Roundabout trip to Atlanta

Since we spend more time in the Venice, FL area than anywhere else during the year, and the fact we have been going there for over 15 years, we decided to move our doctors from Atlanta where we last lived in a stix n brix house, to FL.  And even though we severed most of our ties to Atlanta when I retired from the LAST job, and switched our main docs to FL, we still have two doctors, and our dentist in Atlanta.  We will get the doctors changed over soon, but we will stay with our dentist as long as it's possible as we both are incredibly pleased with Dr Mulkey.  So the dentist visits and several great friends will keep us coming back to Atlanta on a regular basis looking into the future.  Then there is the other thing, the vet for our cat, Bert.  And if any of you are cat lovers and owners you understand how your cat runs things, and for you only dog owners, you are just shaking your heads in disgust and wonderment.  We have had a long relationship with our vet who is located way to the northeast of Atlanta, and yes, those of you that remember, the campground and the area where we used to live is northWEST of Atlanta, 68 miles away!  The whys and wherefores aren't important, it's just how it is:-)  So when we come up from FL on our way to Atlanta, we go via the vet to get here, because Bert can't ride in a normal car or truck.  Yeah that is true, he's fine in the motorhome, but a complete disaster in the car, whether in or out of a crate.  So his subjects, that would be Jan and I, are directed to take his highness in the motorhome, of course that necessitates a several stop trip on the way north so we can be in position to make his appt with the vet on time and still go the additional 68 miles to the campground, and is it worth it, absolutely, positively YES!

But we got a reprieve this year, he doesn't need to be seen by the vet for 3 years!!  Unless there is a problem, but he's very healthy so we don't anticipate that.  So here is a couple picts of the king.

Mr Bert, awake no less!

Thinking about a nap

Getting closer

His going down the road pose

Let's go, I may need another nap soon

On guard in his box

King Bert

A few other things, thank God, say the un cat lovers.  We have been having a whirlwind time here so far, visiting with friends and Jason, our son.  And I just had an opportunity to do something I haven't done in a long time, go flying.  John and Diane bought a beautiful plane recently, and John treated me and Ted to a nice ride, even a couple landings, and a beautiful flight to Dahlonega in north GA for lunch.  It was a gorgeous day and a fantastic time, thank you John!

The intrepid airmen

The Motorhome:

A couple updates on the rig.  In FL we did a couple maintenance items as we always do, but one we hadn't done before was replace the hydraulic filter.  It is supposed to be changed every 3 years or so, so 7 is pretty close I think, and actually reading up on it a lot of folks don't change it even that often.  I had a little problem getting the exact same brand, but get a replacement made by Donaldson.  So when I open the box, there are 3 different gaskets enclosed, simple, pull off the original filter, see what gasket is on the old filter, use that one and done!  So off it comes, there is an L-shaped gasket on the old filter, I use the new L-shaped gasket, and reinstall the filter, crank it up and wow leaking like a sieve!  Shut it down, tighten it up and get it to where it looks like it is not leaking anymore, good to go.  Well, by the time we get to Atlanta, there is hydraulic fluid (ATF, actually) all over the back of the coach and all over the front of the truck!!  I had even used the strap wrench to tighten the filter as much as I could, yeah, I know that's a no no, but I could not stop the leak.  Well from the extra tightening I had distorted the filter, so I decided I would just get another and put it on.  So off to NAPA I go, and when we look in the box of the new filter there is only one gasket and it is not L-shaped, hmmm.  I tell the NAPA guy what I have going on and in this box there are directions and explanations for different gaskets for different applications, so he asks, "Am I sure I need a L gasket?"  I said the original had one so I just assumed that was what it needed.  We look closer and read that the L gasket is used when there is no grove on the filter housing, and then there are 2 other gaskets used depending on the width of the groove, if there is one, on the housing.  So then he asked what I have, and of course, I say, I have no idea....  Back to the motorhome to evaluate the groove situation, and it turns out I have a 5/16" wide groove.  Back to NAPA with the info, and it turns out they don't have the required gasket and have to order it, but the L-shaped one is definitely not the right one.  On closer inspection it turns out the L-shaped gasket is not being compressed, and as I threaded the filter on, I was hitting the end of the threads before I could compress the gasket, hence the leak.  Mystery solved.  The correct gasket arrived the next morning, now we have a new hydraulic filter installed with no leaks.

Our experiment.  We have a Detroit Diesel 14 liter 515hp engine in our coach.  It runs good, plenty of power, and it has been, knock on wood, trouble free for almost 100,000 miles, but it gets terrible fuel mileage, for the past 6 years we have averaged a whopping 5.76mpg, and that has included slowing down to 63 mph cruise.  Now on the other hand the coach weighs 46,000 pounds by itself, and we are towing a 5000 pound truck, so you could argue that isn't too bad.  I'm on several forums, and there has been a lot of discussion the last several years about an item called an Ugly Fix that claims to increase mileage and improve drivability.  I'm not into performance chips generally, especially on an engine this expensive so I didn't pay too much attention at first.  Then over the last year 4 people on the forum with DD's installed this item and have reported back how pleased they were and that on average they were getting at least 1 more mpg, now that doesn't sound like much, but when you apply it to my 5.76 that is an increase of 17%!  On further reading this device is not a performance chip per se, it just fakes out the engine ECU and tells it the altitude is over 10,000 feet, so the EGR system isn't activated resulting in increased performance and mileage.  The installation is quick and easy, although with motorhome accessibility, a bit of a challenge as you have to lie on your belly, reach through the access hole and blindly unhook the altitude sensor and plug in the Ugly Fix in its place.  We installed it in FL and are giving it a try.  It is way too early to calculate mileage gains, but the engine performs fine, and after at least 5000 miles I will report back if we experienced any gains.  Be nice, Sandy!