RE: Ohio in August
So here is what we did... Instead of running to OH and taking the wife to her thing, then having our family vacation after that, we took our time getting there and really had the sight seeing vacation type things done first, then did her thing, then did some lounging about on the beach and headed home.
First night in Hannibal Mo, stayed at the mark twain campground and did the cave.
2nd night in Turkey Run SP in IN. Then did Ropkey Armour Museum about 25-30 minutes away in the morning. Private collection, free, amazing.
3rd and 4th night Dayton Oh KOA. Air Force museum and lots of time at the pool. Very nice KOA.
5th 6th 7th night at Atwood Lake park, wife did her training/conference. Decent place, a bit thick on the rules at the swim beach. Made a day trip of seeing the USS Cod in Cleveland and took in some local city pools, did shopping and laundry. Got ready for the wife to return.
From there we went to Kelleys Island SP, $195 round trip on the ferry for the truck, TT, 4 kids, 2 adults. Loved it. Go to the "pet beach" east of the campground past the fish cleaning hut rather than to the public beach on the west side. Set up the umbrella and chairs, low traffic, were there 7 hours one day with the kids. Stayed on the island extra time, had to move sites to stay, and then made a big run for home in two days staying overnight in mulberry grove IL. We had planned to run home through MI and WI and IA but we decided it was more relaxing to stay on the beach and spend less time in the car. Seems to be the way we operate, about 80% of the way through the trip we throw out the rest and wing it.
We wouldn't have done this during this part of the year if it wasn't because of the wifes activity, our usual lunching near a playground in a park to give the kids a chance to get wiggles out didn't work well, too hot. Ready to plan the next trip for a bit later in the fall now.
Thanks everyone.
RE: Recommended gas grills?
have a q200, slides right in the passengers side front storage bin. cooks with the lid closed just as you would expect from a gas grill. Can feed it with the little tanks or a bulk tank with an adapter hose. Family of 6, works great, better than my grill at home.
RE: Arthritis
I was on embrel until a financial decision was made by insurance to move me to humera, both were the medicine that made a real difference. then the diet change took care of the fatigue. I was barely functional before diagnosis, which I had to tell my doc what I thought I had after a year and got sent to a rheumatoloigist. couldnt turn keys in doors, lift arms, climb stairs etc. I'm fairly normal now. PA can really be a mess. I was only 24 when diagnosed.
RE: Arthritis
I have the same, and the best result I had was changing diet, got rid of 50lbs, snoring, fatigue, inflamation. No sugar, no grains, no nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes). I went down to just a few foods, and then added things back in to see their effect. Figure what worked for me may not be the same for you, but the travel trailer is part of dealing with this, no eating out, make all my own meals on the road. Might be something to think about. I ate a couple marshmallows with the kids trip before last, and I fell apart, horrible pains for a few weeks. Doctor thinks I'm funny, dismisses it, but it has changed my life.
I have claw toes but I got damage stopped before it got to your point.
RE: Indiana state parks
We have not found this to be an issue.
Turkey Run SP is great and the trails are beautiful.
We were just there last week, very nice, wished we could have stayed longer but were just there overnight. A bit warm to really enjoy more than an evening stroll when we were there.
RE: extra gas
The anxiety was too much for me, now its a couple nato jerry cans in the back of the truck and some pre-planning of gas stops before I head out. Winging it was too hard on my nerves, about 130 miles and I was starting to spend more time looking at the fuel gauge than the road. I couldn't allow it to get below 1/4 tank of gas without some sort of panic attack especially in rural areas. But knowing I've got another 10gal or more around sure takes the edge off.
Jerry cans are not specific to the use of the truck, can fuel anything with them on the road or at home, heck of a lot cheaper. If I towed a lot I'd get an extended tank, but I don't tow all that often. Need to sort out a solid folding tonneau or a topper or something now to get my liquid gold out of sight.
RE: verizon coverage at Palo Duro Canyon SP in TX??
Was there a couple months ago. I had nothing unless I got up on the canyon rim and then it was spotty. We stayed in hackberry campground. I didn't try often because the phone (also my camera) would drain the battery trying all the time, but I never had any success unless we got off the canyon floor and like I said then it was still hit and miss.
We have Verizon.
RE: Equalizer Hitch
I sprayed some (a lot of) dry teflon lube into the coupler and make sure to keep the ball greased, it has been much happier letting go of the truck. I had the same problem the first couple times I tried to unhook. Now the lever moves free and when I lower the back end of the truck down after getting the bars off I just put some tension on it and when its at the right spot it just slides open and lets go.
RE: welding on frame/bumper
I've welded on broken studs in my truck heads without issues, but I just wanted to double check for this. Don't want to walk into an easily avoidable problem right before we plan to leave for 3 weeks.
Thanks guys.
welding on frame/bumper
I'm considering welding some mounting tabs onto my bumper for a small storage box (50 cal ammo can) and I'm remembering somewhere reading that someone had some welding done to their frame and had appliances get damaged. I can't find that or other similar reports at the moment searching the forum. Are there precautions I should take before putting an arc to the bumper to protect things?
The back of my TT is angled so I can't use 4" square U-bolts, the lid wont open more than half way before it hits, I just need to offset the can a couple inches and its going to go where running a bolt into the bumper would interfere with the sewer hose inside. Going to put my hose fittings in the can, add some drain/air holes, will be mostly tucked behind the spare tire.
Another box may work better with the u-bolt option, but I'm curious in general about the welding issue (or maybe non-issue).
Thanks.
RE: RV propane grill on TT
I have the rail and quick connect on the TT for the grill from the previous owner but the grill didn't come with it. I didn't find anything I thought was a good option. I need lots of grill, not some grill and some griddle.
My weber Q 200 fits in my front storage and I can easily cook for my family of 6 and also throw it in the truck to picnic away from the TT. Am very happy with my weber Q, best grill I've ever had.
RE: In Bed aux Tank for gassers?
My tank has 3 fittings all on top that I use, one is 2" NPT that I use for a fuel gauge, the 2nd is a 1/8 NPT that is a vent and the last one is 1/4 NPT that is a outlet. I made two fittings to fill and vent the tank, one is 1 1/4 EMT conduit 4" long that I silver soldered a piece of 3/8 copper tubing into it for the fill and the other one is a piece of 1/2 EMT conduit that I soldered a piece of 1/4 copper for a vent. I cut the fill line and overflow line and inserted the fittings. I ran the vent line to the overflow tube and the tank outlet to a Holly Rotary Vane pump that is mounted under the box and then to the fitting in the filler neck. I also have a filter and manual shut off valve in the line before the pump. The pump is run from inside the cab with lighted when on switch that only has power to it when the ignition is on.
Denny
Thats exactly the setup I had come up with but could find no corroborating evidence from anyone else who had done similar.
I'm after another 20-30 gal to go with my supposed 29 gal onboard.
I'm really close to just buying some jerry cans and mounts. I don't need to necessarily be able to fuel on the fly, but I have to have more for my nerves.
Thanks for your reply, appreciate it.
My other thought was to use marine quick disconnects so I could remove the tank.
RE: In Bed aux Tank for gassers?
I pump ours into the main tank and also vent it into the main tank and I get NO check engine light unless I forget to put the gas cap on. I also don't fill the main tank to the brine that's would just be stupid.
Denny
Can you tell a bit more about your setup? Are you using something that came as an entire setup or did you piece it together?
Thanks
RE: Drafting
Not in a TC but I came across Ks behind a double towing big rig for most of a tank of gas, about 2 seconds behind him and was getting a couple mpg gain. Thats on top of a 7mpg normal. But I never could get the same nice spot behind anyone else until I met up with him again a few hours later and got back in that same routine until he turned south at Salina. Something about his setup worked for me, I was comfortable there, and didn't have to crawl up his behind. Actually made the time go faster for me concentrating on how old dominion makes the world on time, I mean concentrating on keeping my distance and keeping track of my escape route being clear if he should slam on the brakes etc.
