Well as the heading to the post implies we are back in the Hoosier state. We are just across the Ohio River from Louisville in Clarksville, Indiana at the Louisville Metro KOA rv park. The KOA park is located in an old neighborhood with zero grass in the park. We are here just over night so we aren't that concerned about what the park has to offer. On our trip today up Interstate 65 included us, some truckers, and thousands of Louisville fans coming back from Georgia and the Louisville win over Michigan. It was a fairly easy day except there was a lot of traffic but it was mainly on interstate 65. We left the campground in Rogersville, Alabama around 10-10:30 ish and drove east around 25 miles before we picked up 65 that we took north for two states. We stopped at Camping World in Bowling Green, Kentucky to pick up a couple of things and again for fuel and that was it. I drove in the economy mode for the entire trip and set the cruise at 62 mph. For todays trip we averaged 8.5 mpg which amazed both of us. The motorhome also did well going up and down the mountains. On the interstate you get to start up the mountain going 62 mph while in the Alabama mountains last week in the Cheaha Mountains we were in very winding roads so you might only be going 20 when you started your climb. In any event today we usually had to wait for someone slower ahead of us to get up to the top. Going down the mountain is good too with the two stage engine brake. On moderate declines I use the low brake setting and on the steeper declines I use the high setting. In most cases this eliminates the need to even touch the brake pedal. The mountains on route 65 north through Tennessee and Kentucky aren't really too steep. Overall we are very pleased with the driving performance of the motorhome and the mileage is surprisingly much better than we expected. We will leave tomorrow morning at about the normal departure time of 10:30 ish and will park the motorhome in our driveway in Warsaw while we unload tons of things we don't use. This house cleaning alone should get us another tenth of a mile per gallon or so.
Oh by the way since I had the middle part of the dash out and tightened the connections to the monitor the door side camera has been working great ever since. I am going to keep our appointment with Newmar since the front windshield screen needs to be looked at. I wrote Newmar this evening and told them what I thought about their whole appointment process and warranty disclaimer contracts. I basically said the entire process is set up for their convenience and is done at their customer's expense. For example, they tell you to be there by 6:00 am but they may not see you until 8:30 am. They want you to check into the office when you get there but later tell you the office people don't show up until 7:30 am. In other words be there and be prepared to sit and wait for up to 2.5 hours until they get around to seeing you. In addition they continue to email me little contracts to sign and return in the mail explaining the 99 ways they will get paid no matter what is wrong and they determine it's not covered under the warranty. The Amish may build good motorhomes but their customer service skills suck. They need to go to the Bob Tiffin school of customer service. Today two ladies across from us with a newer Tiffin Allegro Bus are heading back to North Trail RV in Fort Meyers, Florida where we bought our motorhome to have some work performed. They said some were not under warranty but Tiffin has already told them they would extend the coverage of the warranty for the non covered items. Instead of telling you about all the ways things may not be covered Tiffin finds ways to take care of things that shouldn't be an issue regardless of the 12 month warranty period. Oh well the warranty on the Newmar is only good for one year so I won't be dealing with them for too long. I haven't even visited the plant yet and I already think they suck just from my interaction with them trying to get into the factory for an appointment. When I get there I will have to see if Newmar's Mahlon Miller is as accessible as Bob Tiffin is to his customers.
We enrolled in a Freightliner class on June 3rd and 4th to learn about the motorhome chassis and maintenance items on the motorhome. This is held in Gafney, South Carolina at the Freightliner factory. We are going to make a week long vacation of it by visiting Pearl Fryar's topiary garden (the guy who trains shrubs to grow in all kinds of unusual shapes). In addition, we are also going to visit Mount Airy, North Carolina which is the home of the Andy Griffith show. Several people have told us this is a neat little town to visit so we plan on checking it out. We haven't decided whether we are taking the motorhome or staying in hotels. I tried to attend the Freightliner school on our way home but there were no openings.
A journal written about life, retirement and our journey throughout the United States in a 5th wheel, along with our two Shih Tzus, Tanner and Syndey. Written not for notoriety but for our sons, family and friends, so they know where we are at any given time. And particularly for ourselves. Finally, we get to slow down and smell the roses and we don't want to forget any of it. You are welcome to join us as we go 'Down the Road a Piece'.
