Winston & JJ, The Villages and Christmas Lights

Today we went out to breakfast with Wally and Joann at Red's in Beverly Hill's, a restaurant that is always packed and where they have a booth named after Wally Meyer.  Even though people were waiting every where outside we got in fairly quickly since Wally called ahead for a reservation.  Wally and Joann know everyone there so we always get very good service.  The food at Red's is so good it would be worth the wait even if the service wasn't good.

After walking the dogs Wally and Joann brought their two boxer's Winston and JJ over to see us.  These dogs are very large but they have the greatest personalities.  I want to think they may have even remembered us but I also think they treat everyone like they did us.  They are very affectionate and the happiest dogs you can imagine.  I posted some pictures of them below.

Later in the day we took off for the Villages so the girls could do some shopping and we could check out what activities were going on.  We stopped at our favorite place Toojay's to grab something to eat later in the evening after we all agreed we will need to start new diets tomorrow.  Toojay's is a gourmet deli kind of place that makes the greatest Pastrami sandwiches but everything we have ever gotten there has always been very good.  There was a lot of activity at the Villages with live music and many people shopping at stores around the area. 

On the way home we stopped at a private residence down a dirt road out in the middle of no where to see the Christmas light display they do every year.  The man who erected the display came out and spoke to us about how many lights there were and how long it took him to set it up.  It was very interesting to hear how he built the tree displays that were in the yard.  Wally and Joann said even though the place is in the middle of no where there is a lot of traffic to his display as you get closer to Christmas.  It was a fitting finish to a great couple of days spent with our good friends Wally and Joann Meyer.  Below are some pictures from today.

 

 



 

 

 



Sandy Oaks in Beverly Hills, Florida with Wally and Joann

We left Tallahassee a little after 11:00 am today and pulled into Beverly Hills at about 3:00 pm.  By 5:00 pm we were heading to Ocala, Florida with our dear friends Wally and Joann Meyer.  We had a great time catching up on things while we headed to the restaurant in Ocala.  Our dinner was great and the decorations around Ocala were fantastic.  They really go all out decorating the town for the Christmas holidays.  After dinner and checking out the downtown we stopped at a shopping center. Tomorrow we are going to Red's for breakfast and later in the day heading to the Villages.  We have a lot of catching up to do since we haven't seen Wally and Joann in a year.

Below are some pictures of our evening. 

These painted horses are out all year and are everywhere around Ocala.  This is big time horse country around here.

 Joann and Wally Meyer.

I didn't have my big camera so I used my Iphone.  I noticed it takes good pictures if the light is good.  The flash is a little weak in low light situations.

This is something you don't see in Indiana.

Huli just grinning.

 This is the main square in downtown Ocala.

The horse drawn carriages were making the rounds around the downtown area.



Thanksgiving eve in Tallahassee

We are currently in Big Oak RV Park in Tallahassee, Florida.  Today we officially became old people.  We made a table for on top of the motorhome steering wheel so we can show off our Christmas Tree in a couple of weeks or later maybe a lamp made out of a plastic planter and a million little Christmas  lights.  We drove around Tallahassee today and got the items we needed to make our steering wheel table.  In addition I had to see where Bobby Bowden Field was and where the Florida State University Seminoles played football.  My impression of Tallahassee is that it is not nearly as large as I expected it would be for being the capital of Florida.  I later looked it up and found where the population is 181,376.  Florida State enrollment is around 41,087 students or close to one fourth of the total population.  The downtown area is nice but small with the capital building being the only large building in the downtown area. 

Tonight we are baking our pumpkin pie and making other arrangements in preparation for our Thanksgiving day dinner.  After Thanksgiving we are really looking forward to seeing Joanne and Wally where we are heading to Beverly Hills, Florida on Friday.  We are planning on getting there early enough so we can take them out for dinner Friday evening.

We experienced our 27th problem with our nine month old motorhome on Monday.  We were getting ready to leave Mexico Beach because the forecast called for rain for the next few days and we knew from prior reviews this rv park did not hold up well in periods of heavy rain.  When we went to bring in the small bedroom passenger slide nothing happened.  We managed to push it in manually and lock it so it wouldn't come out while traveling.  In Tallahassee after contacting Newmar I tore the covers off, which were in the tag axle wheel well, so I could loosen the 1 1/2 inch nut on the slide out shaft so we could move the slide back out manually.  We got the slide out and have had numerous conversations with Newmar and Northtrail RV in Fort Myers, Florida.  I am leaning toward waiting until we take the coach back in to Newmar in May 2014 to have this fixed while other things are being repaired rather than have North Trail work on it.  It all depends on how much trouble Huli and I have in manually getting the slide in and out a couple of times before we get to Fort Myers. 

I am now investigating Extended Warranties for the motorhome.  In fact,   I spent a couple of hours looking these over but concluded that if you have the money to spend to have the repairs made you probably are better off without the warranty.  If you have limited funds and kind of want to spend the money for worst case then maybe the warranties are for you. 

So far most of the stuff that has broken I can or have fixed myself.  When our warranty runs out in February I will need to do that or pay for someone else to do the repairs. 

My one on again off again regret that I wonder about is not going ahead and buying the 2008 Tiffin Allegro Bus that was at Lazy Days.  While this unit may have been neglected I don't see how I could have had any more issues than I have had with our brand new Newmar.  Although I have had only had one issue when it comes to our chassis, engine or transmission and that one issue only lasted 20 minutes before correcting itself and has not reoccurred again.  About all of my issues have been with the Newmar motorhome stuff  or neglect from the dealer Northtrail. 

Here is a breakdown of the issues so far and who I attribute the problem to:

19 Problems -  Newmar  - stuff like doors not closing correctly, air conditioners breaking, cameras not working, mud flaps falling off on one side, refrigerator doors not locking, side mirrors falling over, sleep number bed not working on one side,  tape on roof coming off.  Most things in this category are not the fault of Newmar but more the failures of the parts they install.  All manufacturers are cutting costs each year and then they wonder why at some point what happened to the quality of the product they used to produce.  Kind of like how does a one inch shaft break on a small slide out.  I wonder where this shaft was sourced from?  The shaft broke in two pieces as if someone cut it with a hack saw.  Coming from Orthopedics' I know a little something about metallurgy and what happens when you source poor quality materials.

6 problems  -  Northtrail stuff like windshield wipers being worn out from over exposure to the sun,  carbon monoxide detector being in a kitchen drawer since it didn't work correctly,  outside radio being replaced without providing manual etc.,  surge protector failing,  water filter being plugged up, generator not being serviced even though it was due.  I would catch most of these things if I were to buy another motorhome from a dealer.  Not catching some of this is due to my  inexperience and trusting the dealer to do the right thing.

 1 problem  -    Chassis/Engine  - Cruise and other steering wheel functions not working for 20 minutes while going around St Louis.  Has not happened again.

1 problem     Shit Happens  -  Windshield chip

Oh well we still feel really blessed since our problems are really inconsequential compared to what many others are dealing with during this Thanksgiving season.   We hope everyone has a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.

Jack and Janet

P.S.  This is Janet.  Don't include me in the "old" people category just yet!

The little tree is Huli's and it is sitting on top of the steering wheel table we just finished building.  Sorry about all of the junk sitting in the seat.  Most of that is Huli's.

Mexico Beach, Florida.  Nice but not in the rain.  We gone.

 My little buddy Tanner always keeps an eye on me.

This is my Baby Girl.

This is my Big Ass Bump that I am planning on having removed after the first of the year.  The technical term for this condition is a Haglund Deformity caused by walking on the outside of my right foot.

This is my Big Baby Girl with no make up on who is going to kill me when she see's this.

I really like these Live Oak Tree's in Florida but the moss is kind of dirty.



Walking the beach at Crooked Island and out to dinner in Port St. Joe

Yesterday we drove to Crooked Island a place that was supposed to be beautiful and good for finding sea shells.  The weather was fantastic and sand on the beach was as white and fine as I have ever seen.  We saw a lot of small sea shells but no big shells like we have heard about.  The problem may have been we were there several hours after low tide which I was told is the ideal time for finding shells.  Too long after low tide the shells get covered by the incoming tide or are found by others who were there before you.  While we didn't find any colossal shells (we wouldn't have known what to do with if we had found them) we still had an enjoyable time walking miles down the beach with the only other people we saw being a couple of fisherman.

We had a little chip on the windshield since last spring when we drove home from Florida.  It may have been there since we purchased the motorhome and we just didn't notice it. You couldn't really see it but once I found it I knew where it was.  Our neighbors at Florala State Park, Dave and Judy from Michigan, had a motorhome next to us and had several of these chips repaired without any of them ever turning into a crack and swore by the process.  They are in their mid seventies and are on their seventh motorhome.  So on Friday we called our insurance company and by late afternoon we had the chip repaired at our rv site.  The person doing the repair said the process was guaranteed for as long as we owned the motorhome.  The repairman put a vacuum pump on the windshield then sucked some kind of resin into the chip, then used an ultra violet light to cure and harden the resin.  Took him about one half hour to do it and didn't cost us anything to get it done (that is until we have to pay our next annual premium.)

Later in the evening we got cleaned up and headed down to the grill/bar at the rv park but not much going on there so we headed to Port St. Joe, Florida which is south of Mexico Beach about 10 miles. As we were driving down highway 98 we came upon a restaurant that was packed.  We turned around and stopped and were glad we did.  Huli, for someone who didn't like seafood not that many years ago,  shared an oyster appetizer with me and had a blackened grouper main course that she said was to die for.  After dinner we headed back to the rv where we walked the dogs around the rv park.  Here are a couple of pictures from the beach.  Another way we know we are back in Florida is Miss Sydney picked up a sand burr on our first day in the park.  When this happens she stops walking and holds up her little paw and looks at Huli or me to pick her up and remove the burr.  She's so darn cute when she does that.



Heading South - we are now on the Gulf in Mexico Beach, Florida

We got up at about 8:00 am or so and went up town to Florala for breakfast.  We were in no real hurry since we only had about two and a half hours to drive to get to our next destination when you include stopping for fuel. We said our goodbyes to Mike and Eileen and to Dave and Judy who were on the other side of us and we took off.   We are now at Mexico Beach, Florida which is south of Panama City by about 20 miles or so but still way up in the panhandle of Florida.  The weather today was in the 70's so it was very pleasant even though we didn't get that much of an opportunity to get outside.  We went to the store for a couple of things and then came back to the rv park and played a card game called "pass the trash".  It's a simple game to learn and we had a lot of fun playing with about seven other people from the rv park including the owner and a couple of gals who work in the office.

One thing this area of Florida is supposedly known for is the sea shells at the beach.  We haven't hunted for sea shells before but last year we met a couple in Georgia who were at this rv park who went on and on about the great shells they found.  We thought if we had the opportunity we would check it out so here we are.  The rv park is one of those fun parks.  Huli and I describe it kind of like the Sawyer Brown song which says it's not first class but it ain't white trash.  They have live music a couple of days per week and a bar and restaurant with daily specials.  All of the facilities like electric, water, sewer, and cable tv seem to be great.  Unlike Florala where even cable tv channels were limited and we got no satellite due to the trees here we get about 70 crystal clear cable channels. 

While at the super market we picked up our turkey for Thanksgiving since it appeared the very small turkeys were in very short supply.  We plan on having a great Thanksgiving dinner but a somewhat abbreviated menu.  As of today we are planning on having Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and the infamous green bean and mushroom soup casserole.  We need to plan things out since we only have a small convection oven and a two burner stove.  In the 5th wheel we had a gas oven and a convection oven and a four burner stove.  Apparently they didn't think we would be doing as much cooking in this motorhome as we did in the 5th wheel.  We can supplement the oven and stove with a variety of electric skillets, griddles, slow cookers, and a three burner Coleman gas stove.  In fact,  many times Huli will cook using the electric skillet while we are traveling on the road so I don't have to run the generator.  The stove requires the generator when traveling since it uses so much electricity while the electric skillet can run off of the inverter.

Tomorrow we plan on checking out the beach and the possibility of finding some neat shells.  We don't plan on keeping too many but who knows maybe we will become addicted like so many others seem to be.

Chillin on the Lake and an accident report update

The last couple of days we have just been chillin on the lake kind of taking it easy.  However,  those of you who know me know I can only do this for so long.  I would look at the motorhome and see these streaks so I thought I would see how much of them I could remove by buffing them out.  If I were getting the motorhome repaired in a week or so I wouldn't have done this but I knew I could get most of the marks off and I didn't want to look at them until next May when we take the unit in to get it fixed.  Below are some before and after pictures.

Also, our adjuster called us again Friday and told us the young man that hit us gave him a statement that was recorded that said he just didn't see us when he changed lanes.  The adjuster said he also saw a preliminary report of the accident report that said the same thing and that the Georgia State Police officer at the scene cited the man for failure to yield before changing lanes.  Kind of sucks when you admit you made a mistake and they still give you a ticket.  I didn't know they did that unless it was something more serious.  Our adjuster said this is why the mans insurance company gave us a claim number on the next day. 

Here are the before buffing pictures.  Basically all of the door panels had a streak which looked like a scratch.  But when feeling the streak you could feel it was on top of the surface and not a scratch into the surface.   So I felt pretty certain I could get it off.  I even had some help from others in the camp ground bringing over their "best ever" motorhome cleaner.  Well I found what worked the best was a bug and tar remover that I had.  I would spray it on and let it sit for a while and then rub off then use a cleaner wax to buff off what was left.

Before buffing

 

After buffing.  The streaks were removed entirely.  I will have Newmar go over them to make sure everything including the clear coat is ok but I think the color coat was not damaged on most of the panels.

 



 

The remaining damage that could not be buffed off is above the stairs and in front and behind the front wheel and the front wheel itself.  Someone told me they thought replacing the front wheel and lug covers that were damaged etc. would cost $1000.  We will see when we get home next spring.

 

 

We have about 10 baby ducks that come around a couple of times a day looking for a hand out.  You hate to feed them since you just encourage them to come back but it's hard not to.

 



Pictures of the motorhome after our Atlanta encounter and some of our new location

Here are the pictures I said I would post in my blog yesterday.  The damage is cosmetic.  The motorhome still drove great and the doors and everything seem to be fine.  Once the adjuster looks at it I will get some wax and will try to remove the marks.  I think most of them will come off since they appear to be scuffs from plastic or rubber and not scratches.

If you stand back and aren't looking for it the damage is hardly noticeable.

 

 

 

Now I will show some close ups.  This is where the damage starts in the picture to the right which is above the step.  How you could not see this motorhome and turn into it is beyond me but accidents happen so it's no biggy since no one got hurt.

 You can't see it in the picture very well but the wheel is scratched

 This is just behind the front wheel

A

 Again this is the compartments toward the front behind the front wheel

 When you step back a ways it's hard to see the damage.  I think some of it will come off with a little polishing.

 Here are pictures of our site in this little state park in Florala, Alabama.  The left side of the lake is in Florida and the right side is in Alabama hence the name Florala.   It is overcast today but this is a beautiful area and a great camp site.  Hopefully the sun will come out in the next few days while we are here.

 The site next to us is our friends Mike and Eileen who we spent time with last winter in Alabama and Florida.



Moving South and Oh Shit --Oh well it's just stuff

After a great nights sleep we were out of the Freightliner Service Center at about 9:50 am.  The motorhome seemed to be handling great maybe due to the change in tire pressures.  Things went very well until we hit the seven lanes of traffic heading around Atlanta on I85 heading south.  We were in lane 3 of 7 in stop and go traffic when Eduardo Garcia who was in lane 2, driving a bronze 1994 Toyota Corolla, decided he wanted to be in lane 3 in which we were occupying.  While we didn't really feel anything we heard a thud and Huli asked me what was that.  I said, after looking in my mirrors, I think someone just hit the side of the motorhome.  I then stopped and Huli flew out the door and ask Eduardo Garcia if he had insurance.  To which he replied " I am so very sorry I did not see you".  I think my dainty little wife then ask "how the fuck could you not see a 43' motorhome pulling an 18' car".  By this time there were horns blowing and Huli and Mrs. Garcia, Eduardo's mother,  who was now out of the vehicle, were both flipping the bird to everyone who was honking their horns.  Mrs. Garcia then started adding some verbal expletives to the hand gestures.  I heard things like "rotten bastard' and "son of a bitch" and these were the nice phrases.  I could hear them perfectly  through the microphone that is located at the back of the motorhome. 

We waited for about a half hour in lane 3 of 7 for the police.  At one point I ask Eduardo, who was now sitting behind us, if he could drive his car and wanted to move to the shoulder of the road.  He said no he said we are suppose to wait here until the police come.  At which time I went back to the motorhome and took a dump and played about three games of solitaire.  Sorry to be so graphic but this is what happened.  I still kept hearing horns blow and wouldn't have been overly surprised if something didn't hit us in the back end. 

The police finally came and Eduardo tells him the same thing he tells us that he somehow just didn't see us.

The damage on our rv starts at the front passenger door and continues to some extent down the entire side.  Most of the damage is scuffs from some rubber or plastic thing on his bumper and could probably be buffed off but there is a gouge above the steps and scratches on the front wheel and a corner of fiberglass by the step that will need to be repaired or replaced. Huli thinks it will total about $15k and I say it will be around $3-5K. 

While we continue heading south we hear from our insurance adjuster and he already had a claim number from Eduardo's insurance company to take care of the damage but he also adds they are notorious for being slow payers (Safeway Insurance).  He says don't worry though because you have really great coverage and you could just pay your $900 deductible and get it fixed regardless of Eduardo's insurance company.  We said we are in no hurry since we probably won't get it fixed until we return to Indiana in May 2014.  At this time I told Huli that if we had such great coverage we would be able to get it fixed without paying any deductible.  I now think we need another economy size jar of Vaseline to sit beside the one we now have on our shelf for our health insurance.

We got to Florala State Park and Mike and Eileen helped us get into our site since it was dark.

While this stuff still bothers me it doesn't bother me like it would 10-20 years ago.  I must be a grown up now.  It's just stuff.

Huli posted this on her Face book page and I have already had phone calls from people asking me if we were OK.  Makes me wonder why I am still doing this blog.  Since Face book has become so popular this may be my last post

What a fucking day.

Jack

Freightliner Service Day

Well true to their word at about 8:00 am a Freightliner mechanic knocked on the door in order to take the motorhome into the garage for the 24 month service appointment.  Our motorhome chassis went down the line at Freightliner on September 29, 2011.  They changed all of the filters and the differential fluid and performed about 100 other checks and inspections.  They found two small coolant leaks due to hose clamps not being tight and these were quickly fixed.  After the maintenance I asked that the coach be weighed at each of the six wheel positions so I can accurately know what pressure to carry in the eight tires.  I have been carrying 113 pounds in the two front tires and 85 pounds in the back six tires.  Today's weight indicated I should carry 105 pounds in the front tires and 90 pounds in the back six tires.  I went under the coach with the mechanic and asked him to move a couple of wires that hindered changing the fuel filter and the fuel water separator filter.  I also asked him to show be how to disconnect two electrical connections on the fuel water separator.  He was very good and willing to teach me all he could in the 15 minutes I spent with him.

While the motorhome was in for service the first thing Huli and I did was take a tour of the Freightliner Custom Chassis Plant on the other side of Gaffney.  This was an awesome tour given by the Marketing Manager for the plant.  He was very knowledgeable and very willing to answer any questions we had.  They make school buses, large vans for UPS etc. and motorhome chassis.  The tour was given to Huli and I and a new Advertising employee who started her job that day at the plant.  After the tour we visited a park to feed the dogs and give them a little air.  After taking care of the dogs we hit Magic Nails where Huli got a pedicure and I sat in the car with the dogs checking out my computer.  Then we went to lunch and back to the Freightliner Service Center where the motorhome was done and back in it's space.  It was just after 4:00 PM.

Tomorrow we are off to southern Alabama which is seven hours away but will more than likely take us two days.

Jack

Sevierville TN to Gaffney SC

We waited until the last minute to leave the rv park in Sevierville, TN today since we only had about a three hour drive to get to Gaffney, SC where we would be staying at Camp Freightliner which is a parking lot behind the Training and Service Center at Freightliner.  It rained most of the way and we started out on roads that reminded you of the winding roads the moon shiners used to take in order evade the police.  If you got off the right side of the road you were in the ditch since there was no gravel  brim or whatever you call it just off the road.  We went around and around and up and down the entire trip but the mileage was 8.0 per gallon and we made it to our destination with no unusual events.  All is good.  Tomorrow the mechanic at Freightliner will come knock on our door around 8:00 AM  at which time we will load up the dogs into the car and evacuate the motorhome for the day.  I asked to go over the under side of the motorhome once it is up on the lift and after that we plan on doing the Freightliner factory tour which is on the other side of town at 10:00 AM.  Hoping the weather will cooperate since the dogs will be in the car while we are in the factory.  The motorhome service is expected to take all day so we are planning on staying at camp Freightliner again tomorrow night. 

On Thursday we are headed to Florala, Alabama to meet up with Mike and Eileen who we met last year.  It will probably take us a couple of days to make it so were not sure where we will stop Thursday night.  I would like to make it to Auburn or even to Montgomery, Alabama before stopping.  But we will see how things go and if we find other things we want to see along the way. 

After visiting Mike and Eileen we plan on going to Mexico Beach, Florida where we heard the best sea shells in Florida can be found.  We heard this from some people who camped across the street from us while returning home last year.  We will see.  It's some place we have not been to before so we are looking forward to it.  It is in the northern part of Florida right on the Gulf coast.

Once we get into our site at Fort Myers Beach I am thinking about visiting a surgeon or two to get an opinion about a heal problem I have had for several years that seems to be getting progressively worse.  I'm thinking I may try to line up a surgery right after the first of the year so I would be recuperating between the surgery date and when we would return home.  I have dealt with this for years but it causes me to limp until I stretch out my Achilles tendon which makes me look older than I am and I am getting tired of it.  So I thought why not have it looked at in Florida where the rest of the old people are and where they may be more familiar with this type of condition.  My doctor in Warsaw advised me a couple of years ago not to have anything done on this until you have to since the rehab time is so long.  Well it's time.  Also,  it's my way of thanking Aetna for the last three years of taking almost $2k per month for our health insurance while covering absolutely nothing except for Huli's mammogram which I think they had to cover by law under Obamacare.  I hope the geeks get the Obamacare site up and running so one day I can shop for something else. Until then we just keep the Vasoline in the economy size on the bathroom shelf.

Sorry no pictures for today which would have been foggy mountains going around curves and up and down roads in Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

A visit to Cades Cove

Today we went to Cades Cove and took the scenic drive.  Didn't see much wild life other than about four deer and a couple of large birds that I think were turkeys.  That was ok with us since it was still very beautiful and we felt like we won the trifecta last year when we were here.  Tomorrow we leave for Gaffney.  We aren't looking forward to Wednesday since we have to be out of the motorhome while it is being serviced.  We plan on loading the dogs up and finding some place to visit but we haven't decided where that place is as of yet.  We will do the research tomorrow while on our way to Gaffney.  

I want to say we were very blessed today receiving good news that my brother in law Bill (Janet's brother) had an exploratory surgery where nothing adverse to his health was found.  Our niece Jani is also at Mayo Clinic getting a second opinion and having a battery of tests ran to determine what can be done to improve her health and quality of life.  Everyday Huli and I try to give thanks and count our blessings because we know that we are truly blessed. 

Here are a couple of pictures from today.   Sorry there are not very many.  I think I spent more time looking than taking pictures since Huli was doing the driving.

 I think this is why the Smokies are called the Smokies.  Sorry for the wires.

What most of our roads looked like today.  Glad Huli was driving.

We see these deer in Indiana all of the time but they are still beautiful.  We see them too often at times.  I hit one going about 60 miles an hour on a motorcycle about a month ago.  Luckily I swerved and hit just the very front part of the deer.  Broke off my front turn signal and tore up some clear coat on my front fender.  Other than that the motorcycle and the rider did ok. I hope the deer was ok too but I am not sure.   After that incident I just smiled and turned the music up louder and continued my ride home knowing our fortunate I was.