Ground Hog Day, 2022

Before I enter anything else, just want to inform anyone who reads this that I will be updating only once a week, on Sunday evenings. Sometimes not enough goes on to write about every day.

Two weeks ago,, we sat around til Thursday, when we went, finally, to get our dishwasher installed. They did a great job and it looks like it was installed when the RV was manufactured. (The black dials above the door are for our stove.)

The same crew installed our new mirror which was broken off by another driver when we were having our shades adjusted.

Our Saturday appointment for buffing out our scratches (see our post from December 15, 2021) was changed to Sunday due to a request by the specialist. We had one area that needed to be repainted so that was done also. But the color was too dark, so we went back the following Tuesday for the corrective work.

While there we asked them to adjust our slide topper as two of the four were too loose. Turns out the jerk we had install new ones three years ago were sized and cut wrong. Two of them were cut on a bias instead of straight, and all of them were too small; they didn't adequately cover the slide out. We knew something was wrong with them, and every year we came to Red Bay we would have the installer adjust them, but he kept shining us. This time we did not go back to him. Wednesday our newly selected installers came out to measure our slide outs, and Friday they came and installed brand new toppers. We are very satisfied with them.

Saturday I scheduled the RV to be washed on Monday afternoon, when we were done with our appointment at Bay Diesel. They changed all the fluids and filters  as part of our regular service schedule.  While there we asked them to check our dash air conditioner as we never got cool air. They found a leak but couldn't repair it that day, but they squeezed us into their schedule for the next day. So we went and had our RV washed. Hand washed! A crew of 6 washed our roof and applied a protectant (the roof was really filthy from sitting under the trees at Old Cedar all summer) and the RV.

BEFORE

AFTER

Tuesday morning at 7am the crew came back and hand waxed the entire RV and polished the wheel rims. In the afternoon Bay Diesel repaired the a/c leak and we were back at the campground by 3:05 pm.  The leak was caused by Freightliner in Oklahoma. Two years ago we went thru Oklahoma and had no air. They removed our dash, did whatever they did, and put the dash back together. We had cool air for a while but that soon ended. What they didn't do was replace a rubber gasket with a new one. That is where the leak was, and we had absolutely no freon in the system. Bay Diesel replaced the gasket and hooked it up to a machine which creates a vacuum throughout the system and we now have very cool air. 

We contemplated heading toward Florida last night as we could stop overnight near Birmingham and knock over 100 miles off our trip, and we would also avoid the rain and thunderstorms that were due. In the end, we stayed in Red Bay overnight.

This morning  we left at 7:37 am and traveled 371 miles to Marianna, FL, arriving at 2:50 pm. It rained until we passed Tuscaloosa,  but then we had high winds for the rest of the trip. 

And now dear readers, you are caught up. The next missive will be on Sunday evening. Til then!

January 14th

Not much to write about. On the 12th we purchased the largest convex auto mirror we could find, which was only 4-1/2" x 6". We taped it against the driver's window frame which allowed me to see any vehicle on the driver's side of the RV. In conjunction with our rear view camera they provided some warning of passing vehicles, even if only a second in advance. But it was enough to allow me to change lanes relatively safely.

Our repairs were completed Wednesday afternoon so we planned to leave the next day.. Originally we were going to spend several nights in Little Rock then proceed to Red Bay, AL, on Sunday. However, snow was expected early Saturday in Little Rock and Sunday in Red Bay. We drove the 300 miles to Little Rock Thursday, had dinner, then drove another 300 miles to Red Bay today. Never want to drive the RV in snow. Tomorrow night temperature will be down to 28 degrees with up to 3 inches of snow into Sunday morning. So much for going south to avoid the cold.

Monday we have an appointment to have a bed lift installed. Push a button and the foot of the bed lifts to get to the storage area beneath. The new mattress we got in October is 4 times heavier than our old one, making it more difficult to manually raise it.

Thursday we are having our dishwasher installed. More modifications and maintenance will happen over the next 2 weeks. 

Stay safe, wear your masks, and stay warm!

Writing Again!

Yeah, I remember I said I'd start again on Monday,  and that was several weeks ago, but here I am.

We had an enjoyable time with Marjorie and Mom, but it came to a halt 1/2 way thru when Marjorie came down with Omicron. She felt as if a cold was coming on,but a home test for covid was positive.  She then had a PCR test done  week after she began to quarantine which confirmed the diagnosis. Mom, Nancy and I got a test the following day and we were all negative. But it did put the cabash on our activities the rest of our stay. We put up a small greenhouse for mom's plants and completed a list of items they had created for us. 

Last Thursday mom fell when getting a cup of coffee and was taken by ambulance to a nearby emergency room. Her scalp was cut and bruised a rib, as well as a possibly bruised  liver. That further restricted any possible activities for us. I regret I didn't get to visit the cemetery to see Dad or Rob. Sunday when we were getting ready toleave Ron came over to say goodbye. He was sneezing but denied having covid. Marjorie gave him a home test to use and he says it was negative, but today he is feeling horrible and nauseous.  Hope he is right, but I doubt it. 

We left Sunday morning and drove 5-1/2 hours back to McKinney where we had our new shades installed in November. The front windshield shade was fraying. They looked at it today and are working on a solution, but said we probably wouldn't be done til Thursday. So I called our next two location's to modify our reservations. Later I was told they might get us done tomorrow,  so I may have to change reservations again. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

We are parked in the parking lot of the factory where they have numbered spots for the RVs. This afternoon a guy backed into the spot just to our left but was told that spot and the next further ones were to be left empty so tractor trailers can utilize the spots to maneuver when backing up to the loading docks.  He was told to use the spot to our right, between us and another RV. He had pulled in very close to us. and when pulling out to changes spots cut his wheel to early. He didn't wait for his wife to move their car and guide him and when pulling out to change spots cut his wheel too early. I banged on the side of his rig to stop him, but it took him a few seconds to realize I wanted him to stop. Too late, for he snapped off our drivers side mirror, but early enough before he hit and crushed our slide out. But only by about two inches.

He apologized,  offered to pay for a repair, but the earliest we could arrange is the end of the month in Fort Worth. We have other appointments before then, so I will have to drive 600 miles to Red Bay, AL, without the mirror. It worries me not to be able to see down the driver's side while on highways. The company that will be installing our new dishwasher said they would be able to procure and install a new mirror the same day, almost 2 weeks earlier than here, so that is our plan.