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05-13-2007, 06:34 AM
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#1
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Moderator
2015 25' FB Flying Cloud
2012 23' FB Flying Cloud
2005 25' Safari
Santa Rosa Beach
, Florida
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 13,159
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Lucy's Great Excursion
Day 1 (Saturday, May 12, 2007)
We are finally off in Lucy on our great adventure to Wyoming and Montana. We not sure exactly how long we will be gone or exactly where we will go. We got a late start (11:00 AM) and covered a little over 300 miles. We found a nice campground right on I-20 in Clinton, Mississippi. It is Springdale RV Park. It is inside an upscale mobile home park. It is nice and secure with complete hook- ups for $18. It is two blocks off I-20 at Exit #36 in Mississippi.
Here's a snapshot of Lucy and Olivia on Day 1 taking a lunch break in the Publix parking lot in Navarre, Florida.
__________________
SuEllyn & Brian McCabe
WBCCI #3628 -- AIR #14872 -- TAC #FL-7
2015 FC 25' FB (Lucy) with ProPride
2020 Silverado 2500 (Vivian)
2023 Rivian R1T (Opal)
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05-13-2007, 06:36 AM
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#2
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Rivet Master
NOVA SCOTIA
, CANADA
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 5,448
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It's a beautiful part of the country.Have an enjoyable and safe trip.
__________________
Mike
AIR # 7916
Ex WBCCI #32083
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05-13-2007, 07:18 AM
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#3
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Rivet Master
Commercial Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Naples
, Florida
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,508
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M-Tags,
Did you get effected by any of the fires on your way out of FL. I heard that parts of i-75 and I-10 were closed and that the traffic was gridlocked in the areas .
Have a great time on your trip! If you happen to get to Jackson Hole, WY, be sure to stop at the New York City Sub Shop for lunch. Owned by a friend of mine with a HUGE handlebar moustache, IMHO they make the best subs on the planet.....hot off the grill!
If you do make it, say hi to Bruce (the owner) for me .
__________________
lewster
Solar Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
Victron Solar Components and Inverters, Zamp Solar Panels, LiFeBlue and Battle Born Lithium Batteries, Lifeline AGM Batteries
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05-13-2007, 07:34 AM
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#4
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4 Rivet Member
2004 16' International CCD
1997 25' Safari
hamilton
, Montana
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 387
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Have a great trip,, holler if you come close to Hamilton,,, happy trails,, donna
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05-13-2007, 09:00 AM
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#5
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Rivet Master
1951 21' Flying Cloud
1960 24' Tradewind
West Coast
, BC
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,790
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And so the adventure begins - may you have as many smiles as miles on your trip. This is a great time of the year to be out on a road trip with your Airstream.
Take care,
Barry
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05-13-2007, 11:17 AM
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#6
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3 Rivet Member
2007 34' Classic
Pecos
, New Mexico
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 124
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Have a great trip! We have been on the road since October 13, and have logged just over 15,000 miles. Getting ready to store the AS for the summer and enjoy summer in the mountains of New Mexico.
__________________
Pecos Pete
Cow Creek, NM
'07 34' Classic
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05-13-2007, 11:29 AM
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#7
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GStephens
1982 31' Limited
1953 25' Cruiser
Hamilton
, Texas
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 563
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I GUESS THAT GIVES YOU TWO FRIENDS IN HAMILTON. IT IS JUST THAT I LIVE IN HAMILTON, TEXAS.
GStephens
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05-13-2007, 02:20 PM
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#8
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4 Rivet Member
2004 16' International CCD
1997 25' Safari
hamilton
, Montana
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 387
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G.,, where is Hamilton Texas???? lived in that great state for about 25 years,, Alpine and Boerne,,, may have to visit there sometime,, my daughters would laugh,,, donna
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05-13-2007, 09:22 PM
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#9
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Moderator
2015 25' FB Flying Cloud
2012 23' FB Flying Cloud
2005 25' Safari
Santa Rosa Beach
, Florida
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 13,159
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Lucy Had a Really Tough Day on the Road
DAY 2
We got a fairly early start from Clinton, Mississippi, and headed west on I-20. We were headed to the Dallas area to spend a couple of days and look around. All went pretty smoothly until about 5:00 PM. We were westbound at about 65 mph. A car passed us in the left lane waving frantically at us that something was amiss with Lucy. Fortunately, we were approaching Exit #490 near Forney, Taxas (about 30 miles east of Dallas). We pulled off on the exit ramp and brought Lucy to a stop. SuEllyn jumped out first and found to her horror that Lucy's right front tire had blown out and was shreaded. I guess we were lucky to get stopped quickly as the tire was still smoking. The failed tire did put a small rip in the Lucy's aluminum at the wheel well. We were very luck that it did not do more damage.
After assessing the situation, we decided to handle it ourselves instead of calling AAA. We figured we could do it faster and better. We put our rear right tire up on some of those lego-type leveling blocks. I put the torque wrench on the lugs, but the wheel spun. I tried putiing the tire back on the ground, but there wasn't enough left of the failed tire to hold it still while I removed the lug nuts. SuEllyn came up with the idea of manually engaging the trailer brakes. SuEllyn held the lever, and I was able to loosten the lug nuts. The spare came down easily and we mounted it ans were once again on our way. As soon as we were done, it started raining very hard. We had lucked out again.
I had checked the tire pressure this morning, and all was OK. I had even visually checked the tires about 50 miles prior to the failure. Lucy has about 13,000 miles on her, and all of her tires appeared to be in very good condition. Of course I may have had a puncture. There isn't enough left of the failed tire to really tell.
We made it to the Dallas Metro KOA at about 7:00 PM. We were glad to just settle in Lucy. We plan to head to Goodyear hear in Dallas in the morning and get Lucy a replacement tire.
Here are a few photos of the tire incident. Imput as to possible causes would be appreciated. Hopefully tomorrow will be be a better day for Lucy.
__________________
SuEllyn & Brian McCabe
WBCCI #3628 -- AIR #14872 -- TAC #FL-7
2015 FC 25' FB (Lucy) with ProPride
2020 Silverado 2500 (Vivian)
2023 Rivian R1T (Opal)
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05-13-2007, 09:41 PM
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#10
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Moderator
2015 25' FB Flying Cloud
2012 23' FB Flying Cloud
2005 25' Safari
Santa Rosa Beach
, Florida
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 13,159
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We really appreciate the invitations form from both Donna and Gayland to visit Hamilton, Texas. We don't think that we will be able to make it down that way as tomorrow will be devoted to getting Lucy a new tire. When we leave here, we are on our way to visit old friends who have a ranch up near Matador in Motley County. They are expecting us on Tuesday afternoon. We will be driving up there at a slower pace as Lucy is now a little gun shy.
As to lewster's question about the fires in Florida. We heard that sections of both I-10 and I-75 were colsed yesterday. We live out in Central Time near Pensacola and haven't been exposed to any of the current Florida fires.
__________________
SuEllyn & Brian McCabe
WBCCI #3628 -- AIR #14872 -- TAC #FL-7
2015 FC 25' FB (Lucy) with ProPride
2020 Silverado 2500 (Vivian)
2023 Rivian R1T (Opal)
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05-13-2007, 10:01 PM
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#11
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Tom, the Uber Disney Fan
2006 30' Safari
Orlando
, Florida
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,693
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Sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you. Hopefully this incident with the blown tire is the glitch of the trip. Safe travels and happy times with great memories to you and your wife!
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
https://streaminacrossamerica.com/
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05-14-2007, 02:58 AM
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#12
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Rivet Master
2017 28' International
Western
, Oregon
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 802
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Level?
I may be mistaken.....but that pic sure looks like your front end is high relative to your TV.......did you have your dealer level your rig before you started?
Quote:
Originally Posted by moosetags
Day 1 (Saturday, May 12, 2007)
We are finally off in Lucy on our great adventure to Wyoming and Montana. We not sure exactly how long we will be gone or exactly where we will go. We got a late start (11:00 AM) and covered a little over 300 miles. We found a nice campground right on I-20 in Clinton, Mississippi. It is Springdale RV Park. It is inside an upscale mobile home park. It is nice and secure with complete hook- ups for $18. It is two blocks off I-20 at Exit #36 in Mississippi.
Here's a snapshot of Lucy and Olivia on Day 1 taking a lunch break in the Publix parking lot in Navarre, Florida.
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__________________
Jim & Cheryl
2017 28' Signature CCD
2017 GMC Denali HD Crew Cab 4x4
Blue Ox Sway Pro Hitch
WBCCI #3538
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05-14-2007, 04:46 AM
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#13
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GStephens
1982 31' Limited
1953 25' Cruiser
Hamilton
, Texas
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 563
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dieterdog, Donna, Hamilton, Texas is the northern most county that is normally included as being part of the Texas Hill Country. We are 115 miles north of Austin and 115 miles south of Ft. Worth along Hwy 281. Waco is 70 miles to our east while Abilene is 120 miles west of us.
Moosetags, sorry to hear of your tire failure, but glad to know there was no more damage than you experienced. Still, it might not be a bad idea for you to stop by Weatherford while you are in the Dallas/Ft Worth area and have David Tidmore of Roger Williams Airstream have a look at the damage so that you could file a claim with your insurance company for the damage you experienced. You might be surprised at the costs involved in what appears to be minor damage when it involves an Airstream or anything else for that matter.
GStephens
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05-14-2007, 11:00 AM
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#14
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Rivet Master
2014 27' Flying Cloud
Viera
, Florida
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,296
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Florida Fires
I don’t want to hijack moosetags thread here, just a reply to the FL fires question from lewster.
lewster: We were returning to FL on I-95 from Savannah, GA yesterday, when they closed the highway in front of us just north of Jacksonville. Of course, we had already passed the last escape exit. We sat on I-95 southbound, north of Jacksonville, for an hour before we could inch our way to the front of the three-mile long three-lane jam, and cross over thru the median barricade back to the northbound side. At the turnaround you could see thick black smoke obscuring the highway, the flashing lights of the fire trucks, and helicopters overhead dumping water. We then had to drive four miles back to the exit, then west about 10 miles to get to US-1 before we could turn south again.
moosetags: Sorry about the bad luck with the tire. Looking forward to reading more about your trip. Be safe.
Randy
__________________
Randy & Pat Godfrey
Florida Airstream Club (027)
ACI# 1212 - AIR# 17017
2014 27FB Flying Cloud - SilverCabin II
2018 F-150 Platinum - unnamed
The best part of any trip is when you pull away from home.
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05-14-2007, 08:56 PM
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#15
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Moderator
2015 25' FB Flying Cloud
2012 23' FB Flying Cloud
2005 25' Safari
Santa Rosa Beach
, Florida
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 13,159
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DAY 3
We are still in Arlington, Texas, trying to complete repairs and adjustment on Lucy.
A new tire was first on the list. We found a Goodyear dealer in nearby Grand Prairie that had the correct Marathon in stock. We took Lucy's wheel over there and had the new tire mounted.
We went back over to the KOA, hooked up Lucy, and headed over to Roger Williams Airstream in Weatherford (40 miles) to see David Tidmore. We had him look at the damage from the blown tire. He said it was so minor and unnoticable that he wouldn't mess with it. We also had David look at our Hensley. Lucy was riding a little high on the front end (good observation jordandvm). This was the result of last weeks debacle. Olivia's (our TV) hitch receiver developed fine cracks in the welds, and this really concerned me. I took her to a local shop and had them install a Hidden Hitch Class V receiver. This put Olivia's receiver height up about 3", making the drop on my Hensley hitch bar insufficient.
David Tidmore stocks all of the different Hensley hitch bars. I was able to do an exchange with him for just the shipping charge. David fixed me up with an 8" drop hitch bar and readjusted my entire Hensley hitch system. Now Lucy is towing perfectly level with equal drop on both the front and rear wheels on Olivia. David Tidmore was just great. He is extremely knowledgeable, and is more than willing to share his experience. He taught us a lot about setting up the Hensley. We feel much more confident now.
With all that happened to Lucy yesterday, I forgot to mention another extremely interesting experience. We were westbound on I-20 in Louisiana. There was a pick-up in front of us in the right lane. We were running about 65mph. The pick-up hit a pretty severe bump in the road. The pick-up's load which consited of a washer and dryer went straight up and the truck was travelling so fast that when the washer came down, the truck had completely cleared the area and the washer went straight down to the road and slid straight ahead, chasing the truck as it slid. Luckily I was in a position to change lanes and avoid what could have really been a disaster.
So far Lucy's trip has been very exciting. We are hoping that it becomes a little less exciting. I have attached a few pictures. The two people in the one picture are SuEllyn and David Tidmore.
__________________
SuEllyn & Brian McCabe
WBCCI #3628 -- AIR #14872 -- TAC #FL-7
2015 FC 25' FB (Lucy) with ProPride
2020 Silverado 2500 (Vivian)
2023 Rivian R1T (Opal)
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05-14-2007, 09:10 PM
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#16
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_
.
, .
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 8,812
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good reports moosetags...
i see david has got the canopies installed in the parking lot...
he's a good resource for us.
when/how long will you be in montana?
given you are so close at that point,
why not hop over to the trout lake rally for memorial day weekend.
great folks and an amazing area.
have you got a general route/timeline to share?
we may cross paths next week...
it's not right that a 2 year old receiver should have stress cracks...
not with your setup.
cheers
2air'
__________________
all of the true things that i am about to tell you are shameless lies. l.b.j.
we are here on earth to fart around. don't let anybody tell you any different. k.v.
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05-14-2007, 09:16 PM
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#17
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4 Rivet Member
2004 16' International CCD
1997 25' Safari
hamilton
, Montana
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 387
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There is a Montana Airstream Rally in Fort Benton, Montana,, just north of Great Falls on Memorial Day weekend,,, starts Friday goes thru to Monday morning,, i will be there,,,, weather is great,, you have great timing,,, yes,, Boerne Texas is not far from Hamilton ,,donna
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05-15-2007, 07:00 AM
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#18
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Tom, the Uber Disney Fan
2006 30' Safari
Orlando
, Florida
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,693
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Brian, I am waiting for your next installment. I am looking forward to the cross country vacation vicariously through your trip report and photos. Can't wait 'till we can take a two-three week long trip in our "Changes".
__________________
2006 30' Safari - "Changes in Latitudes"
2008 F-250 Lariat Power Stroke Diesel Crew Cab SWB
Family of Disney Fanatics
WBCCI# 4821
https://streaminacrossamerica.com/
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05-15-2007, 09:06 AM
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#19
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Rivet Master
2014 27' Flying Cloud
Viera
, Florida
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,296
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Can you stand any more excitement?
Bryan,
First a blown tire, now launching washing machines. Can it get anymore exciting? You guys be careful out there. We want to see you again at next year's can-opener.
__________________
Randy & Pat Godfrey
Florida Airstream Club (027)
ACI# 1212 - AIR# 17017
2014 27FB Flying Cloud - SilverCabin II
2018 F-150 Platinum - unnamed
The best part of any trip is when you pull away from home.
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05-15-2007, 02:36 PM
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#20
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Rivet Master
1960 22' Safari
in the wilderness
, The great Mojave Desert
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,077
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Slight detour
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2airishuman
it's not right that a 2 year old receiver should have stress cracks...
not with your setup.
cheers
2air'
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I have read many reports in other Forums about General Motors receiver cracks and failures. Just a FYI and no position taken on the topic by this writer.
Moosetags.
What a treat to go on an adventure like this. I'm sure you would have preferred not to have a flat or be attacked by a washing machine but these are the things that make travel exciting.
I am truly enjoying your travelog. It is helping me through the work day. Please keep us updated on your progress.
__________________
I'd rather be boon docking in the desert.
WBCCI 3344 FCU
AIR# 13896
CA 4
Yes, we have courtesy parking for you. About an hour North of Los Angeles.
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