Yah, I was wondering what the outlay was for the emergency repairs...but it
has to be less than the cost of 4-5 star hotels along the way. I also would
like to know what drugs his co-pilot was on to just 'wing it' cuz, man I
cannot get my girl out of the house w/o reservations.  Love her to death tho
;-)
Michael in San Antonio
91GL Weekender AT 2.1L 'Gringo'

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 7:02 PM, miguel pacheco <mundopacheco@gmail.com>wrote:

> 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
> >>
> >
>