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Trip/Mileage report

Yahoo Message Number: 11155
My wife Joyce and I loaded up our 2007 Seneca ZX last week Thursday/Friday for a 2 week trip out to the Black Hills of South Dakota. I picked up a 2008 Yamaha road bike last Fall, and have been really looking forward to this adventure (never been to the Black Hills). This is my heaviest load on the Seneca since we bought it in 2010. The street bike in our MH weighs 900 pounds, plus we flat tow a 2011 Chevy Equinox weighing about 4100 pounds. I did not roll across a scale, but estimate we are at 25,000 to 25,500 pounds. Our engine is factory stock, and handled the load just fine.

We departed Metropolitan Detroit Saturday morning and drove across Southern Michigan and swung wide around Chicago. Fairly strong cross winds out of the South turned into tailwind as we made our way North and Northwest through Illinois and Wisconsin. We crossed a cold front as we turned West toward Minnesota, and now had strong headwinds. Ended up diving 700 miles to our overnight stop at WM in Albert Lea, MN. The drive on Sunday was pleasant. I-90 was a bit choppy in MN, but very nice in South Dakota. It was about 560 miles to our destination in Spearfish, SD.

We travel at 60-65 miles per hour when towing our car. Three fuel stops yielded mileage numbers of 9.4, 8.48, and 9.25 mpg. I am pretty happy with those numbers based on our heavy load, and the wind conditions. But am starting to think that I would like to have just a little more power by adding a tuner. Something very mild like 50 hp should be just fine. I do not want to over stress the drivetrain or cooling systems, and know I will need to add a EGT gauge.

Final note is we have found a JEWEL of a campground. It is the Spearfish City Campground. What a nice place.......Very quiet, clean, big rig friendly, paved roads, gravel pads, lots of grassy areas, just the the right amount of trees, full 50 amp hook up with wi-fi and cable tv, for $30 night. The only thing we hear is the sound of the river that is about 40 feet from our Seneca. An interesting fish hatchery is located right at the campground entrance, and there are miles or paved walking/biking trail along the river. This is a wonderful campground that would be enjoyed by all.

Will post again later this week or weekend after we move to our next campground in Custer State Park.

Re: Trip/Mileage report (Spearfish ditto)

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 11157
Attachments :

    Totally share that endorsement - Here is shot from our walk up the path out of the Spearfish City RV Park:


    Those squiggles are fire flies!

    The DC Booth Fish Hatchery is worth a stop - and of course the birding in the Forest is fantastic.

    Bridal Veil Falls
    Bridal Veil Falls in Spearfish Canyon

    And should mention up in the park - we stayed in 7 site Rod and Gun Campground. Not for the faint of heart, but the Kodiak handled it brilliantly. Some fierce storms, but made it without hail...

    Kevin

    Kevin (Real) McCoy [KF5FUZ]
    ("Roscoe Ventura" Jayco Seneca HD SS 34 Diesel 2006; "Toad" Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 2007)

    Re: Trip/Mileage report (Spearfish ditto)

    Reply #2 –
    Yahoo Message Number: 11159
    Attachments :

      Ooops. The Fire fly picture:

      Fire flies
      Spearfish rocks. Sorry for the poor photography. Kevin
       

      Re: Trip/Mileage report

      Reply #3 –
      Yahoo Message Number: 11165
      Hope you were able to catch the Passion Play in Spearfish. Most of the residents in town perform and the cast is almost 300 people.