the only thing on the beach at the time. SanDestin was a guy with a bulldozer cutting lanes in the scrub
> across the highway from the beach. Another bud rented the only triple wide house trailer I've ever seen, just East of the Green Knight. Only
> residence on the road between the Knight and Destin. http://www.thedestinlog.com/article/20130426/NEWS/304269882 Times change, not necessarily for
> the better... which is why we currently eschew Navarre/SanDestin/Destin/Panam City. Not that they're bad, they're just crowded and different.
> Shades of The Trashy White Band and cheap cocktail;s. Sigh.
>
> --johnny]

Yeah. That era is long gone. Of the places you mentioned though, Navarre is still relatively small. Only a few resorts up by the beach and still
almost nothing to the town. A few touristy restaurants. I really enjoyed it. Navarre is quiet, which was great for the adults. And when the kids
needed something to do we went down to Fort Walton for the Gulfarium or over toward Pensacola Beach for taekwondo (all my kids are in tkd, my daughter
approaching a black belt. So they take visiting lessons most places we go to get different perspectives). We never even got to the local Zoo, and with
my daughter the animal lover we rarely pass up a Zoo!

But Navarre was good. The beaches are beautiful and not too crowded if you go in the morning and the National Seashore between Navarre and Pensacola
Beach is gorgeous. Someone built an inflatable water playground the kids played on out in the inland waterway for an hour and my dad and I hired a
guide to go after some Redfish and Speckled Trout.

Activities in the morning, campground pool in the afternoon/evening. A few dinners out, but most meals at the coach. Kind of a perfect vacation for a
family of 5 with twin 6 year old boys and a precocious 8 year old daughter. Only sad part is the dog beaches were limited. So we pretty much shaved
Cinder down to a 2 inch fuzz for nothing. Oh well, it'll make her easy to keep mat free for the summer!
--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
 
I hear you Johnny, I went to high school 60 miles north of here. Navarre was a caution light on hwy 98, a gas station and a small grocery store. One
of the things we love about it is the National seashore and Eglin AFB prevent the condo invasion that has ruined most of the gulf coast. We like to
go down to Port St Joe and areas east of Mexico Beach. Beautiful, quiet and some nice motorcycle riding when you hit the countryside north of 98. We
go scalloping, canoeing and kayaking and enjoy Mother Nature. On a GMC note- I too am looking at the MB fan mod.
--
JD Lisenby- USAF Ret
1978 Royale-455
MacDash, Manny Tranny, FI-tech, 3.70 etc etc

Navarre, FL
 
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