• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Florida Hikes logo

Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

  • Trails
  • Maps
  • Guidebooks
  • Search
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
  • Hike
    • Scenic Hikes
    • Loop Trails
    • Dog-friendly Hikes
    • Hikes for Kids
    • National Parks in Florida
    • Florida State Parks
  • Bike
    • Major Bike Trails
    • Paved Bike Trails
    • Off Road Biking
    • Biking Articles
  • Paddle
    • Canoe & Kayak Rentals
    • Paddling Destinations
    • Paddling Articles
  • Camp
    • Cabin Rentals
    • Car Camping
    • Primitive Camping
  • Florida Trail
    • Plan your Hike
    • Best Scenic Hikes
    • Best Backpacking
    • Section Hiking
    • Thru-Hiking
    • Trail Updates
  • Travel
Primrose, clean and waxed

Prepping Primrose for the Panhandle

April 5, 2013    John Keatley

Primrose, clean and waxed
Primrose, clean and waxed
After careful examination of the tires on our VW camper, I decided that a nearly 1,000-mile trip to attend the Panhandle Trace Hike wouldn’t be a smart or safe thing to do.

Remember what I wrote earlier about traveling in a thirty-year-old VW camper having its moments of frustration? Online, I found out more about VW camper tires than I ever needed to know.  These old campers came with 14 inch wheels.  And quality wheels in this size have become quite rare.

There are two schools of thought on what to do. We could find replacement light truck tires with reinforced sidewalls.  Or we could upgrade the wheels to a more modern and accessible 15 or 16 inch wheel.  There is a lot more to having the correct wheel size for a vehicle than just the bolt pattern.  Just because the wheel can be bolted on does not mean that it will perform correctly. Both schools can support their respective ideas.  Some VW bus suppliers even offer “wheel packages” to retrofit the wheels.

I stuck with the idea that VW had spent many hours of  engineering  to determine which wheels to create and use. These vans have been running around the globe for decades and countless miles on 14 inch wheels.  So would ours!

After exhausting every tire provider for miles around, I found that the only way to get these particular size tires was to order them online from a VW bus specialty shop. Time was ticking away. With the tires ordered and their FedEx tracking numbers in hand, I made arrangements to have the new tires installed on Primrose on Tuesday of  the next week. If they came in early, I’d pick them up, and have them installed immediately so we would have a more leisurely drive to the Panhandle Trace Hike.

The tires didn’t arrive early, of course. I pulled Primrose out of the garage on Tuesday morning and began some well-needed interior cleaning.  At lunchtime, my friend Eric called to see when I’d be by his shop for the installation.   I told him that Primrose and I were sitting in the driveway, waiting on the delivery.

With the windows washed, the carpets vacuumed and shelf protectors cut to fit, I had just about run out of work I could do on the van.  At three o’clock in the afternoon, the tires finally arrived. They went straight from the delivery truck to the back of Primrose. I was out of the neighborhood almost as fast as the FedEx driver!

When I arrived, Eric was just finishing up a job, and ready to start on Primrose.  With a little help from me, the tires were removed, replaced, balanced and installed.  While I was reinstalling the wheels back on the van, I remembered a sign behind the counter in Eric’s office.  It listed three hourly wages.  First, the cost if Eric does the work. Next is the cost if you watch. The third was a much, much, higher rate, if “you” help. Oops!

Being an old friend, and because I didn’t use any of the “real mechanics tools,” he didn’t charge me the higher rate.  It’s good to be on a first name basis with your mechanic!

The next morning, with Primrose loaded for her first long adventure, we headed for the Panhandle Trace.

Primose at Steinhatchee Falls
Primose at Steinhatchee Falls

Category: Articles, Camping, Travels with Primrose

Reader Interactions

Have an update? Contact us.

Primary Sidebar

Our Newest Books

The Florida Trail Guide

The Florida Trail GuideOur definitive guidebook to planning backpacking trips on the Florida National Scenic Trail, now in its fourth edition. Full data charts and maps. B&W, 356 pages. $19.95 + tax & shipping.

Order Now


Florida Trail Hikes

Florida Trail Hikes 2nd edition coverFifty of the best day hikes, overnights, and weekend trips on the Florida Trail. Full hike descriptions and maps, full color. 376 pages. $24.95 + tax & shipping.

Order Now


Discovering the Florida Trail

Florida Trail mini coffee table book cover of trail into palm hammock
A visual journey the length of the Florida Trail, covering more than 1,500 miles from the Everglades to Pensacola Beach. Hardcover, 196 pages. $24.95 + tax & shipping.
Order Now

Our Trail Apps

Farout GuidesFarout Apps Comprehensive logistics and offline maps for the
Florida National Scenic Trail (1,500 miles), the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (108 miles), and the ECT Florida Connector (92 miles).

Recent Articles

Colorful mural behind bicycle

Riding the East Coast Greenway to Stuart

Scouting a piece of the East Coast Greenway on the Treasure Coast, John’s on-the-ground wayfinding stopped him short of his intended goal.

Mangrove tunnel with paddlers

Exploring the Pioneer Paddling Trail

Amid mangrove swamps along an old pioneer route in Kings Park, the Pioneer Paddling Trail offers an intimate look at a forgotten wild corridor on Merritt Island.

Footer

FIND A TRAIL OR PARK

NORTHWEST FLORIDA
Apalachicola. Apalachicola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest. Blountstown. Bonifay. Bristol. Cape San Blas. Carrabelle. Chattahoochee. Chipley. Crawfordville. Crestview. DeFuniak Springs. Destin. Ebro. Eglin Air Force Base. Fort Walton Beach. Freeport. Gulf Islands National Seashore. Madison. Marianna. Milton. Monticello. Mossy Head. Navarre Beach . Niceville. Panama City Beach. Pensacola. Ponce De Leon. Port St. Joe. Quincy. Sopchoppy. South Walton. St. Marks. St. Marks River. St. Marks NWR. Tallahassee. Vernon. Wakulla. Wewahitchka

NORTH FLORIDA
Alachua. Amelia Island. Baldwin. Branford. Bunnell. Cedar Key. Chiefland. Crescent City. Dowling Park. Ellaville. Fernandina Beach. Flagler Beach. Gainesville. Green Cove Springs. High Springs. Jacksonville. Keystone Heights. Lake Butler.Lake City. Live Oak. Mayo. Macclenny. Micanopy. Olustee. Orange Park. Osceola National Forest. Palatka. Palatka-Lake Butler Trail. Palm Coast. Perry. Salt Springs. St. Augustine. Starke. Steinhatchee. Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. Suwannee Springs. Talbot Islands. Timucuan Preserve. Trenton. Welaka. White Springs. Williston

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

MULTI-REGION
Big Cypress Swamp. East Coast Greenway. Everglades National Park. Florida National Scenic Trail Lake Wales Ridge.

CENTRAL FLORIDA
Apopka. Belleview. Brandon. Brooksville. Bushnell. Canaveral National Seashore. Christmas. Chuluota. Clearwater Beach. Clermont. Coast to Coast Trail. Cocoa Beach. Cross Florida Greenway. Crystal River. Dade City. Daytona Beach. De Leon Springs. DeBary. Deland. Deltona. Dunedin. Dunnellon. Frostproof. Geneva. Inverness. Kenansville. Kissimmee. Lake Mary. Lake Wales. Lakeland. Largo. Leesburg.Lithia. Longwood. Melbourne. Melbourne Beach. Merritt Island. Merritt Island NWR. Mims. Mount Dora. New Port Richey. New Smyrna Beach. Ocala. Ocala National Forest. Ocklawaha. Orlando. Ormond Beach. Osteen. Oviedo. Palm Bay. Ridge Manor. Riverview. Ruskin. Sanford. Silver Springs. Spring Hill. St. Cloud. St. Petersburg. Tampa. Tarpon Springs. Titusville . Walt Disney World. Weeki Wachee. Winter Park. Winter Springs. Withlacoochee State Forest. Withlacoochee State Trail. Yeehaw Junction. Zephyrhills

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Bradenton . Charlotte Harbor. Ding Darling NWR. Englewood. Estero. Fort Myers. Immokalee. Naples. Pine Island. Port Charlotte. Punta Gorda. Sanibel Island. Sarasota. Venice

SOUTH FLORIDA
Arcadia. Basinger. Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Seminole Reservation. Clewiston. Everglades City. Fisheating Creek. Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Lake Placid. LaBelle. Lakeport. Moore Haven. Okeechobee. Pahokee. Port Mayaca. Sebring. South Bay

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Big Pine Key. Biscayne Bay. Biscayne National Park. Boca Raton. Boynton Beach. Coconut Creek. Coral Gables. Coral Springs. Davie. Delray Beach. Northeast Everglades Natural Area. Florida Keys. Fort Lauderdale. Fort Pierce. Hobe Sound. Hollywood. Homestead. Islamorada. Jensen Beach. Jupiter. Juno Beach. Key Biscayne. Key Largo. Key West. Marathon. Miami. Ocean to Lake Greenway. Overseas Heritage Trail. Palm Beach. Port St. Lucie. Redland. Sebastian. Stuart. Vero Beach. West Palm Beach

  • Trails
  • Parks
  • Beaches
  • Gardens
  • Springs
  • Ecotours
  • Attractions
©2006-2023, Sandra Friend & John Keatley | Disclosure | Site Index | Work with Us | Advertise with Us
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy | Florida Hikes PO Box 93 Mims FL 32754| Contact