2020 Ford Transit

The August/September 2019 Ford Frontline magazine has a great article on the 2020 Ford Transit.   I can not find it online so I am posting it here. 

A huge number of changes and there are some interesting new features.  4x4, Ecoboost Engine, rotating drivers seat, increased GRVW and towing capacity, bigger fuel tank  and many other things that would be great additions to the Winnebago Fuse or any other motorhome built on a van chassis.    Not sure what features will be included on a new Fuse or other motorhome since the cutaway chassis that the RV manufacturers use can be ordered with in all sorts of configurations.

Fall 2019 Get Together In Branson

Call it a Get Together, Call it the 2019 Fall Fuse Owners Rally, call it whatever you want but definitely call it fun.  And thanks to Rebecca and Mark Smith for organizing the event.   This was held at the Musicland Kampground in Branson Mo.

So how was it?  It was great!  We had 22 Fuses that were registered and 1 Fuse that just happened into the park and joined us.  They are now members of the group.

The first events were on Friday night and it started with a Pot-Luck dinner.  Lots of food, lots of fellowship and just a great time.   That was followed by Robert Garbe leading a Q&A session on the Fuse.   Then we had musical entertainment by one of our own members, Dan Mobley.

Saturday started out with a breakfast buffet.  We then had an RV Electrical Systems 101 class by Roger Philipsek. After that, Robert Garbe presented a discussion about batteries and why and where Lithium batteries make sense.

After lunch, there was the mod tour.  What is a mod tour you may ask.  That is where everyone shows off the things that have done to their coach to improve and make them their own.  Some people had little like us, some people had made massive changes.   I took note of those folks that had upgraded their coaches with the latest NDQ air conditioners.  Much quieter than my original Mach 10.

After diner on our own (with some friends in our case) we enjoyed additional fellowship and just talking about Fuses.

Sunday was the day the event closed.  It started out with doughnuts and coffee.  Then some closing remarks.    And then we checked out.   Some folks stayed on to explore Branson, others went home and others continued their travels.  Everyone had a great time and were sad to leave their friends behind.

When is the next Get Together you may ask.   Currently Rebecca is planning on having it in Nebraska City, NE the first weekend in May.  Subject to change but definitely worthy of being penciled into the calendar.

Branson Trip - Last Day Home and Wrap-Up

Our last day on the road from the Get Together was pretty good.  Tupelo, MS to Tallahassee, FL was the plan for today.   It would be 7 hours driving but mostly along Interstates.    So we got up reasonable early and got the rig ready.

Like most folks do, since this was the last day I made sure to dump the tanks before we left the campground.  As always, I made sure to put a couple of gallons of water back into the tanks so the Happy Campers and Calgon would have something to work with.  Since we had a long way to go, we would be using the potty.

We stopped just outside the campground and filled up with diesel and got a couple of  Burger King Croissanwichs.  They are on sale, 2 for $4.00.   Then we headed for the Interstate.  It was a pretty easy run even though it was long.  First Tupelo to Birmingham, then to Montgomery.  We got on US-231 there and headed towards Dothan and then on to I-10 at Marianna, FL.  Once we were on I-10 it was a hour home to Tallahassee.

There is a pretty cool place to stop on US-231 even for a few minutes.  Just South of Ozark, Alabama is a rest stop that sits next to an Army heliport.  For those that do not know, Ft. Rucker is located near here and it is where Army helicopter pilots learn to fly.   So if you stop here there is a good chance you will see Apache, Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters flying right overhead.  We stopped for 10-15 minutes and probably saw 10 helicopters flying right over our heads.  Lots of grass for the dog to walk, shade and picnic tables.  And they even have a dump station.

Wrapping up the trip:

• We were on the road for 7 days
• We drove 1812 miles
• Consumed  119 gal of fuel. (average cost $2.65)
• Average miles per gallon - 15.2 mpg
• Best miles per gallon - 19.6 mpg (Vicksburg and the Mississippi Delta)
• Worst miles per gallon - 13.8 mpg - (I-10 at 75mph)
• Things that broke while out - Nothing
• Things I need to do maintenance wise:
•  I need to get the oil changed.  The message came up while we were on the road