Our adventure this past year has been
tremendous. We took on a life-changing
challenge and have thoroughly enjoyed the places we’ve been, the great people
we’ve met and the new experiences we’ve had, but it hasn’t all been without it’s
frustrations. Every story needs
balance. It’s not sunshine and lollipops
every day, so let me tell you about the other side of the coin without being
too much of a downer. Just a reality
check.
The man who sold us our RV told us,
“You will have things go wrong. It’s
just a fact of life when you own an RV and drive it or pull it down the road. It’s like going through a hurricane and an
earthquake.”
Most earthquakes only last a minute
or two. Ours can last 6-8 hours.
We left Tucson and made the longest
drive so far, 600+ miles to Midland, TX where we spent the night. We made it to
Denton the next day and made arrangements to drop our house off at the
dealership the next day for more warranty work.
By this time, we have now been back to the dealership 9 times in less
than a year. Interestingly, none of the
issues we’ve had have kept us from occupying our house or pulling it down the
road. It’s just a never-ending list of
things that keep failing.
As Jane pointed out to the service
writer at the dealership, “In the almost one year that we’ve had our Redwood,
there has not been one single day that something didn’t need to be fixed.”
We picked up our rolling estate
Friday at 5 and went to a local campground to spend the night before heading to
Arkansas where we planned to spend two weeks, including Thanksgiving, with
family.
When we got to the campground our
bedroom slide would not slide out more than two inches before stopping. I did everything I knew to do and gave
up. We slept in tight quarters and the
next day headed for a Camping World up the road because I knew there were no
techs at the dealership on Saturday.
They thought a slide motor had
failed, but couldn’t work on it until after the holidays. Yes plural, like after New Year’s day.
OK, we kept going and got to
Arkansas that night. We checked with a
local RV dealer and he also thought it might be a slide motor, but had the same
issue, booked for weeks. During the next
two weeks, at least 3 other problems developed on top of having a bedroom that
was smaller than usual.
Special thanks to my sister Kathy
for loaning her car to Jane while I had to go to Baltimore for a trade show.
So, we changed our plan, which was
to go directly to Florida from Arkansas and drove back to Denton to the
dealership, a 700 mile detour. We left
our unit with them and Jane went with me to San Antonio where I had a work
assignment for the week.
We got back on Friday and went to the
dealership to get our house and head for Florida. Everything had been fixed, they said, and showed
me each repaired item. “As soon as we
get her buttoned back up, you’ll be ready to go.”, said the service writer.
But, the bedroom slide would not go
in! Previously, it wouldn’t go out, now
it wouldn’t go in.
The tech messed with it for 45
minutes and couldn’t solve the problem.
Praise the Lord for our friends Vicki
and Dale Revercomb. They were away on
vacation, in Florida of all places, and told us we could stay at their house
while ours was being fixed. So we
did. Expecting to be ready to go by
Tue/Wed, we didn’t pick up our house until Friday.
It was such a blessing to be able
to stay in comfortable quarters and not a hotel room. I made a great friend
with their dog, Gentry, and we watched the Cowboys beat the Redskins in an
amazing comeback win on Monday Night Football.
So, a special shout out to our friends Dave and Becky Mead who are the
most loyal, rabid, crazy Cowboys fans we know.
Who else takes his girl for a tour of Texas Stadium and then gets down
on one knee (ON THE STAR AT MIDFIELD) to propose? Better times are ahead Cowboys fans, hang in
there.
We took off from Denton and about
30 miles down the road, I started getting a low tire pressure alert on my TPMS
(Tire Pressure Monitoring System). After
stopping three times to put air in one of the trailer tires and even changing
out the core of the valve stem, I was still having problems. The next day I took it to a tire store in
Natchitoches, LA where they discovered a faulty valve stem. We got that fixed and headed down the road.
Another blessing came along when we
reached Gulf Shores, AL, that night and were able to spend the evening with
Vicki and Dale and their daughter, Jennifer, and her girls in Perdido Key, FL ,
just 15 miles away.
Well, we made it to Florida and we’re
back at Manatee RV Resort, where we spent last March. More good news, they just put in a new Pickle
Ball court two weeks ago!!! Woo hoo! And a thank you goes to Jane’s sister,
Jimmie, for loaning Jane her bike while we’re here.
About the RV, we’ve written a nasty
email to the manufacturer and we’re in the market for a good Lemon Law
attorney. J
But, what I’ve chosen to take away
from all this is that we’ve had family and friends to stand by us during the frustration
and utter exasperation.
We’re too stubborn to give up (44
years of marriage should be proof of that) and we look forward to the day when
everything is repaired or replaced.
We’ll be here in Ruskin, FL until
the end of March. We’re enjoying the
70-80 degree temps.
And on that note………..Merry
Christmas to all and to all a good night.
