FL to PA

[oddillo]

We're probably going to make this MH trip in early September, and would appreciate any campsite recommendations, especially which to avoid. It's pretty much a direct route (AAA triptik) as time is somewhat limited. Thanks.

[jim8860]

What part of PA?

[rluhr]

You might also try posting here to see if anyone can offer courtesy parking along your route.

I made that drive last March and found that I-26 in SC to I-77 to I-81 was preferable to I-95 all the way up, especially if you are headed to central or western PA. Much less traffic and better scenery, with only an extra 80 miles tacked on the trip.

[oddillo]

That would have helped...Pittsburgh, Jim.

[oddillo]

Your route matches the Triptik route, with the exception of taking 77 to 79 into Pittsburgh. Thanks for the courtesy parking idea.

Michael

[Tarheel]

How far do you plan to travel each day? Sometimes we get a wild hair and drive from the VA/NC line on the coast to just inside the Florida line. When we do that we stay at Hances 1 mile across the line on I-95 and rt 17. $20-$21 per night A good place to spend the night. We also stay at SOB on the way home. Pedro has some nice pull-thrus that you don't have to unhook. You don't have to unhook at Hance's either. Saves a little time when you just want to get down the road.

[oddillo]

Our trip plans were altered considerably by late roadworthiness of the unit, courtesey of Bates RV, (don't get me started), and good old Mother Nature. Our first night at Fort Wilderness resulted in both awning supports being snapped clean off 18 inches from the bottom bracket. Hasty field repairs were completed the next morning before we became part of the exodus from FL.
We took the turnpike to 75, then 301 to 10 to 95 up to a Coast to Coast resort at Summerton, SC. The air compressor became tempramental as we journeyed on to our next spot in NC. Our 4hr trips were taking anywhere up to 9hrs. due, in part to wrong turns and congestion. In NC, the unit slid back on the jacks, and all four were pointing forward at about 45 degrees. I managed to raise each one individually, but was afraid to put them down again, just in case...Another "short" leg into WV and the engine started making an awful rattling sound, a good samaritan from the Days Inn stopped to help, and suggested limping about 10 miles to the hotel, the noise abated then went away completely. There's a very fine campground at the rear of the hotel. All hotel amenities were available to campers. He then arranged for a mechanic to come to us! This was a holiday weekend. By this time the generator had quit, and the airbags had to be filled manually. The mechanic fiddled with the catalytic converter, then examined the engine to discover that we had been running on 4 or 5 cylinders, (don't get me started). he replaced plugs and lines and we set off the next day and managed to get 14 miles from the hotel and the noise was back with a vengeance. The mechanic came out to us and thought it was the lifters and suggested continuing to Pittsburgh carefully and stopping once in a while to let the engine cool down. We managed to make it on the Labor day Monday.
The engine's under warranty they said, less than 10K miles on it. Well Paul Sherry Chevrolet service manager Dan, begged to differ. The warranty isn't transferrable. I e-mailed GM. Yes it is they said, BUT you have to produce a certificate of warranty and all the maintenance records for the engine. All I have is an invoice with the details of an engine replacement in July of 2002. Not good enough, they said.
meanwhile back in FL, the previous owner told me that all records were in the glove compartment of the unit. Records for the upkeep were virtually impossible to duplicate because repairs were done all over the place; USA, Canada, Mexico.
A Bates salesman who dealt with the previous owner proudly told me that he had picked up the unit and drove it some 300 miles at up to 75mph, and it ran fine. He also told me that we were given all the paperwork, and that anything else was lost. Now we sit in a garage, useless, waiting to see if GM will do anything under warranty, or if we should void the warranty by just having the necessary work done so we can enjoy some of the remaining season.
despite these things, we really enjoyed switching from our Excella trailer to the MH.