Lake Blackshear, GA.
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:04 pm
had to go to Georgia from July 12th thru the 26th for work this summer... We decided to take the motorhome and toon with us and stay at the Veterans State park instead of a hotel... and I wanted my wife and children with me... so off we went... took two weeks to get everything ready... had to purchase a portable sewer tote because the campsites didn't have sewer hook ups... hitch for my wifes van... spare tire for the pontoon trailer and tie down straps for the rear of the toons... storage rack for the van, we used it to haul fire wood...
Stopped to fill up... Ouch! 75 gallon tank in the Motorhome, 42 gallon tank in the toon, 17 gallon tank in the Odyssey...
370 miles down to Cordele GA. we go... motorhome is running great... everything is going just fine... we make it to the GA. Veterans State Park... miss the campground and drive out the back of the park... had to turn around to go back to find the campgrounds... no problem... the back exit is a four way intersection... I pulled the 37' motorhome and 31' pontoon boat and trailer out in the middle of the road to back up and turn around when the engine dies.... right in the middle of the road... I've got the whole intersection blocked in all directions... the fuel pump went out! Thankfully the folks in South Georgia are friendly and helpful!.. A young man offerd to tow me to the side of the road and out of the way...
I was thrilled and relieved at the same time... he even offered to help fix it... I hooked the chain to the motorhome and he hooked it to his F150... I jump in, put the mh in neutral and beep the horn... he slowly moves forward until the chain tightened up... then vurrrrr.... vurrr...vurrrr... the F150 won't budge it! I was beginning to get a little nervous at that point... then he backed up a little and puts it in 4 low and it idled over to the shoulder... whew! Thank the Lord for 4 wheel drive and transfer cases with low gear!!!
We had already thrown the firewood in the ditch and hooked the toon to my wifes odyssey... so I thanked him and he offered to help with the repair... We exchanged phone numbers and he left... we found the campgrounds and a nice lake front site that I was pretty sure we could pull the mh into... we dropped the boat... and headed to town to get the kids something to eat and see about getting a fuel pump for a 99 f53...
Long story short... had a to order the fuel pump... got the phone number to a local towing company just in case... then called the young man that helped us the first time... asked him if he would be so kind to tow us to the campgrounds... he said sure.... be there in a few... we got it into the campsite and setup for the two week stay... left the house at approximately 10:30am and got the mh in the campsite at 9:30pm... man what a day... I thanked him again... and paid him for his time and fuel... what a great young man... God Bless him and God Bless America! What a wonderful Country we live in... Blessed Blessed Blessed!!!
Man... talk about stressful! It's one thing to break down... But it's another to breakdown 370 miles from home with a 37' motorhome towing a pontoon boat with your wife and three small children at 6:30pm and you have to be at work 5:30am at a place you've never been...
That was on Sunday... fuel pump came in on Tuesday.... took Saturday off to replace the fuel pump... I do all of my own automotive work... I'm an Industrial refrigeration technician... ultra low temp. Cascade, Compound systems, Scientific refrigeration and Industrial Anhydrous Ammonia... I've built engines... muscle cars from ground up... I'm not a novice when it comes to troubleshooting and or repairs... I do the research... buy the necessary tools if I don't have them already and get the job done... it took me 16 hours to remove and reinstall that 75 gallon steel casket of a fuel tank!!! Probably the single hardest jod I've ever done to a vehicle.
There is a hydraulic leveling jack welded to the frame... perfectly cented both vertically and horizontally in front of one of the tank straps... couldn't even touch the bolts with my fingertips.... Anyway it was difficult to say the least... only took about 2 minutes to replace the fuel pump... used two scissor jacks to lower and raise the tank which was 1/4 full...
My wife and children had a blast... there was a swim beach at the park.... they went almost every day...
We got the boat out twice... rode around site seeing... the lake is swamp like... even has alligators... mostly in the Northern end... we got to see one... got a picture of him... but he's in the shadow of a tree and can barely be seen...
Here's the campsite
Stopped to fill up... Ouch! 75 gallon tank in the Motorhome, 42 gallon tank in the toon, 17 gallon tank in the Odyssey...
370 miles down to Cordele GA. we go... motorhome is running great... everything is going just fine... we make it to the GA. Veterans State Park... miss the campground and drive out the back of the park... had to turn around to go back to find the campgrounds... no problem... the back exit is a four way intersection... I pulled the 37' motorhome and 31' pontoon boat and trailer out in the middle of the road to back up and turn around when the engine dies.... right in the middle of the road... I've got the whole intersection blocked in all directions... the fuel pump went out! Thankfully the folks in South Georgia are friendly and helpful!.. A young man offerd to tow me to the side of the road and out of the way...
I was thrilled and relieved at the same time... he even offered to help fix it... I hooked the chain to the motorhome and he hooked it to his F150... I jump in, put the mh in neutral and beep the horn... he slowly moves forward until the chain tightened up... then vurrrrr.... vurrr...vurrrr... the F150 won't budge it! I was beginning to get a little nervous at that point... then he backed up a little and puts it in 4 low and it idled over to the shoulder... whew! Thank the Lord for 4 wheel drive and transfer cases with low gear!!!
We had already thrown the firewood in the ditch and hooked the toon to my wifes odyssey... so I thanked him and he offered to help with the repair... We exchanged phone numbers and he left... we found the campgrounds and a nice lake front site that I was pretty sure we could pull the mh into... we dropped the boat... and headed to town to get the kids something to eat and see about getting a fuel pump for a 99 f53...
Long story short... had a to order the fuel pump... got the phone number to a local towing company just in case... then called the young man that helped us the first time... asked him if he would be so kind to tow us to the campgrounds... he said sure.... be there in a few... we got it into the campsite and setup for the two week stay... left the house at approximately 10:30am and got the mh in the campsite at 9:30pm... man what a day... I thanked him again... and paid him for his time and fuel... what a great young man... God Bless him and God Bless America! What a wonderful Country we live in... Blessed Blessed Blessed!!!
Man... talk about stressful! It's one thing to break down... But it's another to breakdown 370 miles from home with a 37' motorhome towing a pontoon boat with your wife and three small children at 6:30pm and you have to be at work 5:30am at a place you've never been...
That was on Sunday... fuel pump came in on Tuesday.... took Saturday off to replace the fuel pump... I do all of my own automotive work... I'm an Industrial refrigeration technician... ultra low temp. Cascade, Compound systems, Scientific refrigeration and Industrial Anhydrous Ammonia... I've built engines... muscle cars from ground up... I'm not a novice when it comes to troubleshooting and or repairs... I do the research... buy the necessary tools if I don't have them already and get the job done... it took me 16 hours to remove and reinstall that 75 gallon steel casket of a fuel tank!!! Probably the single hardest jod I've ever done to a vehicle.
There is a hydraulic leveling jack welded to the frame... perfectly cented both vertically and horizontally in front of one of the tank straps... couldn't even touch the bolts with my fingertips.... Anyway it was difficult to say the least... only took about 2 minutes to replace the fuel pump... used two scissor jacks to lower and raise the tank which was 1/4 full...
My wife and children had a blast... there was a swim beach at the park.... they went almost every day...
We got the boat out twice... rode around site seeing... the lake is swamp like... even has alligators... mostly in the Northern end... we got to see one... got a picture of him... but he's in the shadow of a tree and can barely be seen...
Here's the campsite