Questions abound on our return visit…

Ed. Sharon writes today’s blog…

Coming back home has been great not only for the delectable Mexican food and the beautiful spring flowers, but also for reconnecting with old friends. Sharon rekindled some memories by attending a Sam Houston University softball game in nearby Huntsville. She knew two of the hometown girls and enjoyed reliving the softball experience. We also visited our old workplaces and had fun sharing our experiences this past year. And since College Station has a variety of old favorite taverns, we have enjoyed Happy Hours here with some ice cold beer and lively conversation. Invariably in all our excursions we find ourselves fielding the same questions:

Q: What was the favorite place you have seen in your travels?

A: That is a difficult question because we like a lot of different places for different reasons. We loved Maine for the vistas and the inexpensive lobster. And how about the rolling hills, fresh maple syrup and gigantic fresh berries we experienced in Vermont? The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is simply breathtaking. We had a blast riding the train into the city of Boston to tour and eat Italian food in the Little Italy. Who could not like the gorgeous un-crowded beaches of Cape Cod? Or the priceless signs dated in the 1600’s we saw in Connecticut as well as signs warning “Thickly Settled” right before entering populated neighborhoods. Washington DC made us proud to be Americans while exploring its monuments and museums. The charm of the Amish country in PA was fantastic. Then of course there was beautiful Florida where we planned to stay a month or two in winter and ended up staying four months fishing, swimming, shelling, sunning and exploring. We end saying it’s just too hard to pick a favorite. (I guess after that lengthy answer, they might have been sorry they asked)

Q: What about your mail?-

A: We use our daughter’s address. She collects our mail and we discuss it over the phone. Some of the mail is discarded, some is forwarded to us any park we stay a week or more.

Q How do you afford gas and how much money do you spend filling up the gas tank?

A: About $300 to fill Abbey up and we afford it by sticking to a budget. We cut costs by having our medical at the Mayo Clinic, we go to schools and allow students to clean our teeth and cut our hair, we prepare a lot of our meals at home and mix expensive and inexpensive places to stay to balance the budget. Besides we use to spend about the same on real estate taxes when fueling Abbey during our first year of full timing!

Q: Do you have a washer/dryer?

A: We have the connections for them but elected instead to use that space for storage because we actually prefer doing our laundry all at once at the RV park Laundromat so it can be all done and put away in about 2 hours.

Q: Is your bed as comfortable as the one back in your old house?

A: In some ways it is more comfortable because we have a Sleep Number Bed. Sharon likes soft and I like firm so we can dial in what we want for our side of the bed.

Q: How do you take care of bills and banking?

A: All of it is done online.

We feel like our friends have worried about us giving up our “things”. I think once we fielded their questions, they were reassured that for us this lifestyle is fulfilling in that we traded “things” for amazing experiences. And although it has been great to settle in back home for a while to catch up with everyone, I can see in both of us the beginnings of that itch to pull up

stakes and hit the road for new adventures westward….

Spring in Texas…

There is no time better than to be in Texas than in the spring in our opinion. When the last of the geese are heading north and the night air shifts from the sounds of honking geese heading north to the sounds of crickets chirping in the warmer evening air everyone here knows spring is in the air.

In the Bryan/College Station, Texas the first signs of spring are when you  see the Daffodils and Paper White Narcissus blooming followed by the flowering pears and redbud trees. All of this is just a sneak preview of the explosion of wildflowers that are just around the corner. As long as there is a good rainy winter you can expect the wildflowers in Texas to be very showy.

As is the case this year… After a lengthy Texas drought last year most areas are now in a surplus mode of rainfall for this year. As a result the wildflowers are started to explode onto the scene. The fields are dotted with the red of the Indian Paintbrush only to be interspersed with the blue Texas Bluebonnets – the Texas State Flower and the yellow Coreopsis.

Driving back from Austin, Texas this past weekend we were treated to field after field of wildflowers. We would occasionally stop and take in the sights, sounds and smells that spring has brought to this area. We love spotting the variety of flowers that are emerging mixed in with the paintbrush and bluebonnets. There are Mexican Blankets, Phlox, Verbena’s, and other native flowers that are just now coming into their own.

Yet there are also invasives that always threaten the native species that abound. This year the bastard mustard is everywhere and found in thick stands. I worry that this taller wildflower or weed as it should be called (a weed is an “unwanted wildflower”) is abundant this year and I only hope it is a result of the drought combined with the wet winter that allowed it to explode. Hopefully it will not take out any of the more desirable wildflowers.

If you ever come to Texas to visit try to make sure to do so in the spring… by far and away the very best time of the year to visit the great Lone Star State…

Visiting the Grands is so Grand…

We have enjoyed hitting some of our favorite restaurants and taverns while in Bryan Texas.  We especially enjoy the fact that we can now get good Mexican food once again. Sorry East Coast but what you call Mexican food is lame…

Thursday we headed over to the south Austin area where our son and his family lives. We hadn’t been to visit them in well over a year so it had been a long time. We drove the 115 mile drive to see our son, his wife, the grand-kiddos as well as the grand-dogs. Spending time with them was fantastic and it almost seemed like we had never been away. We were a bit worried whether the grand-kiddos would remember us but in no time they were in our laps, conversing, and just having fun… We attribute this to the use of cell phones and technology such as Skype.

While there we made up some of our favorite dishes for the youngsters and  as it turned out our four year old loved salmon… who wouldda thought?? The homemade bread was also such a hit that it not only got eaten in less than a day, but they also learned how to make it. They even sent us a picture of their first home loaf last night after we got back home.

While there we made time to go to Lowes to buy some 2x4’s and crafted a bed frame for the granddaughter’s bed. Now her bed is no longer sitting on the floor and she now has an “adult” bed. You could really tell she loved her new bed.

What a grand time we had visiting our son’s family and especially seeing the grands… Next time we plan to take them camping or “glamping” (Glamor Camping) as Sharon refers to it. Can’t wait as it should be a fun time then too!

Fun times and on down the road…

We really enjoyed our stay at South Toledo Bend State Park and we stayed a few days longer than planned because of a couple of reasons. One was our site was in a really nice park with hiking and biking trails and our spot had a fabulous 180 degree view of the lake. The other reason was we camped by some really great people. Kay and Larry kept us up late most nights as Larry, who could play a mean guitar and sing, would sing some great songs and I bet we heard him play and sing half of all the songs Elvis ever played… We hope to run into them again some day down the road…

We left Toledo Bend Reservoir pretty early Sunday morning since there was a bad line of thunderstorms blowing through central Texas. I looked at weather.com to see when the best window of opportunity was for leaving and when it arrived we were packed up and ready to go.

The first hour was totally uneventful as it was overcast and not very windy. Then when we got to Jasper, Texas we started to get some rain drops and by the time we hit Livingston, Texas all hell broke loose… Heavy rain, gusty winds and eight months ago it would have bothered me. But now, I am very comfortable driving our rig… Abbey… She now has a name!

Abbey just went on down the road with little fanfare from the storm. The only exiting moment was when a wind shear slammed into us and discombobulated our passenger side windshield wiper. With it raining real hard and nowhere to pull off we had to limp into a little town until we were able to find a spot to pull over and make a repair. The repair was very simple and after we ate a bit of lunch we were on our way and finally got into Bryan, Texas.

We pulled into our site at Aggieland RV Park and then the sun began to peek out. Settled in we made our way over to our favorite restaurant and had dinner… man it is really nice to be eating some good Mexican food again. We will be in this area for about a month as we take side trips to visit the grandkids, my mother, and some friends in nearby towns…  We are looking forward to visiting family and friends in Texas…

Note: All photos taken at South Toledo Bend Reservoir.

Rolling with the Flow…

Sometimes things just do not go according to plan. Or you become so anxious to leave a place, you jump on the road without a plan. Both scenarios occurred recently. The first was our departure from Red Bay Alabama. So relieved were we to receive our interior service and to hear from Bay Diesel all was well with the engine, we decided not to stay another night in Red Bay Alabama (even though we usually do not take off for anywhere past 1 pm). We hooked up the car, gassed up and were on the road by 1:30 pm thinking we’d just find a place to stay somewhere in Mississippi.

Nearing 4pm while traveling on Mississippi 25 we began to see signs for two Mississippi State Parks. While Sharon was scrambling to pull them up on her laptop, and since there was no traffic at all, I pulled into a long turn lane to one of the State Parks and stopped with flashers on. Low and behold a car comes up behind us wanting to turn, and thankfully I left enough space for the car to pull ahead of us and make the turn. I was trying to hurry Sharon up (which doesn’t go over well) when another car wants to turn, too. The only cars we’ve seen at all in the past half hour!

Well this lady pulls in front of us and stops and gets out of her car to come over to see if we needed any help! We explained we were scrambling to see what State Park to stay at for the night. She said actually right up the road she would highly recommend Tiak O’khata park which is Choctaw for Twin Lakes. She said she felt we would enjoy this stop over the two state parks. Boy was she right! Tiak O’khata was such a gem we decided on a two night stay rather than an overnighter. Sure wish we could thank her!

The next “rolling with the flow” scenario occurred a couple of days ago. We left Tiak O’khata after touring Natchez Mississippi (most of these photos are from there) with the intention of staying at Sandy Hill Campground, a Corps of Engineer park near Jasper, Texas. We decided to stop in Vidalia Louisiana for gas because the app on our phone (Gas Buddy) showed it much cheaper there than anywhere nearby. As we pulled in the station a beat up pickup truck was parked blocking the outside ,and only, diesel lane.

He waved to us so we waited…..and waited….and waited... We noticed him shuffling through papers then bubbling in his lotto number picks. Gee whiz. Finally Sharon jumped out to ask sweetly for him to move and he said, “ OK, Gimme a minute, Sugar!”. About 10 minutes after pulling in, we finally got diesel! Gee Whiz! Then, during the last 45 minutes of our four-hour drive we saw a sign warning of a 12’ 4”overpass! Oh crap, not sure how I missed it during trip planning!

We pulled into a large church parking lot and I found a way around the bridge that would add a half hour to our drive and no telling what surprises this “side route” had in store…so we went to Plan B and took the turn to South Toledo Bend State Park….Well, lo and behold, it’s a gem too. We liked it so much we are stayed here three nights. So as much nervousness as it causes Sharon to stray from the “plan”, sometimes it’s best to Roll with the Flow!

We will leave tomorrow for College Station, Texas where we plan to stay 3-4 weeks to visit family and friends…

Natchez Trace Parkway to Natchez, MS…

We left the campground in Mississippi called Lake Tiak-O'Khata early yesterday morning. I am going to miss their cable TV with March Madness in full swing but it is time to move on. The 207 mile planned route was to take the Natchez Trace Parkway all the way down to Natchez. A long day of driving but it would be along the scenic Natchez Trace.

The drive went well as we traveled about 45 miles to get on the Natchez Trace. The road is narrow and the speed limit is only 50 mph, so why would we want to take the RV on this road? Because it is very scenic and we are NOT in a hurry – We love this life… That is until we got to milepost 98.4 – and the road was CLOSED! When I researched this route earlier there was no notice of this so apparently this happened after I did my research… next time I will check the web site again before we enter another scenic highway.

Having to get off the Natchez Trace Parkway with no signage to enable us to get back on it after this detour we let “Alice” (our GPS) reroute us and then had to trust her to get us through Jackson MS. Blindly we went on and even though Alice disagreed with Sharon’s GPS about a turn in the route we made it just fine to the Mississippi river and found our camp River View RV Park just across the river in Vidalia, Louisiana.

The campground is right on the Mississippi and is a Passport America park but you can only use that rate for one night. We are staying an additional night where they let us use our Escapees Discount as well. Nice location on the river but there is not a whole lot of wow factor at this park. Without the discounts it is way overpriced but it is very close to Natchez, MS which appears to be a neat little town that we plan to checkout today…

Tomorrow we head to a state park near the Toledo Bend Reservoir on the border of LA and TX. Then it is onward towards College Station where we will stop in and visit friends for a couple of weeks, but we are in scramble mode right now since the two parks we wanted to stay at are booked up. I am sure we will find something in College Station though…

Goodbye Red Bay… Hello Mississippi…

Monday morning, 7:00 am, we were lined up behind bay door number 7 after waiting 6 days it was finally our turn to be seen in the service center. The large bay door slid open and I fired up the motorhome and drove her into the bay stopping when the service techs told me too.

I get out and the techs asked if I had a list of things for them to look over. Odd, I thought, as I had given one to the service center. Nonetheless I showed them the list and we went over each item. Then they asked if I had ordered the windows that were going to be replaced… “why yes I did” Now I was getting a bit worried about the quality of the work I was about to receive…

They found the windows and started to take out the old ones and so I went to the lounge for some coffee. A little over three hours later our motorhome was done and all but one item was finished. The remaining item would have to be done another day and was not so critical as the other items were anyhow. After  inspecting the workmanship I have to admit I was very impressed with the quality of work performed by the techs.

I went to pay the bill and asked Tiffin if they ever got any clarification on whether the windows would be covered in any fashion on warranty. I had inquired about this over a month ago and had no definitive response. I was told the best they could do was offer the windows at cost which saved us about 100.00 bucks so even though it wasn’t what we had hoped we saved a few bucks.

Tuesday morning we had another appointment with Bay Diesel to have some preventative maintenance work done and to have our brakes looked at after they had overheated when we went through Birmingham Alabama. I spent a lot of time with the techs at Bay Diesel and they taught me a lot about the mechanics of my motorhome. When everything had been finished the owner chatted with me and told me there was an ABS modulator that was touchy and may go out in the future. He said he had contacted Freightliner and was trying to get them to pay for the part but they refused. He informed me that it wasn’t necessary to fix it now and to just wait till it fails since there was nothing to worry about. When I asked why not do it now he told me the part alone was $2300.00 YIKES!!!

So we paid the bill for the great work performed and the wonderful diesel mechanic education I received and prepared to leave Red Bay… And the we got a phone call from Tiffin. It turns out my request about the windows made its way all the way to the owner and founder of Tiffin Motorhomes, Mr. Bob Tiffin.

I read about many stories involving Bob Tiffin going way above what was necessary to make a customer happy but assumed most of these stories were a wee bit fictional… Well it was my turn to get in on this act! It appeared that Bob Tiffin told the service folks to give us a call and tell me that they were going to give a refund for the cost of the windows we just had installed – $690!!! WOW!!! We are now part of the generosity of Bob Tiffin who had been the pinnacle of Customer Success at Red Bay in the past before he took a lesser role in the management.

To summarize our Red Bay experience I have to say that:

• when getting service at Red Bay you will enter the twilight zone known as Tiffin Time
• Tiffin Time is another way to say you will have to wait around a lot before seeing anyone remotely affiliated with the service center
• When first seen you will be told you are in a queue to be serviced and again you enter Tiffin Time
• After patiently waiting your turn you will eventually end up in a service bay where you will get top notch work performed by very skilled workers
• What may be lacking in customer service up front is more than compensated by the fact that the work you have performed is of very high quality
• You simply must have mechanical work performed at Bay Diesel if ever in this area

We were so glad to have the work done and so glad to be out of Red Bay that we left immediately after our PM work at Bay Diesel. We are now about 130 miles southeast of Red Bay at a gem of a campground in Mississippi called Lake Tiak-O'Khata. We have full hookups, cable TV on a lake for 19 bucks a night… think we will stay a couple of days…

Tiffin Factory Tour and We Heard From Service…

Friday morning we set out to check *out the Tiffin Factory tour that begins at 9 and lasts about an hour and a half to two hours. After a meet and greet, we were given a brief introduction and history lesson about Red Bay Alabama and the Tiffin family. We then donned safety glasses and earplugs attached to radios. Our tour guides spoke to us along the tour via radio.

About 13 of us followed as we meandered through the woodshop for the first portion of the tour. It was like a symphony of caterpillars driving by, sanding machinery, nail guns and workers buzzing all around us. Next we were led to the welding department and although we were not allowed inside the building we were able to see some powerglide frames outside that had been welded and readied for the assembly of the motorhome structure.

It was interesting to see the brand new motors, axels and newly required pollution inhibitors. We were also shown the outside of the Research and Development Building that also houses their IT personnel. We then were allowed inside the main assembly building. It is divided into 15 stations. At each station we were allowed to see the process of the shaping of the motorhome atop the chassis. The workers seemed to barely notice our presence and were continuously busy in each station. At the end of the tour is the finished product and we were able to step inside and see the newly finished product. Most of the entire motorhome materials are American made (mostly in NE Alabama and SW Mississippi) except the windshields which oddly enough are shipped in from Turkey. If you are ever in the area the tour is an excellent way to spend a morning.

On Sunday we got THE PHONE CALL and we were told by the Tiffin service person that we were to report to bay 7 at 7:00 a.m. Finally!!! We will be seen. So this morning we closed up the rig and parked behind bay 7 waiting for it to open. At 7:00 a.m. sharp the door opened and we pulled in and will see what happens from here…

The Red Bay Saga Continues…

Well the “service guy” showed up as our first contact with the service department two days after we got here in Red Bay, Alabama. He pulls up in a beat up old red station wagon and rolls down his windows and asks a question?

“Are you in a hurry?” We said what do you mean? His reply was “Well, if you are in a hurry we can put you in the express bay and if not we can get to you in about two weeks?” We say enthusiastically- “The Express Bay!!!!”

The off he went without even coming into the RV to see what specific issues we wanted to address. I had several items I wanted to ask a technician about but I guess we will have to wait till later to speak with one.

Then we didn’t hear anything from anyone again…We are definitely on “Tiffin time”.  I finally decided to visit nearby Bay Diesel to see about getting some preventative engine maintenance done and have them look over my front driver’s side brake that had overheated when we drove through Birmingham Alabama.  The were able to set me up an appointment for Tuesday morning.

Back in the land of the Tiffin Service Center another day rolled by without any contact so we initiated contact with the Service Department Friday afternoon after the bays had closed for the weekend. I asked if they had any idea where we were in the queue since we had a diesel appointment for Tuesday. After shuffling through some papers on his desk he said we were next and would be seen Monday at 7:00 am… Great we thought!!! Then we wondered when they were ever going to tell us that since they had closed for the weekend??? Strange way to do business… but at least we are likely to be seen Monday and may still be able to keep our Tuesday appointment also. After these plans were made at last, we decided to make the short half hour drive northeast to Tuscambia, Alabama to visit the Rattlesnake Saloon. This place was said to be a cave with a bar built into it so we just had to check it out. Once we found our way to the entrance had caught the “taxi” down the hill to the saloon we finally saw what all the hoopla was all about… we had found another Road Treat! To read more about this place check out our blog about it on Road Treats.

Red Bay, Alabama

Red Bay Alabama is way off the beaten path but it is however, by reputation, the best place for servicing our Tiffin Allegro Bay motorhome. We have a few faulty windows and minor repairs and felt it worthwhile to make the pilgrimage to the premier repair site. It was a long haul from The Parks at Chehaw in Albany, Ga but we figured the long push all in one day would ensure a better likelihood that we would be seen sooner than later at the Tiffin Express Bay first-come-first serve queue. (Scheduled appointments at this time are fully booked 12 months out). Eager to get r done, we left Georgia at nine and planned to be in Red Bay at 3 pm (accounting for the time change).

Traveling through Birmingham turned out to be much like our Atlanta experience. Many freeway changes, lots of congestion and many, many lights into and out of town made for stressful delays. Adding to the stress was the fact that we witnessed an accident at one intersection where a lady in the lane next to us completely ran a red light because she was on her cell phone. She was broad sided thereby causing us further delay dealing with gridlock. Everyone seemed okay so we navigated past the wreckage. Later we were taking the last loop-d-loo out of Birmingham and we noticed a smell and an indicator light that our brakes were overheated. We stopped to let them cool off now realizing that our to-do list in Red Bay would be extended since now we would be having our brakes checked.

We rolled in an hour and a half later than planned (around 4:30 pm) after passing the not-so-evident signage to the campground, making two u turns (with car in tow) before finally entering into the Allegro Campground. The office was very hectic and crowded and after standing in line for 40 minutes, we discovered we just missed the last full hookup site and would have to dry camp for the night (sigh). We settled in and decided to check out town for a quick dinner. There are not too many choices in Red Bay and we found out the hard way that the county is completely dry. We grabbed some fast food but as we found out much later, the office “forgot” to give us the list restaurants and stores in the area. Although customer service is highly touted with regard to the Red Bay Tiffin Service Camp, our experience so far has been less than satisfying. As you’ll read further it goes from bad to worse for us.

With no electricity or water, we again ran to town early the next morning for breakfast. Upon our return I walked over to the office (which opens at 7am and closes at 8pm) to check about openings for a full hookup site and to inquire about the Tiffin factory tour as we heard it is a highlighted activity while in Red Bay. The staff reacted to my request with horror because apparently you are NOT to leave the campground for any reason until you have a full hookup campsite. I also discovered you are not even assigned a service number until you are in a full site. Did the office personnel tell us this upon arrival? No! Well, gee whiz, how were we to know? An hour and a half later (9:30 am) we were assigned a campsite, given a service number and told to be ready at any time for a call or drive by visit from the service guy. We waited at the CAMPGROUND slides in and ready to roll……waited and waited….until finally at 3pm I wandered back to the office to inquire if it was “normal” not to hear any word at all from our service guy. I was told that there is no way to tell when exactly we would hear from him but “our guy” comes in at 6:30 am and leaves at 2:30pm sharp. Well, again, why not tell us this service timeline so that we don’t wait and wonder all day……sigh.

So here’s the thing…if you plan to come to Red Bay Express Service:

• come earlier in the day rather than later
• be aware the entrance signage is very easy to miss
• be prepared for possible dry camping on a back lot
• be prepared for a lack of communication as to a time-line for a full hookup camp site or for service (they call this Tiffin time)
• you may have to ask for restaurant and store information
• know that this is a dry county and a very small town (nearest wine/beer about 25 miles away)
• know that the day starts at 7am at Tiffin Service and ends at 2:30 or 3.
• Stay by your phone at all time
• Do NOT GO anywhere until you hear from your service guy (or until after he/she leaves)

Hopefully this “bad service” will be behind us and all the “great service” we heard about Tiffin is ahead of us. Until then the saga will continue…

Albany Georgia and heading towards Red Bay…

The opening shot is a picture of Sharon on the beach in Jacksonville, FL. It was to be our last time to see the Atlantic for a while as we head west for the upcoming year. It was a foggy overcast day but you will not have a hard time telling that Sharon really loves the beach… we miss it already!!!

We have stayed the last two nights in Albany, Georgia… from where Paula Deen, Ray Charles and female golfing sensation Nancy Lopez all hail from. Who would have figured that a small town in Georgia would contribute so much to the American culture? We stayed at the Parks of Chehaw which is a wonderful little spot in the middle of nowhere in Georgia. Spring has found it way here as the blue-its, spring beauties, and flowering dogwoods are all starting to bloom here.

The Parks of Chehaw have a small RV park within a larger park that also hosts a Frisbee golf course, a fishing pond, a BMX bicycle course, a huge kiddo playground, and believe it or not, a Zoo!!! The road into the park is nicely paved but once you reach the RV sites you will be on a dirt road. The loop has several full hook sites for $28 and more $20 electricity/water pull-thru sites, one of which we chose.

We had a blast playing Frisbee golf and would have played more but we had to go shopping for new glasses with bifocals :) for Sharon. The park is a real nice treat and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The town of Albany on the other hand isn’t much to write home about even though it provided some celebrities…

So this morning it is off to Red Bay, Alabama where we hope to get some repairs done and some windows replaced. They said our windows were ready so I guess we need to get there to queue up for the express bay. As I write this morning we haven’t decided if we want to push all the way to Red Bay today or stop somewhere along the way… I guess we will gauge how we feel along the way.

Where we head next depends upon when we are able to leave Red Bay. If we leave mid-week we may head west to Memphis and Arkansas or if we leave near the weekend we may head south toward New Orleans. It is tough having to make these decisions but either way we will have opportunities for plenty of fun…