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Well, had to get another vehicle since the Dodge is pretty much toast and can't move around much anymore. Knew that camogriz in NY state had his CUCV M1009 for sale along with a M101 trailer for a good price, thought it might be a good candidate for a semi-daily driver as well as a vehicle I can take to shows more easily than the deuces I previously owned.
The recovery trip went like this:
Got dropped off at the Woodbridge VA Amtrak by a relative and rode it up the East Coast to Penn Station in Manhattan, underneath Madison Square Garden. For all the problems with Amtrak (economics and politics aside), the ride was quiet, very comfortable, and pain-free. Very fast too! Entire trip from south of D.C. to NYC took 4.5 hours, and that included a 40-minute stop in downtown D.C. I would highly recommend Amtrak as a way to travel especially if you are going one-way like I had to for the recovery.
NYC is always fun, loads of crowds and it's a bit overwhelming if you haven't been there before. I've been there several dozen times so it's just concrete and big buildings to me. Wish I had more time to play around, I love visiting this town, but had to catch a train to the seller's place. Of course, I had to stop for a short lunch and get some NY pizza, it's the best in the world, hands down. Walked over to Grand Central Station, where a commuter train north to Carmel, NY was waiting, took that about 35 miles north of the city, where camogriz picked me up and we went back to the CUCV and trailer.
CUCV is a 24,000 mile truck, very solid and runs like a top. Has been meticulously maintained by the previous owner and except for a few patches of cancer in the rocker panels and a couple small patches in the rear floor (thanks, NY salted roads) it's very good. Came with a lot of spare parts, fluids, etc. The trailer came with the top bows and cover, but I left them off for the ride back.
Going back, on and off rain and wet roads. For some reason the trailer didn't like wet roads and was fishtailing above 45 mph especially going down hills. Some drifting back and forth as well. Noone in the slow lane liked me going back home, I kept it at 45 mph pretty much the whole way. I think the M101 is a little too much weight empty for the M1009 to tow, I also think it tracks a little wider than the M1009 so that didn't help either. I checked tire pressure, it's all okay, so ??? 375 miles one-way, took 8.5 hours. Ugh.
So, going to use the CUCV as a daily driver for a little while, it's fun bopping around town and into the hills with it. Interstate driving isn't it's forte but it sure does better on the highways than the deuce did, in terms of speed, especially on hills. I remember the deuce would slow down to 25 mph on big hills, UGH! - glad that's over.
So, glad to be back in the MV ownership world, I get to play with a new member of the family for a while, before the next show comes around. It failed inspection, only for having no rear tag light (never had one) so I have to stab one on and get it re-inspected. Yay MV ownership!
The recovery trip went like this:
Got dropped off at the Woodbridge VA Amtrak by a relative and rode it up the East Coast to Penn Station in Manhattan, underneath Madison Square Garden. For all the problems with Amtrak (economics and politics aside), the ride was quiet, very comfortable, and pain-free. Very fast too! Entire trip from south of D.C. to NYC took 4.5 hours, and that included a 40-minute stop in downtown D.C. I would highly recommend Amtrak as a way to travel especially if you are going one-way like I had to for the recovery.
NYC is always fun, loads of crowds and it's a bit overwhelming if you haven't been there before. I've been there several dozen times so it's just concrete and big buildings to me. Wish I had more time to play around, I love visiting this town, but had to catch a train to the seller's place. Of course, I had to stop for a short lunch and get some NY pizza, it's the best in the world, hands down. Walked over to Grand Central Station, where a commuter train north to Carmel, NY was waiting, took that about 35 miles north of the city, where camogriz picked me up and we went back to the CUCV and trailer.
CUCV is a 24,000 mile truck, very solid and runs like a top. Has been meticulously maintained by the previous owner and except for a few patches of cancer in the rocker panels and a couple small patches in the rear floor (thanks, NY salted roads) it's very good. Came with a lot of spare parts, fluids, etc. The trailer came with the top bows and cover, but I left them off for the ride back.
Going back, on and off rain and wet roads. For some reason the trailer didn't like wet roads and was fishtailing above 45 mph especially going down hills. Some drifting back and forth as well. Noone in the slow lane liked me going back home, I kept it at 45 mph pretty much the whole way. I think the M101 is a little too much weight empty for the M1009 to tow, I also think it tracks a little wider than the M1009 so that didn't help either. I checked tire pressure, it's all okay, so ??? 375 miles one-way, took 8.5 hours. Ugh.
So, going to use the CUCV as a daily driver for a little while, it's fun bopping around town and into the hills with it. Interstate driving isn't it's forte but it sure does better on the highways than the deuce did, in terms of speed, especially on hills. I remember the deuce would slow down to 25 mph on big hills, UGH! - glad that's over.
So, glad to be back in the MV ownership world, I get to play with a new member of the family for a while, before the next show comes around. It failed inspection, only for having no rear tag light (never had one) so I have to stab one on and get it re-inspected. Yay MV ownership!
