2017 Route 66 Adventure: Prepping the Motor Home

2017 Route 66 Adventure:  Prepping the Motor Home

Sometimes getting ready for a trip is more rigorous than the trip itself.  Well, with the exception of the cleanup and unpacking afterwards.  If your entire trip is dependent on a set of wheels, then you'd better get those wheels very well inspected.  And if those wheels will happen to be your shelter as well as your conveyance, then everything has to work.  With a Sprinter van, Sprinter actually being a Mercedes product that is sold in the States under Freightliner as well as Mercedes, I opted to take it to the Freightliner service center, as opposed to the Mercedes dealer in town, which might be spendy.  It took almost all day to do as I decided to wait.  I heard some interesting stories from truckers who were in the same hurry up and wait mode as me.  I gained some respect and insight as to what they have to go through.  RVers should never pass themselves off as truckers, even though often times the two groups do have to share the same amenities.

Freightliner is in an industrial part of town south of Worlds of Fun in Kansas City

There is an outdoor pavilion where people can wait, as well as a truckers lounge.  Doggies are absolutely not allowed in the lounge, so the pavilion was it.  It is a nice day anyway....

After waiting all afternoon for the preventative maintenance which consisted of an oil change, replacement of the fuel filter, which was the most expensive part and an overall inspection, my next stop was the truck wash.  I am too tall to fit in the regular car wash.

Then, I had to go to an auto parts store to get a replacement head light...

Time for cawfee...

I got some bbq to take home.  The security guard there was really admiring the Navion, and asked for a tour.  It seems it is the right size for many couples that would like to travel.

Here is a drivelapse from this day...

2017 Route 66 Journey: Early Navion Preperations

May weather can be iffy and strange at times.  After a little debate, we decided our first journey of 2017 should be the one we were going to take in June 2016.  That journey was postponed by my back issues I had.  So, a year later, we decided to make a run at traveling the entire route 66 corridor from Chicago to Los Angeles -- Navy Pier to Santa Monica Pier.  We only had thirteen days to do it in though.  Our new addition to our traveling fleet is a fully self contained Itasca Navion motor home built on a Sprinter Van chassis.  The Sprinter has a 5 cylinder diesel engine and is known for reliability and great fuel economy.  The downside is that power can be lacking on interstates going up steep grades.  That is a downside for many motor homes that get poor fuel economy with big engines.  So, it is not much of a worry for us as we plan to use our motor home to go on mainly US highways.  To get ready, I had to take the Nation out, and make sure it was cleaned and ready.  This first preliminary step was done in late May.