Let me start by saying we ended our trip with huge smiles. All the journey troubles were made worthwhile by the destination at Mystic Springs and the people we met there. Here goes the tale of our travels.
On the way to the Mystic Springs Rally...
Within 5 miles of leaving our house the MH started overheating. We were able to get to our mechanic, and he installed a new thermostat. The MH continued to have intermittent but less frequent engine temperature problems.
Even though it had been working fine, the dash A/C was barely working. So we turned it off and used the roof air.
The refrigerator wouldn’t work on LP. We stopped on the way and purchased a new thermocouple, but it didn't fix the problem.
On the way home...
We couldn’t get the range vent to close right when we were getting ready to leave. After some work it seemed to close fine.
A big windstorm moved in Monday morning - we had to drive under a "High Profile Vehicle" advisory. High winds ripped the improperly closed vent shield off the MH as we left the rally site. The part is no longer available through Airstream - any rain we get before we can locate a replacement will go directly to the kitchen counter.
The generator wouldn't run right. We stopped near the rally site and purchased a new fuel filter. Neither a new fuel filter nor choke adjustment fixed the problem. We couldn't run the roof A/C without the generator, and the dash A/C still isn’t working. The refrigerator still won’t run on LP, and now we have no electricity either.
Once we were on the interstate, high winds blew us into two traffic control barrels in a construction zone. The barrels ripped the rear awning arm off the side of the MH - the arm extension was lost; one of the bolts was sheared off of the top bracket; the end of the awning roller was bent. Brett had to rip the awning arm the rest of the way off the coach and try to secure the end of the awning roller. (Now we know what caused the dents, s****es & other damage that was in that area when we purchased the RV.)
The MH started overheating again in Tallahassee. We were able to get it off the interstate and to a mechanic’s shop in Big Bend just after 6 p.m. The local parts store had closed at 6:00, so they would need to drive into Tallahassee for parts. The mechanic looked at the fan clutch and said it was a bigger job than he wanted, so he wouldn’t replace it for us. We asked them to get a cooling fan from the parts store, so that we could at least get more air moving over the radiator. They agreed, but didn’t have enough cash for the part. We gave them cash and sent them on their way. They came back an hour or so later with the part. They marked the part up by $30, added a $25 fee to get the part, sold us a few feet of wire for the cost of an entire spool, and watched as we installed the part ourselves with our own tools. About $150 later we were back on the road around 8:30 p.m.
This was our first trip in this MH. I bet we'll never forget it.
