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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Rolling Again

As much fun we had at the Carolina Clan Gathering (CCG), we couldn't stay any longer.  Appointments have been made and we had to roll out.

A good bye huddle was held with all the remaining CCG members in front of our Journey.  Hugs were given all around, it occurred to me they are no longer just friends, they've become family.

Before we left Huntington Beach State Park, we had to go to the dump station.  The Journey really had to go bad.  I'm sure I heard a sigh of relief from it once the tanks were drained.  (Note to self:  No laundry is to be done when there is no sewer hookup).

We drove to the local Walmart that has a gas station and filled up the tank.  Once again, there was a sticker on the diesel pump saying biodiesel was added in percentages from 5 to 20%.  I'm a little hesitant to use this fuel because CAT, the manufacturer of my engine does not approve biodiesel beyond 5%.

Later in the day, I thought I detected a slight engine miss again, but I'm not sure because the road was so rough.  I pulled into a nearby Flying J and took on 30 gallons of diesel and put in a quart of injector cleaner additive.  Everything seemed normal after that, I couldn't feel any miss and all gauges and the mpg indicator in the dash computer readout appeared normal.

The last time this happened, I changed both the engine fuel filter and fuel/water separator element to solve the problem.  I've decided I'm done with the Walmart fuel, it doesn't make sense to have to change $40 worth of filters to save 10 or 15 cents on a gallon. 

We did a 246 mile drive today and looked for a campground for the night.  The only one that was near to our route was a KOA.  We sucked up the $38 price and pulled in.  They sure are impressed with themselves for the price they charged...and they didn't even have a hot tub.  The nerve!

Campground selection is always a "fun" evolution.  We are Passport America members and have found this is an excellent resource for our travels, we've saved bunches of money this year using it.  Sometimes the PPA campgrounds are off the beaten path and to use them, it costs more money in fuel used to get there and back to our route than we'd save staying there.  We've become more selective because of this.

We had to stay in a campground because we're using the washing machine.  Yes, we do have full hook ups this time.  Lesson learned.  ;c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

14 comments:

  1. I agree with PPA. You can save enough money usually to cover its cost but not only are they sometimes too far out of the way but some of them, like Deep Creek where we were recently, are just not places I would like to stop.

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  2. Well I'm not sure I agree with PPA actually but I do agree with YOU about PPA. This mental stuff is becoming disconcerting.

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  3. You are becoming like family to us :) Safe travels to see family, and we'll see you somewhere down the road!

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  4. Miss you guys already:o(( But we know once you've seen the rest of the family, you'll come find us again, down the road:o))

    Safe Travels and Happy Trails....

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  5. Very nice to create new family relationships. We look forward to being able to do that as well. Safe travels.

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  6. We've not used PPA much. It seems the times it might work was the time that the park didn't honor it. I guess it depends when you are where. Glad your Journey was relieved and everyone feels better.

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  7. I am beginning to think that bio-diesel is going to be an issue. My new engine requirements are no more than B5 is to be used to avoid warranty issues. Mercedes reps indicated that it should be completely avoided if at all possible.

    Two days ago landed in a Flying J in St Augustine that had all the Diesel pumps labeled with B20 fuel. Since I need fuel NOW, that was a bit of a panic. Found a station with #2, but I was sweating:(

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  8. since you are paying the 'big bucks' you may as well use as much electricty as you can!! Happy washing!

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  9. Glad the Journey managed to "hold it" until you could get her to the big potty.

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  10. It's always hard to say goodbye but know we'll see each other again sometime down the road. Safe travels.

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  11. We always say it's never "goodbye"...just "see you down the road". Safe travels

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  12. What a great week it was! See you next time :)

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  13. Hope that took care of your miss... bad fuel is such a worry with high cost engines and filters.

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  14. Even in my truck I wouldn't want to be burning bio-diesel of up to 20%. I agree too that cheap fuel is just that - cheap fuel.

    Glad to hear you had such a good time with friends at the Clan rally.

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