First Long Trip

[raydi07]

84 300SD, 215K miles, started out North of Nashville to the first leg at Niagara Falls. Averaged 28 MPG running at 68MPH. Filled up before i left on May 17th in Clarksville TN at $3.90 gall (.10 cents less with discount from dealership). 3 hours into the trip outside Louisville the exhaust pipe dropped and came apart. On inspection, it appeared that since there were no hangers holding the center exhaust up, the pipe slipped out after the drop from the exhaust manifold. Let her cool and pushed the pipes back together and used 2 bungee cords to hang her. This lasted until i arrived in philadelphia on the 21st. So with a short 1/2 hour delay we were back on the road again. Drove up towards Cleveland then along the lake into Penna then New York before crossing over the bridge into Canada. Filled up just before reaching Cleveland for $4.49 gal. Spent 2 1/2 days in Niagara falls then onto Philadelphia on the 21st. Next fill up was in New York at $4.89 gal- - - WOW. The next tank lasted until we left Phialdelphia for Cape May ,NJ and the Memorial Day weekend which is where we are now. Fill up in Vineland NJ at Riggins for $4.49 Gal which is now up to $4.69 gal in 3 days.
Next stop is Raleigh NC and we leave on Tuesday the 27th. Will keep you updated.
All I can say is the 300SD is humming along perfectly. Very comfortable driving except for when the cruise control acts up and does not want to work. Will fix that when we get back home the end of the week.
I will post some pics and probably upload the videos to my web site when we get back.