Here we are, on the road: We’re in Huntsville, Alabama

Saturday, March 27, 2010 Lorraine’s Report

We left Red Bay today! I didn’t think we would ever get out of there, but we are here in Huntsville, AL at the Space Center RV Park. We left Camp Red Bay around 10:30 and arrived here around 1. We had been there since March 1st when we went there before it snowed on the 2^nd of March. It has been cold, wet, windy and not very nice while we were there. The trees and flowers are just starting to blossom. We saw a few daffodils on the drive over and the white flowering trees are just beautiful. It is finally starting to be spring here.

Today is the first day since I got ill on March 7^th that I feel a bit better; it sure has been a long haul getting over that bad bacteria I had in my system, then this awful cold. Now if Chuck would get over the cough and cold he picked up from me, then we would be doing great.

This week has been pretty quiet for us. Last Sunday we went to the only open grocery store in town to get fresh fruit and stock up since we would be without the car until Wednesday. Rick, our son, called in the afternoon, cheering up my gloomy mood; then Susy, our daughter called making it even better. Thank you both for the calls, they made my day.

Monday morning Chuck took the car in to have the front end painted so the diamond shield could be replaced. They would keep the car until 4 pm on Wednesday. We then packed the coach and went into Bay 9 to have the window replaced. They finished up by 10:30 and we waited for a call to see if we could bring the coach into Bay Diesel to have the oil, antifreeze and filters changed. They finally called back after 1:15 and said no. We unpacked the coach/set up and watched TV, since it had snowed, was cold and wet outside.

Tuesday we had to bring the coach back to the shop to have the diamond shield put back on the front end. They finished by 11 am and we then took the coach out to Bay Diesel to have all the fluids and engine checked. They replaced the antifreeze that spilled out when the hose broke in Alaska last summer, as well as the oil and filters. They also found a crack in the exhaust manifold, that will have to be fixed in Birmingham, AL, since the engine is still under warranty. That day was a nice, almost warm enough to go without a sweater day. I sat out on the porch at Bay Diesel, just enjoying the sun.

By Wednesday, Chuck’s cough and cold was getting worse. We spent the morning home, since we didn’t have a car. We went into the main office and settled up our Tiffin bill, the cheapest bill so far. Chuck then made plans to meet up with our good friends, Dave and Sandy from Minneapolis, MN here in Huntsville.

They brought the car back to us around 4 pm. I was so happy to have wheels again; we needed to go to the drug store for meds for Chuck.

Thursday found Chuck coughing hard from his heavy cold, he was very ill. He put himself on the Z-pack medicine we picked up in Mexico. I went into Russellville to Walmart for supplies. Chuck stayed home and rested, since he hadn’t been able to sleep from all his coughing at night.

I came home just before the big thunder/lightening/wind storm that dumped a bunch of rain in a very short time. I guess Rod, the camp host, had gone around the campground telling people to pull their slides in. We didn’t get that message until after the big storm had passed. That storm brought two tornados that touched down farther east of Red Bay, plus hail and heavy winds and rain. We were sure lucky here!

We watched two new movies I had picked up at Walmart. It was a very pleasant evening.

Friday was a quiet morning home. I ran errands, then Chuck and I went to pay our camping bill for here. Marcia gave us credit for two days we spent at the hotel in Russellville when the coach was in the paint shop. Chuck took the car in to have the diamond shield put back on, but Igor called and Chuck had to take it over to the paint shop to have some rough spots buffed out, then back to Igor.

While he was gone, the TV guy came in and worked on our set. It turns out we need to take the new receiver we just bought back to Best Buy and get a new one. The one we have is not working well, and needed to be replaced, at least that’s what the tech said.

We just came home from a wonderful dinner with Dave/Sandy who came up here to visit with us, before heading home to Minneapolis. We hope to go to the Space Center with them, which is the number one tourist attraction here in Alabama. Then who knows what we will do. It sure feels great to see such nice friends again. Thank you guys for coming out of your way to see us, we appreciate it!

That’s it for me….Until next time…..Lorraine

3/28/10 Chuck’s report

Perhaps a better title to this post would be “Who cares where we are now, at least we are out of Red Bay!” Now don’t get thinking we don’t enjoy our visits to Red Bay but after three weeks it gets old - -FAST. We did get all our planned work completed except for some tile work on the floor, we decided to hold that off due to timing, dust and the fact we were both fighting colds and didn’t feel like another day in the shop.

Last week we had the front of the coach painted, it cured over the weekend before we got the new Diamond Shield film installed on Tuesday. We had to put the car in yet a different paint shop on Monday to get its front repainted before getting new film on it. The film on the car took a good beating on our trip to Alaska but they didn’t bat an eye, said their warranty would cover the painting and new film, good deal. So we were without a car until Wednesday afternoon.

After getting the new DS installed on the coach, we took the coach in for our appointment at Bay Diesel for routine maintenance work and fluid changes. We set around their waiting room for awhile then waited outside on the front porch in rocking chairs, felt good to set in the sun for awhile.

I had been hearing a new “clicking” sound coming from the area of the side radiator, getting louder since Texas. I couldn’t find the source so I asked the tech at Bay Diesel to look it over too. Of course, they found it quickly, a broken exhaust manifold, oh sh--. I asked who much that repair would cost and they said “several thousand dollars, depends on how hard it is to remove the bolts”, double oh sh--. Then he smiled, asked how old the coach was, three years said I, he said it had a five year warranty on the engine that would cover this kind of problem. WHEW! He called down to the Cummins place in Birmingham, Al and made arrangements for the new manifold to be ordered and I called to set up the appointment for next week. He could do the work there but they aren’t certified for Cummins repair and don’t do warranty work.

Lorraine had been starting to feel a little bit better, even getting hungry once in awhile. I, on the other hand, was getting deeper into my cold. Tuesday I felt bad but good enough I could drive the coach into the shop and over to Bay Diesel but on Wednesday and Thursday I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I asked them to deliver the car from the paint shop on Wednesday and Lorraine left me home while she went into Russellville for some shopping on Thursday. I was coughing so bad that I couldn’t lay in bed so I set up in a chair for two nights and medicated up much more than I like. I think I’m on the mend now but just can’t shake this cough, maybe I should take a laxative to see if that old joke works.

Wednesday I also talked with our good friend Dave to see what his itinerary would be for this week. He and Sandy were in Savannah, Georgia and would start heading for home in Minnesota on Saturday. We worked out a deal where we would meet in here in Huntsville on Saturday and leave on Tuesday.

Friday I took the car to the Diamond Shield installer, of course he found some issues with the paint job that would require some rework. I drove the car over to the shop, talked to the owner and they got right to work on it. They sanded and buffed out all the spots, don’t know why they didn’t do that in the first place. But at least I did get our headlight lenses buffed out, they took a beating on our Alaska trip too but look like new once again. After that, we got the new film installed on the car and we were finished with all our work in Red Bay. Or so I thought, ha.

We bought a new Direct TV receiver and a new TV for the front of our coach and both were in place and working. Only problem was we couldn’t get the satellite remote to work very well, very sporadic at best. I asked one of the techs if he could take a look at it if he could find the time. Well, he came over and checked it out while I was at the paint shop and after troubleshooting it for awhile, figured we had a problem with the new receiver “eye”. So we need to return this one to Best Buy and get a new one this week, at least they have a 30 day, no question return policy we will get to check out.

Saturday we got ready to leave and get back on the road again. Both Lorraine and I commented about how good it felt to be back on the road. We only had a couple hour drive to our campground at the Space Center here in Huntsville. Dave/Sandy pulled in about 5:00, they had a big detour that took them quite a ways out of their planned route plus they gained an hour by coming into the Central Time Zone. It sure was good to see our good friends once again, we first met them in Red Bay three years ago and have seen them a few time across the country since.

We visited with them for awhile before heading out to dinner where we had a good time catching up on their adventures this winter. They left their home in Minnesota after Thanksgiving, later than planned but due to some family illness issues and spent the winter in Florida, where they had the coldest winter for the last 20 years or so. Still, they agreed they liked the plan to sit for while in the winter, rather than move often.

The weather here has been very unsettled this week, hell, all winter for that matter. We had a bit of snow on Monday, nice weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, a big thunder, lightening and rain storm on Thursday, rain and cool temperatures on Friday with the sun breaking out in the afternoon. Saturday morning when I got up, there was ice on the car windows but once the sun came out it warmed up nicely, got into the high 60s. The forecast was for another rain storm with winds came about last night but this morning it was nice and sunny again. Now we are back under another storm, just a bit of thunder and some rain. I guess it is Spring but I thought we left the windy, stormy days behind back in Bellingham but they’ve been having record high temperatures with lots of nice, sunny days. Global warming, anyone???

Our current plans are to play tourist here today and tomorrow, leave for Birmingham on Tuesday for our appointment on Wednesday. After that we have a week before Lorraine leaves for our grand daughter’s birthday in California. She will be flying out of Nashville on the 7th so we have to be in that area by the 6th, just not sure where we will be spending that week yet.

I do have a few pictures to post, not many though. Lorraine took a few on our trip out of Red Bay and some with Dave/Sandy last night so I will post some of them.

Banners on lamp posts in Red Bay, a statue in someone’s yard in Red Bay, never did get the story behind it.