I'm running behind on posting, but wanted to tell the tale of our latest Hi-Lo camping experience. We decided to go to Disneyworld for a week, a 1,000 mile round trip for us. Took off Friday night to get through Atlanta and stayed at the KOA in Forsyth, Georgia to get a jump on traffic Saturday. That would work if we could get breakfast and get going in less than two hours.

The trip down went well. Love bugs were out in force, so the front of the truck and camper were peppered with them. I'm still not pleased with the fuel mileage, but the Ford 5.4L engine is not known for economy. We did get new tires and brakes for the truck, and I inflated the camper tires to the recommendations on the side of the camper.

Arrived at Fort Wilderness a little behind schedule, but still in daylight which is good for us. For those with dogs be aware there's an addition $5 per day charge for some dog park that we didn't use once. We stayed in their premier sites. Sites are very good, clean, easy to back into and get setup. Our fridge on DC is still running the battery down, so I don't think the trailer plug charge circuit is working. During setup a piece on the awning arms broke. The pot metal piece that slides in the lower main arm snapped. Not sure if we can get a replacement piece, or if we'll have to replace the entire arm.

Our first park experience was at Magic Kingdom. Quite a large crowd for middle of September. Still we were able to see and ride what we wanted to. One thing I was not prepared for was the sticker shock on food, and the necessity of making reservations for restaurants in the parks...sometimes days in advance. One thing that became apparent was our inability to keep pace. I wound up with hip and leg pains, and wife had leg pains too.

Day two was at Hollywood Studios. A little more cramped and hot, but still was neat to see. One thing I enjoyed but it's being glossed over nowadays is Disney's original concepts of animation and his vision for the parks. Again the leg pains came back.

Day three I crashed...hard! The leg pains and just an overall feeling of lack of energy. We took it easy around the camp and then headed into Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping.

Day four I woke up with severe throat pain. Got a late start going to Epcot, and got there even later because the monorail broke down, and we had to hop buses to get there. Epcot is certainly a theme park for adults. I felt like I had time warped back to the early 80's though. Hobbled around with the leg problems and the throat problem. The world exhibits are good, but seemed to be more emphasis on shopping than on actual cultural events.

Day five it was apparent that I had a full on cold. I could barely speak. Hobbled around Epcot again to see what we'd missed the previous day. It was a slower paced day, but had to be as bad as I was feeling.

Day six was a down day. Took it easy around the camp. Went to the pool and hung out for a couple of hours. I should have found an urgent care down there to take care of my throat issue, as it just got worse. Kept the wife up coughing all through the night.

In typical fashion on the day heading out we got a late start. We didn't get off the campsite until after 10AM. I don't think it's a matter of what to do to get the camper packed up, but lack of energy.

Since we were running behind I was pushing pretty hard. We were about 7 miles south of Interstate 10 when the right rear tire blew out on the Hi-Lo. We heard the explosion, but didn't feel any negative handling effects. It took a long while for us to find a suitable place to stop and investigate. The tire was completely shot. There was no shade to be found, and it was 95 degrees. With my cold my head felt like it was going to follow the tire and explode every time I bent down. Wife called AAA only to find out the camper wasn't covered! Called the guy out anyway because I was just too sick to do it on my own. I did learn a new trick on how to change a tire on a tandem axle without a jack by using the leveling blocks. After two hours off the highway we were back heading home.

We managed to get home around 10:30PM, so about 12 hours from campsite to our driveway. We spent the next day cleaning all the blasted love bugs off the front and cleaning the inside up.

So now we have a list of things to do on the Hi-Lo. Replace the tires, as we discovered they are much older than we thought and have more dry rot than we realized. Replace the broken awning piece. Figure out if the oven piezoelectric starter can be replaced so I'm not having to sit in the floor every morning lighting a pilot light.

As with all of our adventures we've learned quite a bit. First, we're not as young as we once were. Second, a realistic range we can travel comfortably with this rig, and third, build more down days into a vacation so it feels like a vacation.

for those in their 30's! Active 40's would find it fair. 50's will tolerate it, but those beyond that will question it's worth.

My only recommendation is next time bring some Jagermeister; a few shots of that will cure the cold, the blues and even remove love bugs.

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2014 Ford F250 6.7 PS
formerly a HiLo TD2401
now an 08 Jayco Eagle

"Figure out if the oven piezoelectric starter can be replaced so I'm not having to sit in the floor every morning lighting a pilot light."


Were you turning off the gas supply - hence the need to relight, or was it going out by itself (possibly a bad themo-coupler thingy)?

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2014 Ford F250 6.7 PS
formerly a HiLo TD2401
now an 08 Jayco Eagle

Propane is on, but wife keeps turning oven knob off. I have to sit in the floor with a long lighter and flashlight to light the oven again. There appears to be some kind of electrical probe above the pilot light. I really need to get the manual out and see how it should operate.

The part that broke on the awning is what attaches to the secondary rafter arm. I've found replacement arms online, but not sure if they'd fit mine. Guess I'm heading to the camper after work to pull out manuals.

The Biggest problem with camping at Disney (unless it's changed a lot) is that's it you have now been to one of the best camp grounds out there. Almost every camp ground after that will not be up to those new high Disney standards. LOL..
Still remember camping there several times. Cost and what do you do after Disney??? Ok, the true out door out door is not there, butttt.

Hope you get to feeling better real fast. Good Luck with everything.

Later Tim

"There appears to be some kind of electrical probe above the pilot light. I really need to get the manual out and see how it should operate."


I'm no expert but I believe that part you're referring to IS YOUR PROBLEM. Its a thermo-coupling. It is a safety device. The way it works is ...

You manually light the pilot and simultaneously hold some button to force gas to continue to flow to the pilot. After a bit of time (30-60 sec?) that probe will get hot (that's a good thing). WHEN WORKING PROPERLY, Once it gets hot you can release the button you were holding and the flame will continue to burn. As long as this probe senses heat it'll allow the pilot to run.

Still operating properly: In the event that the pilot goes out/blows out/ whatever then the probe gets cold and stops the gas flow so as to not allow unburned gas into the camper.

When not working properly it'll either think its cold and stop the PILOT gas flow (which you've kind of described) or even worse ... it'll get cold when the pilot goes out but doesn't stop the unburned gas flow, creating an explosive situation.

Hopefully a better expert will chime in.

__________________
2014 Ford F250 6.7 PS
formerly a HiLo TD2401
now an 08 Jayco Eagle

The tube above the pilot is probably the thermocouple. It senses the heat from the pilot light and keeps the gas turned on. If the pilot goes out the gas supply to the oven is shut off. Usually if the thermocouple goes bad the pilot will not stay lit after you release the lighting button/knob.

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My Great Wife Joyce
2018 Jayco Jay Flight 21QB
Formerly owned 1705T and 2310H
2012 F150 4X4 SuperCrew EcoBoost w/Leer Cap
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Khhorton,I enjoyed your narrative of your trip to Disney. If nothing ever happened you wouldn't have a story to tell. Hope you are feeling better. I never even made it to our once a year HiLove NY club campout. I did get a bed in the hospital in Buffalo NY. Had a lousy hospitalist and couldn't wait to get home. We are going to put new tires on our HiLo in the spring. Noted some uneven wear probably related to our broken leaf spring that we traveled with. Didn't realize the problem until we had a flat tire. Post a picture of your broken awning part so we can help you. You can also call Jay Simon at Mantelli trailer sales. He will get and shipyou the correct part. 1-716-625-8877. jay@mantelli.com To cut expenses we pack a pb&j sandwich and snacks in a back pack. We freeze ice water and take in a ziplock bag. Tourist places are very good at jacking up the prices for food ect. The law of supply and demand. Glad to hear your blown tire didn't do any serious damage.

Thanks everyone! Yes, feeling a lot better. Took me over three weeks. Still having trouble with my voice, and from what I've heard may be a problem that lingers for a couple of months.

I think I've figured out the issue on the oven, and it's one of those smack your head kinda moments. Rather than turning the knob to pilot once finished with the oven the knob has been turned completely off. So the pilot light has to say on, similar to the burner on the fridge.

Sounds like a lot of folks this year have had a series of ailments that have trumped their vacation efforts. Both of us have not be near active enough, and certainly didn't condition ourselves by walking every night after work to prep for the amount of walking we would do in the parks. Again, live and learn.

Yes, very thankful that the tire situation wasn't any worse. So far I cannot tell any damage was done to the camper. I'm going up with a flashlight this week to get under it for a closer inspection now that I'm feeling better.

Glad to hear that you are feeling better. That Disney campground is a special place.

Later Tim