Road Trip to Florida and Back... CRAZY TIMES

This week I went to Florida to pick up and move Suzy Roberts of Suzy Min Photography and Suzy Makes It Hot and of course her doggy Honey to Texas. After breaking down on the side of the road in Florida and a LONG trip back to Texas at 40 miles an hour on I-10 we arrived in one piece (BARELY)

So I started off in Lake Jackson Texas with our Chevy 3500 Diesel Crew Cab Truck and a borrowed Dolly Trailer on Tuesday evening at 9:00pm. 1025 miles roughly one way I drove on through the night napping in a rest stop in Mississippi.


After getting kicked out of the rest stop for, well resting, by the 90 year old security guard I got back on the wonderful road of I-10 (since your reading and can not hear my sarcasm I hate I-10). After 800 miles I stopped off for some fuel and I noticed a TON of clear-slightly red fluid all over the back end of my truck and the dolly trailer. After making phone calls to everyone I know who knows anything about mechanics, ok one person Cody of TriCoast, he informed me these Chevy models have a HUGE DEFECT in their Transfer Case that roughly goes like this:

The transfer case in crewcab will start leaking between 60,000 and 100,000 miles, due to a brass bushing inside that supports a shaft and if the bushing wears enough, the shaft can wear a pinhole in the back half of the case.

So here I am on the side of the road with a leaking Transfer Case which you HAVE to have fluid in to keep the vehicle on the road. So here I am knowing NOTHING about how to fix an engine, remember I am a nerdy photographer not a mechanic, on the side of I-75 adding fluid in the transfer case. To do this you have to climb under the truck, use an 18mm wrench WHICH I DID NOT HAVE, so after a quick trip to Sears to buy an 18mm wrench, and of course a Chevy dealership to buy the fluid, I am under the vehicle and adding fluid several times to just get to Tampa.

FINALLY in Tampa Suzy and I went to several Chevy Dealerships all with the same results: "Sorry we are too busy to look at your vehicle" So FINALLY after much searching we found one Chevy Dealership in Ebor which looked at the vehicle, gave me a quick checkup and found the 2mm hole in the backend of my Transfer Case. Of course not being able to repair the hole due to "official" reasons they marked it with a grease pencil and sent me on my way.

Getting to Suzy's apartment, after a trip to the auto parts store to buy engine cleaner, I once again climbed under the truck, sprayed it all down with cleaner and then applied JB Weld to the hole.

HOWEVER knowing we had another 1025 miles to go till we got back home I was very worried that just the JB Weld would hold up. So in order to give that little pump more to eat on until we got home I stuck a US Dime on top of the JB Weld then applied more JB Weld on top of the Dime until you could not see the Dime. This way giving that little pump a hard metal of the dime to eat through before it leaked again. After all of this work and days of research and searching I ended up with this

The black blob of stuff is the JB Weld "Fix" on the Transfer Case.

Finally loading up and leaving at 1:00am on Friday, Suzy, Honey and myself left Tampa Florida for good and hit I-75 North back to Texas.

Finding out quickly two things on the ride home:

1: The dolly trailer really was too light for this vehicle and well we ended up having to go only 45 miles an hour on I-75 and I-10 all the way home.

2: Many wonderful people let us know how they felt we were #1 in their minds since so many amazing travelers held up their fingers and honked their horns at us as we drove down the road Westbound.

So onward we traveled, looking like some SERIOUS TRASH in the process, stopping every rest stop or so to check the belts on the dolly trailer and tire pressure and of course letting Honey take a break from her big soft comfy air mattress in the back of the truck.




After about 12 hours of driving and the HIGH stress of trying not to die on the roadway, I was completely wiped out and pulled off to a rest stop in the middle of the day and climbed onto Honey's bed and took a nap with my sexy and cute little mask.

Notice Honey only moved over a little bit to give me room to pass out.

Finally back on the road and after almost dying (seriously) in Mobil, Alabama, we ended up day 1 of traveling, in Biloxi Mississippi at some crappy motel but they did allow Honey to come into the room with us. After an order of Domino's Pizza and some Cinnamon Sticks we all went to bed completely worn out.

Sleeping in as late as we possibly could we all hit the road again Westbound on I-10 around 12noon. Ending the second full day of driving at our good friends house in Layette, Louisiana Colin Burnum house.

After hanging out with Colin's wife Leslie and their amazing 3 daughters playing in the water on the sidewalk in front of their house


Leslie cooked Suzy and I some amazing Crawfish Etoufee, and as a great surprise, Colin after shooting a local wedding, brought home some cooked mudbugs all which were OUT OF THIS WORLD.



So having a full belly, a few drinks, good conversation with Colin, Jay (another amazing photographer) and Leslie we all went to bed for a great night sleep.

Hitting the road around 11:00am we headed towards the Great State of Texas and home, which we finally arrived around 7:00pm (normally a 3-4 hour drive) all tired, worn out and sheer happy to be there alive and in one piece.

So there you have it, our wild and crazy road trip from Florida to Texas. Almost dying a few times, taking WAY longer than ever expected but home safe and sound.