Hershey Trip Report

[Jim Stoltz]

Just returned from our annual trip to Hershey. Going out we ran into extremely heavy downpours and high winds despite a 0% chance of rain in the forecast. Visibility was 0 for many miles and there was a lot of standing water on the Interstate. We plodded on anyway, getting to Hershey to check in as the heaviest rain moved in. Motorhomes have their pros and cons, a definite pro was rolling into the site and leveling it with the bags and calling it done. When the rain stopped we hooked up all of the shore utilities.

The list of stuff to fix is getting longer. The generator isn't working right - it will surge under a load randomly. I tried running the a/c on the way home but it kept surging and stalling. I'm going to run some Sea Foam through it again.

Still haven't fixed the broken pilot tube on the fridge.

And, I know I always complain about my driveway, but I tore off the bayonet adapter for my dump pipe. I decided to try approaching the driveway at an angle rather than swinging wide and going straight up. I hit the curb with the left side, it rocked to the right and the dump plumbing scraped hard. It doesn't look like anything's cracked - it just tore the Thetford-to-bayonet adapter off. That thing stuck out a few inches and I was wondering if it would hit. It did.

I did change my top-of-the-driveway strategy. There's a big oak that keeps me from swinging the Allegro around before I hit my house. This time I got close to the tree, but not so close that I would hit it when I swung around to position it to back in. I was able to clear the tree with just one K-type turn. I think I had some room so I may actually be able to clear it without having to pull up and back up a couple of times like I usually do. All this is done on a pretty steep incline so it's nerve wracking. It feels like it's going to roll over but I know (hope) it won't. 

The ride back was windy, too. I need to do something about the steering on the thing. It was 3 hours of fighting to keep the thing in my lane. If I let go of the wheel it would go shooting off into the woods. I'm thinking proper springs and probably some steering parts (the name escapes me right now, but there's parts on both sides bolted to the frame that wear out). 

I'm so glad I invested in that new radiator at the end of last season. It hovered around 190 degrees most of the trip and jumped up to around 220 in stop and go traffic - 90 degree ambient temps. The dreaded hill climb on the last leg of my trip was awesome. Last year the needle on the temp gauge was buried on the HOT side and it wouldn't recover. Stop and go traffic leads up to the base of the hill. It crept up to 220. While climbing the hill it actually got a bit cooler. 

All in all a great time with the family. You may recall that my brother's trailer burned to the ground this time last year while preparing for the trip. This year he brought the 25-footer that my dad's friend gave him. It's a nice rear bunkhouse Shasta, but he has his sights set on something newer and lighter.

And - half a dozen people stopped to ask me about the Allegro, too. People are intrigued by it and I love telling the story of its resurrection. 

Rare pic of me driving today (I hate having my picture taken). That's the death grip I have on the wheel for 3 hours straight. Have to sort out the wandering.

[Jim Stoltz]

I found the dump adapter and cap that was torn off. All I could find yesterday was a broken tab but I spotted it today in a neighbor's yard. It got hit by a car and shot about 50 feet. Looking at it, the only damage was where it got hit by the car. Doesn't look like it scraped at all. Was it coincidence that it came off as I was turning into the driveway? Dunno. The scrape I heard was the rear bumper - left an aluminum scrape mark in the street. If I didn't hit the curb I think I could have made it. I can pull out without it scraping so I should be able to pull in.