Yucky Weather

It's a cloudy overcast day with light rain, typical New England Fall weather. Winter is just around the corner.

We have had a lot of activity on the house. We have had a showing every Sunday since we came home and we just got a call that someone from Cape Cod wants to see the house Wed. morning.

Joyce is aggressively going through all the cabinets and sorting stuff to save and junk. If we get any good offers now so close to our winter departure, I don't know what we'll do. I would hate to cancel our winter trip. We'll just have to hope for some good timing.

In the mean time we will continue to sort through our stuff and plan our trip to new adventures. Stay tuned!!!!!

Grandpa's Little Helper

Was a nice day today except for the heavy cool winds but I like being outside. I am always looking for something to do so I figured I would fine tune the steps on the coach.
My youngest grand daughter Hannah loves helping me so she held the wrench while I checked out the adjustment.
So we tweaked the step to firm it up a bit when you step on it. It's great having a helper. It will be nice when she gets older then I can hold the wrench for her.

Happy Thanksgiving

Joyce and I would like to wish a "Happy Thanksgiving" to all and now for a bit of humor.

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked the stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy answered, "No ma'am, they're dead."

I Remembered The Pictures

I wanted to get the sewer hose out of the water service bay and store it outside close by. I found the ideal spot under the last storage compartment on the drivers side. I used a 3.5" I.D. square PVC post liner that you can get at Home Depot. I bought one three foot section and two end caps. After pop riveting one of the caps on one end, I installed the other cap with a hinge and pop rivets.
Then a coat of flat black paint helps to blend it in as part of the chassis. In the picture below you can see it to the left of the exhaust. It's held up in place with 6" hose clamps fastened to the bottom of the compartment.
In this picture, I have the compartment door open so you can see the tube. This compartment door hangs lower than the storage tube so you can't really see it unless you bend down.

Here you can see the hinged door

My other project was to install a flat panel TV in the storage bay so we could sit outside on those warm nights and watch TV. The problem was how to store the TV during travel or when we are not using it.

I designed and made a swivel mounting bracket that has one half hinged and attached to the rail above the compartment door frame, and the other half attached to the TV back as seen below.

Here you can see the bolt that connects the two brackets and creates the swivel. When traveling, you spin the TV to face in then swing it up against the ceiling of the storage bay. I made a latching system to hold it safely in place against a foam frame so the screen is protected.

The List Gets Shorter

Spent most of the day doing stuff on the coach, finished the winterizing and installed the storage tube for the sewerage hose. I forgot to take pic's so will do tomorrow.
The realtor called and we have to get lost for a while tomorrow because he's bringing someone to look at the house at 1:00, what a pain. At least they won't interrupt the Pats game because they play at 4:00.
We've got two of the granddaughters tonight so I guess I'll go and watch Sponge Bob with them.

Do The Clean-up

Now that we are home we have to do the house chores as well as empty the coach of those items that will freeze.
Joyce and I worked on cleaning up all the leaves in the yard, took us two days to complete. We have been cleaning the coach off and on for the last week. Joyce has been bagging the can goods, etc. while I have been washing the outside and getting ready to winterize all the water lines.
Seems like an awful lot of work for such a short amount of time, we are only home for six more weeks before we head out for the winter.

I am installing a flat panel TV in one of the storage compartments. I made a bracket that will allow me to fold the TV up out of the way for travel. I will post some pictures after I get done with the installation. I am also adding a tube to store my sewage hose in because I hate having it in the water bay.
I'm trying to hurry and get these projects done before it gets really cold.

Leaving Walmart

Had to get some pictures of Frank and his dogs before we headed out but I couldn't get Joyce away from the dogs.
Frank's is retired and his wife still works, they live in Houston, Texas but she is flying out to meet up with Frank who will be visiting their son in New Jersey. Franks is really nice people, hope to run into him again down the road.
Joyce just couldn't get enough of the dogs and they really enjoyed her company.

Walmart parking lot prior to our departure.

We made it home at about 3:30 after detouring around some back roads to avoid a bad accident that had all lanes stopped on highway 287 in Pa.

The wind was gusting and the rain was heavy at times so it was a tough ride......Should have turned south in Virginia!!

Small World

We are in Pa. and about four hours from home. We dialed in a Walmart that was off the highway about three miles. We pulled into the parking lot and spotted another Phaeton parked by itself. I got out of the coach and couldn't believe it......after 16 hours of driving and picking this Walmart, we ran into Frank and his two dogs. You may remember the dogs because I took a picture of Joyce getting her dog fix before Frank left the Tiffin campground about a week ago. From there Frank traveled to Missouri to visit a cousin then he stopped here on his way to New Jersey.
He knew it was us pulling in as soon as he spotted the yellow Jeep. Man-o-man, what a small world.

Camp Walmart

We drove for eight hours today and are now in a Walmart parking lot in Virginia for the night.
We passed the NASA Space Center in Huntsville Alabama. Would like to stop here someday, looks interesting.

Heading Home

We are finished in Red Bay at the Tiffin service campground and thought we'd take one last spin around the back roads.
These people take their storms seriously and build these storm shelters either in their back yards or across the street from their homes.
We were surprised to find that these had a small cot for sleeping and a couple of chairs. Didn't think their storms lasted long enough that you needed a bed.
The Jeep is all hooked up and ready for our departure in the morning. We hope to be on the road by 8:30 - 9:00 am. We have three days of hard driving to get home. Wow, can't wait to get home to the cold weather and rake leaves. Oh well it's what we have to do until the home sells.

Things To Do In Red Bay Alabama

It's Saturday and whereas we are still here, we need something to do. We have already done everything there is to do in Red Bay so we had to wander. Along the way we passed this collection of old cars and trucks. You have to love these old southern automobiles with there lack of rot.

Looking for a nice pickup? There are some nice classics here.
The interior on this Chevy still had the original headline and the interior was in good condition. Drive it away!!
Dismals Canyon was our destination today and it was a warm and beautiful fall day, ideal for a walk in the woods.

Some people passing by were nice enough to take our picture.

Look at the size of these leaves, we were told that they are from a magnolia tree.

Oh man!!!!! Glad we don't have any in our yard because I wouldn't want to have to rake them up.

We had to cross a stream, there was a large tree that fell across the stream so I used it as a bridge.

Now this is the bridge that crosses the same stream. Joyce was too afraid to cross the tree bridge.

So she crossed the foot bridge the tough way; yes she made it but it was touch and go for a while.

Along the path was this little waterfall.

There were some pretty areas.

This is the dance hall where the Indians performed their dance ceremonies.

Coming to the end of our walk in the woods.

This waterfall has a small rainbow t the right but it's tough to see.

On our way back to camp we passed this place and just had to stop for pic's.

Most of the stuff was junk but I'm sure that there was something here for everyone.

This is a shot of one section inside the building. Wow, I'm sure that some real bargains could be had.

During dinner we were watching the Alabama college game. The Crimson Tide was loosing until..... Leigh Tiffin booted a 40 yard field goal. Tiffin is the schools highest scorer.

Leigh is also the grandson of Bob Tiffin the owner of the company that manufactured our motorhome. After kicking the field goal, this place came alive with air horns going off. Guess others were watching the same game.

Good Night!!!!!

Joyce Has Puppy Withdrawal

Our neighbor across the street has a couple of dogs. The black one is a 12 week old standard poodle and the other little guy is a 8 year old mix terrier. Joyce would occasionally dog nap the two so she could get her fix.
Well, they were getting ready to leave this morning and Joyce volunteered to dog sit while Frank went to the office to pay his bill. We will miss the two pups.

Express Bay

It's 6:50 am and we are heading for bay # 10 to get our stuff done. Some people have already beat us for the line up. We all pull up to our assigned doors and at 7:00 am the doors open.
That's our neighbor that Joyce is talking to, they happened to be the bay next to us having some windows replaced.
We had lost power to our rear view mirrors and the mechanics worked about an hour and a half before finding the problem. One of the wire connectors on the switch had a bad connection. We also had to have a light switch replace and a slide topper centered. Now we have to wait to get some areas of the paint buffed to remove what looks to be polishing compound.

To give you an idea of the turn around here, there has been over one hundred coaches serviced since Monday of this week. The reason for the heavy flow is a lot of snowbirds are stopping in on their way to Florida.

Surprise Visit

We had a surprise visit tonight from Kenn Shotts who stopped in to say hi!
Kenn is the gentleman that was nice enough to take the time to take pictures of our coach during the build. Thanks again Kenn and we still owe you and your wife dinner. It was great to finally meet Kenn but after he left I was kicking myself because I forgot to get a picture of his visit here. I do that all the time, always remember after!
Joyce and I have been taking pictures of a coach build for another couple that couldn't be here to see their coach being built. We were happy to have the opportunity to be able to do for someone else what Kenn did for us, "Pass It On".
We were notified that we are next in line for service and have to be at bay #10 at 7am. It's quite a sight when you see all the motorhomes lined up at 7am waiting for the doors to open.

Still Here In Red Bay

We had been on the tour of the assembly area last year but never toured he paint shop so off we went. The motorhomes start off in this area where they are sanded prior to the base coat being applied The line of motorhomes was so long that workers were working outside. Tiffin has gradually been increasing production and are in the process of hiring back workers plus new people.

After the coach is sanded to a perfect consistency, it goes to the first booth for the base primer coat.

Out of the first booth, the workers are waiting to apply the masking for the finish design. Click on the video to see the masking process.
The coach then moves into the next booth for the next color. Then remask and apply the next color.

This continues until all the colors are applied. Then the final step is to apply the clear coat which give the paint depth and shine.
This short video is the area at the end of the line where the paint is inspected and any defects are marked for repair.

We Are Here In Red Bay

We departed from Texas Saturday morning at 8:15 AM and headed for Alabama. Passing by Arkansas on our way. It was a sweet ride and we made good time. We passed this accident along the way. Looked like the truck went on it's side in the ditch. Don't know if anyone was injured.

Then at 4:45 we pulled into Red Bay and our final destination, the Tiffin campground.
It was a neat sight to see all these Tiffins together at the same place.

There is roughly 110 motorhomes here but not all are here for service.
A lot of people come here for service rather than go to a dealership because they know they will get factory service. Plus if you're paying for service, their rate is about $40.00 cheaper per hour than a dealership.
This is us and we are in site 50 so if you're in the area stop in. Most people we have talked to just come here to meet others and compare notes.

We are here for a few things and will probably be here for the week. The people here are so friendly that we tried to go for a walk and for two hours got no further than the front of our motorhome. Someone stopped to talk then more people stopped, then as they were leaving our neighbor came over.
This campground was an airport and Joyce is standing at one end of the landing strip.
At the far right of the campground is the service area with a total of 46 bays.

We took a ride over to where the factory is. These are some of the diesel chassis's

This is the main gate to the manufacturing facility. We were here in the spring of last year with our last motorhome.

Some of the new coaches waiting to head out for delivery.

More new ones waiting for delivery.

We took a ride to see the paint factory and passed a lot of cotton fields.

About five miles from the manufacturing facility in Mississippi is the paint shop

This place is huge and state of the art. I want to come back and get some pictures inside.