Day 1 Monday January 2, 2023 We departed about 7:30AM for Red Bay Alabama to get the annual chassis, body repair from our bear encounter in Canada in August 2022 and some other repair work done on our Motorhome. We drove the first 100 miles in the fog. Sure was glad when it lifted. We had fairly good roads today which was nice.
We stopped at CJ Orchards in Rutledge GA. They are a member of Harvest Host and allow RVers to stay overnight on their property. We were parked right at the end of the rows of their peach orchard where we got to watch a hawk a few yards from us as he searched for something to eat for his evening meal. There was a really nice orange sunset over the orchard. Another RV came in about an hour behind us. The host came over to welcome us and gave us a Sheriff's coin. Come to find out he is the Sheriff of this county and has been for 22 years. We had a very quite peaceful night. Sure glad it was not as cold as a week ago.
Day 2 Tuesday January 3, 2023 We departed about 8:30AM, hoping to get through Atlanta just after the morning rush hour and was successful. The traffic was heavy but cruised through about 60 MPH and only had to tap the brakes twice.
We stopped at Buc-ees for a driving break and to get one of the pulled brisket sandwiches. We had seen several of their billboard signs welcoming buses at this location so we assumed they would have some larger parking spaces for buses BUT we assumed wrong. Every parking spot was just the normal parking automobile spot. so we took up about 10 car spots near the back of the lot and went inside. When we came out there was one commercial bus parked but he had to squeeze sideways in between two rows of parked cars. Also they have about a hundred fuel pumps but do not have any signs up showing the fuel prices. You have to get to the pump to find out the prices. Their prices for their stuff is rather high. A pulled brisket sandwich is $8.98 but it was a good portion and it was good.
About two hours before our destination of Red Bay Alabama we got into some really heavy rain. Then the passenger side windshield wiper flopped over onto the passenger mirror like it did one time in Canada this Summer. I stopped under an overpass and repositioned it and tighten it down. About 30 minutes later it flopped straight down. Then about 30 minutes later the drivers side wiper did the same thing. So I drove about 50 miles in the rain with no wipers, NOT fun. But it had started to lighten up so it was not too bad.
We got to our campground Red Bay Acres about 2PM and set up in site 25. We have never stayed at this campground before but our friends Gregg and Judi are also arriving today for service on their motorhome and they are staying here so we decided to try it so we could visit some.
Once they got here and setup they came over to visit for awhile.
Day 3 Wednesday January 4, 2023 We had a very quite night. We went to Tiffin parts store to order some new windshield wiper arms and a new speedometer. Our existing one has gone besirk and is showing over 2 million miles and the only fix is to replace it. After lunch I went back to get the parts. I installed the new speedometer but got all kinds of error messages so I called Tiffin Tech support and the technician told me which setting to change to correct the errors.
Daniel from MS RV Solution came by to measure for a new slide topper for the passenger side slide. The one we have has stretched and it holds several gallons of water when it rains.
Later Gregg and Judi came over to catch up on the events of the day. They had some service work done today on their motorhome and the technician had trouble getting a diesel fuel filter off because the person that put it on put it on too tight. In the process of getting it off he spilled a lot of diesel fuel in the compartment so their motorhome smells like diesel fuel inside.
Day 4 Thursday January 5, 2023 We had to be at Bay Diesel at 7AM this morning for our annual chassis service. After discussing the necessary work Lena and I went to McDonald's for a quick breakfast. The mechanic called me and said he had found two critical metal brackets that were severely cracked and needed to be replaced. I gave him the needed approval. When we got back to the shop he showed me the brackets. I sure am glad he was observant and noticed them or we could have found ourselves broke down on the side of the road on the way home.
Just before the service work was finished we got notified to head to MS RV Solutions to get our new slide topper installed. They installed it so it will not collect water now.
When we got back to the campground Judi was having some back issues so she took a nap while Gregg came over for a visit. Their motorhome is very similar to ours so Gregg and I have been helping each other fix problems on our motorhomes for a couple of years by texting and sharing photos. They live about 5 hours from us so we can just drive over but with texting and photos we help each other when possible.
Day 5 Friday January 6, 2023 We have no service work scheduled today so we went to Belmont Mississippi which is only about 5 miles away. We can almost throw a rock from our campground in Red Bay Alabama to the Mississippi border. We stopped at The Brew to try their Lattes and muffins. They were okay, nothing special so we will probably not return in the future.
On the way back we stopped at the Tiffin Paint Plant for a tour but the tour doesn't start until 12:30PM so we went back to the Motorhome. I washed the windshield on the motorhome and put a product called Rejects to make the water bead up and run off when it rains because our wipers are not working and we have to drive 56 miles Sunday and there is rain in the forecast. We were at the Tiffin Paint Plant at 12:30 for the tour.
They also make the tile floors for the motorhome here. The entire tile floor is made in one piece with all the tile in place then a machine cuts out the openings in the floor for the plumbing and wires using a very high pressure tiny stream of water to cut the tile. The floor is then transported to the main assembly plant in Red Bay where it is set in place before any of the walls are put up.
We were shown all the steps in the paint process. The first step when the motorhome arrives at the paint plant from the assembly plant is wash down with water to get any construction dust off, then it is sanded down before the first coat of paint is applied. There are numerous steps in the paint process and when it is completely painted over 200 pounds of paint has been applied. There are usually up to four different colors of paint to create the different patterns on the body of the motorhome. There is pattern stuck on the body with all the swirl patterns. If the ends of the slides are to be painted then the swirl pattern has to be created by hand using tape so it looks like a continuing flow of the swirl. The guide told us that only women work at this stage because men just didn't have the eye to apply the tape so it looked right. The patterns that are applied are made in Indiana and cost $2,200 each and are peeled off and throw away as the paint is applied.
Once all the paint steps have been applied and any flaws fixed then they put from 3 to 7 coats of clear coat on the motorhome. Our type of motorhome get 5 coats of clear coat. Then the whole motorhome is sanded again starting with 2000 grit sanding disk up to 5000 grit, then it is buffed all over with a special buffing wax/polish. The final step is a water leak test where the motorhome is sprayed with 450 gallons of water a minute from ever angle for 20 minutes to locate any leaks.
Unlike the partly automated assembly of a automobile a motorhome is all hand built.
Gregg and Judi invited us over to their motorhome for supper. They had prepared homemade vegetarian lasagna and salad. It was very good even with no meat in it.
Day 6 January 7, 2023 Gregg and Judi were supposed to head home today but during their last repair yesterday the workers broke the wood trim they were putting back up in the ceiling. It couldn't be fixed so they will have to make a new piece and install it Monday.
Lena and I went to The Country Store in Belmont for a country breakfast of biscuits, sausage and gravy, scrambled eggs and thick bacon and coffee. Then we visited the Tishomingo State Park a few miles past Belmont MS. We checked out the campground, the swing bridge and visited a water house log cabin that was built in the late 1800's. It has been cloudy all day and off and on drizzling rain.
Day 7 January 8, 2023 The predicted rain did not happen this morning thankfully so we didn't have to drive 50 miles to Winfield AL in the rain. We said goodbye to our friends Gregg and Judi and departed about 10AM with a stop at a Loves Truck Stop for fuel. Our destination at Appalachian Foothills RV Park and Service Center is on our way home so we will not have to backtrack when we leave here. They are scheduled to fix the damage the bear did back in August, replace all 8 batteries, replace one air conditioner/heat pump and hopefully repair our steps, replace the windshield wiper arms and some other minor items. Going to be an expensive stop.
We arrived about 11:30 and set up in site 18.
Day 8 January 9, 2023 We pulled the motorhome up to the service center shop at 7:15AM and went over the needed repair list with Steven, the service manager. A few minutes later 3 technicians were working on the repairs, two on the body damage and one on the batteries.
We went to lunch in Winfield about 5 miles down the road at Ellie Mae's, a good country cafe buffet. They were very busy with the locals. The Buffet had a choice of one of three meats, two sides, dessert and drink for $9 including tax. The food was good.. On the way there we counted 9 churches in the 5 miles. It is the same around Red Bay, lots of churches.
We got the motorhome back at 3:30PM and will be back at 7:15AM tomorrow. They got a lot done today, the fiberglass pieces put back together and some of the sanding done, 6 batteries installed and the new windshield washer fluid tank replaced.
Day 9 Tuesday January 10, 2023 After dropping the motorhome off at the shop we drove to McDonald's in Winfield. What a nasty place. I have never seen a McDonald's like this place. I don't believe the floors or tables had been cleaned in days. Lena said the ladies restroom was gross. We didn't see a single customer come inside while we were there and normally at that time of the morning the lobby of a McDonald's is busy. There were a few going thru the drive thru. Before we returned to the service center we stopped at Walmart for a few items.
They are still making progress. There is a lot of sanding to get the new fiberglass repairs baby butt smooth before the paint goes on. They got the steps working after working on them for an hour. I have worked on them for over 20 hours and replaced the motor and the controller. They found a wire cable connection that plugs into the motor to have an intermittent problem. You can't buy that connection but they had an identical set of old steps they had recently replace so they took the cable off of it and used it.
They got the other two batteries replaced before we picked it up at 3:30 and returned to the campsite about 200 yards away.
Day 10 Wednesday January 11, 2023 We had the motorhome back in the shop at 7:15AM again. They replaced the bad air conditioner/heat pump and did the annual service on the AquaHot heating system and finished up the sanding and started painting.
We went down the road about a mile to the Huddle House for lunch. We had planned to step into the motorhome and make sandwiches but they had most of the motorhome covered with plastic to keep any paint over spray from getting where it should not be.
We were surprised but they finished painting today. It only took about two hours to do the actual painting but 2 ½ days to get it ready to paint. And there were three different colors of paint to be sprayed. We still have to return tomorrow at 7:15AM to put the Diamond Shield on. This is a clear film that goes on the front of motorhomes to protect the paint from road debris. So we may be done by mid morning which will be a day sooner than expected.
Day 11 Thursday January 12, 2023 We returned to the shop for the final work. We got in about an hour before a bad storm came up. The sky was dark and angry looking with tornado warnings. Lots of heavy rain, sharp lightning and winds. It had all blown over by 11AM so we went back to Ellie Mae's for another one of their good buffet $9.00 lunches. They finished with the motorhome right at 3:30PM, their regular time to close up. They didn't have the bill ready plus we didn't want to start driving this late in the day so we set up and stayed the night.
Day 12 Friday January 13, 2023 We slept in until 7:30AM which sure seemed good, had a good breakfast and hooked up the Jeep to the motorhome and went into the office to pay a rather large bill. They gave us two T-Shirts with their company logo on them. Those were some really expensive T-Shirts. They did a lot of work for us and fixed everything that needed fixing and replaced all 8 of the batteries that had aged out. There is not another repair facility that we know of near Red Bay that could of done all the repairs and the body work all in one shop. And they do excellent work and are nice people. We left about 9AM and headed to Augusta GA to stay the night at Heritage RV Park. We stayed here in 2019 when we were bringing the motorhome home after purchasing it in Texas.
We stopped at the Welcome Center just after we got into Georgia for a break. If was about 37 degrees so I cranked up the generator and we brewed two cups of hot coffee and had some of the last Christmas goodies that Lena made. Just as we were pulling away we saw some very fine snow falling for a few minutes.
We got through Atlanta without much trouble and arrived at the RV Park at 4:30PM and setup in pull through site 71, the same site we had in 2019. They only have one pull through and when I called yesterday the man told me he would put us in it and we will not have to unhook the Jeep. Lena got all the laundry caught up.
Day 13 Saturday January 14, 2023 We had a good peaceful night and slept well. It is 36 degrees this morning with a brisk wind. After breakfast we pulled out about 9AM for the final leg home.
Before we got off I20 onto I95 we came up on a really bad accident. There was an 18 wheeler that had ran off the road to the right and into a strip of pine trees. Lena said the whole drivers side of the truck where the driver sets was torn off and would be a miracle if the driver survived. There were two very large wreckers trying to get the truck pulled out of the woods.
We filled up with fuel in Dillon SC and then stopped at South of the Border for some lunch. We found a parking spot big enough for us behind one of their buildings across the road from The Sombrero Restaurant. Before we could get out of the motorhome there was a women at the door begging for a handout. She looked pitiful and had a sob story but we didn't give her any money. From the looks of her teeth I would guess she was on drugs and we weren't going to help her buy more. As many business there are at the South of the Border complex she could probably get a job if she was to clean herself up.
We had a good lunch, kind of pricey but good and was on our way. We stopped again in Wallace to top off the fuel tank. I like the fuel tank to be full when it sets for awhile in the Winter so the fuel tank won't sweat. It will be two months before our next planned trip. We got home about 4:30PM.
