2017 May 20 to June 8 - Rev Group (Fleetwood) Warranty Service, Decatur IN

We were scheduled to leave the Thousand Trails Indian Lakes campground in Batesville (Morris) Indiana on Sunday, May 21st for our appointment at Fleetwood on Monday at 06:00am, but we opted to leave on Saturday instead to be sure we got a good parking space at Fleetwood. As we were leaving TT Indian Lakes campground we drove a little off the pavement in trying to set up for hooking up the car and we managed to dig in the right rear tires a foot deep. It had rained quite a bit the day before and the sod was apparently extra soft. We tried rocking it out but only dug it deeper, so we called Coach Net (our RV tow and service company,) which called a tow company (Myers Tow). These guys first sent a Chevy Tahoe to try to pull us out. A Chevy Tahoe (7,200 Lbs GVW) to pull a 33,400 lbs. motor home… stuck in a foot of mud. A struggle between David and Goliath. Really?? Finally they upped the ante to a flatbed tow truck (with a 25,500 lbs GVW). It also tried to pull us out unsuccessfully, but were successful in at least winching us free. However, in the interim, waiting for the tow trucks we received 6 different offers to pull us out from other RVers with 5th-wheel 3/4 and 1-ton 4x4 pickup trucks, but we waited for the tow truck(s) so as not to damage someone else's transmission.  The fact that we received so many offers of “free” help, sort of restores one’s faith in people.  Finally, we were free and on our way to the REV Group (Fleetwood) in Decatur IN.

The square hole is from the hydraulic jack with a square piece of wood as a base in an attempt to raise the coach to put boards under it for traction. The tow company couldn't take my word that if a double wheel sank into the sod a 12"x12" jack would sink in a lot easier. But some people need to be shown when words are not heard. Not the best referral for Myers Towing.

The initial roads from Hwy 46 to SR-101 and US-27N (St. Peters Rd, and US-52W) were scary as they were barely a two lane road (for cars) and involved many blind curves and bridges with weight limits of 12-15 tons (while we are a 16.5T coach),  but after digging into the grass once already there was no way we were going to risk getting off the pavement again, so when cars came up to us we would pull to the right and stop, let the cars drive by and then continue our drive. After about 26 miles the road widened and it was smooth sailing from then on.

Later, on US-27N we also started seeing the Amish (or Mennonite) horse and buggies on the roads. It is probably not too bad to get around them when driving a car, but driving a 41 foot motor home plus another 20 feet for the toad, is a horse of a different color (no pun intended). One has to slow down when coming up on them when an oncoming car is visible or in case they are turning, then speed up and get enough space between them so as not to hit them with a wave of wind... and get back into our own lane before the next oncoming car approaches. Still, they seem to take this in stride, and are not bothered by it, so why should we be.

   

We arrived at the REV Technical Service facility in Decatur around 5:30pm, just in time for a quick set-up and… ‘happy hour’. Wooo hooo!! We parked across the driveway from another Discovery 40E and with the exact same paint job as ours. Looking around there were 8 other coaches from Florida and over the following weekend another 5-6 from FL came in as well. We met wonderful people like Ray and Pauline, Jim and Carmen Justice, Dennis and Donna Baril, Kip and Deb Eiger, Bill and Betty Bamba, and Tom and Tina Crawford, among others, who were also having their coaches serviced as well.

  

  

After the stink we created with the numerous letters to management requesting specifically NOT to be assigned ‘Ted’ as our service advisor given all the negative experiences with him, we were assigned Gary (Tech) and Gregg (Service Advisor). These guys are truly on the ball and a pleasure to work with. They did in fact replace the microwave/convection oven (which Ted had refused to do), and did so with a more powerful and bigger unit.  We had prepared a fully descriptive listing of all our issues, with paragraph and sub-paragraph itemization, indexed with photos and video of each deficiency. It is a common law of RV’ing that what goes wrong on the road, will never present itself the same way when one gets to a service center or dealer. So we always photo/video issues when they happen, so we can always support having had the issues. Here is our Service Advisor, Greg Hancock, who through his professional manner, excellent communication keeping us always advised of what was going on, and ability to keep everything working expeditiously, has restored our faith in Fleetwood and our coach. Our Tech, Gary Sautbine, is also worthy of our praise as he was always willing to tackle any and every issue we had (and even some that weren't on our original list, but developed later during our stay. Thanks Greg and Gary. Our thanks as well to Joy Higginbotham, our Customer Service (initial contact, passed down from Josh Hanicq) for seeing our frustration over our last (Oct 2016) visit and finding 'positive' people to restore our faith.

From within the Service facility watching our coach being returned one afternoon. They picked up the coaches at 06:00AM and returned them around 2:30PM M-F.

 Front of the REV Group Technical (Service) facility (from our site #104).

 

 Rear (to street) from our site, to show how many Class A gas and diesel pushers are here.

 This is an odd ball. Actually the ONLY 5th Wheel here, probably for an emergency repair. 

This coach from SC is the same Year, Make, Model and color as ours.

Just the toad and owners are different.

Our service issues (allotted 2 weeks of work) were comprised of:

1.      Refrigerator – Ice Maker: Leaks solidifying ice cubes and blocking dispenser. Needs replacing. REPLACED
2.      Microwave/Convection had water running through it due to a missing slide seal above it, which has been repaired, but the oven is still working on and off again as it chooses. REPLACED
3.      ALL slides have openings which allow light (and bugs) in. All SEALED.
4.      The windshield wipers seem to work on and off as they please also. Right now they are working except on just one speed. We found out that even the wipers need to be REBOOTED. Then they worked.
5.      The surround sound on the main TV is not working. Even when it was working the base was so strong that it rattled everything and distorted the sound. FIXED.
6.      The exterior TV and CD Player sounds are garbled. FIXED.
7.      Footrests on salon seating have a screw that keeps falling out and will not allow footrest to be secured. BOTH FOOTRESTS SECURED.
8.      Driver’s cockpit seat flakes from bottom. Taken to an upholsterer and REPAIRED.
9.      Pantry inner shelved door mounted too low where it rubs on bottom trim. REMOUNTED HIGHER and adjusted the locking latch.
10.   Washing Machine / Dryer closet was incorrectly fixed in 10/17/16 not allowing bedroom door to close properly when extended. Trim was also damaged at that time. REPAIRED CORRECTLY.
11.   Satellite hookup for Rear TV does not receive satellite signal. Is not working. Also HDMI 6” cable was broken. REPAIRED.
12.   Headlights LED Trim missing lamps and coming apart. REPLACED.
13.   Outside trim at lower left corner of full wall slide, repaired incorrectly on 10/17/16. RE-GLUED.
14.   Full wall slide awning is always loose and flapping. TIGHTENED.
15.   Half-Bath lighting – 2 lights flicker. REPLACED BULBS.
16.   Utility Bay blue hose needs supporting behind panel. SECURED BEHIND PANEL
17.   Satellite Switch (lighted) above driver’s seat works to turn on the satellite but the switch light no longer works. When it did work it would get very hot which is probably why it burned out. REPLACED with a lower intensity bulb, that is cool to the touch.
18.   Red light on water heater lights on ‘Electric’ instead of on Propane when pilot doesn’t light. Also when the Propane water heater is on it sputters as if getting too much or too little air. Water heater had overheating sensors which were REPLACED.
19.   Awning Weather Pro Wind Sensor retracts the awning even when the sensor is turned off. The control unit was moved so that the Wind Sensor could be disconnected and re-connected at will, solving the problem.

Added (on our dime)

·       110v outlet next to Passenger cockpit seat, which we then converted to 6-outlets.
·       Checked on Cummins Recall on our ISL9 380hp engine. Thankfully it did not apply to our engine's serial no.
·        Changed Oil on Generator at 200 hrs.

Since we complained about the driver's seat, they offered us an alternate seat that is guaranteed not to flake. Mary tried it for size but we both turned it down and asked for our original seat back... FIXED.( LOL!!)

During our stay at the REV Group we connected with several nice couples, such as Dennis and Donna Baril, Jim and Carmen Justice, Ray and Pauline and others. We had remembered that the Indiana Pancake House was a great place to eat but several of these folks now at REV Grp told us that it was not good at all. So we opted to give them the benefit of doubt and try it anyway. They were right. OMG!! The food was TERRIBLE. When here last time in October they were at their old location hoping to move soon. This time they had moved , but apparently forgot to bring their good cooking with them. Bill had talked with the owner back in October 2016 to congratulate him, so he asked to speak to him again this time and showed him a photo of one of his pancakes that Bill was unable to eat, and suggested to the owner to add club soda (as Perkins does to their pancakes). The owner had no idea about the club soda ingredient despite many references online about it. He did admit that other people have also complained about their food. He also admitted that in the old location he used to prepare the food by hand (including their pancake batter) whereas now they are prepared by machine. It just goes to prove that there is nothing like the personal touch to make things better.

Anyway, we started visiting other local restaurants and as is usually the case, the local Mom and Pop establishments are the best places to eat. As such we found a place called GIANNI’s Place, which has become our #1 place to eat. They are open 6:00am to 3:00pm and serve only Breakfast and Lunch, but with all the food they serve (at very modest prices) one is generally not hungry for dinner. See the photos of our great meals. The Country Fried Steak breakfast (which Bill pointed out to the waitress is shown as a “County” Fried Steak… no “r”) was HUGE, and smothered in delicious gravy. The second plate was full of hash brown casserole infused with onions, and to top it off, a third plate full of huge and fluffy pancakes with HOT syrup. Also important to note that rather than include butter for one to spread over them, the butter was already melted over them. What a delight to visit Gianni’s every day. For lunch, Chris (the owner) makes a different ‘homemade’ soup for every day of the week. Though we never had it, Saturday is French Onion Soup, which the waiter and waitress assert that customers travel from other cities to sample their soups. Mary had the Cream of Potato on Friday and two bowls of Chicken and Rice on Sunday… and loved them. The owner, Chris, is a very nice man who is also the only cook, yet takes the time to check on all his customers and chat with those more gabby, like us. The restaurant is named after his son, Gianni, who also works with dad at times. See the photo of Chris between Mary and me, at his place. If you find yourself in Decatur for service at REV Group (for Fleetwood, Holiday Rambler, Monaco or American Coach), do not hesitate to stop at Gianni’s Place, 916 N 13th St, Decatur, IN46733 Tel. (260) 724-4216 (directly in front of the Matador Motel).

These were the DRY and TASTELESS machine-made pancakes from the Indiana Pancake House. This is how they broke apart when Bill picked them up to add butter to them. The "hash browns" were also just as bad. The owner says that they are now machine-made which probably accounts for the difference since 10/2016 when they were hand-made at their old location.  Do yourselves a favor and stay away from that place.

If you find yourselves in Decatur for RV service or any other reason and want a great place to eat, do yourselves a favor and go to Gianni's Place, 916 N. 13th Street, Decatur, Indiana 46733-1124, Tel: (260) 724-4216. Ask for Chris (the owner), Gianni (his son), Alisa (waitress) and Joe (waiter). Be ready for exceptional prices, excellent food and generous portions, unlike most.

Just see Mary's eyes of disbelief.

Or look at the portion sizes, if you don't believe us.

Here we are with the owner, Chris.

Alisa was our regular waitress, but she is anything but 'regular'. She was always cheerful and attentive... a pleasure to have her take care of us. 

              

And Joe, our occasional waiter would also delight us with his tips and ideas of things to do in the area to keep us occupied. Another great thing about Gianni's Place is that all the staff pitches in. There are no assigned tables that we could see but both Alisa and Joe would take care of the customers in each other's tables, so as to give the best care of the patrons.

A worthy story to tell you concerns these two gentlemen (below). The first day that we went to Gianni's Place we sat at that same table (in the corner) that they are at. As we are having breakfast, Bruce  (in the blue striped shirt) came in and told us (jokingly) that we had snagged their table as he is a regular there; as he sat in  the table next to us. Then his friend Rick (seated next to him) came in and during our breakfasts we shared very friendly conversation. As they were getting up to leave, Bruce grabbed our bill from our table and treated us to breakfast. The way he did it was so unobtrusive and unexpected that his generous gesture stuck with us for the next few days, as we wondered who he was and where he worked to find a way to reciprocate. A few days later we found out how we could do just that. As we showed up to breakfast at Gianni's we noticed Bruce's white Honda pickup there, and upon entering saw that he was having breakfast with his wife. We told Chris (the owner) and Alisa, (Bruce's waitress) to give US Bruce's check, instead of putting it on the table. Not seeing his check, Bruce went to the counter for it and we told him that what goes around comes back around, as we had his bill and were taking care of it. These are all truly wonderful people, as are most Hoosiers.    



Home made soups... a different one for every day of the week. A cup of soup and fries and drink are included with most lunches.

This is Gianni (owner's son) in the red cap, who the restaurant is named after.

Kudos to Kroger Grocers (below) for adding a lean-to shelter outside their store for the Amish or Menonites to keep their horses and buggies under cover (of rain and sun).

On Friday, June 2, 2017 we were done with our repairs, however since we need to wait for the closing of the house, which will be done for Mary on Friday June 9th, by a mobile closer who will visit her location, we figured we were better off just staying at REV until then. This will also give us a chance to check that everything repaired is actually 'fixed'. So on Saturday June 3rd all the RV'ers still here got together in the parking lot and had a 'picnic' to get to know each other better. A wonderful time was had by all.

Mary bringing two drinks with our Silver Bullet behind her.

Paul and Diane

Talking with Gregg and Vivian Wilson, who are also full-timers (sitting just Right of Mary). Believe it or not, Bill is here too, but rarely seen as he is the main 'social' photographer, whereas Mary is the primary 'landscape' photographer. Bill and Betty Bamba (below) were unaware of the picnic and thus did not attend, and left a few days thereafter. 

 

This week we'll wax and polish the coach, re-organize it for travel and wait for Mary's house's closing on June 9th, then hopefully head out June 10th for.... (Mary is working on it).

2017 May - On the road again... Florida to the TT Indian Lakes Campground in Batesville (Morris) IN and enroute to REV Group (Fleetwood) in Decatur IN

The Adventure Begins…. AGAIN

It has been a busy 7 months since we returned from our last adventure to the NORTH and WEST. During this time we have been busy emptying out Mary’s house and getting it ready for sale, as well as visiting old friends and as the RV lifestyle goes, making new ones. Finally, the house was ready to be listed and it got a full price offer in the first 3 days.  Unfortunately, the buyer’s financing supposedly fell through (despite a Pre-Purchase Commitment Letter from the Bank, which shows why one just cannot trust banks' Commitment Letters anymore). Yet within a week several other buyers were congregating and getting ready to put in offers (expected at full price as well) when one of them wanted it so badly that their offer was for full price plus, plus, subject to the appraisal coming in at that value (we cannot say what their actual offer was, prior to closing, but we can say that the appraisal did in fact come in for their full offer price.) That was a huge accomplishment, due in no small part to the Realtor, Michelle Chase (who we recommend confidently as a true professional in real estate for her clients (as buyers and sellers). The high sales and appraisal values help other homes in that subdivision to be valued higher. Given that the buyers are financing less than 50% of the sale price we expect there will be no issues now and closing will happen on or before June 12th, and will be done via a mobile closer.

We had delayed our original departure date, waiting to be there for the first closing, but when that fell through and was not going to happen on time, we opted to go ahead and depart Florida on May 11^th so we could layover in Batesville IN at the Thousand Trails Indian Lakes campground for a week before taking the coach to the Fleetwood Factory Service Center for final resolution of our remaining issues, on May 22.  Well, there was a major weather system from as far north as Oklahoma to the Gulf moving East, which was going to catch up to us enroute, so hearing that it was producing tornadoes in OK we decided to press the pedal to the metal and made the 900 mile trek in a total of 30 hours (sleep inclusive). We even drove through Atlanta, but failed to find any of the ‘slow, murderous downtown traffic’ that we were warned about. Really! Traffic was a breeze with only 2-3 cars on the road.... at about 2:00AM. We took great photos but unfortunately they would not show up when loaded on the blog.

Anyway, we finally made it to the TT Indian Lakes campground which judging from their photos online appeared to be a great place for a relaxing layover. Appearances can be and in this case were very deceiving. This place is horrible. First of all this is a combination campground with a KOA as well as a Thousand Trails within it. As such the nicer camp sites are KOA and the other TT. But, it gets better. The TT sites are totally without any order. Even the site numbers on the map do not coincide with the actual numbers at the sites. Further, some sites are totally without utilities, some just have water and electric, others just water and sewer, and of those that are full hook-up (water/sewer/electric) some are 50/30/20 Amp hookups and others just 30/20.  But WAIT… THERE’S MORE. Even the ones that are supposed to be 50/30/20A, either the 50A or 30A are non-working. No… not yet… there’s still more. The direction that the pull-throughs are supposed to be laid out is totally screwed up. To cite an example (the one we pulled into because the sewer and water would be on our Driver’s side) which is where the utilities are located on a motor home, the electric hookup also on that side was being used by a tiny trailer with 2 adults, 3 horrendous little kids and 3 unruly dogs, so we had to feed out 50A running through our sitting area (under the RV). Anyway, as it is a requirement of the campground rules that folks refrain from walking through other folks campsites.  Mary asked the children not to run through our campsite, but she was ignored, so she went to ask the father to control his kids, but the father was just as spoiled and did not take kindly to being asked to control his children. Thankfully they left the next day, but not before emptying half his black water tank on the ground 3 feet from our coach. Obviously they were new to RV'ing, as even their trailer had a temp tag still on it. Bill could have offered to help them, as he usually does other newbies, but not someone who had talked to Mary as he did the day before, when his children were obviously out of control (not even on Mother's Day). The rest of our days here have been uneventful, cleaning and maintaining equipment.

The coach is still beautiful after Bill spent 3 days washing, waxing and polishing the whole thing (and the car) before we left Florida. Mary did as much on the inside and redesigned the bedspread cutting a piece of the excess material that needs to be tucked in at the headboard sides and sewing them so they lay out perfectly. We discovered a product called 'Protect All' sold at Camping World and at most regional airports as it is often used on the fuselage and on the windshields of airplanes, working much better than Rain X.  We also discovered that it works great on the shower, on the Corian countertops and just about everything in the motor home. The weather here in Indiana is so much nicer than Florida. The days and nights have been cooler (but not cold) so we have been able to make campfires in the evenings after cooking on the grill and eating on the camp table outside, sitting with a burning fire while enjoying some wine... if only the neighbors had been more like the ones we had in Florida. Hopefully after our stint in Decatur, at the REV Group (Fleetwood Factory Service facility) for warranty repairs, our future campground will produce nicer people (without small children and with well behaved dogs). 

Tomorrow we leave Indian Lakes in Batesville on our way to Decatur, a 3 hour trip. Though our appointment is not until Monday at Fleetwood, we opted to go on Saturday due to weekend weather and to get a better parking space when we get there. They provide a 50Amp electrical hookup, but every few days we will have to go to another facility to dump our black and gray tanks and refill the fresh water tank. The procedure there starts at 06:00AM when they pick up our coach and then return it at 02:30PM Monday through Friday. 

We have no idea how long we will be there, but won't be leaving until they have addressed ALL our issues, to our satisfaction. To that end we wrote a very detailed 7-page letter of complaints, accompanied by 43 photos and 8 videos to justify our complaints, and have requested an appointment with whoever we need to talk to to make the repairs and replacements of now non-working appliances.  We first reported these issues on our 10/17/2016 visit to Decatur and were ignored at that time, until finally they died altogether. For a time we even had to buy a tabletop microwave oven and portable ice maker, to be assured of having cooking capability and ice for 'happy hour'... not the best referral for Fleetwood of a brand new motor home, but hopefully they will make it right this time. 

One more item before closing this post. We used to be on Facebook as 'Bill and Mary RoughingItGently' to match our Blog; however, a few days ago we kicked off of Facebook... without any warning even. Before they used to allow 'couple' listings, but apparently their rules have changed and instead of notifying every one that they will need to make an adjustment to their profile, they just send you a message "Your profile has been DELETED." So we have equally DELETED Facebook. They want to control people too much and want to make changes and requirements according to their own criteria, irrespective of how anyone wants their profile to be. Some say "You can control this or that... but we are not IT techies and if it is not simple (to us) we don't need it. SO, don't look for us in Facebook. If you know us personally and want to communicate with us, you have our RV EMAIL roughingitgently@gmail.com or our personal emails.

OK, so we'll  see you next post, which will be of our Decatur stay and dealings with the REV Group (Fleetwood Factory Service). Here are some photos from our trip and stay at the Thousand Trails (TT) Indian Lakes campground.

 

 

2017 January - April

Jan 1 – April 12, 2017:  We have been lax in updating our Blog since the end of November 2016. Sorry!

 

Mary's House in Apopka FL, listed at $263,900Even before Christmas and the New Year we have been busy with preparing for listing Mary’s house for sale, determining what she wanted to keep, what she wanted to give to friends, what she wanted to give to charity, etc.; then taking what she wanted to keep to a 10’x10’ storage room; then cleaning the house and finally interviewing and selecting the best Realtor to market and sell the house.

Now at the beginning of April we are finally at that point, and apparently we chose the right and best Realtor for the job, who not only took the listing but also evaluated the house a little higher than we estimated and then staged the house prior to listing it. If you are not familiar with “staging” it implies taking a house as it is (either fully furnished, partially furnished or completely devoid of any furniture such as Mary’s house was after we emptied it) and either removing, adding or re-arranging some furniture if too cluttered, empty of lacking in what style would appeal to the majority of ‘Buyers’ in today’s market, to maximize interest and perception of value. Believe it or not there is actually a certification for Realtors who study this field. Our chosen Realtor, Michelle Chase is one such Realtor, who not only staged the house after we emptied it of all furniture, but also prepared a pre-market interest in preparation of the formal listing, taking photos including a Virtual Tour, presenting it on Zillow.com and other websites. By the time the listing was officially presented on MLS, there was already a lot of interest, over 300 hits and 40 saves, which translated in several showings and an offer at full 100% listing price with no contingencies by the 2^nd day. Now, with a working contract in hand and an expected closing date of “by May 15^th 2017” we are planning on staying here until closing and then heading north to the Fleetwood (Factory) Service facility in Decatur IN, as we have an appointment there to fix several issues with our coach which are still under warranty.

 

During this time period, one day we passed by our friends Rick and Trish’s house and noticed that they had another motor home at their house. As we approached it we noticed that it looked remarkably similar to our own… another Fleetwood Discovery; and upon getting to it noticed that the window configuration also was just like ours. As we walked to it OMG!! It is even the exact same model as ours… a ‘40E’.  In talking to them we found out that Mary’s friends John and Chris Petri also bought another (even bigger) motor home… a Providence 42. As the outsider, coming from The Villages, Bill finds all this very hilarious, as these folks all live in a subdivision which does not allow a motor home to be parked in front of their house for longer than 4 HOURS a day. Even funnier is that Chris Petri is not really into RV’ing, enjoying her house too much.  Maybe John will convince her otherwise once she gets out and shows her that she can still have her house and hundreds of glorious different sunrises and sunsets with spectacular views and travel opportunities.

Well, our plans are now to get ready for our summer travel up north and west this summer as we missed so much last summer due to all the problems with the previous coach (Thor Challenger 37LX). Next Winter we MAY be back to Florida, but it is still too early to tell. Stay tuned to our Blog as we will know more around September-October 2017. That was the purpose of selling the house: 1) Minimizing expenses (to $0) while we are not even there, 2) Not having to worry about it as we did during Hurricane Matthew, while being unable to do anything about it, 3) Maximizing income by putting that money to work in investments, and 4) being free to either return to FL for the winter, or NOT, free to winter anywhere else, like Arizona or Texas where there are no ”high-season” limits on camping.

Our biggest event was camping at Wekiva Falls RV Resort near Sorrento FL. We were there between January 20 and April 1 (over 2 months in the same place… woohoo!)  Wekiva Falls was a run-down park until recently when the new owners have done an amazing job restoring it to a really great place to camp with lots of activities, a great and very accommodating staff and very friendly fellow campers where we made several good new friends. During that time we were visited by our friends George and Anita Gideon, and Rick and Tricia Monroe. Among the many new friends we have made are such critters as Ollie (a miniature Schnauzer puppy), son of Eddie and Nita Collins, and ‘Gopher’ the tortoise that Bill befriended.

Here are some photos from this period

The Garage Sale  preparing to empty the house... 

 

 At Wekiva Falls RV Resort in Sorrento FL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


This (above) was a scary scene from our bedroom window in the AM. The two kids (from that trailer ) without sign of any parents driving the golf cart and coming within feet of our coach. Some people just should not have children if they cannot teach them how to behave or be responsible enough to keep an eye on them. 

 

Our critter friends and their human parents....

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't know why this photo refuses to remain right-side up but it showed such as good view of 'Ollie' (our new Miniature Schnauzer puppy friend) and in the background is his Mom, Nita Collins from South Carolina, that we just had to keep it in.
 

 

And a hawk that often came by for a look at us funny people.

 

 

Then, back in Thousand Trails Orlando, near Clermont and Four Corners FL, here's Bill charming a Gopher Tortoise which later ate from his hand. See you on our next blog POST, where the photos will hopefully cooperate more.

 

  Happy Trails!!

 

 

Christmas 2016 & New Year 2017

Dear Friends:

Here we are, with another perfectly good year coming to a close.  We hope that all is well with you and yours and that 2017 brings much happiness.

This has certainly been an interesting year for us.  After the holidays last year, we decided that the motor home Bill had purchased to travel in by himself was too much of a man cave and not big enough for 2 people to be comfortable.  So we began motor home shopping.  We found “the one,” or so we thought.  We picked it up in Virginia on February 4^th.  Within 2 days, we learned that the furnace didn’t work, the water heater didn’t work and the windshield wipers didn’t work.  So it was back to Virginia.  And that was just the beginning of our problems.  Ongoing electrical issues sent us to Lone Star RV Center in Harker Heights, TX for more warranty work.  By this time it was the 4^th trip for warranty service and we had only had the coach 3 months.  The folks at Lone Star gave us confidence that they had identified and repaired the electrical issues with the coach and we could be on our way.

The day before we left, we took the coach to a local campground to empty the holding tanks.  Did I mention that the owner was so generous that he provided us with 50 amp electrical service and water while we were parked in his parking lot?  On the way back, a woman was driving too fast on a rain slicked road and side swiped us the driver’s side, taking out 4 luggage compartment doors.  That little distraction took another 6 weeks to resolve.  And we were still having issues with the coach.  But by that time, we had tried to work with the manufacturer enough to know that they were not going to do the right thing and correct the issues.  So, while the Challenger was being repaired from the accident, we had nothing else to do, but go coach shopping. 

We found a leftover 2015 Fleetwood Discovery 40E diesel pusher; and fell in love.  The floor plan is awesome.  It has everything we were looking for, and some things we had not even thought about.  It has a bath and a half, washer/dryer, side by side residential refrigerator, convection/microwave oven, plus a regular gas oven for my baking, a fantastic pantry, a wine bar, 4 TVs, 3 air-conditioners, home theater, an in-motion satellite system and automatic retraction on the patio awning, in case of sudden wind. 

When we finally escaped from Texas, we drove nearly non-stop to Saratoga, WY where we finally started our summer camping experience.  We drove up the Snowy Mountain Scenic Drive and Bill threw snowballs at me in July.  Typical Floridians, we were in shorts and tee shirts and at an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet it was 55 degrees with a cold wind!  Figures. 

We took in Flaming Gorge and camped on the lake.  Met some lovely folks that shared their fresh catch of fish with us.  Took in the wild horse refuge (there were some horses, but they were over a mile away), we stopped at Pilot Butte and hiked part way up.  We also took in Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge.  It was incredible to visit a wetlands refuge along the Green River in the middle of an arid treeless area.  We also explored the area around Flaming Gorge Lake, which is a 96 mile long reservoir.  There was some unbelievable scenery everywhere we went.

From there, we moved on the Northern California.  We were disappointed in our first campground and left before our reservation was up.  We moved further north and into a less mountainous area at Eagle Lake.  Sadly, the effects of the drought had made the area nearly deserted, but we enjoyed the quiet and the friendly chipmunks.  Bill trained a couple to eat out of his hand.  By this time, though, the elevation and being chilled had gotten to him and Bill had developed bronchitis.  So, we made arrangements to move on to Redding, CA, where there is a VA Outpatient Clinic.  After a few days he improved dramatically and after a week, was ready to move on.  Good thing, as we had to go back to Texas. 

We spent a few days in Grants, NM, resting and taking in some sights.  The area is definitely on our list to revisit and spend much more time exploring.  While on a short hike at the Sandstone Cliffs in the El Malpais National Monument, we observed a couple who seemed to be breathing in the air in a nearly ritualistic way.  They came over to tell us that the woman’s grandmother had passed away that morning and they were on the cliffs absorbing her spirit from the wind.  They were eager to share their Native American beliefs with us.  It was an interesting window into their clan culture and structure.

Once in Texas, we travelled slightly out of our way to see our friends in Harker Heights.  They were as thrilled to see us as we were to see them.  The owner is getting ready to retire and we have an open invitation to camp at his ranch in west Texas whenever we want to.

As we were setting up our camp at Lake Conroe outside of Conroe, Texas, a man walked up to Bill and asked if he had been in the Coast Guard.  Bill answered in the affirmative and Brett commenced to introduce himself and his wife Susan.  A couple of days later, as they were getting ready to leave, we stopped to say goodbye.  A brief conversation ensued and we learned that we both had appointments at the Fleetwood Factory Warranty Center in Decatur, IN on the same day in October.  So, we had an opportunity to spend some time with them and become friends.  We hope to meet up with them in Oregon next summer. 

After 3 weeks we left and had to do a quick drive to Florida to get back by the election and some pre-scheduled Doctor checkups.  As we had been listening to the news about Hurricane Matthew, we were of course concerned about the house.  That generated more conversation and “what iffing.”  All of which led us to the decision to sell the house and live in the RV full time.  It was not a decision we made lightly, but it is one that we are excited about.  We feel that we have about 10 years left that we can travel and enjoy the things we are doing now.  Now we are getting the house ready to put on the market after the first of the year.

Our current plan is to leave Florida about the 3rd week of April and head out toward the north.  Then west.  Then wherever the mood strikes us.  If you want to see photos of any places mentioned in this letter, check out our blog and in the future you can keep up with us on:  www.roughingitgently.com.

That’s the year’s report from Roughing it Gently!  All of the best for the new year. 

 
Bill and Mary