TN6 Hop 1: Fort Myers FL to Citra FL

235 miles via I-75 and US 301. Truck miles: 309. Cumulative tow miles: 235. Cumulative truck miles: 309.

Hallelujah! We actually got out of Fort Myers without the truck failing. In fact it performed flawlessly, thanks to its spanking-new turbocharger connector hose. The guys at Bayshore Truck came through again. That is the third time I have had them do some work on one of my vehicles but, oddly, this is the first time I have had them work on the pickup. Anyway, they were able to obtain the part and install it (with a new clamp, even) quickly so the I could get on the road today by 2:15pm. We got to the destination at 6:00pm exactly, so 3:45 on the road.

The extra “truck miles” – 64 of them – were due mostly to the aborted Hop 1 on Tuesday and the 10 miles of test driving I did today after the work was done.

I will say it again: the truck ran flawlessly. It feels really good to say that. It has been a long time since I could. I guess Hop 1 (actually the only hop) of TN5 a year ago would be the last time the truck ran well. When we got to our destination – the Royal Palm RV Park in Citra FL – our reputation preceded us. Our neighbors said that they had heard (from the owner, obviously) that we had had some truck problems. I said “yes, but nothing $3000 couldn’t solve.” They were appalled. But they were camping in a pop-up tent – a rig that probably cost less than $3000 new. Some innocent price-shaming.

Jett made the trip on her back, in the back seat with lots of pillows. It wasn’t an easy trip for her, but was easier lying down in the back seat than sitting up in the front seat. Rusty was happy to ride shotgun.

We will probably do the same tomorrow, getting up to Savannah. We will stay there 2 nights. I hope Jett feels well enough to go out to dinner. We have fond memories of Savannah as the place where we first sampled fried green tomatoes.

Oh – I almost forgot to report a HUGE success: the refrigerator stayed on the entire trip! This is proof that the work I did months ago to replace the inverter and the inverter switch were successful in solving that thorn-in-the-side problem No more melted ice cream due to a long hop. I am SO thrilled. Of course Camping World should have fixed this for free years ago, but I no longer expect anything of them. They are useless.