# The Hurricanes Trip



## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Finally returned from almost 2 weeks living in the Outback.

Left home headed for Gettysburg, PA for 2 nights, then down to Cape Hatteras, NC for 5 nights, then up to Virginia Beach, VA for 4 nights, a stop over back in Gettysburg and back home.

1250 miles, average 9.5 MPG







(best ever, must be the new truck cap) Just under $400 in fuel costs.

Best of all everything worked flawlessly......except the flat tire, oh and the right side tow mirror rolling down the road at 60 mph.

Just pulled into NC and had camper all setup when bride said tire looked soft. so I thought I would check pressure and monitor it, well at 10 psi, I guess it was soft. Found a staple lodged in the tread. It is not the easiest to change a tire just after you have everything all set up, but it can be done. Glad I carry a floorjack.

Great weather, great fun, nice tan, would absolutely recommend any of the campgrounds we were at, except site 60 in Gettysburg, the ghost kept waking us up, but that is another story (it is one of the most haunted cities in the US).

This was one of my best vacations, it was just perfect.

Glad to be home though.

Kevin


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Ha Kevin
Glad to hear your trip went well
Beside the flat and your side mirror trying to race you down the road
The ghost part would be neet








Glad to hear your home safe and sound.

Don


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I've never done that kind of trip so I think I am going to start asking a few questions on the logistics as the DW may want to do more then just camp in the woods. So one must be prepared.

What time of day did you break camp on moving days?
How many miles did you want to go each day?
Were all you sites reserved or did you just have an idea where you wanted to be and looked for a campground once you got there.
Did you find for this kind of trip you would pack differently, what I mean is did you still have all your camping stuff (for us that would be all the things we use when we go dry camping at USFS campgrounds).

I actually have a bunch more questions but 4 is enough for now.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Sounds like a great trip. Definitly better to find the flat after stopping, a little longer and it could have been a lot worse

Need to hear more about the ghost, was he friendly or just noisy?

John


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Kevin,

How did you like Hatteras Island? Did you get caught in all the traffic leaving the island on Saturday morning (July 2)?

I hope your stay was enjoyable, ours was great as usual. Sorry I couldn't get over to the KOA to introduce myself but as you know, once we get set up, its time to entertain the kids!!

Glad to hear all went well. Like you, I always carry a 2 1/2 ton floor jack (lesson learned from the rolling trailer incident) for events just like your flat tire. I also carry a compressor with me, so I am considering getting an air gun to make any possible tire changes more 'Nascar like'. Something about a man and his air gun!

Jason


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

Kevin, sounds like a great trip. Did you stay at Drummer Boy in Gettysburg? I've hear many good things about it. What about Hatteras and VA Beach? Sounds like you had a great trip, glad all went well, even with the flat.

Tim


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Andy,

Our trip went like this....

The night before leaving I would put up the awning and pack all of the exterior items, carpets, bikes, etc. So in the morning I only had to finalize the interior and do the tanks.

We typically planned on departing at 7 am, I would get up at 6, shower and then do the tanks and hoses, connect and leave by 7. Worked perfect.

I am good to drive about 4-5 hours before needing a break, besides the gas stops. Home to Gettysburg was exactly 5 hours. Gettysburg to Hatteras took us 11 hours with too many stops. Hatteras to VA Beach was 3 hours, VA Beach to home was 12-13 hours and after 8 hours I was wore out so we opted to stop in Gettysburg again for a overnight. That was the ghost night.

All of our sites we reserved in advance with deposits paid, we paid the balance when we got there. The stop in Gettysburg on the way home was not reserved, we called them about 30-45 minutes away and they had sites so we stopped.

When we packed, I did it with the thought of not wanting to trip over stuff that would be used later in the trip, beach stuff was packed in the back unitl we got there. So in Gettysburg we didn't have to load and unload stuff we were not going to use. Our packing was awesome, so proud of my bride.

Jason, on friday a Outback 5-ver with white truck pulled in at Hatteras, I went by several times but never found anyone home, not sure exactly who it was, from VA.

Hatteras was great, the day before we got there it had rained hard, the main road in had water up to the trailer hubs on our neighbors rig, that would be something having to drive through that much water with sand on both sides









Tim--Yep Drummerboy both times, down and back. Great campground!!

Kevin


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

The ghost story....

At 3:30 in the morning my wife woke up because she kept hearing something hit the camper, sounds like someone throwing nuts or stones at it. So I get up and thinking kids, blast on the front and back spot lights, nothing. Go back to sleep. Then the camper starts moving side to side, no one inside has moved at all. Then we both hear the door handle move and you know how the camper moves a little when you stand on the stairs, the door is locked. So now I jump up and blast out the door, nothing except dead guiet. As I am looking around my wife says, maybe a bear, just a great thought as I'm outside. The blind above the kitchen sink fell off during the trip and I will fix this week, well she hears something again and gets up to look out the kitchen window and claims that she saw a basketball size white orb flash of light move left to right and disappear, I didn't see this and tell her to go to sleep she is crazy. Then the alarm went off at 6.

In the morning I went outside looking for nuts or rocks, absolutely nothing that I could find that hit the camper.

So in summary, the camper was rocking, stuff was hitting it, something definitely moved the door handle, and my crazy wife saw a white light thingy. All this just after we commented that this was one of the best sites ever. I won't be staying on it again.....Ghost, coincidence, craziness, ???? Something was there...


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Now thats some story.









John


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## risnewski (Feb 20, 2005)

hurricaneplumber said:


> The ghost story....
> 
> At 3:30 in the morning my wife woke up because she kept hearing something hit the camper, sounds like someone throwing nuts or stones at it. So I get up and thinking kids, blast on the front and back spot lights, nothing. Go back to sleep. Then the camper starts moving side to side, no one inside has moved at all. Then we both hear the door handle move and you know how the camper moves a little when you stand on the stairs, the door is locked. So now I jump up and blast out the door, nothing except dead guiet. As I am looking around my wife says, maybe a bear, just a great thought as I'm outside. The blind above the kitchen sink fell off during the trip and I will fix this week, well she hears something again and gets up to look out the kitchen window and claims that she saw a basketball size white orb flash of light move left to right and disappear, I didn't see this and tell her to go to sleep she is crazy. Then the alarm went off at 6.
> 
> ...


I see you're a plumber: Does your camper have an AAV? (Aura Admittance Valve) :0


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Actually a Mechanical Engineer in the HVAC field.

No we have no such valve but my bride has an "ability" for these things I guess.

I witnessed everything except the orb thingy, I am still skeptical about that one....

Kevin


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## luv2rv (Jun 21, 2004)

Welcome back. Sounds like a good trip ... except for the ghost. Maybe just wanted a closer look at the Outback??


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