Completion Of 6200 Mile Trip

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Some  Trip Notes for our 12 April to 12 May trip in the 4104;

We just arrived home in AR at 9 PM yesterday. The trip was 6200 miles with no problems with the bus. I used about three gallons of oil (I didn't keep a record). Haven't checked the fuel mileage yet.

We traveled through AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CA, OR, WA, ID, UT, WY, NE, KS, IA, MO and home to AR.

Diesel fuel was most expensive in Ark, OK and Southern California (By far the most expensive). Even Northern CA wasn't too bad. NE and Northern Missouri around Kansas City were the cheapest but not much cheaper than the rest. The most we paid was $3.25 and the lowest was $2.59.

I finally found Chevron 100 lube oil in 40W in WA at a marine supply store. I posted all this info about a week ago while in WA.

I'll follow up later with some comments on WalMarts, RV Parks and Rest Stops.

[Dallas]

Glad you had a good trip!
But of course you know your gonna have to give a blow by blow account!
Dallas

[David Anderson]

Great trip.  How did you get from CA to Utah?  Did you go across Hwy 50?  It definitely lives up to its name. 

It was like driving 500 miles on the moon.

David

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David,

We got to UT via OR, WA (Seattle), OR, and ID almost entirely on Interstates.

More good stuff;

                       Good WalMart Locations;

Shawnee, OK - Good location right on the Interstate, good choice of parking spots..

Riverside, CA - Confusing to get to because of very busy highway interchange. Very small parking lot and small store.

Red Bluff, CA - Good location.  Very small parking lot and small store.

McMinville, OR  - Good location if you're going to the Evergreen Museum, home of the "Spruce Goose".  Very small parking  lot and store with lots of traffic to get back to I5.

Pendleton, OR - Good location.  Very small parking lot. and store.

Laramie, WY - You think you're way out of town at the exit on the east end of town but it  is a very nice and large parking lot and store.

Lexington, NE -  Right on the Interstate, good choice of parking spots.

St. Joseph, MO - Take Exit 47 from I29 to right on Belt Parkway for about two miles.  Adjacent to Sam's Club.

For 'touristy" stuff the "Spruce Goose" in McMinville, OR was definitely the highlight of the trip. Second was probably the Desert Museum just west of Tucson.

The best views had to be of Mt. Shasta and some of the mountains in WY and ID.

The most beautiful Interstates had to be in Northern CA and Southern OR.

RV park info to follow.

[FloridaCliff]

Welcome Home!

Glad you made it safe and sound.

Look forward to hearing about your adventure.  Of course the Readers digest version

Cliff

[Danny]

I have yet to get to know you guys - but congrats on your trip

I can't wait until my bus is up and traveling down the road...

Danny

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                                  Good RV Parks

Clovis, NM - Traveler's World. Very friendly, nice park. A couple of miles out of town on the old highway. No nearby restaurant but good pizza delivery. Lowest price of the trip, $18+ with  Good Sam.

Deming, NM - Little Vineyard RV Park. Downtown but not too far from Interstate. Very  friendly folks who made our late arrival very easy. They love bus conversions.  No nearby restaurant, ate on board. Good Sam.

Albany, OR - Blue Ox RV Park. Beautiful, very friendly folks, near Interstate 5. Short distance to "Lum Yuen's" excellent Chinese Restaurant. Good Sam.

Evanston, WY - Phillips RV Park,  We've stayed there three times in less than a  year. Nothing special but very clean and
convenient to Interstate. Don't fail to eat at Don Pedro's
Mexican restaurant nearby. No propane but available a few blocks away at a very good price. Good Sam.

We're leaving tomorrow for two weeks (Not in the bus) so I will have to continue this tale after returning.

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Just arrived home for a few days so I will continue with my trip comments;

                                 Miscellaneous Stuff

The drive from Seattle to AR was beautiful except for the wind. It started in ID and never let up, it got even worse in NE and was almost as bad in MO. In St. Joseph,MO we found a protected parking spot at WalMart and got out of the wind for at least overnight. Otherwise it never let up the whole time and shook the bus a lot while we were sleeping. I developed some good shoulder muscles fighting the fierce crosswind.

One night in Laramie, WY was 23* F and one night in Pendleton, OR was in the 30s, otherwise the temperature was mild. I was surprised that no water lines froze. I had to use ether for starting anytime the temp got below 40*F. It would start without ether but would smoke like crazy, the ether eliminated the smoke.

We used the "Mr. Heater" portable LP heaters from Camping World when independent. They work very well but each LP cyl is only good for 3-5 hrs. We have two and had a spare at the ready when one went out. They worked well at Laramie, WY which is 7100' elevation even though they are supposed to be useful only up to 6000'. These things are life savers in cold weather.  They are the only heat we have in the bus when parked and all I plan to ever have. They give off quite a bit of moisture but I prefer them to the dry heat of hot air furnaces.

There is a nice new bypass around the south side of Springfield, MO that connects I44 to US 60 without going through that horrendous traffic mess on US 65 east of Springfield. There is one little catch though, there is a RR crossing at the bottom of a hill almost at the end of the bypass just before it connects to US 65. Who would expect to find a RR crossing on a four lane highway?? This is the location at which I tested my brakes because of a long coal train!!

[Busted Knuckle]

There is a nice new bypass around the south side of Springfield, MO that connects I44 to US 60 without going through that horrendous traffic mess on US 65 east of Springfield. There is one little catch though, there is a RR crossing at the bottom of a hill almost at the end of the bypass just before it connects to US 65. Who would expect to find a RR crossing on a four lane highway?? This is the location at which I tested my brakes because of a long coal train!!

I know exactly what ya mean I almost blew those tracks while loaded with people because I didn't realize they were there and the trucks and other traffic were just blowing right on across them! Very big NO-NO in a loaded charter bus! I got stopped but it probably took 10-15.000 miles off the life of those brakes!
  Knuckle

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Bustedk,

Luckily for me the slack adjusters were  reset by Honest Bob at HB INdustries in El Cajon, CA when we were just beginning our trip. If not for that I never would have stopped in time.

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                                           Bus Stuff

We didn't see another 4104 or 4106 on the whole trip. Saw a few MCIs but mostly MC8-9. One or two Buffaloes (I think, not really sure since they all had end covers). The only owner I got to talk to was one MC9 just south of Seattle for just a couple of minutes, he was in a hurry.

There was a lot of interest at most of our stops and I had a lot of questions.
 
At every WalMart there was a steady procession of vehicles slowly driving by for a look. Since our 4104 looks stock except for the AC on top most were not sure what it was.

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This is the last installment of our 6200 mile trip. Also attached is a photo of the bus in the Laramie, WY WalMart parking lot if I can make it work.

                                   Problems

The only problem on the whole trip was the failure of the refrigerator igniter so we couldn't use propane. We stayed in RV parks and used the generator until we got to Tucson and got a new igniter. Seems that original equipment Norcold igniters are junk. We bought a Universal Igniter for $130 in Tucson that has a three year warranty. You can buy an original Norcold igniter for the same price but the warranty is for 90 days! This was no difficult decision. Otherwise this is a great refrigerator.

I also found out that my "10 gallon" propane tank was only six gallons. It ran out after 18 days. I expected it to last the whole trip. Next project is a hookup for a standby portable LP tank.

I got a stone hit on the driver's windshield early in the trip and the crack has now progressed to about 6". It seems to want to stay as is so I may not replace it, gives it character.

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That isn't our toad by the way, we don't tow.