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Pics from our first trip

OkeeDon

New member
I finally got around to unloading the cameras from our trip to Mount Dora a couple of weeks ago. We stayed at an Orange County (Orlando area) park named Trimble Park. It's very near the border with Lake County, where Mt. Dora is located. You can see why -- the camping section of the park is on Lake Carlton, the other side of the park is on Lake Beauclaire, and the town is on Lake Dora -- and all of these, and many more, are connected with canals. Next time, we'll bring a boat. It's a pretty little park, with 15 RV spots, half of them on the lakefront.
 

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OkeeDon

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There are docks right at the edge of the campsites. An egret joined us for breakfast. We walked around the corner to a small inlet, where we intended to sit on the bench...we turned around.
 

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OkeeDon

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The whole park is very pretty. We got to see the Loch Ness monster. And, we're sadly ready to leave...
 

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XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
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Nice trip Don. Brings back memories of the 1.5 years lived in Orlando. I miss most of it except the humidity and the gators.

What's the mileage like on your fancy Sprinter?
 

simple_john

New member
nice looking setup you have there!!!:a1:


I was in leesburg a few years back looking at land and checked out the lakes in that area.... Real nice, Big lakes in that region....


The alligators sort of give me the willies!!!:eek:
 

DaveNay

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simple_john said:
The alligators sort of give me the willies!!!:eek:

I work with a guy who used to live in the Orlando area, and was an avid kayaker. One time he was paddling accross a local lake, when the hull of his boat BONKED against something in the water....he looked down straight into the eyes of a 'gator (only about 2' away when in a kayak!). He says he promptly pissed his shorts, and paddled non-stop full speed back to the dock! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
 

OkeeDon

New member
PBinWA said:
What's the mileage like on your fancy Sprinter?
It's rated at 24 mpg highway; so far, all the driving I've done (about 1900 miles so far) has been mixed highway/city, and I'm seeing an actual 20.8 to 21.3 mpg. According to reports on various Sprinter forums, they're very speed-sensitive, so I've been holding it down to 100 for the most part (kilometers per hour -- about 62 mph -- 100 sounds better). I have had it up to about 85 mph without finding the upper limit. I have a couple of friends with very large Class A's (38' to 40') who never drive above 55 mph; that would drive me nuts. I keep cheating on the 62...
 

OregonAlex

New member
OkeeDon said:
It's rated at 24 mpg highway; so far, all the driving I've done (about 1900 miles so far) has been mixed highway/city, and I'm seeing an actual 20.8 to 21.3 mpg.
Don,
I assume you have the A/C on mostly on all the time?
 

OkeeDon

New member
OregonAlex said:
I assume you have the A/C on mostly on all the time?
This time of year, it's off about as much as it's on. For example, it was a bit chilly when I got up this morning, and I had to put on a shirt in order to eat my breakfast on the patio. That's cool enough that it's like A/C when the vents are open. I haven't noticed that the A/C affects the diesel the same way it does a small gas engine, though. When idling, the A/C does not appear to slow down the engine as much as I'm used to. So, maybe the diesel mileage is not as affected by A/C?
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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Don, seems to me you were going to pull a trailer with you, but I don't see one. Was this just a short trip with no additional need for the trailer?

Also, and this is just a thought, but have you given a thought to a couple lightweight scooters/Mopeds mounted on a rear carry rack? With your heart I presume a bike is out. But I'd think you & Betsy might enjoy taking rides around the area to see what else there is to see on a more intimate level than if you drove the Sprinter. Just a thought.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
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DaveNay said:
I work with a guy who used to live in the Orlando area, and was an avid kayaker. One time he was paddling accross a local lake, when the hull of his boat BONKED against something in the water....he looked down straight into the eyes of a 'gator (only about 2' away when in a kayak!). He says he promptly pissed his shorts, and paddled non-stop full speed back to the dock! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

When I lived there I rented a house on a private lake. At one point there were some eyes that started popping up whenever my dogs would be out playing in the lake. Eventually, something made the eyes go away. The residents on that lake were pretty adamant about keeping it gator free.

There was a mild drought during the time I was there and my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I found this place near Gainesville where all the gators had accumulated. It was amazing since there were hundreds of these monsters all in a small area. Very cool sight seeing.

Lots of neat and dangerous wildlife in Florida. Snakes and Gators keep you on your toes when you trudge around in the woods. Lots of fun little biting bugs too. Up here in the coastal NW all you have to typically worry about is the occasional black bear.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
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"very speed-sensitive,"

What does that mean? They don't like going fast? 85mph seems pretty good to me for that type of vehicle. Of course, in Florida that means you can keep up with the same speed that everyone else is driving on the highway. Up here in the NW it means you are getting a ticket.
 

OkeeDon

New member
Bob, yes, we got the trailer. Attached is a picture. You're right; this was a weekend trip, and we didn't need the extra space. I recently pulled the trailer to Gainesville and back. It was nearly full on the way up, and even heavier on the way back, as I picked up an antique refrigerator (1954 General Electric with revolving shelves). I got about 19 mpg pulling the trailer, which was loaded more heavily than it will be when we use it for camping.

I have room in the trailer for a couple of scooters, and the smaller ones would fall into my self-imposed weight limit, as well. I've looked at the "good" scooters like the Aprilia and Zuma, but they're pretty dear at $1800-$2000. We have a local dealer handling one of the better Chinese scooters. He's been in business almost 2 years, so he may stick around, and he stocks all the spare parts. His 49-1/2 cc scooters are 4-strokes and supposedly good for about 40 mph; however, he will soup them up to 80 cc and 55 mph. He showed me the relative difference in crankshafts; the brand he carries starts off with a crank that is normally used in an 80 cc engine, so it isn't unduly stressed when he pops in the overbore kit. The 49 cc models are about $1150; with the 80 cc conversion they run about $1450. They also make a retro model that looks like an old Vespa.

The problem is, Betsy won't ride double, 2 scooters are pretty expensive, and I can't get her to even try one. It's not her age; she just never liked 2 wheel vehicles. I think it's a left-over prejudice from her conservative parents towards motorcyclists. I recently made progress, however; I got her on Doug's Vinson 500 cc 4-wheeler and she made a couple of laps around the yard. I think that's the first time she's ever driven anything she has to straddle other than a bike.

In the meantime, I did have our bikes reconditioned. I have a Schwinn 6-speed cruiser with big, wide handle bars in the upright position, the fattest, softest seat I could buy, and fat, low pressure tires. Betsy's is a traditional internal hub 3 speed with coaster brakes; she has never gotten used to handbrakes. The day I brought them back from the bike shop, I managed to ride a full 800 feet on level pavement before my body was aware of it. I've been out several times since, and I recently rode almost 1 mile (again, all level pavement, I'm glad Florida is flat). I think it took us about 20 minutes or so to go that mile, but I was really pleased. I keep pushing myself in small increments. Next week, I'm scheduled for my first echo-gram in a year, and it will be interesting to see whether my activity has made it better or worse. I'm betting on better; I think I may be building up some corollary arteries, but I won't know that until I get another angiogram.

On this last trip, the scooters would have been perfect, because the park was about 4 miles from Mt. Dora, all on secondary roads with 35 mph speed limits. Still, I've gotten really good at disconnecting the Sprinter so I can drive it to town. I have it set up with quick disconnect hose, etc. One thing you learn very quickly with a unit this small is to put everything away as soon as you're done with it. There isn't room to do otherwise, but the side benefit is that I can be ready to travel in about 2 minutes. In the pictures taken at the park, for example, we left the chairs and patio carpet in place, and just parked back next to them when we got back.
 

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OkeeDon

New member
By the way, when we were planning on buying a brand-new Leisure Travel Sprinter, we were going to get one that was white on top, with a gold strip at the bottom and some decals. The idea was that I could have a matching gold strip painted around the bottom of the trailer, and Leisure Travel agreed to send me some matching decals.

When this silver one came up available for resale, less than 1 year old and only about 7500 miles, in perfect new condition, we grabbed it. The silver paint scheme is also somewhat special; it's got a special model designation ("LSS"), and there apparently were only 36 of them with that paint scheme in 2005.

The problem is, I got a quote from a local body shop, which has very reasonable prices, and it will cost qabout $1200 to have the trailer painted to match the Sprinter. That's more than I'm willing to spend, right now, for what is essentially a "cutesy" idea. Maybe when I get my barn built I'll paint it myself.

By the way, the same shop quoted me $300 to paint the fridge so it looks like new; they've done several of them, and recently restored the appearance on a black grand piano.
 

OregonAlex

New member
PBinWA said:
"very speed-sensitive,"

What does that mean?
PB,

I am pretty sure he was referring to the loss of gas milage which results from speed beyond 55mph.

I get the same effect in our '05 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Wagon w/ 5spd Manual.
Engine is the standard 2.5 litre opposing ("flat"). four cylinder normally aspirated. It is the only car which we own that has a milage computer. Recently we drove from Portland to Seattle in very heavy traffic. Our speed ranged between 45 - 65 mph most of the time and I figured we averaged around 55mph as a result. The computer said we averaged 35.1 mpg in this condition. I as truely amazed considering the car currently is on 4 studded tires and with the manual tranny power is always being delivered to the front and back drive (split 50/50) . On the way back home, traffic was clear and we averaged right around 75mph. Milage went down to around 28 mpg. The cars feels like it wants to go about 80 mph. at 75mph, rpm is about 2600. Redline starts at around 6000 rpm.
 

OkeeDon

New member
Somehow, I missed that question. Yep, speed-sensitive refers to the mileage; the faster it's driven, the more the mileage drops. One new owner was unhappy at getting only 18mpg, but revealed he had driven across Texas at almost 90 mph. The unloaded cargo vans and passenger vans will get about 30 mpg. In a test a couple of years ago, Car & Driver Magazine said, "Claimed fuel mileage is 30 mpg. Our actual observed mileage was 30 mpg." The RV version in the stock body is rated at 24 mpg highway; the Winnebago/Itasca version, with a lot more weight and worse aerodynamics, is rated at 18-19 highway.
vw-ext.jpg


You're absolutely right about 85 being the prevailing speed in Florida; maybe a bit behind the times -- if you drive a consistent 85, you're still going to get blown away by about 1 car out of 5. 100 - 105 mph is not unusual on the Interstate, and every once in a while you'll get blown away by someone who thinks they're on the autobahn. The primary reason seems to be tax cuts -- there isn't enough budget left for anything close to a full complement of state troopers.
 

DaveNay

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OkeeDon said:
The primary reason seems to be tax cuts -- there isn't enough budget left for anything close to a full complement of state troopers.

Although I've never driven in Florida, everyone also tells me there is a tollway that is pretty much empty all the time because noone wants to pay the tolls to drive it! :pat:
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
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Thanks Don and Alex,

That mileage stuff is common sense. I kind of miss the highway speeds of Florida. I got 2 tickets within a few months of moving to WA state since it was so hard to slow down to the 55-65 speed that everyone drives around here.

Buying a diesel truck was the thing that really slowed me down. I rarely get it over 75 mph on the highway these days. It just seems like too much work.

I like everything about the sprinters except the body style. It's just too Euro for me. I think there will be some more diesel options coming out in the next few years. I'd like to have a small diesel 1/2 ton truck or van.


Personally, I loved the toll roads just because they were so empty.



Thanks,

Paul
 

OkeeDon

New member
Probably the Sawgrass Parkway that starts above Fort Lauderdale and runs out way to the West of Miam and on down towards Homestead. I don't get down that way much, but I noticed when it first opened, no one used it. It's more expensive than most. It gets a lot of use nowadays, however, because so much development has moved inland (West), and because Florida has set up the very efficient SunPass transponder system that works on most toll roads, toll bridges and airport parking lots in the state. We have ours set to aumatically replenish to $60 whenver it hits $20. With the transponder, you don't notice the tolls as much (until you get your credit card bill).
 

OkeeDon

New member
PBinWA said:
I think there will be some more diesel options coming out in the next few years. I'd like to have a small diesel 1/2 ton truck or van.
There are a lot more Euro diesel options we just don't see here, including almost all of the Euro mfrs having a version of something like the Sprinter, and a lot ot smaller diesels. Maybe with the success of the Sprinter, some of the other mfrs will be encouraged to try their smaller diesel offerings over here.

The real Euro-appearing Sprinter is the Westfalia marketed by Airstream. It's concerted in Europe, and is called the James Cook model over there. If there is an "official" Sprinter RV this is it, because Daimler Chrysler owns Westfalia, too. It's bad enough on the outside...

home.jpg


but it's really different on the inside...
7414c.jpg
 

bczoom

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DaveNay said:
Although I've never driven in Florida, everyone also tells me there is a tollway that is pretty much empty all the time because noone wants to pay the tolls to drive it! :pat:
My guess would be the 417 (I think that's the right number) around Orlando. Then it hooks up with the Bee-line (another toll road) that's pretty empty as well.
 

Snowcat Operations

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OKEEDON,
When you get your trailor repainted see if you can find some matching rims that would bolt up to your trailer. Bolt patterns can be changed pretty easily if they dont match now.
 
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