Another 5000 Mile Trip

[FredNewell]

Once again, we're taking the Dolphin from Humboldt County CA to Nashville and back. This makes the 4th or 5th - we've lost count. We leave on Sat morning.

This trip will be through Reno on I-80 going - and returning on I-40.

We've had the Dolphin for 4 years now. No regrets.

All sytems check out except the propane furnace and oven, but that's ok.

[FredNewell]

Completed the trip. The Dolphin did just fine. The route taken was I-80 both ways. Six days going and four days returning.

Heavy rain and high warm 90+% humidity in Nashville over the extended weekend, but we had a rental car and spent the days away from the RV park.

From time to time others ask how fast the 4 cyl manual transmission MH will go on the highways. Some of the routes we took had 80 mph portions. We went as fast as 72 mph. Speed was not a problem - we seemed to average 60 - 67 mph most of the time unless there was a 6% grade at 55 mph.

I'm not sure as to why, but it seems to run better at high altitude with 85 octane gasoline than at sea level. Much of the trip is 5000 to 6500 elevation.

BTY we saw no NO other toyota MHs on the road.

We found good Thai food in Rock Springs WY.

We heard trains at night at most RV parks. Ok by me.

One thing we did which was different was spend $45 on Passport America before leaving. We found decent parks for 12.50 to $20 for all but 2 nights of travel. The destination park for 5 nights didn't count.

When I did a recent tune-up I replaced the spark plug wires with some brand that has silicone-rubber like parts. They don't seem to fit well on the distributor. One floated off causing a miss. When a 4 banger misses, a 65 mile per hour hill becomes a 45. This has happened only once, so I guess I'll just live with it rather than swapping out the wires again.

We put the dolphin to bed for the winter.

[Debbit]

Love this! I just love road trips, and love hearing about them!

[sailfritz]

Doing a Calif. to Jersey and back rv trip in my 1985 dolphin with 47,ooo miles. I'm not 62 yrs old yet so i can't get the NP seniors pass but heard about the America pass. Tell me more please as we want to see many NParks along the way.

[toyohome]

Completed the trip. The Dolphin did just fine. The route taken was I-80 both ways. Six days going and four days returning.

Heavy rain and high warm 90+% humidity in Nashville over the extended weekend, but we had a rental car and spent the days away from the RV park.

From time to time others ask how fast the 4 cyl manual transmission MH will go on the highways. Some of the routes we took had 80 mph portions. We went as fast as 72 mph. Speed was not a problem - we seemed to average 60 - 67 mph most of the time unless there was a 6% grade at 55 mph.

I'm not sure as to why, but it seems to run better at high altitude with 85 octane gasoline than at sea level. Much of the trip is 5000 to 6500 elevation.

BTY we saw no NO other toyota MHs on the road.

We found good Thai food in Rock Springs WY.

We heard trains at night at most RV parks. Ok by me.

One thing we did which was different was spend $45 on Passport America before leaving. We found decent parks for 12.50 to $20 for all but 2 nights of travel. The destination park for 5 nights didn't count.

When I did a recent tune-up I replaced the spark plug wires with some brand that has silicone-rubber like parts. They don't seem to fit well on the distributor. One floated off causing a miss. When a 4 banger misses, a 65 mile per hour hill becomes a 45. This has happened only once, so I guess I'll just live with it rather than swapping out the wires again.

We put the dolphin to bed for the winter.

Me too! Me too!

We just completed a 6000 mile trip from Gulf Coast Mississippi to CA and back.. Very similar to your trip. Absolutely amazed at how well she ran without missing a beat!

This was our first big trip.

We also joined PA and there are some great bargains out there. But we found that we really enjoy boondocking and the peace and quiet it affords.

Surprisingly, we got our best mileage while in the mountains. Loved the great gas prices too!

We also went to the Toyota Rally at Quartzite and had a fantastic time with the 30 other Toyo-owners. Tika did a fantastic job of organizing the event and we would like to encourage other Toyo owners to attend next year if at all possible!