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

October 20, 2013 Lorraine’s report

Hello once again. Well, we are in Red Bay, Alabama. Yes, we are waiting for our rig to be worked on. There are lots of people here, and we are across the street at Detail Depot. This place probably was a service station in a former life. The owner, Chris, has a barber shop, he has several people who work for him and they wash, wax and anything else that needs to be done to your rig. From cleaning the carpets, the woodwork and windows, they do it all. They can take care of anything you can bring to them. We had Misty groomed the first day here; she really needed it.

So last week we were in Hershey, PA. We spent some time with Richard and Patsy, just catching up, we had lots to catch up on. After a bit we all decided to go to the Cracker Barrel. What can I say; we had horrible service-there, I've said it. I don't think we have ever had that kind of service before. The waitress wasn't very attentive, there was an accident, Patsy spilled Richards tea and we had to get some other waiter to take care of it. My food came after about 10 minutes after all three had gotten their food. Richard & Chuck tired hard to speak with the manager; the check out person called for him, and after 10 minutes of so, the guys finally left. The manager never came, and we think that is where the problem starts.

Monday we went back to town and did the Hershey's tour. We lucked out and got in with a group of people and we went along with the big group of them. At the end of the tour, they gave you some candy samples. Ours was pumpkin, with a bunch of spices in it. It was okay, but I think I would have liked chocolate or something like that. At the end of the tour, they directed you into the gift shop, so you could get your shopping done, it was fun, and I bet most people didn't leave without getting some kind of chocolate from Hershey's chocolate factory.

From there we went to over to the Hollywood Casino. We played a bit, but no luck. It was very hard to even get a bonus,

And from there we went over to the Shady Maple Buffet. What a buffet; it is 200 feet of your Pennsylvania Dutch good old home cooking. They were having steak; Delmonico steak, New York steak, hot dogs, hamburgers, the whole smear. Of course, since we hadn't eaten anything for lunch, we had dinner. It was wonderful, and when we left, we went downstairs to their gift shop. If you needed/wanted anything from the PA Amish or like, they had it there. I found a quilt and really liked it a lot, but until we get something more permanent, no go.

Tuesday, Chuck worked on the blinds while I cleaned, changed sheets, laundry and the like. Then we left to go and see Richard & Patsy again. Patsy provided lunch, then we went shopping with them. Patsy was looking for a quilt and a rocker for her granddaughter. We found one that fit the bill, and I think the granddaughter will love the nice gifts.

From there we took off to go to eat with them. They wanted to go to a place just down the road from the Shady Maple, Yoder’s Restaurant, so we went in and had a great meal, our last time to see them until next year in Quartzsite. Thank you both for all the fun and great times we had with you. See you next year.

Wednesday we left, starting on our way down to Red Bay, AL. We stopped that night in Virginia. It was a long day for us driving. We usually travel under 4 hours, but that was a longer day for us. We pulled in about 4;30, set up and had a quiet dinner and TV. 1

The next day we started off, and it started raining. We were going to go through the Smokey Mountains, but it was pretty wet so we kept going. We decided we would pull into Red Bay some 7 to 8 hours later. It rained the whole way here! We still need to go through the Smokey's here sometime, not sure when.

So Friday, we hung around Red Bay. Chuck has called Chris Barry, Bruce Deaton and we waited until 1:30 for Norris to come and tell Chuck about our repairs on our rig. We don't know when we will get into a bay for repairs, or even how long it will take. We will just have to wait and see. But then our life is still in jello. All I know is we have to be back in the San Francisco Bay area for Thanksgiving, so we can have our little family get together with our daughter, Susy and Kaitlyn, our granddaughter. So far I have liked replacing all the bulbs for all our lights-they are fantastic!

So that's it for me....See you down the road....Hugs to all...

Lorraine

10/20/13 Chuck’s report

We drove from Hershey, Pennsylvania through portions of the following states in two days:

Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia where we stayed overnight, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and even into Mississippi. Not our normal travel days, that’s for sure. But more on our travel days a bit later.

Last Sunday we were in Hershey, PA. and after we wrote our blog we headed out to visit with Richard and Patsy at their campground in the Amish area of PA. Richard had issues with the leveling jacks on his coach and I was able to watch him remove it from the coach so he could get it repaired in town. It is a lot easier to get emergency repairs on something if you can bring it to the shop instead of driving the whole coach, that’s why he removed it. Heck, we even watched a bit of football at their place too. We had a nice visit with them and ended up going to Cracker Barrel for dinner.

We were in this area for two weeks back in 2010 and did all the tourist stuff but Lorraine wanted to go to the Hershey candy factory again. So Monday morning off we went, this time the weather wasn’t as hot as in July 2010 either. We made the factory tour and went though their shopping area where we could buy all the different type Hershey chocolates and merchandising stuff we wanted. But having been there a couple of times before, we got out of there without too much of their stuff.

For dinner that evening we went to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord, the largest smorgasbord in the area. They have over 200’ of buffet lines with 4 grills plus all the prepared salads/foods/deserts. On Monday night they have their steak night and will cook to order Delmonico or New York steak plus hot dogs, hamburgers, pork chops and the like. I can say I wasn’t hungry after we left there, and the food was good.

Downstairs of the restaurant they have a large shopping area. Lorraine wanted to check out the Amish Quilts they have for sale there. I think they said they have over 300 quilts on display, of course Lorraine found a few she really liked but we decided not to buy one until we get off the road and know where we will settle down.

Tuesday Lorraine did a couple loads of laundry while I found a few items to work on too. Then we headed out to see Richard/Patsy at their rig again. We ran a few errands along the way, even stopping to get Lorraine more fresh lobster which they cooked in the store for her. So that made us arrive at their place a bit later than planned, they had already eaten their lunch but Patsy fed us lunch anyway.

Later we rode with them while they went back to a local Amish shop to pick up a quilt they had seen earlier. Richard then drove us around the Amish area and stopped at a couple more shops too. We all thought it might be a good idea to find a place to eat after this and Richard knew of a restaurant near the buffet we were at the night before. Richard and Patsy both ordered off the menu but Lorraine and I decided to try their buffet. We had a good meal but the Shady Maple was fresh in our mind and it didn’t compare to them but this price was less.

We sure had a good time with these two and sure hope to see them this winter back in Arizona. Thanks for spending some quality time with us! It was late when we left their place, I was a bit worried about hitting a deer while driving at night but luck was with us again, we didn’t even see one. I have heard about all the auto/deer accidents back here but we haven’t seen too many deer alongside the road during this long trip, even dead ones.

Our plans were to get to the Tiffin service repair center here in Red Bay on Saturday, hoping we could get a site with hookups in their campground. That meant we should leave on Thursday but I didn’t want to push that hard so we left on Wednesday instead. We were going to overnight in West Virginia but decided it was too early to stop so pushed on to our next planned stop in Virginia. We got in late for us, around 5 pm or so but they didn’t mind, in fact, I bet there were over 15 more rigs that came in after we did.

We wanted to stop overnight in the Shenandoah Valley, Smoky Mountain Area for at least an overnight stay so we got an early start on Thursday. It was cloudy and looked a bit like rain and the further South and West we headed, the more the rain threatened.

About 50 miles or so before we got to the Valley, it started raining. Before too long we were in a real gully washer, even had to run the windshield wipers on high for awhile. It was raining so hard and the fog was so heavy we decided to not stop after all and head on down the road a bit more. We had set up in heavy rain when we got to the 1000 Trails park in Hershey and didn’t want/need to do that again anytime soon.

We had a tough driving trip through Chattanooga, way more traffic than I expected. And with the heavy rain, it was really miserable driving. And we saw a large number of folks on their cell phones or texting or whatever. I think I had to use the air horns to get folks attention more in about 50 miles through there than I’ve used in any one day since we’ve been on the road. I even had big rigs not staying in their lanes, drifting over into ours just like a large number of cars. Maybe it’s the normal way for them but it sure made for a long trip for us.

We didn’t want to stop in the rain so kept on pushing until it was either stop for the night or go on to Red Bay. So that’s what we did, getting here a bit after 5 pm and that was after crossing into the central time zone. The rain started slowing down and by the time we got into Alabama it was just heavy clouds. By the time we drove across the state to Red Bay, the clouds were breaking up and we could see some blue skies.

Lorraine had called and got us what ended up being the last RV site with hookups in town. We found the place with no problems, just across the street from the Tiffin Service Center but had a bad time backing into our very tight site. Finally Lorraine called the guy and we found were trying to park in another guys backyard, not our site. We were supposed to get one of the two sites right in front, easy to get into, not the little tiny space we thought. So we finally get in our site, set up and called it a day, a long day at that too.

We were in Bar Harbor, Maine on the 7th and made it a two day trip when we stopped over at Brian/Sue’s place in Mass. From there we had a sort of long travel day to 1000 Trails in Hershey then two long travel days to get here. So we’ve traveled about 1500 miles in five travel days but did have two stops along the way. Our normal travel schedule would have us taking no less than 8 travel days to go that far and maybe 2 months to explore. We sure didn’t stop and smell the roses from Maine to Alabama and there were many areas we really wanted to explore. I know we were tried of traveling when we got here but I also know we will be more than ready to leave after we get our repair work completed.

Tiffin does not allow anyone to make appointments at their service/repair center, instead everyone is issued a number when they arrive and that number determines who gets into the repair bay, the lower number goes first. We don’t have a large repair list and I want to get some of the work done “after hours” by the repair techs.

Friday morning I gave our repair list to the gals at the desk at the service center and got our number. They have over 100 sites there, a camp just down the road has 20 sites and this place has 6 sites. All were full and there was over 35 folks who didn’t get a hookup site, just a place to park until someone finished up with their work and left. A lot of folks finish up on Friday and leave on Saturday, therefore our original plan on arrive on Saturday. With all the snowbirds in town, it can create some bottlenecks getting work done. I sure hope Tiffin decides to build/staff a repair center in the West like some of the rumors talk about.

They have a guy that shows up to review your work list and he sort of decides what lineup you and your paperwork will end go to. They said he would probably show up around 10 am but when I checked in with the gals in the office they told me he was running a little late and wouldn’t see us until after lunch.

But we did have the guy that checks all Tiffin coaches to see if they need any of “the big three” repairs. Since ‘07, a lot of Tiffin coaches have had to have the floor replaced under the holding tanks, the driver’s side slide out floor replaced and the fiberglass roof radius replaced on both sides of the coach. The first two are because of the plywood getting wet and rotting, the radius thing is because the fiberglass cracks, causing water leaks. Tiffin will do these repairs under warranty for any of their coaches for up to 8 years. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to come here this time, we are getting close to the end of their warranty period for the big three repairs. After he checked us out, we only have the wet bay floor repair, a simple remove/replace that doesn’t require getting on another waiting list for the paint shop.

While we were waiting for Norris to make his appearance, I went through the parts store and the “scratch and dent” store, just to see what was there and ask a couple of questions. We probably will change out our microwave/convection oven while we are here and I wanted to see what they had available.

After we got the word that Norris would be late we drove into town, I wanted to go to the body shop that will be doing some repairs on our coach. Again the repairs are going to be covered under warranty. I know lots of folks call Tiffin coaches bad names but I don’t know of any other RV manufacture who is doing these type large repairs under warranty on coaches that are 6 or 7 years old. Of course we don’t like having repair issues but we are sure glad that most of them are still covered under warranty on our 6 year old coach.

After talking with Chris at the body shop and giving him our information, we headed back to the coach. I walked over to the store again and just as I was returning, Norris pulled up to our rig. After a short review, we ended up getting in the shortest repair line and should get into a repair bay mid week. Some folks have been here three weeks and still haven’t gotten into a bay so I don’t feel too bad about waiting just under a week.

Lorraine and I then stopped by the electronic place that builds/supplies most of the electronics to Tiffin at their factory. Our coach was built in ‘07 and I think it was in ‘09 that they started putting LED lights in the coaches. We have toured some coaches that had all LED lighting and that’s one of the items Lorraine wanted on our rig. I purchased 60 LED bulbs and spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening changing out the halogen bulbs with the new LED ones. It is really bright in the coach now, Lorraine said it makes a big difference to her and she likes the change. Happy wife, happy life as they say!!

I need to contact a couple of the repair techs who work “after hours” on customer’s rigs doing repairs and such. I can work off items that are on our repair list for the repair bay and possible cut our stay here even shorter.

For those who haven’t had the experience of visiting Red Bay, imagine a town of less than 3000 residents, the biggest employers are Tiffin Motorhome factory/repair center and the dog food factory. People start their day real early, most places are going before 7 am during the week, the factory and repair place start at 7:00, pretty early for lots of retired folks.

And there isn’t much to do in town, there are a couple of grocery stores, three restaurants, and the typical small town shops and stores. The closest Wal-Mart is 25 miles away. The town closes down about dark, you’ve heard “they roll up the sidewalks after dark?”, that pretty much describes this town. And for those who want an adult beverage, they better bring it with them as this is a dry county, no alcohol is sold in any of the stores and for sure there isn’t a liquor store. One of the biggest things to get used to around here is the attitude, nobody seems to be in a hurry or keep to a real strict schedule. We had to get used to “Red Bay time” during our prior trips here so we sort of know what to expect but it still takes some getting used to.

Yesterday we made a trip into the aforementioned Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. When we got back to the car, it wouldn’t start, just heard a click from the starter. I checked out the battery and found it was only showing about 8 volts, that’s strange. So I had the tech from automotive bring out the tester and sure enough, we had a bad cell in the battery and it needed to be replaced.

Well, because we were in their parking lot and they sell and install batteries, we bought a new one and had them install it right in their parking lot. Lorraine walked over to a women’s store while we were getting it changed then we filled out the paperwork and headed home. We got back in time to watch the Stanford football game, it was carried on one of the stations we get.

So my plans for this week are pretty simple, get some work done on our coach. I have to coordinate the afterhours workers along with the paint shop repairs and our time in Tiffin’s repair bays. I have some warranty work, some repairs that need to be done and the ever growing wish list so these will be worked off by different folks at different places at different times. I know Lorraine has made an appointment at a hairdresser in town she had seen in our prior trips here on Tuesday.

Oh, on Saturday afternoon we got a call from the gals at the check-in office for Tiffin, we could move over to a full hookup site at the service center if we wanted. But we are just across the street and are treated the same as if we were in the campground so we decided to just stay here, it’s the same price per night and when the coaches going in for repairs start their engines at 6:30, we won’t be around them so it should be quieter. Only thing is we won’t be around and meet all the Tiffin owners like we would if we were in the repair campground but guess we could walk over and join them if we want.

Lets see, the weather for the past week. After all the rain they had in Pennsylvania last week, it was pretty humid but the high temperatures only got to the mid to high 70s, not bad. The night time lows have been dropping into the high 40’s most nights, sometimes it only dropped to the 50s if we had nighttime clouds. Thursday it rained on us as we made our trip here but it’s been nice weather since. This morning when I walked Misty the thermometer read 37F but there were ice crystals on the roof of the car so we did have a slight freeze overnight. I’ll bet it gets a lot colder up North in the areas we have been over the past three months however.

Our travel plans are sort of on hold for maybe two weeks depending on how good I get at finding the right afterhours guy and the amount of work we get done. After that, we will head West with no particular plans until we get to our daughter’s in time for Thanksgiving. Just a head’s up to Dan and Wanda, we may be traveling through your area and may spend a day with you tow, if you are home that is. I figure I have lots of time to “plan” our trip out West while we are stuck here in Red Bay.

Now to go through the pictures and add some to this blog. I know we’ve had lots of pictures, especially in the past two/three weeks and I will try to pare down the number of them this week, we’ll see.

The 1000 Trails Park in Hershey, Pa. There must have been over 200 Canadian geese in/around the lake.