TRIP REPORT � Florida New Years Camping 2005
 
Summary
Keys Camping
Auto Train
Van troubles.
 
Summary
Rochester NY to Bahia Honda state park [ Florida Keys] 3100+ miles RT
December 26th � January 7th. Stops in Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Washington
DC.
Average mileage 19.5 miles/gallon. Major routes: I81, I95 and Florida
turnpike

Pictures and daily blogs can be found at my new blog:
http://motmyers.blogspot.com/

Trip highlights :Bahia Honda, Amtrak autotrain
 
 
Camping in the Florida Keys for New Years
 
Started asking around the vanagon list about camping in the keys 2 years
ago. Several
Listees spoke highly of Bahia Honda state park. So I said �Great!� and got
on the web to make reservations. Campsites book a YEAR in advance at the
park due to it�s popularity. I am sure picking New Year�s for a date did not
help anything.
 
The van ran well on the trip down. I was having trouble with the cold idle
but I figured it would not be a problem [ha!] Traffic on I95 was not as bad
as I had been warned and we had good weather the whole way down. We were
tempted to camp out in a Wal-Mart parking lot after everything we heard
about the stores allowing the practice. So it figured that the Wal-Mart we
stopped at [ Fredericksburg?] has a big sign saying �NO OVERNIGHT VEHICLES�
The Florida turnpike is definitely better to take once you pass Daytona
Beach. The traffic on i95 becomes very congested local traffic.
 
The park:
 
http://www.bahiahondapark.com/
 
Bahia Honda is a beautiful park and has some very nice beachside campsites.
The facilities are pretty nice and the views are beautiful. It would make
for a GREAT vanagon camping event except for the extreme difficulty in
getting reservations. It should definitely be on everyone�s �must camp
there� list. The reservations are hard to get and there is a trick or two to
getting them. [ that could take another entire note to explain..]
I spotted a Eurovan camper while we were there AND a European Mercedes
camper van as well. Beautiful van � complete with its European license
plates. I did not get to talk to the owners, nor did I get a picture :O(
but it definitely looked as though they brought it over to tour the country
with. The park has a couple neat places to explore along with daily guided
tours and different rentals and lessons [ snorkel and scuba I think].
January is still a little cold for swimming there [ in my opinion] They do
not allow fires on the ground. [ No fire rings provided � just charcoal
grills] So � we hit the HomeDepot on Marathon Key and bought a Chimnea on
sale. Worked great. Afterwards � we bagged it up and brought it back to NY
as a �seasoned� gift for my friend Shawn.
 
Animals: fairly BOLD raccoons. One scorpion and lotsa hermit crabs. No dogs
allowed in the park
 
We had no electric on our site � so I was using the fridge in propane mode
with the auxiliary battery running the fridge fans. With the campsite
hitting 80 midday � the rear fan on the fridge was running nearly all the
time. The new voltmeter was handy. The battery held 12volts right until the
last day. Some listees were talking about the new Sylvania DOT lights � so I
bought one to try out.  I think they could be very handy in the van wired to
the battery � but the white LED attracts bugs [ even with the screens]
 
After we finished camping and visiting with friends in Ft Lauderdale and
Orlando � 
We put the van on the Autotrain back to Washington. The train was GREAT.
Eric and I both really liked it. The tickets for the van and the 2 of us in
1st class came to $650
[ I think the week after news years is probably their slowest time] the
train runs over night to Washington and includes dinner and a small
breakfast. The train was not crowded � so we had the lounge car to ourselves
and the bar is open till 11. People can complain that Amtrak is always
late..but if you get a room.. WHO CARES? They took about an hour to unload
the van after we arrived in DC.
 
Van troubles.
 
The van had a cold idle start problem before we left. It was not a big issue
once warmed up. However � as we got further south � I noticed the van
stalling on an offramp once in a while when I put it in neutral. The problem
gradually got worse � so that by the time we returened North and got off the
auto train and into Washington DC � it was stalling at every light if I was
not careful. To compound the problem � if it stalled � it did not want to
start again. I would have to use the gas pedal to get it to restart. That
did not make sense to me with fuel injection � so I figured that the Digital
Idle stabilizer was going  bad.. [??]
 - Still thinking this was manageable � we headed back to New York on i95
the next morning when
the van did a hiccup on the highway. A momentary loss of power and then back
to normal. It was very subtle [ Eric did not even notice..]  Being the
vanagon hypochondriac � I did a mental panic figuring how far I would have
to get the van towed from SE PA.
Over the course of the rest of the way home via Syracuse NY � the problem
gradually got worse � stumbling every couple of minutes. Several occasions-
the van practically stumble/stopped right at 65mph in the middle of the
lane. At which time I shut off the engine
[coasting 65mph ] and trying to restart [ which it would not ] and then
subsequently pop starting the van in 4th [ at 60mph] which would smoothly
restart the engine and it would be fine for awhile. The engine was not
backfiring� so I figure[?] this was not an ignition problem and I was
thinking maybe fuel starvation [ fuel pump going bad?]  But later I noticed
that the stumbling was random and irregardless of how much gas pedal I was
using. At which point I hit the gas � figuring it would be better to get as
close to home as possible.  I did make it home and the van is now in
storage. I figured I would consult the list and read up on Vanagon syndrome
during the spring to diagnose the problem before the summer camping season.
If you have ideas for me � drop me a line.
 
 
GREAT TRIP regardless. I recommend the park and the Keys!
 
 
Happy camping!
 
Tom
90 Westy �Chilipepper�
Rochester, NY

Thomas A. Myers 
Designer, Industrial Design Human Interface Department
Xerox Corporation 
1350 Jefferson Road, 801-10C
Rochester, NY 14623
(585) 427-5141, 8*227-5141
Thomas.myers@xerox.com

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