khhorton
Advanced Member
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.
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.
