Roof Done – Time Will Tell

We got the Beast back.  It’s a pretty shiny fiberglass roof.  But does everything work?  We tested the three AC’s and their heat pumps, the 2 fantastic fans, the front & rear TV, the satellite dish, the regular antennae and booster, slide outs & their toppers, the large automatic awning, front door automatic awning, radio antennae and speakers, and the maintenance solar panel.  These were all the things that could be affected by the removable/install of the roof.  There are other things too and time will tell.  It was a $4,500 upgrade from the warranty Brite-Tek roof…where’s that Visa card?

It’s 650 miles to Carol’s bro place near Baltimore (Columbia).   We usually figure doing 50 miles in one hour of travel time.  That’s pretty accurate for us for figuring traveling time.  Very seldom due we travel at night.  We travel between 60-62 MPH and stop for lunch and if and when I get sleepy.  I usually sleep 10-45 minutes.  I don’t do that stop and walk around to avoid sleep.  What the hell, just go to sleep.  Being tired is one thing and being sleepy is another.  I don’t mess with being sleepy.

We left Newmar about 2 PM and poorer. 

I didn’t know OH has wind mills.  We stopped at the Fly J in Beaverdam, OH.  Fuel was $3.86 and the beast got 6.5 MPG probably due to that bio-diesel.

The Escapees had several rallies here over the years.

Small town USA

Well over 150 miles of small roads in IN and OH today.

We got to Camebridge, OH and about 8:30 PM.  The Cracker Barrel had one space that we would fit and it was taken.  So, just up the road was a Tractor Supply with a Denny’s next to it.  No problem what so ever.  

We went to bed about 10 PM. 

See ya………

Where’s The Beast?

We thought we would get the Beast back today (Thur)but didn’t.  We are really bored.  I did get a haircut downtown Nappanee.  It’s one of those original barbershops that’s been there for years.  Then Carol and I went into a neat little antique shop downtown.  Ok it’s now lunch time and we ended up at Taco Bell.  We are gonna die with all this excitement.  We went back to Newmar to check on the Razor.  Yep, still there.  I took it out for a little ride and turned a few heads.  We sat in the customer lounge for a couple of hours doing much of nothing. 

Oh, hot off the press.  Newmar will no loner make fifth wheels after this year.  They said it wasn’t cost effective.  They will make only motor homes.  They are also making 40 foot motorhomes with a tag axle on freightliner chassis.  I think putting a tag on a 40 footer is a very smart thing to do.  Now if more people could only afford them. 

We went to Arby’s for diner.  This is way too much excitement for us.  We then drove around the back country.  We saw a lot of Amish families riding around in their various types of carriages.  I’m very uncomfortable taking pictures of the Amish.  They really don’t like it.  Here’s a carriage at a bank. I think it’s an upper model.

Back at the room the cat is looking for ways to get out.

We watched American Idol and was not surprised when Hollie was booted off.  It’s one of our favorite shows.  We’re hooked.

That’s another day in a full timer’s life style while their RV is getting worked on.

See ya………..

Shipshewana Flea Market

OK, we’ve been in a motel for our third day now.  We are going buggy.  We are going to go to Shipshewana Flea Market toady.  It’s only suppose to be in the 50s and windy but we don’t care.  They’re only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so this is it for us.  Not much hand made Amish stuff anymore but there is still some.  Over the years it has become a normal flea market with their items from china, etc.  They are big.  It costs $3 bucks to park and free to get in.  $6 for RVs.  Plus they now have a campground  which isn’t too high in price.  I don’t recall what it is.

  We arrived at 9 AM and finished at 11 AM and we walked all the rows.

Just a few blocks south is the E & S Sales.  It’s one of those you won’t believe what they have in bulk food.  A lot of Amish shop here and tourists.

Oh, I’ve been asked how the new Dodge truck is doing.  It’s doing what I expected with a 390 HP engine.  Fuel mileage running around here has been 18 MPG.  I think on the open road it will get 20 MPG.  It has that engine that goes from 8 to 4 cylinder or something like that.  It rides pretty good and feels solid & hefty like a truck should.  The 390 horsepower is unbelievable! It’s like going back to the 60’s with the muscle cars.  I really like it and no regrets.

Newmar called and informed me that the additional repairs that I wanted done would cost a little over $200. I reminded them that I called them when the repairs where needed while under warranty. They verified and said OK. It was a latch on a window and slide out battery tray that became difficult to work. No cost…..

Our kitty is ready to go home…

See ya………….

Free Breakfast? & Roof Off

The motel feeds us breakfast.  Or at least they set it out and you pick what you want.  They call it a contential breakfast.  I call it cold and on the cheap.  Hey, it’s included in the price of the room that we aren’t paying for so it’s basically free. I guess we are paying for it sense we are upgrading from Newmar’s Brite-Tek (rubber) roof to a one piece fiberglass roof.  It’s costing us a pretty penny and our don’t shine no more.  We ran out of them as a matter of fact. 

According to stats we are now normal because we are charging it on a credit card and don’t expect to pay it off any time soon.  Well, about time we became normal.  I was really worried for the past six decades – NOT!  We have never bought/sold anything based on the economy.  Homes, cars, boats, RV’s it just didn’t matter to us.  Over the 40 plus years of marriage we’ve been a lot more up than down.  Twice if it didn’t fit in our car, we didn’t own it nor had a home.  The last time was in 1976 if you were wondering. We were homeless before it became a national concern.  We took care of ourselves.  Never went a week without some kind of job. At least until we retired, retired!

Back to the present.  The motel put us on the second floor because we have an animal (cat).  That don’t make sense especially if you have a dog.  Seems like they would want you near the outside door and on the first floor to avoid the morning accidents while en route to the outside.  It don’t pass the common sense test.

Our Newmar tech called this morning and asked for us to come over and see our RV without the roof.  Here it is.  The light is on the front.

 

Where the bathroom skylight was.

 

Here’s the fiberglass ceiling ready that will be going on the roof.  They man handle it up and on. That is very heavy work.  No machines they said.

 

There’s a team of five including the one that is working on the roof.  The rest must be supervisors.

I was told that the Beast will go to the paint department tomorrow and we might get it back Thursday vice Friday.  I told them that there was no rush what so ever.

We then decided to drive up to Elkhart to check out the RV surplus stores.   We drove thru the Monaco Hq on the way.  It was Hq years ago then shut down due to bankruptcy.  Navistar bought them and now has reopened the plant and Hq.

 

This is the company I worked for transporting various types of RVs for 3 threes. They’re just about a block away.  We transported Forrest River, Monaco, Thor and Newmar mostly.

Then we arrived in….

 

Another manufacture Hq … 

 

These two places are within two blocks of each other in Elkhart. This one was closed and is having an auction and are moving.  It’s the bigger place that had a lot of left over “stuff” and odd ball things from manufactures.

This place has a lot of “stuff” but new.  Very big selection of real good stuff.

We then went to Goshen to one of my favorite eateries there.  A BLT that is hard to believe especially for $5.50 and with fries.

I could only eat half of it because my cholesterol was going off the chart.  Once a year, what the hell!

We drove by the fairgrounds in Goshen which is a real popular place for RV rallies.  They were having a Holiday Rambler motorhome  (FMCA) rally.  It was pretty big. 

We returned to Nappanee for a quiet night in the hotel.

Do What!

We have to stay in a motel for 4 nights!

It started to rain about 4 AM and it poured down.  We hadn’t put anything in the truck and it was still pouring when we got out of bed at 5 AM.  We waited until 5:30 to start loading the truck and I got pretty soaked.  Everything had to go in the cab since it was raining.  Then I had to move the Razor ATV since it was setting in front of the Beast.  Newmar knocked on our door at 6 AM and needed to take the Beast for a new lid.

We went and had breakfast at a nearby restaurant.  Then we walked around an indoor flea market.  We went back to Newmar and talked about getting our motel room.  First they said that we would have to pay but they reconsidered and got reservations for us at nearby Amish Inn.  They got us a room for 4 nights but said we couldn’t check in until after 3 PM.  We went to the motel (11 PM) and they let us check in early.  It’s a clean room with no frig or microwave like we had in the past during warranty work.  Oh well.  The cat is adjusting very quick.

I asked Newmar if I could see the RV without the roof and they said OK, but it would be later today (1st day).

No phone call.

We went and got Chinese to go.  If was fair.  It was a quiet and boring night.  The rain has stopped and I will probably wash the truck tomorrow.

We've been reading other blogs of friends and thus feel like we are missing out on some gatherings.  Our turn will come.

See ya…………

Packing For The Motel

Newmar will put us up in a motel for a couple of nights while they replace our roof.  That means we have to decide what to take with us.  Clothes, food and a cat along with the everything else that we can carry.  We can’t take everything of value to us but we will try.  The problem is that we give up the Beast at 6 AM Monday and don’t get into the motel until after 12 noon.  You think there could be some adjustment here but there isn’t.  Been there done that or at least tried before.  Our vehicle of the past was a four door with plenty of room.  Not a regular cab pick up with a chance of rain.  Interesting…..

I met other people who were here for warranty work also.  When they saw our license plate “RVSCOL” they asked why.  I mentioned the RV Driving School and they all knew of it and even a couple recognized me from the Escapees and the RV Driving School.  That felt pretty good.

I was getting ready to unload the Razor when this couple came running up to me.  They wanted to video me unloading the razor.  I said sure and it was successful.  I want to leave the Razor here at Newmar while we are at the motel and running around.

It was a pretty quiet day and a NASCAR race day.  Light rain at sunset ended the day.

See ya……..

How Early?

We pulled out of Kmart about 7 AM.  We woke up and got up.  We knew there was a Cracker Barrel just down the road.  We went in and had our $11.66 breakfast including two coffees to go.  Plus another $3 bucks for a tip.  Then back on the road and they were all back roads now.

We had about 140 miles to go today.  It looked like it was gonna bust out raining at any time.  There is still a sun isn’t there?  We arrived before lunch and there were plenty of spaces (50 AMP FHU) available.  We picked this site because it was a pull thru.  We’re in the middle.  The neighbors were very friendly. Newmar is right across from Amish Acres.

Remember I said that last fuel I got had 5-20% Biodiesel.  Well, the Beast doesn’t not like it one bit.  My instruments say I’m getting just above 6 MPG.  I will add some additive at the next fuel stop to boost the power up a little bit.  No more Biodiesel unless it’s cheap to make up the fuel mileage difference.  It ran fine just the mileage drop was too great for the price.

NASCAR Race time . . . . . . . .

See ya…………..

Back Roads From Little Rock

We left about 8 AM again.  It wasn’t planned to leave that early it just worked out that way.  Since I-40 to Memphis had major construction we decided to head north from Little Rock on route 167.  What the hell.  We’ve never been this way.  We have about 425 miles to Effingham and our spot.  Our spot is in the rear of Cracker Barrel.

It was a nice route and would do it again.  About 100 miles of 2 lane highways and the rest was 4 lanes.  We left in a light fog and it seemed to stay that way most of the day.  A few drops ever once in awhile kept us waiting for the down pour.  It never happened.    

We got to Effingham about 3 PM.  We stopped at the Fly J ($3.92) and took on 109 gallons and got a great 7.5 MPG.  As I was filling up I noticed a sign on the pump that said 5-20% Biodiesel.  I never ran Biodiesel before.

We went by the Cracker Barrel but it was jammed up and in the middle of construction.  Plus it was near 90 degrees.   We decided to go on up the road to see what we could find that suited us.

We ended up at a Kmart near Bradley,  IL.  This was taken the next day AM.

We needed an ice chest for our stay in a motel next week for drinks and snacks.  We also picked up a rotisserie chicken for $4.99 for diner from Kmart.  We then decided to stay at Kmart.  It was now about 7 PM and the temps had dropped down to the low 60s with a mild wind.  We were home after 585 miles.  No bigee and it wasn’t planned.  That night it got down to 53 degrees.  Damn we aren’t use to this much change.  We had to find the long pants for the next day.  It was a quiet night.

See ya……