Camper Van's First Oil Change - Milton Updates

 

As we got close to home on our trip this past summer, I noticed the "Oil Change Message" on the Camper Van's Dash, with about 7,900 miles on the van.  (Above is an example I found on the net, I should have taken a picture of ours but didn't)  I had wondered how often the oil needs to be changed, and the Promaster Manual says, "The vehicle will let you know when it is time, based on distance, how hard your drive, etc., etc. ... and try to get it done within 500 miles of when you see the message"  Well, ok then...

So WHERE should I get it changed at?  The first hurricane came and went and I figured I would get it change a week or two after, once businesses get settled down again.  Then Hurricane Milton started to set sights on us.  So on Saturday, 5 days before Hurricane Milton was to hit, I went to the local "Take-5" oil change place thinking we might be leaving Monday or Tuesday due to Milton.  Well, they had nothing in their computer for our new 2024 vehicle, and they CANNOT change the oil unless it is in their computer system.  They said it would be in the computer by the end of the year...just a bit too late for me.  So I called a Firestone place and got a Monday appointment.  Then, the Hurricane was forecasted directly for our area and we decided to leave Monday.  Called the guy at Firestone and he understood...no time for getting oil changed before our evacuation.

So after our return, I waited two weeks because so much of this general area, from 30 miles to our north to 50 miles to our south, was hard hit by the Hurricane.  So many people and businesses were without power, some facing flooding (more at homes than businesses), that I wanted things to settle down.  So on Monday I made an appointment with Ferman Chrysler - Jeep - Dodge - Ram for an oil change.  This dealer is much closer to us than the nearest Firestone, but I figured it would cost around $125 or more to change the oil!  My appointment was at 10:45, and I arrived just before 10:30.  Jason was my service rep, and when asked about how long it would take he said, "Well, we are running on-time, BUT, (isn't there always a 'BUT'?) we only have two lifts which are rated to handle the 9,500 pounds that your Camper Van weighs.  I 'HOPE' it will be done by noon.  At noon they were pulling it into the shop, by 12:20 it came out of the shop, I paid my $68 (YES! Only $68 ... Take 5 was going to charge me $85+ had they been able to do it), and he said all looked good.  We had 9,160 miles on the van. Had we not evacuated to Tallahassee, it would have been changed within the 500 miles after getting the message.  Now I just need to figure out how to schedule the next oil change without having to wait two hours for a twenty minute job...or...just pay the devil at Take-5.  (Think Jiffy Lube when you think of Take-5)

Now we are set for another 7,500 - 10,000 miles.  I am going to track the frequency of when the notice appears

The effects of Hurricane Milton are still being felt by those who live within certain Water Sheds.  In particular, the Withlacoochee River Watershed still has massive flooding in certain areas.  The river flows South to North, so that area in our county is getting back to normal road wise, but it will be a LONG TIME before homes along the river which were flooded (and there were many) will be back to normal.  Electricity has been restored to all homes which are able to have electricity. If the flood waters went above the lowest power outlet, a licensed electrician must come in and make sure the house is ready for power again.  In many areas, the wait to get a licensed electrician to do the job is taking days and even weeks.

It is a difficult drive to go into an area which was hard hit, and see all the waste along the streets awaiting pickup.  On Monday I drove through Crystal Beach again, and it was still full of items which were water soaked and needing to be disposed of. 

Gas is once again in abundance, as is food and other grocery items.  In many neighborhoods you cannot even tell that a hurricane came through.  But the amount of people who are living out of motels, living with others, anxious to get back into their homes, is staggering.

THE BEST NEWS...

No Tropical Activity within the next SEVEN Days!!!!  Hurricane Season last through November.  On November 10, 2022 Florida had a Level One Hurricane hit over in the Vero Beach area, between Miami and Daytona Beach.  Before that was Hurricane Kate in 1985 and Yankee in 1935.  So once November comes around, Hurricane concerns drop drastically.  Thank God for November!  😇

Got Home to No Power ... 90 Minutes Later Power is On

With the HUGE amount of frustration going on around town, to complain about not having power is a minor, minuscule thing.  But the level of my frustration, let alone Marcia's, was real, even though it did not match the level of those who are drying out their home from two weeks earlier.  

Side Note:  This hurricane hit so quick after the last one, that they (those cleaning up the debris from the last storm) did not get everything out of the street.  For two days before Milton hit they worked both night and day to get the debris over to a bulk waste dump area.  They say that in two days they cleaned up and moved more debris than they normally do in a month.  I can only imagine how much debris would be all over the place had they not removed it.

We got home around 1:30 pm.  No power, but the house was more cool than hot, but with humidity, not comfortable.  I opened two windows and the front door with the screen door closed, turned on the water, and did a quick check of the freezer by grabbing the boneless leg of lamb.  Went out and got in the Camper Van and we sat there a bit.  I decided that the sound of the generator, even though it is a very low sound, could get other condo owners upset as they did not have air conditioning.  So we drove over to Winn Dixie and I took a 45 minute nap.  When I woke up, I looked on my hand-held and WOW, I have a connection to the Romba (Vacuum Cleaner).  I quickly check my cameras, and after a reload...I got cameras.  Our power is back on!  Stress drops off considerably.  When I get back inside the Condo, I notice the clock on the stove/oven says 1:20.  Heck, I was in the home 90 minutes ago...the power came on probably just after we drove over to Winn Dixie.  Three trips of our cart, and we have just about everything we need.  

No damage at all in the condo.  A few trees down in the neighborhood, did not see anything that fell on cars or houses...but there are stories after stories on the news.  What we did see is something I had not seen the '70's...GAS LINES!  The gas lines started just south of Crystal River.  I thought I could make it to Spring Hill before we hit gas shortage land...well, we didn't, should have topped it off in north Crystal River.  Due to the hurricane, the port that gasoline comes into was down for 2 days.  Station after station started to run out of gas.  Our governor declared an emergency, and employed the National Guard and other stated entities to be used to help distribute gas to gas stations throughout the areas hard hit by Milton.  Today (Sunday) things are better, by Tuesday I am confident all will be back to normal.  Good thing, no price hikes during this whole disaster.  We ended up home with a 1/2 tank of gas...ended up we did not need more.

 Those lines look like something out of the '70's!

With our power outage we did lose a few things in our fridge, saved all the freezer stuff.  I think  the 6+ pound boneless leg of lamb acted like a big block of ice...and with no one here to open the door, the coldness held up.

Today I walked over to the Camper Van and filled the cart with the perishable items from the fridge, and a few other minor things.  It is all set up for starting the generator if batteries fall below 12v.  Tomorrow we are going to stick close to home and relax.