Red Bay Visit – Week #1

We arrived in Red Bay on Monday morning about 8:00AM, having spent the night on a Walmart parking lot in Fulton, MS, about 30 miles away.

By 9:00AM, we had secured a full-hookup RV site at Bruce Deaton’s Paint Shop, and had an appointment with the local A/C expert to fix a whining noise on my rear roof a/c.  I had also visited the Tiffin Service Center office to request a repair to my Leveling system.  Both of these items failed in the weeks before we left for Red Bay.

The a/c Tech diagnosed an electric motor with bad bearings, and came back around 3:00PM with a replacement and changed it out.  One job down!!

Scheduled work includes paint/body work (scheduled to begin on Oct 23), thanks to the ‘signature’ that hurricane Harvey put on the Bus, having a new set of Michelin tires mounted  along with a four-wheel alignment on the Bus this Thursday, and having a new set (4) of Lifeline AGM sealed RV deep cycle batteries installed on the coach on Thursday of next week.

In the meantime, we are picking up parts for friends and planning our 2018 travel plans.  In early January, we are preparing an itinerary for a 2 month trip to the Quartzsite, AZ area.  Otherwise, we are just resting and “vacationing”  in the Red Bay area! 

Early on Tuesday, we picked up a new Sharp Microwave/Convection oven for our friend’s, Mark & Sue Didelot, Phaeton motorhome.  Thiers failed, and this is a direct replacement that seems to no longer available on the open market, which will make for an easy replacement

We have also picked up four of this years’ Tiffin T-shirt featuring a dog that lives at the factory that is popular with owners.  I also got a request to pick up a new t-shirt at the Allegro Club office, as shown below:

I am also collecting spare parts for the Bus including some LED lights for the ceiling fixtures.

On Wednesday morning, the Tiffin Service Center Chassis shop phoned and told us to bring the Bus to Bay 41 at the Chassis shop to diagnose and replace/repair one of our leveling jacks.  We were there within 20 minutes and drove right in. 

The problem turned out to be a bad motor on a rear jack!!  $900 later, we were on our way back to our campsite at Bruce Deaton’s Paint Shop!  I had to buy a new complete jack, but I kept the old jack and intend to get a new motor for it!!

On Thursday morning, we left early to drive to Sheffield, AL to Simmon’s Tire for a new set of tires for the Bus.  I started looking for new Michelin tires, like the Bus came with, and they weren’t available, and a call to Michelin let me know that they were not scheduled for a production run for the rest of 2017!! 

I called around places in Texas, and nobody had them, so I called Simmons, since they do tire and alignment work for Tiffin, and the owner, Mike Simmons, said he thought he could find a set.  He called a week later, and said he had found 12 tires, and would hold 6 for me. He assured me that they were 2017 tires, and when I got there, I found all of them having been manufactured during the 25th week of 2017.  I had made the appointment for October 19 in September, and it all worked out.  The Bus now has new “shoes’, and it got a four-wheel alignment.

The 2517 tire mark indicates they were manufactured during the 25th week of 2017!  That is about as new as you can hope for!!

On our way to Branson, I turned into a Walmart parking lot to buy some groceries, and the front tire on the CRV scraped the curb and the valve stem with the TPMS sensor managed to break off the valve stem at the threads.   An immediate flat tire!!

EXPLANATION:  The referenced TPMS sensor mentioned above is for the remote after-market system that is installed in the Bus from which I can monitor all tires, six on the Bus and the four on the CRV.  The CRV also comes with an OEM TPMS that is monitored via the dash.  The sensor for the OEM is located inside the tire on the valve stem also.

The Honda shop near Branson, had a new OEM valve stem with the Honda sensor, but their computer could not connect with my CRV’s computer.  I think their sensor is bad, so we left with the tire repaired, but a constant indicator on the dash panel when driving the CRV. 

On Friday, we drove to the Honda dealer in Tupelo, MS to get the TPMS situation resolved, but found that their complete automotive computer was down!!  So, we grabbed some groceries from Sam’s Club and Walmart, and headed back to Red Bay!!  We will try again next week while the Bus is in the paint shop.

On Saturday, we were looking for someplace to go to get out and about.  We found a Fall Festival in Booneville, MS, so we took off to check it out.  For a small town, it was fairly large, and we enjoyed getting out.  We bought some home-made peanut brittle, some fried PEACH pies, and a large jar of local honey:

Hopefully, Deaton’s Paint shop, although they are really busy right now, will get us in a bay sometime on Monday, and get the repairs done so we can leave at the end of next week. If not, we will have to monitor our plans. 

We’ll see what Week #2 in Red Bay will bring !

In Branson with Rachel

After a really quiet night at the Oklahoma State Park, we got up about 9:00am on Thursday with the intentions of getting on the road about 10:30am. 

I did my normal morning computer routine ( a habit from my working days)……. Checked emails, TRVN Forum, Some RV Blogs, Allegro Club Forums, and read my local newspaper.  With extra time, I decided to pay my PenFed Visa Credit Card on-line with Wells Fargo.  When I opened up the PenFed site to get my balance, I also checked the activity (we use only this card on trips, and I try to check it daily anyway), and I found a charge in Florida that I did not make.

I found the company on the internet and called to question the charge……… and got a VMX recording.  I left a message stating that I thought it was fraudulent, and that I was going to cancel the payment.  Thirty minutes later, no call back (and none to date!!), so I called PenFed to stop the payment. 

I found out that you can only challenge a payment if you gave them the CC number and were disputing the amount of the charge!  Otherwise, as in this case, it is called fraud, and they have to cancel the card and send you another one!

The only card that we use on the road, and for 90% of our cost of living at home, is the PenFed card.  It pays back 5% on fuel, 3% on groceries (and they call Walmart a grocery store, even if you buy a shirt and some paint!), and 1% on everything else.  We get about $100 back every 4 to 5 weeks!!  And, we buy a lot of fuel on a trip!

I convinced them to send the card, via FEDEX to the Bruce Deaton Paint and Body shop in Red Bay, home of the Tiffin factory, where we will be on next Monday.  It is supposed to arrive next Tuesday, and Melody Deaton is set up to sign for it!

We got on the road about noon, and made good time.  After we pulled into Missouri, we stopped at a Walmart to get some groceries for our stay in Branson.  As I pulled into the lot, the front PS tire must have clipped the curb, and the TPMS sensor managed to break off the threaded end of the metal valve stem. 

I went into the store, planning on grabbing groceries, getting a Subway for lunch, and hitting the road for the rest of the trip to Branson.  Not to be……. Patsy stayed in the store for the sandwich, while I took the groceries to the Bus to put away. 

As I approached the Bus, a customer came over from the gas station, which was near the Bus, and asked if I knew about “THAT”, pointing to a flat tire on the car!  I told him, “I do now!!”, and thanked him for pointing it out.  I would have heard the alarm if I had gotten into the Bus before he told me, but I did not like it either way!

I don’t like the car jacks that come with the vehicles, so I always carry a bottle jack inside the spare tire storage.  However, the one that I had starting leaking fluid about a year ago, so I tossed it, and never replaced it.  I went into the Walmart Auto Center and asked if they could change a tire on the parking lot, and the lady manager said a definite “NO”, and also told me they could not repair a stem associated with a Honda Factory installed TPMS sensor!!

I bought a bottle jack for $12, ate my sandwich, and put the ‘temporary spare tire on the car, and we took off.

We got to our Branson RV Park, Stagecoach  Campground, at about 6:30pm, and the office was long closed!  Our site assignment and paperwork was on the office door, and we got set up.  Luckily, we had a pull-through site.

On Friday morning, with Rachel and her parents expecting to arrive in Branson around 1:00pm, we found that the nearest Honda dealer was in Springfield, MO………. about 50 miles north of Branson. 

At the Honda dealer, we found that they had the parts, but we had to wait for them to work us into the daily schedule!  We went to the Customer Wait Area, and I finished my daily computer about 30 minutes before the car was ready.  Not really bad!

We got a call from my daughter that they were about 30 minutes away, so we headed to the Bass Pro Big Cedar Lodge, where the medical conference was being held and where they were staying.  We arrived just after they registered and had there lodge and room assignment, so we met them at their room.

It was about 2:00pm, and we headed out for a parting lunch at the Rib Crib in Branson, highly rated by Yelp….. I decided that Yelp is not always right!!  It was good BBQ, but not great, plus when we got there, they were out of brisket!!

We had a good visit, and Rachel had a time assembling a pair of eyeglasses that came with her meal….

This trip, we found Rachel missing a couple of front teeth, and letting her bangs grow out!  But, still cute, and a lot of fun to take care of!!

After our meal, we left with Rachel and stopped at a Vf Factory Outlet store and shopped a bit, and then headed back to the Bus to let her unpack and get her bed set up.

Here is what our site looked like………

After a good nights sleep, on Saturday morning, we had three goals…… ride the large Ferris wheel that was recently moved to Branson for Chicago’s Navy Pier, attend a Grape and Fall Festival at Hollister, MO, and visit Table Rock State Park, near our campground.

Here’s the Ferris Wheel pic’s……….

Rachel had a lot of fun on the Ferris Wheel, and had a lot more at the Grape and Fall Festival……

Pony ride…….

She wanted her face painted and chose a dog…….

Kinda’ looks like she lost a fight!!  Of course the next thing was getting finger-printed by the local police!…..

Of course, the big black ‘police’ balloon is the “new ankle brace” for kids in Missouri!!!

After a drive through the Table Rock State Park, we headed back to the Bus for a rest.  Then she wanted to go to the playground at the campground.  The plan is to wear her out so she goes to bed early and we get rested for our travels to Red Bay tomorrow after her parents pick her up!

At 6:30pm, we headed out for dinner.  Rachel fixed her hair and was ready to go…

By the time we got to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant, she was beginning to show signs of being tired!

Wrapping up our time with Rachel, we met her parents at the “Wild Bill’s Truck Stop” on HWY 65 on the way to Conway, where we were to connect with I-40.  Deanne and Mike were taking the same highway to get back to Little Rock.

We drove until 7:00pm and stopped for the night at a Walmart in Fulton, MS……. about 25 miles from Red Bay.  It was raining, and the last small highway in to Red Bay is narrow and windy with no shoulder!   We decided it was best to wait until morning for the last leg, and also, be able to watch our “new” Sunday night TV shows.

Next post will cover our “ADVENTURES” at the Tiffin home town!!

On the Road to Branson / Rachel Care

After a summer of work at the house, we were looking forward to our first Bus trip of the Fall.  This road trip includes a visit to Branson, MO to take card of our Arkansas granddaughter, Rachel, while her parents attended a medical conference. 

After that, we will head to the Tiffin factory town of Red Bay, AL to get some hurricane paint/Fiberglas repairs completed, a new set of tires with a four-wheel alignment , and some new house batteries for the Bus.

After Red Bay, we will head to a Lone Star Allegro rally at Trader’s Village in Houston.  The next week, we will attend a week-long Bluebonnet Allegro rally in the Rio Grande Valley town of Mission.  We will return home on November 12.

On this past Monday, I had a colonoscopy that made Sunday a very sad day with the pre-procedure diet!!  Tuesday, Patsy had a hair appointment……… As soon as she was finished, I picked her up at the salon in the Bus with the car hooked up, and we headed out.

I was told my colon looked good, and Patsy’s hair looked great.  Our reason for the fast departure was that our travels took us through Waco Texas on the way to Branson and we wanted to visit the Magnolia Market.owned by Chip & Joanna Gaines, hosts of HGTV's hit remodeling show "Fixer Upper".  Patsy is a fan of the show, and wanted to see the market.  She bought a T-shirt, and a flower vase for the Bus.

Here are some pictures……….

We had to park the Bus a couple of blocks from the market, and as we were walking back, Patsy spotted this house.  It is or was called a “shotgun house”, and was one of the projects that was highlighted on one of their shows.

We had arrived in Waco at 5:00pm, and the Market area closed at 6:00pm, but we had enough time to do a good tour.  We went by a Bed Bath&Beyond store to buy a rug that Patsy had wanted for the Bus, and then we hit North I-35 toward Dallas.  We drove until about 10:30pm, and overnighted at a Walmart in Sherman, TX.

That put us at half-way to Branson, and we don’t need to be there until Thursday afternoon.  On Wednesday morning, we decided to drive about half of the distance to Branson, and stop at a campground in an Oklahoma State Park.  We chose Lake Eufaula State Park, near Checotah, OK.

We got parked in a site, and drove the car around the park a bit.  Then, we just rested.  Patsy grilled some hot links that we had brought with us, and I started updating this blog.

Here are some pictures of the state park………

It was a nice quiet and cool day in the park!

Tomorrow, we will drive to the campground near Branson where we will stay until Sunday afternoon while taking care of Rachel.

More later!!,