What an inspring trip! Glad you had fun.
Michael in San Antonio
91GL Weekender AT 2.1L 'Gringo'

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 2:54 PM, Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@gmail.com> wrote:

> On the 19th of Dec, my wife and I left Harrisonburg, VA for a trip to
> Florida and back.  This was our first Vanagon trip to Florida and we have
> some suggestions for anyone taking the trip.   First, we do not like to
> plan
> too much ahead of time as to the places we will spend the night and just
> take each day as it comes.  However, if you are going to the Florida Keys,
> you need to change that mindset since the State Parks are fully booked for
> months in advance.
>
> Also, if you plan to spend any time on Florida Toll Roads, you might
> consider purchasing the SunPass Mini that sticks to the windshield  ---
> when
> we purchased ours, there was an introduction special and bought the pass
> for
> $4.99 and immediately received $4.99 worth of toll credits.  Here is a link
> to the information "https://www.sunpass.com/pdf/MiniWebPDF_E.pdf"
>
> We only decided to take the trip in early Dec and since the State Parks in
> Florida use Reserve America "http://www.reserveamerica.com/" for
> reservations, I used that service to book our campgrounds.  At first, every
> State Park in the Keys was fully booked during the time we could be there.
> I kept checking back on an hourly or daily basis and finally put together
> consecutive nights at three different parks in the Keys as people canceled
> their reservations and ended up with an ocean site at each state park.
> Sometimes you just get lucky.
>
> We left Harrisonburg in freezing weather and spent the first night in
> Colleton Sate Park in SC and other than the camp ground host, we were the
> only people in the park.  Nice park and shower facilities and the place was
> great for what we wanted --- a place to sleep and take a shower before
> hitting the road.  We knew we were not far enough south when the temps
> dropped to about 30 degrees that night.
>
> Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine Beach.--  While the campsites are not
> on the beach, they are wonderfully situated and the great beach is nearby.
> We were lucky to get in here since we did not have reservations ahead of
> time.  We spoke to some locals and they highly recommended O'Steen's
> Restaurant for seafood but the place was closed the night we could eat
> there.
>
> In the Florida Keys, we spent a day in Key West just being tourist and
> stayed at the following State Parks.  For us, Bahia Honda was our favorite.
>
> Curry Hammock - 1 night
> Long Key - 2 nights
> Bahia Honda - 3 nights
>
> We spent several nights in Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park
> -- we did not have reservations and from what I could see, they do not fill
> up at least during the time we were there.   Lots to do in the park
> especially if you are into canoeing.  The Ranger said campsites are free in
> the summer --- but that you would be crazy to fight the heat and mosquitoes
> and humidity then.
>
> Collier-Seminole State Park -- does not compare to the others.  The
> campsites are not private if that means anything to you.
>
> Koreshan State Park--Nice park, pretty with private campsites.  Historic
> state site of Koreshan Unity Settlement
>
> Hillsborough River State Park -- Nice place to rent a canoe and paddle the
> Hillsborough river
>
> Manatee Springs State Park --  Cold and rainy while there -- Saw Manatees
> in
> the river
>
> Our intention was to spend time in the Florida panhandle, but we ran out of
> time before we had to head home.
>
> Like many of you, I try to do all preventive maintenance and fix issues on
> our 1991 Westy (130,000 miles) as soon as they become evident.  My goal is
> to take trips without issues on the road.  In this case, my goal was not
> met
> and we experienced some problems.  I noticed that while the clutch was not
> slipping, it just did not sound right.   At the same time, I happened to
> notice a little fluid leak from the clutch master cylinder and from the
> high
> pressure rubber hose from the power steering pump to the metal line, and
> that an inner CV boot had separated from the flange.  About 6K miles ago, I
> had all of the CV boots replaced by a shop and they assured me they used
> high quality boots so the issue with the boot was a real surprise.
>
> Using the Roadhause repair shop list to find a good mechanic, I called
> Volksrepair in Sarasota and spoke to the owner (Fran Hetherington) and the
> technician (Ron Leftwich) who could work on the van the next day.  We
> dropped the van off, talked to Ron and I asked him to replace the master
> and
> slave clutch cylinders, fix the power steering line, replace the CV boot,
> and check out the clutch.  Then Fran took us to the public library where we
> could wait for Ron to work.  After awhile, Ron called and said that 3 out
> of
> 4 CV boots were torn and that he had a used power steering hose if I was OK
> with him using it.  I asked him to replace all four boots and that
> replacing
> the power steering hose with a used hose was fine.   Later in the day, Fran
> brought us back to the shop and I spoke to Ron at length.  While the van
> was
> drivable, he said the clutch needed replacing but he would have to order
> one
> which I asked him to do.  It turned out that the original clutch lining was
> close to the end of its life and the throw out bearing was completely gone.
> After installing the clutch, Ron adjusted the shift linkage and it has
> never
> shifted smoother.
>
> Ron said the CV boots that he replaced were not high quality and that he
> only used VW/Audi boots made for the front of a Golf (?) since he did not
> want to have to redo any of his work.  He showed me the old boots and a new
> one like he uses and the quality difference between the boot he used and
> the
> ones he took off was apparent.  I forgot to get the part number of the
> boot,
> but I am certain he would give it to me if anyone was interested.
>
> While I do minor maintenance and work on the van, I leave the tough stuff
> to
> the real professionals.   Of all the pros I have met, none have been more
> honest or competent than Ron.  I can not say enough good things about him,
> the quality of his work, or his candor.  He knows what he is doing and is
> able to work fast and minimize the number of hours he has to spend on a
> job.  And the markup on parts was reasonable.   If you need work done in
> Florida, I highly recommend Ron.
>
> Volksrepair (the name of the shop) ran into problems with VW on the name of
> the shop and it is being changed to Sunshine Auto Garage and their website
> is: "http://sunshineautogarage.com/"
>
> Here is a link to trip pictures--mostly pictures of campgrounds and the
> view
> of/from them to give you an idea in case you are considering a trip like
> this.  "
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/teerhb/FloridaVanTrip201011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuRiISp9JPKqgE&feat=directlink
> "
>
> If you have any questions, just ask.
>
> My next project is to caption and post pictures of our trip to Newfoundland
> in the summer of 2009.
>
> Harold
> ________
> Harold Teer
> 1991 Westy (Vangaux)
> Harrisonburg, VA
>