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. 

 

Hurricane Milton Aftermath

Hard to believe that it has not even been a month since we got back from California...  My brother Roger texted me Monday to say that they had to evacuate from Alta due to a fire nearby...I texted back "We have another hurricane coming out way...".  He went home the next day...we head home tomorrow (Saturday) to a condo that has no power.  Been that way since 4 pm Wednesday and who knows when it will come back on.

As far as we know, all of our friends and relatives are fine..some were flooded, most lost power for some duration, but all is well.  To see the devastation has been heartbreaking, to hear stories of people saving others, people helping others, has been heartening.  

We plan to park van in the condo area, run the generator to provide AC and cooking what we can salvage out of the freezer, and wait...

Got to see Marcia's daughter, granddaughter, and 2 great-grandchildren...that was nice.

Day of Reckoning

 

Hurricane Milton will hit tonight and through the night.  Cat 4 as of 2 pm, may drop down to a cat 3 before reaching shoreline.  The unlucky loosers, the ones taking the burnt of the storm, appears to be between Tampa and Sarasota.  But this storm is and will affect from as south as the keys to as north as I-10, because many tornadoes are popping up throughout this section of the State.  Here in Tallahassee area, it is calm, balmy, 74 degrees with 76% humidity. 

We are safe in Coe's Landing Campground, a Leon County park...$27 a night, around 20 spots near Lake Talquin.  Small quiet inexpensive park that we can stay here until Saturday morning.  Just right...

So now it is wait and see...will we (condo) get hurricane strength winds?  They say we might get 6' of rain throughout the course of the storm...so flooding can be an issue, but not storm surge.  Time will tell...

As the Strongest Hurricane in Recent History Descends on Floriday

We are safely tucked away in a Cracker Barrel parking lot near Ocala Florida, considered the "Horse Capital of the World" by some.  I think more of the old tv show Sea Hunt which was filmed at what is now Silver Springs State Park.  With ALL the people running away from what is now a Milton, a Cat 5 Hurricane now predicted to hit on Wednesday night, Thursday morning, it took us 4 + hours to go 80 miles...how fun was that!

There is Milton out in the Gulf...looks mean...

Thank goodness we will be camping 250 miles away...

And Then Comes Hurricane Milton . . .

 

If you have not heard, ANOTHER gulf hurricane is headed right for Central Florida.  WHERE it hits land is going to be VERY important.  Hurricanes turn counter clockwise.  When it hits land, the right side of the hurricane (in Central Florida that means the southern side) is going to do the most damage.  Water is being pushed into the land, giving a surge that will be many many feet higher than normal.  On the left side of the hurricane (in Central Florida that means north side) the water is being pushed away from the shore, so there is no water surge.  As far as wind is concerned, when it hits land, the right side (south side) will have all the winds fury coming off the water.  ON the left side (north side) the wind will have been traveling over land, which slows it up, and typically is just not as strong or deadly.

The picture above is from nhc.noaa.gov on Saturday morning shortly after the storm reached the Tropical Depression level...which is when they start predicting its path.  The RED area is the coastline, and it is this area that the following pictures will deal with as I show, close up, the area of potential impact, which changes every 6 hours since landfall is still so far off.

So above is the blow-up of the Saturday, 11 am, prediction...the first prediction.  The RED X is about where we live.  The distance from where they predicted landfall, and where we live, is about 50 miles to our south...so we would be on the left side (north) of where the hurricane would hit.  "IF" this prediction held, we would be fine...

Six hours later, it was now Tropical Storm Milton, and the point of landfall has moved to the north side of Tampa Bay, only 25 miles from us.  THAT is to the point that where I started to feel uncomfortable.  Marcia and I agreed that we might just have to get in the Camper Van and get away from this one.  Impact was predicted for Wednesday.

Six hours later, the point of landfall moved a few miles further north, only 20 miles from where we live.  Ok, I had better make a plan.

Six hours later, it has shifted back to the south, but still on the north side of Tampa Bay.  This is important because "IF" this thing hits slightly north of Tampa Bay, the storm surge into Tampa Bay is going to HUGE...making the flooding along the coast by Helene look like a kid playing in a bathtub.  Tampa would be hit hard...real hard.  When Marcia woke up we talked and decided to leave on Monday.  Told her about a campground up near Tallahassee, and agreed that would be perfect.

Then, six hours later, the track had move south with a hit on Sarasota.  That would be 65 miles south of our home.  I felt much better, however, by 10 am I had reservations at the campground near Tallahassee, and had texted to various family members that we were leaving Monday and heading north.  The great thing about this is that Marcia'a Granddaughter now lives in Tallahassee since she got her new position at Florida State.  So even if the hurricane stays well south of our home, we will be able to enjoy seeing the Great Grandchildren, enjoy camping (hope there are no mosquitos), and not have to worry about the hurricane other than any damage it might do "IF" it hits further north.

Six hours later there was no real shift outside of a mile or two to the predicted landfall spot.  In 90 minutes from now another prediction will come out...don't know if there will be a shift to the north or the south.  These hurricanes tend to shift, but the shift seems to shorten up as it gets closer to the coast.  Anticipating landfall sometime Wednesday morning.  By Wednesday late afternoon it will be out in the Atlantic.  If you look at the very first prediction above, there is a blue area on each side of the black line.  The hurricane will hit somewhere within this blue area.  As we get into late Monday and into Tuesday this blue area will get thinner and thinner.  I expect where we live will be within the blue area until it actually hits land.  If you live within the blue area, you need to be prepared for the Hurricane to impact your area.

So this pattern of watching hurricanes is just life down in Florida.  During hurricane season I watch the National Hurricane Center website a lot, and when there is a potential hurricane that might affect us, I go to it at four times a day, along with other local sites, especially Paul Dellegatto's twitter account where he gives updates frequently.  He is the Chief meteorologist at FOX13 in Tampa. 

As for us...we will be camping until Saturday morning...