Florida, Off the Interstate.

Too often we have driven the 450 miles from St. Petersburg to Pensacola in 7-9 hrs on interstate roads.  Really tired of that.  For the last few years, we have been trying to slow down and just enjoy our days; seeing and stopping more often when something has perked our interest.  The coastal route up the west side of Florida keeps you off the beaten central path and has plenty to see but this time we opted to go a bit further north before turning west and to drive the old Highway 90.

 It was the only path years ago for those traveling east or west and it linked some of the oldest towns of Florida.

 Towns everyone know such as Pensacola, Tallahassee, and St. Augustine have been existing since the time of our first Spanish explorers.  Ones less recognised, like Milton, Holt, Monticello, Madison, Defuniak, Chipola, Marianna etc. started by farmers and traders before Florida was a state and still under Spanish control and even others;  those further off the public's mind, like Lee-"Little but Proud",  and Two Egg - a name worth Googling; are all on the historical path of Highway 90.

This trip we had our 14 yr. old nephew along with us and 'thought' we could enrich his base with some things he never saw before. Sure.  How can you show a kid with an Iphone loaded with apps, whats outside his air conditioned environment?  His world, his rabbit hole,  lay at his command within a 3 inch screen just 2 thumbs away.  The stories of Two Egg, Monticello, Madison and comments on the rivers, farms and tons of unusual visuals for us town folk, fell on deaf ears.........Ooops, I didn't notice, he is sleeping again.

Stopped a number of times to take a few photos for this blog and to stretch my legs. One of the most pleasurable was a stop at Monticello.

  Highway 90 runs directly into a town circle and then leaves on the other side.  In the center of the turning circle, seems to be the old county court house, the center of government a century ago.  It is still kept in good repair and the traffic flow around it works well and allows pull offs for parking and us tourists to take photos and take a walk about.

 Across on one corner is the Perkins Block building, designed as an Opera House.

 Amazing that in such a rural area, such a fine building was erected to seat 600.

 The building is in excellent condition and the details are amazing.  Beautiful to see how craftsmanship and artistic design worked hand in hand.  The brick work often caught my eye, even on the side and back of the building....spaces left blank and others full of detail.

 Definitely built in a different time by those with different standards.

Other establishments have been retrofitted for todays purposes. A gas station refitted as a restaurant. Warehouses now storefronts, dead space now a garden and seating area beside a bakery,

 display racks for cane poles of different lengths, diameters and finish.




  An old tree near the road was not cut down to make way for....progress, but a special space was made for it to remain standing.

 The tree remains standing and cars could go around.

That works just fine.

MemoryRoads.blogspot.com- begins on 11/15/08- ROOF REBUILD PROJECT IS FIRST PRIORITY

PLEASE NOTE! DISREGARD THE 'PUBLISH DATES' SUCH AS JUNE 4, 2010 OR SIMILAR, ON THIS AND OTHER POSTS CONCERNING THE RECOVERING OF OUR ROOF. ......................(we also added more insulation)


 I HAVE HAD TO ADJUST THE DATES SO THAT YOU:   CAN READ THIS SECTION FROM THE BEGINNING TO END;  JUST AS YOU WOULD IN A WEBSITE OR BOOKLET. (NOT, as you normally would in a blog.)

I have made a slight change to the name of our boat, Memory Rose, to name a blog for this motor home. Memory Roads is the MH and it's travels and repairs....... Memory Rose is the boat travels and projects.

Tune in, if this stuff is of interest. Our travels so far have only been the delivery home to St. Pete Beach, Florida, from the purchase point in Philadelphia. The Project list was reasonable, with the exception of roof and cab over damage not noted in the description of our Ebay purchase... a 1991 Tioga, Class C, Motor Home.

This will be a major effort and I will post ALL information I think can help. The repair/rethink/rebuild, will be available for anyone to follow.

Hang in or tune out, but stay well and keep smiling.

ron






It was easy to see, that someone had removed the corner molding on both sides of the Cab-Over before and did much caulking with clear silicone (not a recommended practice. Inside, there is evidence of water damage, and mold in this forward section/both sides.


To follow this rebuild from beginning to end, drop down on this page at the end of the post,  until you see "grey words" Older Posts.   Then click on it to go on to the next page in the series.
Continuing to do so will take you through the entire rebuild.
You can also go over to the right side of the page and choose posts from the index.

Cab-Over water damage (11/18/08)

Inside the Cab-Over, front left of front window.


After I got our new/used!/Class C Tioga Motor Home, home; I started to look carefully. Yes, I knew upon seeing what I bought, that I had been screwed, but after a plane trip from West Florida to Philly, I was not about to tell my gal that the dream was dead. We enjoyed that which was good and kept it that way all the way to our front door.
The truth was, the motorhomes cab over was rotten!





The 'total dream' will be realized, as has been so true to my life, by my efforts, not smarts. It will take a bit longer....again.

OK! Here are a few photos of the External and Internal symptoms. Inside photos were taken after I removed curtains, mattress and side framework in the Cab Over bed area.



Front drivers side(left) and front of cab over. Crack in outer fiberglass panel had been siliconed as well as the corner moldings on each side.

Not hard to see, is the evidence of a WHITE panel around the front window, instead of the Original multicolored paper. The water damage, even after the apparent-past attempt at a fix, shows the persistance of poor quality construction from the get go.

Rot in the 3/4" base to the sleeping area. this is in the aft corner of the right side of the cab over.

It's hard to make an egg a helmet. I'm going to try to make this baby better, but understand that there is only so far one can go within reason.

Right front. Evidence of water and rot.

Mold and rot is evident all around the lower section of the Cab Over. There is a slight (1" maybe) droop, to the sides overall. Half inch to each side from center.

Outside, passenger side. Evidence of prior removal and rebedding of the corner molding.. as sure sign of stuff that is not good.
This is not a critical thing and can be lived with. The window has to come out and I believe I will redo this MH without a window, as I believe it is a weak link. Side windows seem to be fine. but will see when I get deeper into this project. I'm not married to any aspect and while I want to make this MH solid for years to come, I'm not going to re-invent any wheels.

.Inside of lower front window. Note that this interior panel had already been replaced once!

Hope the initial photos show the problem and direction of future efforts.

Cab-Over Scaffolding for Work platform (11/20/08)

For the time being, I could work off a ladder and keep moving it, but sooner or later I will have to move faster or almost need to be in 2 places at the same time. Therefore, I spent part of yesterday picking up wood at Home Depot and building a scaffolding system that will enable me to work on both sides of the Cab-Over section as well as the very front.



I also took a tarp and secured it to cover and somewhat protect the van's windshield and hood area.


Also, took the inside frame off the front cab-over window to disclose rot on the bottom corner of each side.



This project will move slowly at times, as I have only a few hours each day for this project.