Alea iacta est! - or "In for a Penny in for a Pound"

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME,  THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

The Latin phrase in the title above is supposedly the statement of Julius Caesar to his Commanders when he made the decision to bring his legions into Italy.  The Roman Senate had ordered Caesar not to return to Rome.  As he crossed the Rubicon river in Northern Italy in defiance of that Senatorial order he quoted a line from the Greek poet Meander: "The die is cast" in Latin this is "Alea iacta est!" What would follow is a civil war that would lead to his becoming Dictator of Rome and its conquests and eventually his assassination at the hand of Cassius, Brutus and others as immortalized in Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar."

In our last post you read, I was extolling the formidable virtues of Retama Village in Mission, TX.  Irene and I were so impressed that we knew that we wanted to use this as our "base camp" and SOME DAY, probable final retirement home.  We had come with another vision in mind - just a place to "winter" out of the freezing temps of the northern 2/3s of the nation.  We thought we'd get one of the bungalow lots and have one built for us and then finish it out.  But it seemed that this was "too small" a vision.

We stayed on one of the lots and realized that the 12x20 (or even 12x24) bungalows were really to small to both live at and have visiting family stay in at the same time.  I suggested instead a one bedroom casita that had about 720 sq. ft.  Irene dutifully said "Whatever you decide, dear."  Guys, have you ever noticed that when a woman says that is when she breaks out into FULL-out devious mode?!  Casita it is:  We went over and picked out everything for it - tile, cabinets, countertops, lights, fixtures, yada, yada.

Then we went once again to look at the port homes.  It was then that I realized (what Irene probably realized the day before) that with the port home we could RV NOW and then (as will almost certainly eventually happen) when we can't RV anymore or start to cut back to 2, 3 or 4 a year we can move into and STILL have some of the kids/grandkids visit.  PLUS - we can have 2 (or even 3) of them come at the same time.  PLUS - Irene can keep some of the clothes and 'stuff' she still has in Lafayette.

It was like we were driving a fine sports car - a really low first gear (bungalow) followed by a shift into a powerful second gear (casita) followed by a shift into that top gear that pins you to the back of your seat as you go screaming around those banked turns (2 bedroom Port Home).

So, we signed the papers on Monday and gave them a deposit to build us an "Ebony" floor plan 2 bedroom Port Home on Hummingbird Lane in Retama Village in Mission, TX.  We spent yesterday afternoon going through our selections for the Port Home (many were the same as for the casita) and making choices on many architectural options involved with the home.  This morning before we left Carol Kerr (the talented and gracious one herself - [We expect some perqs for this shameful plug, kid]) - met with us to go over the "red-lined" plan: The one that showed the house with the options we'd selected incorporated.  Having done that we got in the Trekker and headed to our first Sojourn of the year in Port Lavaca, TX.

As we drove along Irene called the lender we'd hoped to be able to use for the financing.  They took our application over the phone and pre-approved us for a mortgage after about a one hour conversation.

o/` o/` HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN! o/` o/`

FILE UNDER "HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD"

Irene and I went to see if the Trekker was fixed at about 1:30 PM Friday afternoon.  Just as we got there we saw a tech coming out of the rig with the papers they put in your car/truck/RV so the floor doesn't get dirty.  We asked him if it was close to done.

"Yep, I just finished with it."  I asked when the parts came in.  He said they were there at 8:15 in the morning.  He would just have to do HIS paperwork then give it to Dan the Service Dept. Manager who would have to do HIS paperwork.

I went up and asked Dan and he said it would take about an hour to get it and then that he'd have to get the payment from Gary at Tiffin Motorhomes (via a Tiffin Company Credit Card) and then we could have it.  I told him we'd be back about 3.

FILE UNDER "WE DON'T BELIEVE IN SERENDIPITY"

So, Irene and I went to eat lunch at Delia's Tamales in Weslaco (about 5 miles east of McAllen) on Friday just after noon.  After placing our order for 1/2 dozen "Cream Chesse and Jalapeño pepper" tamales we saw a stack of pamphlets on the ordering counter that were written in Spanish.  It said "The Church which Christ built."  I'm not super-proficient in Spanish but I do dabble in translation some.  The pamphlet talked about the original and the only church which Jesus built.  Irene (who DOES know conversational Spanish well) started to translate it and we realized it was a brochure for an "Iglesia de Cristo" in McAllen - the "Church of Christ."  I asked who had put the brochures there and was told that the owner is a member of the church.  COOL.  We supported a sister in Christ.

 After we got done eating we headed over to pick up our rig.  It was wonderful to see it on all 8 wheels again.

FILE UNDER "HOW SWEET IS THIS PLACE?!"

If you have followed this blog since its inception you know that Irene and I have been trying to find a location far enough south to call our residence and have our domicile in.  We went to Florida and established our domicile there in January. While we were in Florida at the Florida RV dealers Supershow in Tampa we saw brochures for many of the RV Resorts down here.  Subsequent to that we had people we know like the Blairs mention the Rio Grande Valley of Texas or "RGV" as its called here as a possible location.   They put us in contact with the Nelsons, another Sojourner couple who own a Bungalow at "Retama Village" here in Mission, TX.  They told us about "Discover Retama" a promotion put on by the developers.  They will let you come and stay free of charge for 3 days if you will let them show you the development.  We called and set this up way back in early February.  

If you'd like to read up on Retama Village here is the link:

Retama Village

Since we were scheduled to be here from the 6th-8th and our rig was broken down, they let us stay in one of their 1 bedroom Casitas until Friday.  Then they extended our stay until this coming Wednesday so we could stay for a while IN our RV.

The development is amazing.  They have bungalows (or "Coach Houses" as they call them).  Then they have 1 and 2 Bedroom "Port Homes" and 1 Bedroom Casitas.  These 3 Types of homes are all specifically designed for those who own RVs.  They also have one part of the development for those who only want a house.  The whole community for "Active 55+ year olders."

Having said that, the BEST part - of many REALLY GOOD parts - Irene and I have seen at Retama Village are the owners themselves:  Everyone is friendly; smiling; pleasant; helpful; outgoing and 

L-O-V-E-S it here.  

Other things we've noticed since coming here about a week ago now.  The locals really appreciate "winter Texans" as we are called.  That isn't necessarily the case in Florida.  Many people there seem to view "Snowbirds" as an evil necessity to have to put up with and of course price GOUGE.  Here in the valley the cost of living is about 20% LESS than what it was in Florida while we were there.  PLUS, the local restaurants are better.  PLUS, the traffic is MUCH less of a hassle.  Even last night (Friday) and at what would normally be "rush hour" (4:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday) there was NO rush hour and very little slow down on the 65 mph US Freeway 83 that runs East-West through the area.  Plus, this is NOT "God's Waiting Room."  The overall percentage of people, hmmm, how do I say this .... OUR AGE is MUCH LOWER.  In Florida, everyone seems to be 60+,  even the teenagers.  It's like some mutant strain of the flu wiped out everyone under 50.

Friday we went to [[the World Birding Center]]. 

Yesterday Irene and I went to the [[National Butterfly Center]].  

Then we headed over to [[South Padre Island]] on the Gulf Coast.  That could have been a BIG problem since it was the first day of Spring Break for many schools and colleges and universities.  Even there though the traffic wasn't that bad though it was little heavy.  We went to a great restaurant - Dirty Al's.  Its a seafood restaurant that is very casual.  Kinda like a "Joe's Crab Shack" with MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better food.

We went to a great church today.  It is the Church of Christ North in Pharr, TX.  They emphasize Hispanic missions on BOTH sides of the border.  They have a School of Preaching to train Spanish speakers not only to go back to Mexico to plant new churches but also plant Spanish speaking works on this side of the border.  It was a really nice day.  We met to other Sojourner couples that attend the church during the winter months.

RED BAY, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!!!! - Part II

When last we posted you saw Trekker-3 being towed 75 miles to Doggett Freightliner in Pharr, TX.  Irene and I stayed in the Holiday Inn Express about 1/2 mile away.  I had to be there in a mere 6 hours @ 8 AM Tuesday morning to tell them what was wrong.

At 8 AM the guys from Universal Towing from Farr, TX arrived to reinstall the drive axle into the Trekker.  While they were doing that I went over to the service department.  The elderly man that met me a wasn't the friendliest guy to be sure.  I explained that the rig was broken and that Coach-net had been told they could start on it on Wednesday - of course that was 12 hours before it actually arrived there.  When speaking to the guy at the service desk he explained that it would probably be Thursday and maybe even Friday before they could get to it now.  They had 11 rigs in the queue in front of ours now.  UGH!

I explained to him that this was going to be paid as Warranty work by Tiffin Motorhomes.  He didn't seem impressed.  I left because Irene and I had to be at a presentation for Retama Village at 10 AM.  (Retama Village will be the NEXT post I write).

After the Retama Village presentation Irene and I headed back to Freightliner so I could speak to someone more "official" at the service department (read that "Farther up the chain of command")  I went in this time and there was a man with a work shirt that had the name "DAN" on his chest - now THIS guy had to be important - His shirt was clean.  He wasn't a mechanic, he was in management.  I explained the situation to him.  He didn't seem impressed. "We don't do warranty work;"  We aren't a Tiffin Service Center;" "Maybe we can get to it Friday" - These are the responses I was getting.  "Pleases, just have a talk with the manager of the chassis department at Tiffin," I said as I was dialing the number.  "They are going to overnight you the parts you are certain to have to replace.  If there are others they will ship those too."  Gary Harris at Tiffin answered his phone.  "Hi Gary, this is Jim Gordon and I'm here at Doggett Freightliner with Dan.  I'd like you to talk to him about Tiffin is paying for this as warranty work."  They had a 3 minute conversation during which Dan went over and checked the computer - "Is this Tiffin Motorhomes in Red Bay, Alabama" he asked Gary.  "OK, you are in our computer here.  Ship those parts and when we get to look at the RV, we'll get back to you."

Since he hung up the phone after that conversation Tuesday at about 11:30 Dan has been VERY PLEASANT.  We have gone back Yesterday (Wednesday) about noon to see how things were going - had they even moved Trekker yet - NOPE.  When I went in he said: "We have got the parts from Tiffin.  I've got a tech coming back from lunch now.  I'm going to have him bring it in to take a look at as soon as he is back."

Yesterday in the late afternoon we went back over.  Dan wasn't behind the counter but was on the other side of the counter behind a piece of one way glass and I heard him say "Gary, this is Dan at Doggett.  We got those parts and installed them but there is still something wrong.  The belt is still very loose.  Give me a call back if you can before 5 when we close."  I figure he must have been leaving a message on Gary's voicemail at Tiffin.  Then he called someone and I heard him say "Well, yes he is right here I see him now."  He was speaking to Irene on my phone out in the car.   He came around the corner and explained that the fix they sent him wasn't fixing things.  Something else must be wrong too.

Last night I shot off an email to Gary explaining the situation with the pictures I included in this post:

[Red Bay, we have a problem]

with much of the same explanation as that post has.

I got an email from Gary at 8:44 this morning that they had asked Freightliner to to some measurements on the positions of the crankshaft, tensioner arm and fan clutch assembly.

At 12:09 this afternoon I got a follow-up call from Gary that the measurements showed that the Fan Clutch mounting bracket was indeed bent (about 2 inches!) by the pulley sleeve when it came  unfastened from the fan clutch.  Because of that Tiffin was going to send a new fan clutch mounting bracket AND a brand new fan clutch assembly OVERNIGHT delivery and requested "Early Morning Delivery" of the parts.  He explained that Dan was going to have his man remove the old fan clutch assembly and mounting bracket TODAY in hopes that the parts whenever they arrive tomorrow can immediately be installed.  Gary said "Dan's assured me he will do everything he can to make sure your rig is repaired and you get it back by tomorrow night."

Later this afternoon Irene and I had to go over and get some additional clothes out of the Trekker - it was pulled into the shop and I went around to look at the rear end - the tech had already started removing the fan clutch and mounting bracket.

Lord willing, we will have our rig back tomorrow evening.  All fixed and purring like a kitten.

o/` o/` There Goes My Baby o/` o/`

Keep em' rollin', rollin, rollin

This is from Monday night as we watched Trekker being towed away.

RED BAY, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!

Monday began with so much promise.  We arose at 7 AM to make sure we got down to Bentsen Palm about 1:00 - 2:00 PM complete with stops for lunch and potty breaks.  Easy-Peasy!  We are tooling down the "Corridor of Future I-69 Interstate."  Which is US Hwy 77.  It's getting toward lunch-time at about 11:15 and I'm thinking "Shazaam, baby! We will make it there by 1:00 and we will just wait to have lunch until after we are checked in and ready to go.  We are 7 miles from Falfurrias, TX (whatever in the heck THAT is named after!) which is only 87.6 miles from our destination.  HUBBA, HUBBA!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!   BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!

My dash indicators sound this auditory alert as 2 of the indicators light - one is an Amber colored "Light Bulb" looking thing with an exclamation point in it and the other is a RED light bulb looking thing with an exclamation point in it! HUH, WHAT?  I look down and the coolant temp is above 200º on the gauge.  I pulled over and shut off the engine.


I got out to see of the rig and walked to the back to lift the engine cover to see if I could see what the problem was.  OH, MY!!  A blind man could see it in a minute in the middle of a white out snowstorm.

The belt pulley guide that connects to the back of the fan clutch assembly which is SUPPOSED to have 6 bolts holding it to the clutch assembly had ONLY ONE bolt still in place.  The pulley guide was pulled away from the body of the clutch assembly and the fan belt that goes from the crank shaft to the fan clutch assembly and has a tensioner to hold it tight had totally fallen off. EEEEEEKK!

Here's a picture of the way it SHOULD LOOK:

Here you can see that their tensioner s at about a 45º angle from the pivot arm to the tensioner and that the bottom of the tensioner is virtually at the same level as the bottom of the crankshaft.

You can see the nice bright silver pulley in the middle of the picture.  That is attached to the crankshaft.  You can also see the tensioner arm.  It is the silver "arm" that is at a 45º angle just to the left of the crankshaft pulley.  The fan clutch assembly isn't quite as easy to see because it is behind the blade vertical bar and the silver air intake piece.  The fan clutch assembly is silver and if you look closely has small, silver vanes all the way around it.

Here's a picture (as good as I could get it) of our belt AFTER I reinstalled it and tried to tighten it up as I was instructed to by Gary Harris the manager of the chassis department at Tiffin Motorhomes in Red Bay, Alabama.

Now, I know that the perspective is slightly different in the pictures, but you can CLEARLY see that our tensioner is virtually straight up and down and significantly LOWER than the bottom of the crankshaft.  SOMETHING else in NOT there that is supposed to BE there OR, the whole fan clutch assembly has MOVED TOWARD the crankshaft because those are the 2 points (the crankshaft and the clutch assembly) that determine the distance that the belt has to span.  The tensioner merely takes out what little play there should be in the belt to “keep it tight.”  (My assumption is that the whole crankshaft didn’t shift toward the fan clutch! LOL)

Now, I called "Coach-Net" a national emergency roadside assistance insurance provided by Tiffin as part of the warranty of every new motorhome they sell.  They got the pertinent information.  We stressed to them that our motorhome had Independent Front Suspension (IFS) and could NOT BE HOOKED UP BY ANYTHING under the vehicle itself.  The tow truck HAD TO BE a "Wheel Lift" tow truck.  "No Problem" we will get one to you as soon as possible.  Because we were on the shoulder of a relatively busy US highway with a 75 mph speed limit.  They had the sheriff come by to make sure we were 'safe."

Meanwhile the rig had cooled off sufficiently that I could drive it the 7 miles to Falfurrias to park in the Walmart parking lot there.  It MUST be the smallest Walmart in the world.  We called Coach-Net again to tell them our new location.  They were still working on trying to find a tow truck to tow us to South Texas Freightliner in Pharr, TX.

They called back about 45 minutes later saying they had found one and that it would be to us in "about 2 hours."  We went to get something to eat and got gas and drove around the thriving metropolis of Falfurrias, TX (that took all of about 5 minutes).   Finally at about 4:30 the tow truck shows up.  The driver gets out and looks at the structure of the front of our rig and sees that it has IFS.  "I can't tow this, I don't have a wheel lift tow truck!"  You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  We TOLD them this was an IFS suspension system.  "It isn't listed as one."  The driver was "torqued" to put it mildly.  I'm sure that Coach-Net will HAVE to pay him but they sure cost themselves some extra money and him a lot of wasted time and now WE are still sitting here without a tow and the clock it tick, tick, ticking away.

We call Coach-Net again and tell them they had sent the wrong type of tow.  "We'll find one and give you a call back" they assured us.  Sure enough, they called back in about 20 minutes saying that they had found a wheel-lift tow truck and he would be to us in about  1 1/2 hours.  He was coming up from Pharr, TX. Finally at 7:15 PM the truck arrives - HOW ABOUT THAT its the right kind a "wheel-lift" truck.  The driver tells me "OH, it's a bus!  We were only told it was a regular Diesel Pusher RV.  I'll have to clear this with my boss."  By this time we are giddy.  And just chuckle to ourselves at the SNAFU that this has been.  You gotta laugh right?  No sense getting upset.  That doesn't cure a thing.  He gets his bosses okay - easy enough.

So he starts to hook us up for the tow.  It took 2 HOURS.  Getting the wheels "lifted" with the equipment they have was the easy part.  What I didn't know is that they have to pull the drive shaft so the rear axles are free and just roll.  That took 1 hour all by itself.  So, now it is 9:15 PM - TEN HOURS since we first broke down and we are ready to go ...... 75 miles at an average speed of about 35 mph.  That's right folks.  It took us 2 hours to drive to Pharr, TX from Falfurrias - (or FAIL FURIOUS as Irene nicknamed it).  We got to the Freightliner repair shop at 12:30 in the morning.  13 hours after we had first broken down.

We were exhausted.  We went and checked into a Holiday Inn Express about 1/2 mile away.  We had to be at the Freightliner shop at 8 AM to get our rig onto their repair schedule.

NEXT POST  - a continuation of Texas Boot Scootin' Two Step from the Nether regions of Pharr (from anywhere) Texas.

Good night.

It's Catch Up Sunday

I forgot to mention in the last post that I spent about 1 1/2 hours washing the Trekker on Friday afternoon.  It wasn't all that tough and the colors sure "pop" again.

Yesterday we took about 5 1/2 hours to drive to Pearland, TX just south of Houston.  It's where Brenda and Dave Blair live when not at Camp Bee.   We ended up going to one of their son's houses for the birthday party for one of their grandsons.  We owe Hazuki a BIG "We are sorry" for not getting back home in time to FaceTime a walkthrough of our Trekker with her.

After the party, we went back home and Irene and Brenda totally kicked Dave and I around the Trekker in a game of Hand and Foot.

This morning we went to church with the Blairs at the Pearland Church of Christ.  The class was on 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12 - about "minding your own business."  Basically not being a meddlesome person.  After that we went to "Gringos" an EXCELLENT Tex-Mex Restaurant in Pearland.  I'd suggest it to anyone in the Pearland area looking for good Mexican food.

After that it was a 3 hour drive down to Port Lavaca.  We have a Sojourn here beginning March 17th.  I'm the "Team Leader" for it.  On the 22nd Irene is the speaker at a "Ladies Day."  Then from the 23rd-26th the church is holding a "Revival" (or "Gospel Meeting" depending on what you are used to calling them).  We thought it might be good, since it is essentially on the way to McAllen, TX to stop here for church this evening.  It was fortuitous.  Shan Jackson, the preacher here, had gotten sick and had to go home.  Irene and I walked in and I heard someone say that he had just left.  I asked if they'd need someone to preach.  They said SURE!

So I preached on having "Spiritual Eyes."  Being Spiritually Perceptive.  Looking at this life and creation from a non-material viewpoint.  It was well received.

Tomorrow morning we have a 5-6 hour drive to McAllen and since it is 10:30 here already, I bid you all "adieu!"