TREK Rally at Silver Springs

January 21-24 we attended a rally of the South East TREK Fun Club in Silver Springs FL.  There were a total of 9 coaches in attendance at the Springs RV Resort. Our first motor home was a Safari TREK, and we still hang with the South East TREK Fun Club.

 

To view a multimedia presentation of the rally click here.

Site B70 at Springs RV Resort

The Springs is a huge resort; by my count there are 626 sites. About half are semi-permanent manufactured housing or RV's parked on a seasonal/permanent basis.  The resort was less than half filled, but they still crammed us between two other occupied permanent sites, each with a home unit and multiple personal vehicles. Go figure. Additionally, we were parked on a site with a gully across the rear of the site, forcing us to park at the very front of the site, to the extent that our sewer hose would not reach the site's sewer pipe.  Fortunately we would be here for just three nights and weren't likely to fill our waste tanks in that time.

Sam and Meri own what is likely the most traveled Safari TREK in the world.  It is a 1994 (1993?) model and has 448,000 miles.  It is powered by a 135HP 4-cylinder Isuzu diesel engine.  By comparison our Dutch Star has a 450HP diesel.  It's slow, but it still goes, .... and goes, .... and goes.   Like the Energizer bunny. 

A vintage TREK

We have been traveling with Harry for the last 2 weeks

This was largely a no-frills rally.  We had three shared dinners, a few shared lunches and a happy hour each afternoon.  We did have an excursion to Two Tails Ranch near Williston FL.  Two Tails Ranch is an educational and conservation facility featuring primarily Asian elephants, but they also have other species including tortoises, ring-tails lemurs, ostriches, emus, donkeys, zebras and camels.

Luke is the cock of the roost

Luke is an accomplished artist

Another masterpiece

LiMu the emu, but where's Doug?

Additionally, Dorcas and I led a short paddle in the spring head area of Silver Springs. The forecast was for 100% rain during the paddle, but the weather gods were with us.  There was a light mist when we put in, but no rain after that. 

This great blue heron was having a bad hair day

We found a young manatee in the Silver River

A green heron on the hunt

An anhinga drying out

We saw only one alligator on this cool overcast day, but he was a fair sized one. 

On Sunday after the rally we drove a whopping 4 miles to the campground at Silver Springs State Park.  Here we will meet friends from NC for a week of paddling on local rivers.

Life is good.

Cypress Glen CG and Withlacoochee River

On Sunday January 17 we departed the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.  We had been served by 30A power supplied by a mobile generator and about noon they pulled our plug.  Time to move along.  We jumped on to I-75 north for a 51 mile jaunt to our next destination, Cypress Glen Campground near Brooksville FL.  Cypress Glen is part of the Silver Lake Recreation Area and a unit of Florida State Forests.  We have camped here about a half dozen times, but not in the last 10 years or so.  Seniors +65 years can camp here for $15/night and enjoy 50A electric service and fresh water.  A really sweet deal.  It is also adjacent to the Withlacoochee River and the Withlacoochee State Trail, a very popular bike trail.  

Site #24 at Cypress Glen CG

We will spend 4 nights at Cypress Glen before moving northward again to Silver Springs.  This is a pretty laid back place. It is quiet and out of the way.  If you don't paddle or peddle, there's not much to do, but that's a good thing.

Aerial view of Cypress Glen CG and Silver Lake

On Tuesday we paddled the Withlacoochee River from the Silver Lake day use area access to Nobleton.  When we woke up on Tuesday the temperature was frigid, but the forecast was for sunny skies and significantly warming temperatures, with a high in the mid 60s.  

It was a frosty morn

Dorcas, Harry and Matilda at the put in

Matilda is always a happy paddler

A great egret

A great egret on the wing

Mr. Limpkin

In my previous post I reported a failure of the lights on the rear of the coach, a likely failure of the rear Power Distribution Module (PDM).  We were successful scheduling a mobile service visit from Southport Truck Group in Tampa.  John arrived about 8:00 on Wednesday equipped with a "black box" to diagnose our PDM and had the replacement PDM on board.  He quickly confirmed that the PDM had indeed failed and installed the replacement part.

The rear PDM is a box containing relays, circuits and fuses and supplies power to a number of components in the rear part of the coach.  These components have been failing on Freightliner coaches for several years and have been the subject of several recall campaigns. In fact our coach had been affected by a previous recall for the rear PDM.  The original owner had taken the coach in for the recall, however, the part had been tested and it passed the test.  Subsequently the PDM was not replaced at that time.  There is a pending new recall on the same part, but that recall has not been officially implemented since replacement parts are not yet available.  Since the current PDM recall campaign has not officially started, this was not technically a recall service and would have been subject to service and repair charges.  However, our Freightliner warranty is still in effect until February 14, about 3 weeks hence.  Consequently there was no charge to us for the on-site service call or the repair.  It is not clear if the PDM installed today will be subject to the future pending recall. 

PDM with cover off

Harry and his buddy, Buddy

On Wednesday evening we made a campfire, and Harry grilled "buck dogs".   It was a laid back and relaxing stay at Cypress Glen. On Thursday we will mosey about 65 miles north to Silver Springs FL. 

Florida RV Supershow and the Hillsborough River

Every year the Florida RV Supershow is held at the state fairgrounds in Tampa.  This year, in spite of the global pandemic, it was held again. It is reported to be the largest RV trade show in the country.  Dorcas and I have attended this show several times over the years, usually only spending a day or two, boon docking in the general parking area.  This year we attended with the Newmar Kountry Klub (NKK), the national club for Newmar RV products.  There were about 120 NKK member coaches present, down from about 220 coaches in previous years.  In previous years Newmar would send about 20 factory technicians to perform relatively simple coach repairs, at no cost to the customer.  This year, due to the rampant pandemic in Florida and in northern Indiana, site of the Newmar factory, no factory technicians were sent to the rally, likely one reason for the reduced attendance numbers.  Instead, Newmar issued a certificate to each attendee offering one hour of complementary service plus four additional hours of service at half price for those able to come to their factory service center in Nappanee Indiana.  

We departed The Great Outdoors on Tuesday January 12 headed for the rally in Tampa.  Our trip got off to an ominous start.  After we pulled the coach out of the port and hooked up the Honda, we realized the tail lights and turn signals were not working on either the coach or on the car, which should mirror the coach.  CRAP!!!  Being a bright clear day and having no real option, we departed for Tampa, realizing we were a moving target for motorists from the rear.  We arrived safely at the rally venue just before noon and were parked with the other Newmar attendees.

Camp NKK at the Supershow

Aerial view showing most of the attending Newmars

We are parked on pole position 

Newmar coaches camping at the rally

Aerial view of the fairgrounds venue

Our chassis is manufactured by Freightliner Customer Chassis Corporation (FCCC).  FCCC had a display at the show with several naked chassis.  These are the chassis delivered to the coach manufacturers before the coach is built.

In September I received a letter from FCCC announcing a pending recall on the rear Power Distribution Module (PDM).  The PDM controls, among other things, rear body lights including tail lights, brake lights and turn signals.  DING, DING, DING!!!  Could this be our problem with our tail lights and turn signals?  I spoke to a factory service technician and, based on our symptoms and the reported frequency of PDM failure, that was almost certainly our problem.  FCCC had not sent parts and technicians to do field repairs at the Supershow, as they would have in previous years.  The technician said if he had the part he would change it out right then and there, but he double checked and confirmed the part was not on the truck.   DANG!

This is the rear PDM on a display chassis.

Subsequently I talked to Southport Truck Group in Tampa and Ocala Freightliner in Ocala, both nearby authorized FCCC service centers, to see about our options for service.  Both were backed up out the wazoo.  Eventually I talked to the mobile service coordinator at Southport Truck Group. He said there was good probability he could send a mobile technician to perform a repair at our next camp near Brooksville FL. More to follow.  Keeping our fingers crossed!  Ah, the joys of owning a motor home.

There were two huge vendor halls

In the meantime we enjoyed looking at all the new RVs and exploring the hundreds of vendor booths

For a couple of million, this could be yours

You can't even go in this one.  You can only look in through the windshield

We spent five nights at the Supershow.  But you can only spend so much time looking at luxury motor coaches and window shopping for mostly useless and overpriced accessories.  Then you must go paddling.  The Hillsborough River is one of our favorite rivers and is only about 10 miles from the rally venue, so we broke free for a day of paddling.  Our paddling and RV friend Harry, who was also staying at the show with a different RV club, and who will join us at our next two camps, paddled with us.

Dorcas, Harry and Brian.  And, of course, Matilda

Hillsborough River    6.72 miles

At the put-in we met an old friend.  Brian Faulk and his parents Joe and Jean, own Canoe Escape, the outfitter that runs paddling trips on the Hillsborough.  We had not seen Brian in a long time.  He had been away for about 10 years doing other things, but came back to run the business since his parents were retiring.  Brian has worked for several canoe manufacturers and has a wealth of knowledge on canoeing and the canoe industry.

 

A great blue heron at the put-in

It was not the greatest day to paddle.  The temperature was hovering around 50 degrees and it was cloudy and breezy. 

Tri-colored heron

Our RV and paddling friend Harry

Normally we see a high number of large alligators on the Hillsborough.  Today, being cold, overcast and windy, most gators chose to sleep in.  We did see this guy, however, watching us float down the river. 

On this day our paddling friend Harry bore a striking resemblance to Billy Gibbons, lead singer and lead guitarist for ZZ Top.  Amazing!

Harry

Billy

It was another great day on the river.  Life is good.