Quickest Route from North Louisiana to Mobile, Alabama
(this was before Katrina)
Take 49 south to 190 at Opelousas and
go towards Baton Rouge, but before crossing the river go
south to I-10 and head east thru Baton Rouge to I-12 which
bypasses New Orleans and will connect back to I-10 at Slidell.
Then continue east to Mobile area and look for signs to the
Island. 190 is a good road. You can continue south on 49 to
I-10 at Lafayette and go east via 190 ,about 450 Miles; via
Lafayette, about 466 Miles
Alternate Route from Jacksonville, Fl to Orlando, Fl
There is a very good scenic alternate route
depending on where in Orlando you are going. Where will you
leave from and go to?
You can take I-95 S to exit 298/HWY 1 S to Bunnell. In Bunnell
look for HWY 11, a right turn at a light. Take 11 S towards
Deland. At this point you can check your map to either get on
I-4 or take the route 15A around Deland. This is where it
depends on where you are going. I have used this route for
many years and it is good roads all the way. This time of year
you could also take HWY 1 all the way thru St Augustine as
there is not much traffic but a few stop lights.
Enclosed underbellies a problem or a good thing?
Yes and Yes! With my 34' Avion TT the dump
valves were in a compartment and accessible for any repairs.
In our Excel the valves are controlled by cable pull. With the
belly enclosed, the valves are concealed. On my last visit to
the factory I had them cut access panels (2) at the location
of the Grey and Black valves. The underbelly is still
enclosed, however if I have a valve problem it will be easy to
remove a panel and repair. By the way, they did a great job
and I am a "Happy Camper" .
Camping without hookups?
Nearly all State Parks and National Parks
have water, toilets and dump stations available. That means
you can refill fresh water, dump grey and black water. If you
use battery conservatively, it is no hardship and no great
challenge. If someone is boondocking at the Back of Beyond,
that is a different story and bringing extra water is
important. I dry camp regularly for weeks with two 6 volt golf
cart batteries,1000 watt Honda to charge them with, and
an inverter. We watch TV, use computers,
waterpik, electric toothbrush, and any lights we require. We
don't usually stay where our air conditioner is necessary.
Regarding best size of fifth wheel
If you enjoy State, National, Regional,
Corps of Engineer Parks, smaller is generally easier.
Best Routing Software
With Streets & Trips, after you create a
route, you can "click" on it anywhere. It will change color.
Place your cursor anywhere along the route and click, cursor
will change to crosshair. Drag that crosshair to an other road
and it will instantly re-draw and re-calculate the route. I
don't know of an easier way to run "what if" scenario's. I use
this all the time. One thing though, when you are in mountain
areas you must be cautious. You could get into nasty
situations with a rig.
If you find yourself in Loveland, Co
Visit Estes Park and drive Trail Ridge
Road, one of the most spectacular drives in the World.
Anyone familiar with Topsail Hill State Park - Florida?
You can check availability online. They stay pretty full
How fast do you pull your rig?
I usually stay a few miles BELOW the posted
speed limit on the Interstates. This allows me to set my
cruise control and enjoy the ride (and fuel economy). Most
people are exceeding the speed limit which is fine with me. At
my speed they easily pass me. I don't have to do much
maneuvering for position or passing except for the occasional
u-haul or slower vehicle. This way I just hang out and
anticipate and watch lots of "Brake Checks" in the Hammer lane
as many drivers run up on the tail of everyone else who wants
to pass everyone else when there is NO place to pass. When I
see a "BRAKE CHECK" situation impending, I usually back off a
little more in case a situation should develop, I have
LOTS of space to react.
If you drag and damage a power cord that is wired into your
trailer:
First, the power cord can be purchased for
around $20.00 or so at most RV Supply Stores such as Camping
World. Unless you did damage, and it just pulled out, it
should not be too difficult to wire. In fact if you didn't
actually damage the cord that got yanked out, you can
re-install that one. I have replaced a few times over the
years because the plug end eventually wears out. In my case
the 30 amp wire went thru a hole in a compartment and then
into an electric box. I had the advantage of seeing how it was
wired before I replaced the connections the same way. Never
had a problem. Try to find exactly where the trailer end was
connected and I think you will be able to resolve it easily.
Downloading Norton antivirus. Also, if you need to switch PCs (hard drive failure, you
want the latest and the greatest new PC, etc) how do you
"move" that online purchase to the new PC?"
What I do is download/save the complete application file,
to a folder or CD. Then I install from that. That way exactly
for the reason you state, I have the full program. It works
well. I do that with just about all applications that I
download and keep them in a folder called "applications".
No battery wire -Problem wih 7 way plug
I may be wrong, but every truck I have
bought with the factory trailer pkg has had the 7 way plug on
the truck and fully functional. It is easy to check with a
voltmeter whether you are getting power thru the charging
line. That is the place to check first. Get the wiring diagram
and test it yourself to be sure. If it is putting out then it
is in your trailer, if not then look further in the truck.
Here is a link to the wiring diagram.7
Way Wiring Diagram
Factory Support/Northern Breeze:
A couple of nights ago, my Northern Breeze
which has worked perfectly for 2 years, would not turn off
automatically as usual. I emailed Ventline/Northern Breeze
that evening with a description of the problem. The next
morning I received a response with an explanation of what
occurred and the fix for it. They are sending the necessary
kit to me at no charge. That is what I call GREAT SERVICE.
Northern Breeze gets my vote as a very good product and a
company that believes in customer satisfaction.
Suggested routing in late April from Florida to Northern
California:
One primary route, I-10 to I-12 to I-10 all
the way to California. This southern route may present
the consideration of extreme heat later in the summer.
In that case, you can work your way up thru Texas towards I-40
and go west. Higher elevations offer a cooler climate.
There are good National Parks as well as Las Vegas, hot but
fun. It boils down (no pun intended) to what you would like to
do for fun. It's all about having a great time?
Best Route from DC to Skyline Drive:
I-95 to 495 to I-66 to Front Royal near the
start of Skyline Dr. Avoiding the traffic is difficult
although you should be on the Beltway by around noon. Traffic
usually gets nasty around 3:00 but on Friday lots of people
trying to get a start on the weekend. You should make it to
I-66 by 12:30/1:00 PM and then it will be pretty smooth
sailing. There are several CG's around Front Royal and it is a
good base to explore the National Park. Of course it
depends on what section you want to visit. Have fun, it is a
great place to visit.
Problem towing a travel trailer. Are sway bars necessary?
How heavy is your trailer? How long is your
trailer? Do you have an equalizing hitch, (really important).
Never tow tongue down, as in lower at back of truck. In an
emergency stop with tongue down, the weight of the trailer
will push the back of the truck down and you WILL have
diminished control on the front wheels!
