Hey give the guy a break. After all the repairs, he only had enough
for two cans of food. One of corn and another of spam.
Miguel

He who possesses art and science has religion; he who does not possess
them, needs religion.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 5:03 PM, Michael Sullivan
<sandwichhead@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
>>
>