Happy Birthday Trekker from Lazy Days

We arrived at Lazy Days RV on the 8th of December and will be leaving Saturday.  It seemed only right that the Trekker should celebrate its 1st birthday (yesterday) at the place where we bought it and took possession of it.

It's been an eventful 12 days.  It began with having 5 nights of free camping.  We had a coupon included in the initial package of "baubles" they gave us when we bought the Trekker.  It was time to cash them in.  For our 12 nights we would only have to pay for 7. Cha-Ching!

Just as a matter of serendipity but last weekend (Friday-Saturday and Sunday) they had Bob Tiffin and numerous of the front office personnel here for a "2015 Tiffin Product Line Introduction Rally".  I decided we should go just to see the newest offerings and talk with Bob and Danny Inman again.

They had the newest Allegro Bus 45 here.  It is our Bus on 'roids.  It is built on a new Freightliner Chassis which has a Front Axle with an 18000 lbs GAWR.  It has a 600hp Cummins Engine.  It is a monster.  I'll bet it gets 2-3 miles per gallon.  Because of its 31.5 wheels all the way around it sits about 5" higher on the road than the Trekker.  The one here is called a 45HL.  They are also making another floorplan on this chassis, the 45OL (or it could be an OP).  It was nice to see the newest line-up.  It also convinced us again that the Trekker is the best of all the available RVs and the mods we have made to it only made it better.

Another thing we wanted to accomplish while we were here was to get our new wifi antenna and external cell antenna installed.  We asked to make an appointment the day we came and were told they had a cancellation so they could fit us in at 9 AM on the 16th.  So on the night of the 15th we moved over from the Lazy Days Campground to the Lazy Days Crown Club Service area (which is free).  It ends up that even though the appointment was for the 16th that THAT isn't the appointment to get worked on, but an appointment with a Service Advisor to SCHEDULE the actual work.  So we got worked on yesterday.  Here are pictures of the new antennas and our new wifi service area in the rear of the Trekker.

The above picture shows the finished products:  A RogueWave Long Range Marine WiFi antenna on the right (the white one) and on the left side of the ladder (with the black "thimble" on top of it on the left side of the antenna).

Below is a picture of where they had to drill through the Trekker's roof down into the rig itself.  We had them put it in the very back of the rig - in the closet/washer/dryer area -  on the driver's side.  The white "goop" is a self-leveling weather impervious caulk designed specifically for RV roof usage.

The picture below shows the plastic black "grommet" that they put into the bottom of the hole they had drilled to give it a more "finished" look.  Unfortunately they didn't have a white one they could use.  The black wire is from the External Cell Antenna and the Gray-White wire is from the WaveRogue WiFi antenna.

The picture above shows (on the right toward the top) our MBR95 cradlepoint wireless router.  Right in the middle of the photo is our Wilson Signal booster.  Under it (literally) is our Novatel Wifi Jetpack which was sold to us by Verizon our WiFi signal carrier.  The Jetpack is picked up by the router since we have the router set to "Wireless as WAN (Wide Area Network)."  The black wire going out of the Wilson Signal Booster goes up to the External Cell Antenna.  The gray-white wire which enters into the black connector wit 2 green LEDs on it comes down from the WaveRogue WiFi antenna.

Tomorrow we are going to Green Cove Springs to pick up our mail.  Irene's got 3 packages which would be monstrously expensive to ship to here and would get caught up in the Christmas Mail rush.  So we are taking the day to go get it all.  It's a 3 hour drive - ONE WAY.

There's an RV in that there tent OR We are outta here!

The final stop in our (almost) fully-expenses paid luxury vacation to the Tiffin Motorhomes Service Center and Allegro Campground was the body shop.  The Trekker had cracks developing in both of the front slideouts - On both sides it was where the exterior wall of the slide met the floor and the vertical wall of the slide.  The slides are a single piece fiberglass.  So the bus is essentially a 45 foot, 43,000 pound Corvette!  (And JUST LIKE A CORVETTE gets about 6 mpg of fuel.)  Below are the two corners AFTER they've been fixed.  They are so nice and pretty now.  Just like new.

The big thing that had to be done is the repainting of the Trekker.  This is NOT a monochrome colored vehicle like most cars and trucks.  RV's have multiple colors on them.  In the case of the trekker there are 4 different colors: Biarritz White, Ebony Satin,  Oceana Teal and Silver Sage.  To repaint the slide out after the fiberglass was repaired required taping off and repainting each stripe of the slide out individually.  After the four colors have been repainted then the 3 coats of polyurethane "clear coat" had to be sprayed on.

Travis and Chase did a great job with our body work.

AND

Oh, by the way, as an added gift, at ABSOLUTELY NO additional expense to us, they replaced our spotlight - F-R-E-E.  Of course that happens when their employee waves you into the repair bay BEFORE the bay door is all the way up and your original spotlight is torn off on the bottom of the door.  OUCH!

We left Red Bay early Saturday morning and drove down to Monticello, Florida just east of Tallahassee.  There we stayed in the Tallahassee East KOA.  Sunday we went to church at the Monticello church of Christ.  A congregation of about 35 with a minister and his wife and 3 children that have been there about 6 months.  That evening we went to the Timberlane church of Christ in Tallahassee.  Between the 2 services I got the "privilege" of watching the New Orlean Saints get the stuffing knocked out of them by the Carolina Panthers.  (Just a note: As I am writing this I heard that Cam Newton, the Carolina Panthers quarterback was in an automobile accident today.  His truck was hit by another vehicle and rolled several times as a result.  He has (as Irene calls it) a "seat belt injury" - 2 broken transverse processes in his lower back.  He is in "Fair Condition" and will be in the hospital overnight.  He will completely recover fairly quickly but he will be sore for a while, of sure.  We send our best to him in his recovery.

We arrived at Lazy Days in Seffner, FL yesterday and will be here until the 20th when we drive over to Kissimmee, FL for Christmas with the family until the 28th.

Remember the one about the NASA engineers that forgot to convert inches into centimeters and buried a Mars probe INTO Mars instead of landing it ON Mars? OR "We will OWN our mistakes!"

September 30, 1999

Web posted at: 1:46 p.m. EDT (1746 GMT)


(CNN) -- NASA lost a $125 million Mars orbiter because one engineering team used metric units while another used English units for a key spacecraft operation, according to a review finding released Thursday.

For that reason, information failed to transfer between the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin in Colorado and the mission navigation team in California. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft.

"People sometimes make errors," said Edward Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science in a written statement.

"The problem here was not the error, it was the failure of NASA's systems engineering, and the checks and balances in our processes to detect the error. That's why we lost the spacecraft."

If you've read this blog since the beginning you know that we have had to replace the Trekker's radiator fan clutch and fan twice.  The first time was immediately after it was delivered to us in January of 2014.  The second time it broke we had to be towed 75 miles to Pharr, TX to have it replaced.  Here's the www.JITrekking.com blog postings about that menagerie: 

http://www.jitrekking.blogspot.com/2014/03/red-bay-we-have-problem.html
http://www.jitrekking.blogspot.com/2014/03/o-o-there-goes-my-baby-o-o.html
http://www.jitrekking.blogspot.com/2014/03/red-bay-we-have-problem-part-ii.html

The fan clutch originally put into the rig and the 2 that were installed each time it was previously replaced were a NEW type of fan - a "squirrel cage" type.  Here's picture of it:

You can see that it has about 30 blades.  It is about 10 inches high.  You can see that it is quite substantial in size and weight.  Below are 2 pictures of the fan clutch that turns the fan on and off as needed to keep the radiator coolant within an acceptable temperature range.  This top one shows the fan clutch with the pulley that turns the clutch when it engages.

 The one below is the fan clutch with the pulley removed (it was reused on our NEWLY installed fan and fan clutch assembly).

Now, WHY?  Why was there a constant breakdown in these fan and fan clutch assemblies.  I mean this is the newest "fan" technologies, right!  Why the high failure rate?  Well, it seems that the engineer(s) that designed it at Tiffin forgot to factor in the additional weight of the new fan, the clutch and the additional air weight that is compressed by the multiple blades and the additional torque by the new fan.  OOPS!

Now, before you say "You've got to be kidding me."  I think it's VERY IMPORTANT to reiterate something that Bob Tiffin (the founder of Tiffin Motorhomes) told Irene and I when we spoke to him personally BEFORE they started building the Trekker.

"All Motorhome manufacturers make mistakes.  The difference is we OWN ours and will replace any item, ANY TIME (in or OUT of warranty - JRG) that is OUR fault.

I was talking to the Parts Manager today at the repair facility and was saying that we were having our fan and fan clutch assembly replaced.  I made the statement to him that I'm sure there are other Allegro Buses out there."  His reply was "384 of them."  They intend to replace EVERY ONE OF THEM at NO COST to the owners as Warranty work.

So, here are pictures of the new fan and clutch:

As you can see they are significantly lighter.  We also have it on good authority (owners who already have the "fix" installed) that the new fan and fan clutch do an excellent job of keeping the rig's engine well cooled.

Below is a picture of he new fan installed into the Trekker I got before they lowered it to the ground again.

As an additional added touch to this post.  Below is a picture of the Trekker being "Prepped for surgery."  The rig is lifted up on 6 jacks (one on the outside wheel of each axle - front, drive and tag axles). These lifts are electronically connected to lift it in unison.

Out with the Old and in with the New

Yesterday and Today we've been getting the windshield replaced.  If you've ever seen a picture of the Trekker you know this is one monstrous large window.  It is over 5 feet tall and 8 feet wide.  That's over 40 square feet of personal viewing pleasure.

Here is a picture and video of the removal of the cracked windshield:

The old windshield had to be beat with a crowbar to break it enough to bend over to fit into a large dumpster:

The replacement glass is held in place by a special adhesive. Large suction cups are secured to the rig sides and top and to the windshield itself.  Then ropes are tied to pull the glass back to the rig and into the adhesive as it cures.  It takes 8 hours to set to the point where rig can be moved at all.  Below ia a picture and a video of the men installing the new windshield:

To do the initial install took 1 whole day.  Then today we went back and the did the final "touch up" around the glass.  more of the adhesive is used this this time AROUND the window (the original adhesive is applied on the frame BEHIND the window and the window is pulled into it to bond it to the frame.  This second round brings the adhesive out so the adhesive and glass are level all the way around the glass.  It doesn't take long to apply, but you have to sit for 8 hours again while the adhesive is curing.

A couple of interesting facts about the windshields:

1.  They are manufactured in TURKEY and shipped here in crates of 10-12 depending on the make and model of RV they are installed in.

2.  The glass is NOT recyclable in broken windshields.  Safety glass is multi-layered and has an adhesive between the layers so it does not shatter when it break like normal glass would.  This makes in un-recyclable because you can't separate the adhesive from the glass.

"o/` o/` We Gotta Get Outta This Place o/` o/`" OR "ROAD TRIP!!!!"

Yesterday morning we got over to the Tile Area to have the one tile that we had to replace under warranty.  It was right in the middle of our front bathroom under the door.  It looked like it had a scratch on it and someone tried to buff it out.  Unfortunately you can't buff a glazed ceramic tile.  It removes the glaze and makes for an even uglier mess.

Craig is the tile repair guy in the service area.  He said it would take 3 hours and it did ... almost to the minute.

The tiles in the rig are adhered to their 3/4" plywood base with an epoxy based grout.  This grout can flex which is the reason they can  build the complete tile floor and then hoist it as a single 45 feet x 8 feet single piece unit.  Then the grout in between the tile is also a 2 part epoxy - the glue and an accelerant.  

We were told it would take about 3 hours to fully set and that we needed to stay off of the tile until then.  Craig had marked the tile off with bright yellow "caution" tape.  We took the rig back to our site and started setting it back up.  I went to the back to put out the 2 bedroom slides.  The first thing I did was step on the tile - about 4" of it.  DANG!  Then, Irene went to get some Dawn soap for me to put in the soap dispenser in the wet bay of the RV (the bay with the fresh water hook-up and the gray water and black water drains) and what does she do?  BINGO steps on the tile!  Then she had to put the black water additive into the toilet since we had just emptied it (it's a concoction of Dawn Detergent; Baking Soda and water softener.  It makes the black water smell "better" and keeps it from building up on the sides of the tank).  She was V-E-R-Y careful not to step on the tile that time.  I realized that the only hope for this tile to make it the 3 hours without being displaced was to get the two senile, old morons totally away from it. ROAD TRIP!!

We had never met the family that rents the house we own in Jackson, Mississippi.  We had bought it to rent to Joel and Brenda when they lived there.  Then with the downturn in the economy they moved to Midland, Texas in June of 2012 where the economy is booming.  This left us with a house that wasn't selling in a depressed economy, so we signed a lease-purchase contract with a couple that was wanting to rent it.

The drive to Jackson is a little over 200 miles. THAT would give this poor tile the time it desperately needed to set.  We drove down the Natchez Trace.  If you've never been on the Trace it is a beautiful drive.  It goes from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.  We highly recommend it.  It is a 2 lane road that commercial trucks are NOT permitted to use.  So its just cars, pickups, RVs and the occasional school bus.  The speed limit is 50 mph for the most part.  It is enforced by Federal Marshals (it is a Federal Road like the Blue Ridge Parkway).

We met the family (at least the wife and 3 kids, the husband was still at work) and were ecstatic to see that they are taking marvelous care of the house AND told us that they are going to exercise the option to purchase immediately.  They had an appointment with a banker this coming week.  That would be nice.

Next (and another great reason to go to Jackson) was going to Ichiban Chinese Buffet (Hint to the owners of the restaurant - "Ichiban" is a JAPANESE WORD. It means "Number One" - as in "the best").  All of the Linguistics aside, it IS "Number One" for the quality of its sushi buffet.  Irene and I LOVE good sushi and this is GREAT sushi.

Below is a picture Irene took of the sushi buffet.  That is NOT a mirror near the top of the picture, it is another 8 foot counter of even more, different sushi.  So if you are a sushi lover as we are, 16 linear feet of great tasting sushi is a close to heaven as you can get in this world.

After dinner we headed back to Red Bay.  This time we drove on Mississippi 25 to Starkville and then picked up US 45 to US 78 (soon to be renamed I-22).  These highways are all 4 lane divided, so the drive back in the blackness of night was about 45 minutes faster than the drive down on the parkway.

As we walked back into the rig and turned on the light I could swear I heard the tile say "Now I can take all the abuse you can throw at me.  Thanks for the time off."

Whittle, Whittle, Whittle, Whittle, Whittle, Whittle ..... Perc, Perc, Perc, Perc, Perc, Perc, Perc, Perc,

We got into bay 2 at 7:00 AM on Monday to start our warranty repair work.  Marion (a guy - MariAn is the female version of the name) was our repair specialist.  He's been doing it for 11 years, so he's plenty knowledgable.  He finished with the "general" repair portion yesterday.  What we have still left is more specialized - Engine Work; Tile Work; Windshield Replacement and Body Work.  For those we have to go to different stations.  When you begin your repair work your Primary Repair Specialist looks at your needs and makes judgements about what HE should do versus what must go to the different specialties.  He then informs the specialists to put your name on THEIR list also.  They may have 15 people already ahead of you.  You go at the BOTTOM of their list.  Then, as the Primary Repairs are done you are percolating up their lists also.  So, our Primary Repairs took 3 complete days.  So, we've been on the tile, engine, windshield and body work lists "moving up" for that amount of time.  We have NO IDEA how many are on their lists ahead of us.  We were told that we MAY get into either the tile shop or windshield shop at some point in time later today.  We will see.  When they are ready for us they will give us a call and tell us to "report to bay # ________ for repair of your _____________."  So now our list which looked like this:

Repair Needs on Jim and Irene Gordon’s Allegro Bus 45LP VIN # 5VBBA87A4EA115308:

• Rear A/C-Heatpump  Unit doesn’t work correctly
• Spurious Check Engine Light
• Tile in Front Bathroom
• Front Multiplex Panel - No doors unlock and other problems
• Entry Door Shade doesn’t come down
• Rear toilet coming loosening from floor
• Front bathroom door squeaks and often doesn’t latch
• Fan Clutch Assembly
• Latch on Driver's Side Engine Access Door
• Tater Drawer catch needs to go into block deeper
• Windshield
• Center Holding Bracket on Front Passenger side topper has come loose
• Need to perform recall on Mobil-Eye
• Ground Effect lighting on Passenger’s Side - Rear 1/2 doesn’t work.
• Brake Indicator Bar on Rear has numerous lights not working
• Windshield Night Shade - Doesn’t Raise up High enough
• Driver’s Window - Screen needs repaired
• Front Passenger Wheel Well
• **** INFO **** - Drivers Side Night shade only had 2 SCREWS in it - grossly underattached
• Front edges of both front slides
• Plumber’s putty around left kitchen sink keeps coming out
• No heat from Aquahot to rear of coach - front zone is okay
• Driver’s Side Front Electrical Compartment - Leaks Water - Doesn’t Have Drip Moulding to Prevent it
• Front Carefree Awning - Rear Strut is not properly attached - drags on Passenger Side Topper and Doesn’t Return to Detent Position
• One Dinette Chair leg is broken

NOW LOOKS LIKE THIS:

Repair Needs on Jim and Irene Gordon’s Allegro Bus 45LP VIN # 5VBBA87A4EA115308:

ENGINE SHOP:

• Spurious Check Engine Light
• Fan Clutch Assembly

TILE SHOP

• Tile in Front Bathroom

WINDSHIELD SHOP:

• Windshield Replacement due to long crack

BODY SHOP:

• Front Passenger Wheel Well
• Front edges of both front slides

So, now we just sit and wait again to "percolate to the surface" of one of the specialties lists and our names will continue to percolate to the surface of the other lists also.  It looks less and less likely that we will be out of here by Thanksgiving.  Just the windshield replacement itself is a 2-3 day job.  Taking out the old one is easy enough and putting in the new one is also easy.  The kicker is that once they install the new one the rig has to just sit for at least a day as the glue dries.  When the rig was built on the production line the "front cap" which includes the windshield had been built ahead of time and was waiting at its station as the rest of the rig came down the production line.  So our original (now cracked) windshield had already had its cure-time completed before it was attached to the rest of the rig.

The tile is a 1 day job; the engine shop is a one day job.  (Actually they are both about 3 hour jobs a piece).  The body work, though simple enough to do, just takes time.  Time for the fiberglass repairs to cure to the point of being able to the sanded and prepped for paint and then time to paint and then time to buff out the paint.  None of our body work will require the rig to go into the "cookers."  It's all very small and can be totally done by "hand" as it was when they initially painted the coach.  All the final "touch up" work was done with spot painting and sanders and buffers.

Are we in a time warp? OR Quiet on the Set! Ready and ACTION!

We are still in Red Bay.  We set aside about 5 weeks to get the warranty work done.  We were told by Norris (the guy that comes around to speak to you when you first arrive) when we got here that they were "4 to 5 weeks out," but that since we were a 2014 and having warranty work done we might get in a little quicker.  "They take a 2014 every 4th or 5th unit.  2015s get immediate service."  It ended up that when I went to speak to Wanda the actual scheduler that 2014s go in "every 3rd unit."  That was nice to hear.  We got our first list this past Tuesday and it said we were # 28 in the queue and we were told that they averaged getting done about 2 units per day.  SO, that seemed like 14 business days before they'd get to us - almost 3 weeks and when you realize they are closed for Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving "Friday." So, that made it a solid 3 weeks.

Thursday's listing (they send it out every Tuesday and Thursday) showed that we were #12??? WHAT, HUH??  That seemed like a big drop in just 2 days.  Then, LO AND BEHOLD, we got a call late Friday afternoon that we are to be at Bay #2 on Monday morning @ 7:00 AM to begin our repairs.

We had noticed that many rigs that were here the week of our arrival had departed.  We guess that they decided to return after Thanksgiving.  Bottom Line - Don't Know, Don't Care.  So, we've gone from thinking we'd be here for 5 weeks to now deciding we'd better make reservations for somewhere else beginning December 1st.

So, we've gone ahead and made reservations to be at Lazy Days RV in Seffner, FL from December 1st - 15th.  IF, we get done before that we will head back down to Theodore, AL and stay at the Bellingrath Road church of Christ were we just finished our last sojourn and stay there until the end of November.

Since we have been having the first real "down time" since forever it seems (at least since March), I've seized the opportunity and gone to the movies 3 times this week.  Irene went along too, bless her heart.  We saw "The Judge" last week (as reported in a previous posting).  This week we saw "The Equalizer" and (just today) "Interstellar."  Intersteller dealt a lot with the "time/space continuum."  I thought it appropriate considering how our 5 weeks till we get repairs has quickly become 9 days.  Now, THERE is a "Time Shift."

"It is time to meet your maker" OR FINALLY! some time to rest

We left Theodore, Alabama Thursday morning (Nov. 6th) and headed for Red Bay, Alabama.  Red Bay, Alabama is where Tiffin Motorhomes are manufactured.  

We arrived here almost a year ago to the day to watch them build TREKKER - our 2014 Allegro Bus 45LP.  Being here again brings back a lot of memories.  If you all remember last winter was BITTER cold almost e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.  It was no different in Red Bay, AL.

We arrived in our 2013 Itasca Ellipse 42GD manufactured by Winnebago.  We loved the concept of the 42GD, but the reality didn't live up to our hopes.  The Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) of the front axle was 14,600 pounds. The GAWR is the maximum weight allowed on an axle by law.  Unfortunately, we could NOT get our front axle weight under 15,000 pounds.  This was due to poor design by Winnebago and their decision to place both the fuel tank AND the fresh water tank directly behind the front axle.  Plus we had had many instances of poor workmanship in our unit.  This made it necessary to search again for our "FINAL RV" which led us to the decision to purchase the 2014 Allegro Bus 45LP we call the TREKKER.

We were here for 5 weeks last year.  From Nov 7th to December 12th.  It was amazing to watch the process of our unit being built from a bare chassis to a rig completed and ready to deliver to Lazydays near Tampa, Florida.

The Trekker was just a bare PowerGlide Chassis when this worker installed her "house batteries." PowerGlide chassis are built by Tiffin itself.  The TREKKER has no problems with axle weight.  The Front axles GAWR is 16,000.  The Drive Axle GAWR is 22,000.  The rear Tag Axle is 13,200.

Above they are installing the coach's full ceramic tile floor in ONE PIECE

In the picture above they were putting the front frame to which the front end cap 

and windshield will be installed.

As it continued to proceed down the assembly line the TREKKER received its rear end cap.

Above they are building the front passenger side slide.  The worker is attaching the wall 

between the dining room table cabinet and the residential refrigerator. The slides are built separately and then lifted by an overhead strap crane and placed into the rig one at a time fully assembled as you can see in the video below.

The pictures above and below show the completely built TREKKER before painting began.  The picture above is the passenger side.  The picture below the driver side.  The sanding process took one whole day.

In the picture above they are applying the white base coat.  The whole rig is painted white and then the stripes are painted on ONE COLOR (there are 4 colors) at a time.

All of the stripes have been painted on but there is a ton of touch up to do.  It took 2 whole days just to do the touching up of the paint as they strove to get every line were one paint color met another sharp and crisp and remove any bubble they saw.

UGH, You say!  What have they done to the paint?  After the first "clear coat" is baked over night, they lightly sand it and then remove all of the fine dust.  This (now roughened) clear coat gives the second layer of clear coat something to adhere to as well as give it "depth."

Even after all of that one of the inspectors found a small bubble in one of the "Smoky Teal" stripes.  This one they sand; repainted and buffed it out to invisibility.

When we were here to watch our TREKKER being built we had the opportunity to sit down twice with Bob Tiffin the founder and president of Tiffin Motorhomes.  Tiffin Motorhomes is a privately owned family business.  It was founded by Bob in the early 70's.  He stands behind his product.  As he told us when we were speaking with him "All motorhomes have problems.  Ours do to, but I promise you this - We will fix all of the problems that are our fault."  One really nice thing for Irene and I is that the Tiffin family are all members of the church of Christ.  We just found that out about 1 1/2 years ago.  Had we known that when we got into RVing - we would have bought nothing BUT Tiffin motorhomes.  We believe in the verse: "In honor, preferring one another (Romans 12:10)."  

All of that was a year ago.  We have had some problems with the Trekker over the last year as those of you that read this blog know.  In September, I contacted Gary Harris, the head of the chassis division of Tiffin Motorhomes.  I asked him if we could send him a list of the items we needed repaired on the motorhome under warranty.  I also asked him if I sent a picture of our odometer reading showing that it was under 12,000 miles (the warranty limit) with that list of problems if that would prove that they occurred while under warranty.  "No Problem" that will be fine.  When we arrived here the rig had 13,545 miles.  In spite of that, all of the repairs will be treated as warranty work.  Most manufacturers would NOT do that.

So, we are here in Red Bay until the middle of December.  It is the first real time we have had to R-E-L-A-X since we were here a year ago.  Friday Night Irene and I went to the movies ("The Judge" with Robert Duvall and Robert Downey, Jr.).  Hoping to be able to go again tomorrow after evening services.  

I also got a walk in today.  I only walked 2 miles.  It's been so long that even that much about wiped me out.  I watched Purdue get beat by Wisconsin today (not a big surprise).  Right now Ohio State is beating up on Michigan State (a bigger surprise since it is at MSU).  Irene and I tied in our Scrabble today.  She won one; I won one and we tied the 3rd.  That's pretty unusual.

Tomorrow the church here in Red Bay is having a one day Gospel Meeting.  It includes a pitch-in dinner (Indiana); Potluck (North Dakota); Covered Dish dinner (in the south) or whatever you want to call it. YUM!

Have a blessed day everyone.

Our Sojourn in Theodore, Alabama OR Let's Play Musical Rigs

The Camp Bee Workshop ended on October 23rd.  We had chosen our 2015 Sojourning Schedule and it was time to move on to our final Sojourn of the 2014 "Sojourn Year."  It was at the Bellingrath Road church of Christ in Theodore, Alabama which is immediately south and west of the city of Mobile, AL.

Because the Sojourn is after Camp Bee (which is the unofficial "end" of the Sojourning year), getting a team together for the Sojourn was very difficult.  NO ONE but Irene and I signed up last year at Camp Bee.  I signed on as the Team Leader so that assured that the sojourn COULD go on and that others could sign up for it.  Now, we just needed that to happen.

At the Florida Workshop (like Camp Bee but about 1/5 the size in the number of Sojourners that attend it) one sister who is a widow signed up.  Then it just sat there for months until in May I got a request from another individual that I'd never heard of and wasn't in our list of active sojourners that he would like to come to help.  I had to check with the office at Camp Bee to find out if this guy actually was even a sojourner.  I was told that he was.  Phew, now we are up to 4 of us coming.

In August I contacted the office at Camp Bee to find out who was signed up.  Al and Glenda Wooten had also decided to work with us again in Theodore.  They must be gluttons for punishment.  They were with us in Spencer, WV in July and apparently didn't learn better yet.  So now we had 6 of us coming.

While we were at the Shults-Lewis Sojourn in September I got word from Camp Bee that Fred and Kay Bowman from the Columbus area of Ohio had contacted the office about working in the Sojourn.  God be praised, now we had 8 of us going to be there.

While at Camp Bee for the workshop I thought it best to contact everyone that had signed up to go to Theodore.  The sister that had signed up in Florida told me here living situation had changed and she wouldn't be able to make it now.  Also, the brother that I wasn't even sure that he was a Sojourner had to back out to teach a Grief Seminar at the congregation he attends.  5 people in the congregation have unexpectedly had their spouses pass away.  Now we were back to 6.  Dang!

We arrived at Theodore on Friday, October 24th.  We left Camp Bee immediately following the close of the workshop at Noon on Thursday the 23rd.  When we arrived at the church we had a surprise.  Steve and Marie Marshall had signed up AT Camp Bee to work at the sojourn.  Hubba, Hubba we were back up to 8.

Our task was to disseminate invitations that were in "door hangers" to the Annual "Friends and Family Day" at the church this past Sunday, November 2nd.  We had EXCELLENT help from the congregation.  Overall we (the 8 sojourners and about 8 locals) distributed 2,200 invitations to the homes with 5 miles of the church building in 4 days - Monday - Thursday.

The congregation here has about 30 that typically attend on a Sunday.  This past Sunday at the Friends and Family Day we had 89 in attendance.  9 of those were visitors from the community.  So, about 10 percent of those that attended Sunday were as a direct result of the work we had done last week.

AMEN!

Al and Glenda Wooten ended up having to leave last Thursday.  Sees Candy contacted them about opening a new store for the Christmas Holiday in the St. Louis area in a mall.  We were back at 6 here.

Today the Marshalls and Bowmans both had to leave.  The Marshalls are going up to St. Louis the take over the Sees Candy store AFTER the Wootens get it up and going.  They will be there through the first of the year.  The Bowmans had to be back in Columbus, OH so Fred can be at work on Friday.  And then there were only 2 left - Irene and I.

We will leave Thursday morning.  I am teaching here Wednesday night on "Maturing in Christ."

We will be heading up to Red Bay, Alabama - the Birthplace of the Trekker.  We will be there until about mid December.  We have some warranty work we need to have done on the rig.  Hopefully, 5 weeks will be enough time to get it all done.  They work on a "First Come, First Served. NO APPOINTMENTS ALLOWED" basis.

In mid December we will be heading down to Disney World to spend Christmas with as many kids as can come.  We will be there for a week before we head back to Mission, TX to start our 2015 Sojourner year with our first Sojourn in our new "backyard" at the Church of Christ North in Pharr, TX about 10 miles from our new home.

Our Audience with Queen Isabela OR Follow the bouncing Chrysler 200

On September 27th we took leave of trying to get situated into our new winter digs in Mission, TX to do something infinitely more important: Fly to Tucson, Arizona to see our newest Granddaughter for the very first time.  Isabela Rain Gordon was born to Joshua and Cristina on June 29th.  She checked in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. and 19" long.

We were actually IN Mission, Texas taking our "Pre-Drywall Walk-Through" on the house when she was born.  Mommy wanted to hold off until July 7th but Bela was having NO part of that.  She came into the world laying down the "I run this place now" card - One has to wonder if/when that will ever change.

THE FOLLOWING ARE OBSERVATIONS BY JIM AND DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF IRENE, THE ACTUAL MEDICAL DOCTOR OF THE TWO OF US:

Having kids today is SOOO much different than when we were born or even when our kids were born.  Now some doctors tell parents to put the kid in isolation until they are 12 weeks olds to protect them from exposure:  "Wait until they get that first battery of shots. " Heck when Josh and Joel (identical twins) were born 6 weeks premature; stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks until they got to 5 lbs. and the moment they got out they were at church the next time the doors were opened.  Mary got taken to a museum at 1 week old.  You didn't used to worry about having family members and others that were NOT sick holding your baby.  Not anymore.  

Through much of the 50's and into the 70's infant formulas were standard fare for feeding children because it's "so much better than breast milk - perfectly balanced."  Not anymore.  

During the same period of time the Caudal Block and Epidural were a girl's best friend.  Natural childbirth was a rarity.  Not anymore.

OH MY how much bottles have changed in the last 60 years: Glass bottles with nipples that looked like a cow udder nipple gave way to plastic bottles with plastic liners with nipples that looked like a woman's nipple to plastic bottles that look almost like a figure 8 with no liners and nipples that just look goofy to me - bent over in one direction and kinda smashed down.

And Pacifiers (FYI "Dummies" in South Africa) which were all the rage for 30 years to the point that they were pinned on the clothes of some kids that were almost 2 years old have almost gone extinct.  NONE of our 6 grandkids has ever had one that I know of.

While we were in Tucson, AZ we rented a car from Hertz and stayed at the Marriott on University of Arizona campus.  It was about 20 miles from Josh and Chris' Home over on the far east side of town.  Chris' mom, Delia Davidescu, had come over from Romania (Chris is a Romanian by birth, American by choice) to help Chris with the baby.  We'd go visit during the day and then head back to our hotel at night.  We got in Friday about noon and were going to be leaving at about 2 PM on Monday to head back to Mission and more house moving.

On Monday morning we got together for one last time with the kids.  It was decided we would go over to their house at 7:00 AM to have bagels for breakfast.  The bagels were great.  We left their place about 8 and coming back to the hotel we stopped at Lazydays RV to see what they might have in stock and (once again) prove (and pat ourselves on the back) for the excellent choice we had made in selecting the Tiffin Allegro Bus 45LP.

We left at 9:15 and it was a mere 5 miles to our hotel.  An easy drive and gave us 4+ hours to get to the hotel and grab our stuff (which we had already packed)  and head to the airport.  We were about 3/10 of a mile east of the Kino Parkway exit on the I-10 freeway headed west.  Suddenly I see a reddish-brown truck coming UP out of the MEDIAN and heading right for us.  I told Irene "This guy is going to hit us." B-A-A-M-M-M!!!! He hit us right in the rear driver's side rear wheel.  We were doing 55.  Before he hit us he had blindly accelerated up onto the Westbound interstate.

Below is a picture I cropped from Google Earth to show you the terrain of the median.  We were in the slow lane of I-10 East (the one at the top).

You can see were the I-10 symbol is.  That was our approximate position.  You can also see that the median BETWEEN the Westbound (our direction of travel) and the Eastbound lanes is as wide as the 2 lanes and the shoulder on both sides put together.  So, it is about 45-50 feet.  What you can't see is that the Median has about a 6 foot ravine in it.  That's the reason why there is a row of vegetation right down the center of the median - the water flows to the center of it.  You also can see if you look closely that there are some fairly good sized rocks and a lot of loose gravel in the median.  This combination does NOT make for good traction.

Anyway, this FOOL in the truck assumes that, since he can't SEE anybody on the roadway, there must not be anyone on the roadway, so its a great time to floor it to get up onto the freeway and out of the median (more on that later).  The problem with his hypothesis is: Due to the ravine in the median causing his truck's rear end to be 3 feet lower than his front end; his line of sight was such that unless a vehicle was a 16' high truck - he could not have SEEN what was on the roadway.

So, we are smacked in the driver's side rear by a vehicle moving virtually perpendicular to us.  QUICK, for all you PHYSICS MAJORS READING THIS BLOG - what happens to our car .... and his truck.  We are immediately looking at his truck.  Because we are now spinning in a counter-clockwise direction as I attempt to keep control of our vehicle and "keep the sloppy side down" as they used to say in the days of CB radios.  We ended up doing a 540º spin and came to a stop on the FAST LANE shoulder facing the wrong way with the driver's side tires on the shoulder and the passenger side tires on the rocky median.

We couldn't see the truck.  I assumed with his greater mass (and since we saw him go in FRONT of us (which was really the old "behind us" but we didn't know that yet) that it was a hit and run and he just kept going and got off of the freeway at the Kino Parkway exit which was only about 1/4 mile away.

We were both physically fine (thank you Lord).  I called 911 to report a hit-and-run accident about 1/4 mile east of the Kino Parkway exit in the Westbound lanes.  I was told by the 911 operator that she would dispatch police to us and in fact that their would be police to us momentarily that would check on us but that they were actually responding to a vehicle that had gone off of the road on the eastbound lanes.  She explained that there would be a second police cruiser handle our accident and it "might be a while until they got there."

The first Arizona Highway Patrol unit arrived on its way to the incident on the eastbound lanes.  We told them what had occurred.  They told us that they were responding to reports of a red pickup truck driving recklessly in the eastbound lanes that had gone off the road and down into the median.  They realized it was the same truck.

It ended up that the truck had NOT "hit and run" us.  When he hit us he had lost control of the truck and continued toward the top of the picture above.  His path took him across the shoulder across the dirt and through ANOTHER ravine; through a fence; through a second ravine and he came to a stop after crashing into the fence which surrounds the Kino Sports Complex (where you can see the baseball/softball diamonds).

Now the police had to take statements and type up an "Exchange of Insurance Information" form.  Then they needed to get our car off the shoulder of the interstate.  Amazingly, even though our rental car's driver side rear wheel was no longer perpendicular to the ground (it was driven in at the top by the force to the truck hitting it) it was still inflated and drivable .... barely.  We could go about 25 mph but no faster.  If we hit even the smallest bump in the road the tire "bottomed out" against the wheel well.  But we decided to try to make it to the hotel and then to the airport about 6 miles away.  Lord be praised we did.  He blessed us that day by sparing us from what COULD have been a deadly accident.  Thank you, Father.

We made it to the airport 1 hour before our flight was to depart.  Thank goodness Tucson International Airport isn't O'Hare or LAX or JFK or Atlanta.

To close, a shout out of thanks to the eyewitness who came to our aid.  He had seen the accident from the Kino Parkway Overpass and came to see if we were okay and stayed to give the police his witness statement which corroborated that the red pickup truck had come up out of the median and struck us causing us to spin out.  He is the one that actually told us that the truck had crashed through the fences and gone through the ravines and come to a stop as it crashed into the Kino sports complex fencing.

Our New Digs in Mission, Texas

On the 22nd of September we closed on our new "Winter Home" in Mission, Texas.  It is a "Port Home" in Retama Village in the Bentsen Palms Development.  Retama Village is a 55 and over subdivision.  It has 4 different types of "homes."  The most simple is called a Coach House.  It is a 16'x24' one "room" unfinished building with double french doors (usually).  They look like this:

The large concrete pad is for the owner's RV.  So, you live in your RV next to a one room building in which you have finished out to include (usually) a living area: TV, couch, small fridge and small sink.  Some of them even have a corner toilet and sink. 

Another type of offering they have is a "One Bedroom Casita (Spanish for "small house")."  They look like this:

They also build one style of home (and only one NOT for RV Owners).  There are a couple of different models but they all look like standard homes with garages instead of a place to park your RV.  Here's an example:

Ours is a "Port Home."  It has 2 bedrooms and a "RV Port."  We had 4 days - from the 22nd-25th to get "moved in" (for the most part.  They delivered the U-Pack truck that we had packed in Lafayette, IN in early May of this year.  The next day 4 of the guys from Esperanza Homes (the Retama Village Home building company) came by after work and helped us unload the truck.  They were handsome and handsomely paid for their help.

Here's some pics of the box-laden house:

A picture across a box-strewn living room toward the kitchen.

This is the front or "guest" box room right now.

This is a picture of the computer alcove before we started unpacking boxes.

Slowly, over the next 2 days Irene chipped away at the boxes and a "home" started to take shape:

The kitchen all cleaned up and pretty.

The master bathroom shower is beautiful.

This is one of our display cabinets with our Romanian Porcelain in it.

As Irene worked inside the house, I was outside in the storage shed designing; building and installing shelving.  We have a 5 1/2 feet wide 16 feet long 2-story storage shed.  I've put 8 feet long; 2 feet deep floor to ceiling shelves on one side.  They are made for heavyweight use.  They are 2"x4" support structure with 3/4" AC grade plywood for the 4 shelves.  On the other side I put in shelves 1 foot deep and 8 feet long.  These are made with a 2"x2" support structure and the same 3/4" AC grade plywood for shelving.

In between the 2 sets of shelves there is a set of pull-down attic stairs.  I've got my eyes on the upstairs for an N-scale train layout.