When we left off last month we were back in Decatur, IN to finish
up with REV (American Coach’s service facility). On our last trip to Decatur we
ordered two manual awnings…..To explain the two, our coach came from the
factory with a Girard electric awning package, that actually is top of the line
and pretty expensive. However, when something breaks repairs are also pretty
expensive. In this case our bedroom window awning motor had quit and after
pricing just the motor at $1200, plus $240 labor for install. To heck with that!
Remove the entire electric awning and replace with a manual. The other? For a long time I wanted to get a manual
window awning over the living room window next to my chair. This window always
relied on the main patio awning to shade the window, but because of the height
above the window and its configuration it just didn’t do a very good job of
shading. I must say the factory did a very nice job in the retrofit from
electric to manual as the two different awnings were from entirely different
manufacturers and were completely different. Now we only have one electric window awning
left and will likely replace it with a
manual in the future. This whole event only took a couple days but we were in
no hurry to leave so as our next appointment would not be until the coming
Monday so we camped in REV’s parking lot campground through the weekend.
Finally, on Monday the 7th, we hooked up and prepared to head to our next appointment
destination. This was a short 40 mile
drive to Cruising American in Celina, OH. Here we met with owner Kevin Mallory
for yet a bit more work….lol. Kevin doesn’t have a website but he has an
outstanding shop. He and his sidekick were both techs at the
American Coach
Factory for many years and they really know their stuff. Our main reason for
this stop was to have our tank gauges changed out. We decided to go with
SeaLevel Tank Gauges from https://www.garnetinstruments.com/rv-shop/
This install removes all gauges from the inside of your tanks and places the
new electronic sensors to the outside of the tanks…..They work great!
Remember I said that was our main reason to visit Kevin but
when you have an RV, there are ALWAYS additional repairs that need to be
completed….lol! Unfortunately when we left Auburn, IN another fix-it project added to
our list - while we were pulling in the living room slide we blew out an upper
slide seal..ugh So guess what else were having looked at. We were a bit
concerned because that is a major seal on the slide. However, upon inspection
by Kevin he determined it was actually the sweep seal as opposed to the slide
seal. Easier to fix and less money! Unfortunately, that is apparently a
proprietary seal from the factory and Kevin was not able to order one. This
could have been a big problem but remember we were only 40 miles from Decatur. Susan
and I jumped in the truck and made a quick trip back to the factory to buy the
seal allowing Kevin to continue to work.
Day One work with Cruising America started on the 8th - tank gauges
prepped for install, seal purchased and planning for completion by the end of
Day Two. But the fun didn’t stop there. We pulled out of the bay to park for the night and relax…..Oh, no - this was Election day and the night was young. I vowed to stay up to see the winner announced and I was not alone! Many of my Face Book friends were awake with me. AS the results came in we were rapidly typing back and forth posting our thoughts and opinions. Most of us made it to the final
Day Two pretty much took the entire day to complete guage
install and replace the sweep seal. It may have completed a bit earlier BUT
before they said we were done I came up with another little project. I decided to
have them install another electrical outlet so that I could plug in the new
electric recliner that we would be picking up in a few days. You know it’s the
important things in life. Kevin was gracious enough to allow us use of his
parking lot one more night. Thank you Kevin for outstanding quality work!
Hopefully we are done with repairs for awhile.
 |
| Too many cars to pick just one! |
All I can say about this place is WOW! If you in any way
like cars and history, this is a car museum you have to see. Right behind this
museum is the National Automotive and Truck Museum http://natmus.org/.
Another outstanding museum dedicated to automotive history and a must see if
you are in the area. Unfortunately, I was once again dealing with some pretty
bad health issues and we were very much hampered in our walk around of all
these fabulous cars. Thankfully we had all the time we needed, were not rushed
and were able to take a few minutes to relax as we ambled through all the tires
and steel. This was a fairly quick couple of days and we are once again
rolling.
Almost mid-November and here we are back in Elkhart, IN and
back at Mastertech RV. This time we are here so they can re-do our roof from
the last visit. We don’t know what to expect, except they have assured us it
would be taken care of. Because we arrived on Saturday and our apt was on
Monday we had a little time to explore. What do you do in Elkhart, IN on a
Sunday? You go visit Notre Dame University! That was one of the most beautiful
campuses I think I have seen. It took us a bit of time to find the entrance and
a parking spot, but there was virtually no one around and we took advantage of
it. We didn’t walk around a whole lot, but the main grounds in front of the gold
dome and the immediate surrounding buildings are really inspiring and almost
breathtaking. The history and the architecture – if only the walls could talk.
There is no doubt tons of Catholic Dollars have been dedicated to this
facility. We pretty much spent the whole day on this site seeing adventure.  |
| Awe inspiring! |
After a couple days in the hotel and another long day in a waiting room our coach is ready to go – again. I had made several inspections during the process this time and I can say it is finally right.
No time to waste
as we have an appointment at
 |
| Getting ready for new furniture |
 |
| The recliner really is full size - I assure you! |
It had been a LONG day so we didn’t drive far but it is still after dark when we arrive at http://timberlinevalleyrvresort.com/. We didn’t get to see much as this was just a one night stop over but from what we were able to see we need to revisit this park. It was late when we pulled in but yet the staff was friendly and even escorted us to our site - always a nice bonus when arriving in the dark at a place you have never been before..
November 17, 2016 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOMINICK!
We celebrated
Dominick’s birthday with a phone call full of well wishes for him and setting
up for a few days of much needed rest for us at Thousand Trails Diamond Caverns
in Park City, KY. https://www.thousandtrails.com/kentucky/diamond-caverns-rv-golf-club/Our original plan when we started this whole new life back in August had been to spend three weeks here but maintenance stops and reworks had us pushing the days back and back again. All told we were only able to spend a week here but this is another place we will someday revisit.
We had a great time
while here and I was able to get a couple of things accomplished that I had
been wanting to do for a long time. We went to the Corvette Factory and Museum
in Bowling Green, KY http://www.corvettemuseum.org/.
The Corvette Museum and Factory is something I have always wanted to do. Susan
and I have owned a couple different Corvettes over the years and will likely
own another one someday. Seeing how they are made and the history of them was a
lot of fun. “Man o man do I gotta get me one of them new C7 Z06’s! Yeah, I see
one in my future…”  |
| 2007 Atomic Orange C6 ZO6 - Ok, this one was not in the museum but DAMN it's a nice 'vette and I'd love to have it back! |
I was also able to treat Susan to a rare meeting of yet
another cousin. You would be surprised at how few cousins she has actually met
but the nomadic life of the Coast Guard did not often place us near family over
the years. My cousin Shawn Ellis and his girlfriend, Becky Hoover, live only a
couple hours from our campground and came to spend a day with us before we left
Kentucky. I had not seen Shawn in probably 20 years or more so it was fun to
catch back up. Shawn and I used to do some, uh fun stuff growing up…lol Probably
safer to leave that right there. It was a great visit and “We really appreciate
you coming by Shawn, let’s not wait so long next time.”
Susan’s highlight for November was the Mammoth Cave Domes
and Dripstones tour https://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/winter-schedule.htm.
All of the cave tours were not open
because of time of year but the park rangers told us this was the best one and
they were not kidding. Be advised though that if you are well grown (BIG) or have an issue with tight places you 
Before our journey even began back in August, I had made
reservations for us to stay at Thousand Trails Forrest Lake in Advance, NC from
November 23 – December 14, 2016. Unfortunately, this park is about two hours
from where our daughter lives, but hey it is “free” for us and we like free… in
case you are unfamiliar with Thousand Trails and I have not explained before –
Thousand Trails
is a campground membership that we
bought into a couple of years ago. We pay annual fees but are able to stay at
parks all across the country virtually free.
 |
| Photos taken from Indian Springs web page |
Anyway, I had Susan call ahead to make sure we were still
set for our arrival only to be met with the dreaded words “we are not sure we
will have a site large enough for you”, SERIOUSLY? Rather than stress, we
decided we were not interested in going that far only to not have a spot so we
frantically started looking for an alternate campground. AHHH did we find a
diamond in the rough when we found Indian Springs Campground http://www.indianspringscampgroundnc.com/. in Hickory, NC.
While this campground was not free like the one we were headed to - the price was
very reasonable, they offer a 10% military discount and had we been interested
we could have had the monthly rate for what our three week stay cost. The
owners are outstanding – very friendly and they worked with us on short or
rather no notice! The campground is small, quiet and secluded but close to the
interstate making it easy to get anywhere we needed to go. It has large sites
and is only an hour south of our daughter…..win, win, win.
As we get to Indian Springs Susan and I are very excited as
we have not seen our daughter (Taskina) |
| Larry and Susan |
I have to mention that within only a couple days of us leaving Sevierville, TN we were saddened to see the news of the fires and devastation in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg area. Many campers, homeowners and businesses were evacuated. So very sad and our hearts and prayers go out to the homeowners and business owners that lost everything.
We survived November and before we knew it December was here. Hope to have December posted soon. However, it is New Year’s Eve and Susan has had this post in her possession for editing for over a month – she already has December in her documents as well, wonder how long before she has it ready for your reading pleasure? LOL – I, Susan, really wrote this last paragraph or he would be in deep trouble but as the editor I can put whatever I want and pretend he wrote it! Try not to blame Brett for the late entries – he is all ahead of the game, it is his editor who procrastinates!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wishing you a Happy New Year!
