Matthew’s Road Trip – Day 7

Wednesday was a slow day.  We went back into the bay for cleanup of the roof job, and then found out that our base plate was not here, so we went back out to the campsite.  We were able to get the Bus picked up and Patsy washed some clothes to get us ready to move out of here on Thursday afternoon…. hopefully!

Duane stayed until noon, and then got on the road toward home.  He has to be back in Council Bluffs, IA on Friday for a board meeting.  Before he left, he got to see his motorhome progress to where it had all of the walls and roof on it, and most of the inside built.  What’s left is cabinet doors, outside bay doors, and detail work.

Again, I took some photos for Matthew’s mom.  Here he is eating dinner…..

Shortly after we ate, Matthew’s mom called, and while talking, he walked all over the Bus………….

Later this morning, we are going to drive over to Tupelo, MS.   They are now working on the last item on our list.

Matthew’s Road Trip – Day 6

Tuesday was a busy day.  Our goal of this trip was to get the damage from a roof leak repaired, get the 10K Atwood leveler rear jacks upgraded to 15K, fix a short in the central vacuum cleaner electrical system, and fix a chip in the edge of the kitchen counter. 

On Monday, we accomplished the vacuum cleaner repair, chip in the countertop, replaced one jack (because they only had one base plate!!) and they ordered the replacement roof.  They did place an overnight order on the base plate, but it did not come in on Tuesday!!

On Tuesday, they removed and replaced the roof section.  It was a bigger job than I thought.  Patsy took some pictures because I was at the factory with Duane to watch his Phaeton build and touring the other Tiffin facilities.  Here are some pictures of the job, with the first one showing the wood trim removed:

The roof is a composite of a metal roof, foam insulation, luan board, and foam-backed vinyl.  I expected them to leave the metal roof and remove only a part of the lower layers.  However, they had to remove the entire piece, which resulted in us being able to see the ceiling of the shop………..

Here’s a view from the outside with the new section waiting to be hoisted in place………

And, here are the Tech’s setting the section in place:

By 3:30PM, they had it all back together with only the cleanup needing to be done. 

Another job that we wanted to accomplish was to have a “couch cushion” installed by the Techs who work during the off hours ‘on the runway’.  Patsy had seen this cushion in someone’s else’s coach during a recent rally and wanted one for sitting on the coach while watching TV or reading.  Here’s a picture of it with the guy who made it……. Mr. D (aka Dudley Hall):

The following three (3) pictures show the cushion in place, ability to slide out for removal, and a side profile of the cushion.  Mr. D has modified the profile from previous designs, and I like it better.

Here’s a picture of Patsy enjoying her new seat!!

Regarding Duane’s coach, it went into the welding shop on Monday morning, and Duane got here about 9:30am on Monday.  We got to the factory in time to see it after it was all welded, painted with corrosion-proof coating, and wired.

Here are some pictures of Duane checking out his wired and corrosion-proofed chassis:

It is starting to get cold and rainy here.  On Thursday, we will get the second 15K jack installed, and that will finish up this visit.  I have made an appointment with a Front End Alignment facility in Florence. AL for 7:45AM on Friday morning.  This is an RV speciality that Tiffin uses on coaches with major problems.  I don’t have a problem that I know about, I just want it checked since it has 27,000 miles on it.  We will leave Red Bay on Thursday afternoon, and spend the night on the parking lot at the alignment shop. 

After that, we intend to drive to Little Rock, AR to visit Deanne.

Christmas Pictures for Mom

There will be followup of what went on at Red Bay later today.  Since Matthew and I promised his mom that she would get daily pictures, this is for her!! 

Duane, Matthew and I went to get a pizza last night, and on the way, we stopped at the local town square and took some Christmas light pictures.  Here they are:

The stranger in the last picture is Duane… who Matthew has taken a shine to!!

Matthew’s Road Trip – Days 4&5

On Sunday, we woke up to a cloudy and cooler day.   We needed some more warm clothes for Matthew, so we drove to the Wal-Mart in Russellville, AL.  By the time we got back to Red Bay, it had gotten even cooler, and had begun to rain, so we spent most of the day inside the motorhome watching TV, DVDs and putting puzzles together.  Here’s Matthew doing a new puzzle:

 

We had to be in the work bay at 7:00am, so we went to bed fairly early.

It rained really hard most of Sunday night, and the next morning, the campground was really wet.  At the service center, Matthew and Patsy spent most of the day in the lounge. They played games, and I think Matthew won most of them! 

Here are some pictures for Matthew’s Mom:

My cousin, Duane, showed up at the service center about 9:30am, and we spent most of the day at the factory.  I gave him a tour and we located his motorhome in the build area.

Matthew’s Road Trip – Day 3

We slept in late this morning, even Matthew who is usually up by 6:30am, slept until past 8:00am!!

We had breakfast, and then we gave Matthew a United States map puzzle that we gave him to help him understand our travels.  He did pretty good putting it together….. it has an outline under the pieces!!

About 10:00am, it was getting pretty warm outside, so we got dressed, and went looking for a local playground for Matthew. 

My cousin, Duane King, from Council Bluffs, IA, ordered a Tiffin Phaeton motorhome after seeing my Bus in June, and his build begins tomorrow.  I wanted to take pictures of his chassis before the welding began, so I dropped Patsy and Matthew off at a playground, and I went to the factory to get the pictures.  Here’s Matthew leading Patsy to the equipment:

The guard told me that she couldn’t let me into the plant because it was closed……. so I asked her if she didn’t need to make a round, and that I would ride in the golf cart with her!!  She smiled and agreed!!!  I got my pictures!!  Here’s a couple of pictures:

After getting my pictures, I returned to the playground, and Matthew was having a good time.  The following are mainly for Mom and Dad (and Aubrey!):

Next to the playground, there is a skateboard park, and Matthew brought his scooter with him on the trip, so we went to the skate park:

As much fun that he had, he seemed to have more fun kicking large pine cones:

While in the park, we found a table that makes the monster that his dad, Rick, built in college look kind of puny!!

After playing, we drove around town.  We found a restaurant named “Ezzell’s”, Matthew’s mom’s maiden name, and we took pictures of Matthew at the signs:

Matthew was glad to see that there was no resemblance between him and the guy on the sign!!!!

We returned to the campground and we let Matthew run off some more energy!!

Matthew spotted this metal dog with his leg raised and peeing on a fire in someone’s front windshield!!

We will see what tomorrow brings.