6,000 mile Christmas 2011 Road Trip

[waiter]

We just finished our 6000 mile Christmas Road trip. Usually we take about 3 weeks during Christmas time and drive out to Phoenix to spend Christmas with our children, then continue to the west coast. We normally do this trip in the Camry which gets about 35 mpg, and stop at a chain motel at night ($60 per night).. This year we decided to do the trip in the Toy house.

The economics are; it costs at least twice as much for gas (14 mpg vs. 35 mpg) but we do save the evening hotel, and maybe some of the meals. So money wise, it probably costs just a little more to do it in the Toyhouse rather than the Camry.

We had prepared the Toyhouse for the trip, including a new HDTV TV and AM/FM/DVD Radio in the Coach (This worked out great) ALSO - I got a WAVE 3 heater and also modified a small Mr. Buddy heater to use for coach heat. I had plumbed a 10 ft hose into the propane plumbing to run the WAVE or the Mr. Buddy.

ROUTE

Starting from north west Ohio, this years route took us

south to Nashville TN (I-75, I-71, I-65),

west to Amarillo TX (I-40),

south west through Clovis, Roswell, Alamogordo, Las Cruces NM (US-70),

west through Tuscon, Phoenix AZ (I-10)

southwest to San Diego CA (I-8)

North west to Fresno CA (I-5, CA-99)

Northwest to San Fransisco CA (CA-99, CA-152, US-101)

East to South lake Tahoe CA (I-80, US-50)

East to Mono Lake CA, Delta UT, (CA-89, US-50)

East to Grand Junction, Denver CO (I-70)

East to northwest Ohio (I-76, I-80)

Total 6,000 miles

REFRIGERATOR

Ran on propane the entire 20 days with the exception of one night when we had shore power. The Frig blew out a couple times while traveling on the road due to very strong wind gusts (seemed to be more susceptible when the winds were blowing from the drivers side) We got in the habit of checking to make sure it was lit whenever we stopped for gas.

HEAT

The Furnace would have no problems keeping up with any of the temperatures we ran into during our travel. I elected to use the WAVE 3 or Mr. Buddy to conserve propane and the battery, and also noise, (furnace noise isn't an issue at some stops, i.e. truck stops).

ALSO - I carry a BBQ propane bottle as a spare, when I stop at night, I set the BBQ tank outside beside the Toyhouse propane compartment, remove the hose from the horizontal tank and connect it to the BBQ tank.

When we stopped at night, I like to point the Toyhouse into the wind. I have a thick privacy curtain that I snap into place between the cab and the coach, I would open a top vent about 1/2 inch and fire up the WAVE 3. As a reference, The WAVE heater set on HIGH (3000btu) kept the coach about 30 degrees above outside temperature, as long as the wind wasn't blowing.

We had several overnights when the temperature was 15 degs and the wind was blowing hard (S Lake Tahoe's echo summit 9500 ft), Denver Colorado, and Des Moines Iowa. On these very cold nights, I used the Mr Buddy instead of the WAVE 3. I would start it on LOW (3000btu) but then turn it up to 9000btu for the night.

The WAVE 3 is a catalyst heater and doesn't have any odor, The Mr. Buddy is a Ceramic and does have a small odor.

Although the WAVE 3 and Mr Buddy are very efficient compared to the furnace, in the future, I'll probably use the furnace as long as I have the external BBQ tank connected. Re-filling the horizontal tank is a pain compared to simply exchanging the BBQ tank. I'll need to run the furnace one night when the temperature is 10 deg to see if the battery will hold up.

OVER NIGHT PARKING

Always ask permission when parking on private lot, Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Truck Stops (Loves, Pilot), Casinos, etc. Also park out of the way. I usually like to back into a spot, and point the truck into the wind.

Walmarts are normally good candidates. I need to pay more attention specifically to the entry drives, main roads, and wind direction (wind carries noise). We spent one night in Franklin KY Walmart, and I thought I parked in the middle of the freeway. ALSO – I swear, there isn't one vehicle in Franklin KY that has a working muffler installed, and They LOVE to go shopping at Walmart at 3am. NOTE TO SELF – Avoid "All Night" Walmarts

Very quiet night (ZERO SOUND) in Cherokee Casino (Oklahoma). A Sno-Park (Parking lot in the mountains for people who are skiing) at South Lake Tahoe (no snow – Probably very busy when there snow on the ground)

Sams Club – Roswell NM – We had the entire lot to ourselves – Blowing snow and wind (blizzard)

State / Federal parks - These are very good places. We were in a federal park outside of Ely NV

Silver Strand State Park (Coronado Island – San Diego) - $50 with no services. HOWEVER, one of the most fantastic views you'll ever see, right on the beach looking over the Pacific Ocean. (You must be completely self contained to use this park)

We spent one night at an "RV park" – $25, Fresno off Rt 99. We stop at an RV park to do laundry, shower, empty / refill tanks. We had electric so I ran the electric heater, The road noise wasn't bad, but I also ran the A/C blower on low speed to help mask noise (I do this at home, I'm an extremely light sleeper)

TRUCK HEATER

We made a major discovery while traveling up I-76 just outside of Denver. The wind was blowing strong and the temperature was about 10 degrees. I could fell a cold draft blowing across my shoulders like a window was open (wife complained about this when the wind was blowing from the passenger side).

At the next stop, I took some Duct Tape and covered the louvered vents on the trucks door pillars (inside). WOW - What a difference. ALSO - Found that the doors themselves were blowing in cold air at the bottom between the door panel and the door (door panel loose)

I'm going to make permanent covers for the louvered vents on the door pillar and also pop the door panels off and see why its leaking so much air.

Anyway, With duct tape covering the vent louvers and a towel laying on the floor to stop the door leak, the truck heater did a good job keeping the entire vehicle warm while traveling.

The leaking vent louvers will also apply to the 95deg summer when the A/C couldn't keep the truck cool

WATER TANKS

We were driving in and out of freezing temperatures so I needed to keep an eye on water tanks. The Fresh wasn't a problem as all the plumbing and the tank are inside, just need to make sure the interior stays warm.

The Black/Gray tanks probably won't freeze as long as the truck is moving (heat from engine keeps them thawed).

While traveling through freezing weather, I tried to keep the tanks empty, i.e dump them at rest stops or fuel stops. We would flush the toilet with windshield washing fluid (the blue stuff good to –50). ALSO – We would minimize use of the sink, if we did use it, we would dump windshield wash fluid in it.

On the last day of travel we were back in the north with 20 deg weather, I emptied all the tanks and water lines. I then did a standard winterization with regular RV Antifreeze.

DRIVING

We averaged around 14.3 mpg for the entire trip, with speed between 55 and 60. Driving up the grades to Vail Summit (11,500 ft, I-70 west of Denver) was at 25 mph with the 4 ways blinking.

SNOW

When there is snow/ice on the road, the truck handles like a sled. Hankook tires are a highway tire, not a snow / all weather tire. All six wheels would lock up easily and slide. To get a fell for this find a parking lot and lock them up. I would leave a lot of room between me and the vehicle in front. Slow way down compared to a car.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[90toydolphin]

thanks for sharing your trip and experiences.

[Derek up North]

The 'leaky' vents probably do a fantastic job they were designed to do of controlling humidity buildup in a small pickup cab. But with the much greater volume on the coach added, obviously not needed.

[BobBeery]

Our 87 also blows in a lot of outside air at the inside door-opening levers. I have stuffed facial tissue there to stop the leak and it works pretty good, but every time I open the door the tissue falls out. I would like to find some sort of gasket to close this off; would probably have to custom make something but I other things more serious to take care of first.

[mission mike]

Good trip report Waiter, yes the Silver Strands Park is nice, my wife complains constantly about the cold draughts around her door when we are traveling in the winter, I did notice that the cab heater in ours blew a lot hotter on my side at floor level, in fact my feet were always too hot, so I duct taped most of my side of the heater vent off and that transferred way more heat over to her and kept her happy, also we hang a couple of blankets at our backs leaving enough space in between them so I can still see out of the back window, this makes the cab a lot warmer too.

When we first bought our Winnie I built a cargo box on the back, among other things in there I carry a BBQ propane tank, I ran a pigtail from the tank to an extra regulator on the outside of the cargo box, added a half inch shut off valve after the regulator then a length of rubber hose tee’d into the black pipe propane line under the floor of our motor home, also added a shut off valve after the regulator on the stock propane tank, so when one tank is on the other is turned off with no back pressure on either regulator, this way I can drive and keep the fridge running using the BBQ tank when the stock tank is empty.

Mike

[Allen]

Excellent trip report Waiter! It appears that we were in AZ the same time as you were (at least on Christmas); we spent most of our time in Sedona*, Prescott and Flagstaff (duration wise in that order). However, ours was only a 1780 mile trip (from the SF Bay Area). We averaged 13.1mpg overall (driving 70mph on I5 is hard on gas (11.2mpg lowest tank); however, for the 513 miles we spent driving around in AZ we averaged 15.7mpg).

Thanks for the tip on the vents in the pillar. I am going to take care of that when I get back in the States this weekend (I have been in China for work since the 2^nd).

And Mission Mike, thanks for the tip on taping heater vents on the driver side. My wife also says that her side is cold, yet my side is too warm. I need to tape up most of my side when I get back too.

Allen

*In Sedona we stayed at the nicest RV park we have ever visited for 3 nights, "Rancho Sedona RV Park" (www.ranchosedona.com, http://www.yelp.com/...v-park-sedona-2)! It is very clean, and they keep the bathrooms heated (in the Winter)!

[85mirage]

thanks for great report! I liked siler strand as well, but $50 now ouch. I was thinking about putting a dc heating pad under fresh water tank to keep water from freezing in winter and warm up in spring. Since ive eliminated hot water tank. You think it would work?

happy travels