September 17, 2000, Sunday- we cruised down the highways from the Fresno area to Riverside, 250 miles or so to the south. To the heat….103 degrees when we finally stopped. Fortunately Fleetwood has 50 amp hookups at the service area, so the two roof air conditioners did their thing. It was very civilized.
After we were settled in, another coach came and I aided them in their setup. My good deed for the day….when I saw Norman come out of the coach with his walker. He had two replaced knees, a hip that recently went out, and walking was really difficult. Thelma, the Mrs., was unfortunately failing in the memory department and couldn't help in any way. It would seem to me that they didn't belong on the road….but who am I to judge them when I was driving the coach with my full leg cast and a set of crutches.
September 18, 2000, Monday- 6 AM came too quickly. The workday is 6 AM until 2:30, with a half hour lunch. While the team worked on the small punchlist items, it gave me a chance to work on the August web page. I've been hoping for the last three weeks to get the Gateway computer back, but the jury is still out. So, get out the backup zip drives and load some of the Gateway web files onto the Fujitsu and start working. Fortunately I had a work area with a 46K modem connection so the uploading and linking went pretty smoothly. It did take most of the day between the web page and supervising the American Coach staff.
September 19, 2000, Tuesday- a slow day. Ten thirty came and went without any overnight UPS parts for us. So, a lot of hurry up and wait. A few repairs got done, but the highlight of the day came with a phone call to Gateway. Contrary to instructions they shipped our computer on Friday to a location that we left on Thursday. Fortunately we will be passing by next week when we get together with Rob and Deb. So, looking at the big picture- we can live with it. After confirming that the Riverland RV Park has the box, and will guard it with their life, the return of the Gateway is in sight. Idiots! Never buy a Gateway.
Since the parts haven't come today, we will most likely stay an extra day in Riverside, so instead of getting the couches restuffed on Thursday, we won't be able to be there until Friday. So, Fleetwood agreed to pull the couches, and Villa will send a truck here to pick up the couches. This way they can restuff on Thursday, and reinstall them on Friday. Unfortunately it's again one step forward and two steps backward. They put two holes in the buddy chair trim pieces. Hopefully Villa furniture can repair that on Thursday.
Strange gas prices. All of the San Francisco Bay area, even as far as Fresno, regular unleaded was priced near $2.00 a gallon. Sometimes $1.90, sometimes $2.10. High! Here in Riverside, considered the LA Basin, we could fill up for $1.59.
Television weather reports take on a new twist in LA. They give the surf report, say 2 to 4', but also add the frequency, such as every 13 seconds. How would that play in Peoria?
September 20, 2000, Wednesday- turned over the coach to the guys at Fleetwood- still waiting for parts. We then drove to Villa Furniture in Anaheim to discuss the new arm design for our couches, then, over to Torrance to our Merrill Lynch advisor to discuss our last 12 month's performance, and then a great dinner with Mike and Patti. A late night returning the 70 miles back to Riverside.
The staff had left our coach out, but some of the needed parts still hadn't arrived. Let's hope for tomorrow. Thank you Rob, for going out of your way to pick up our Gateway computer from the Riverland RV park in Kingsburg. At least it's now in our control. Let's hope that next week when we get it, it works.
September 21, 2000, Thursday- a lot of running around today. The coach was in service waiting for Red Label UPS. Back to Villa Furniture to check out the progress, then back to Riverside. Most of the parts arrived and were installed. Lots of little stuff. A few didn't make it, so, in November we'll stop in at Beaudry in Tucson to get the last parts installed. Just odds and ends.
Then out of Riverside and over to Chino to the coach painters to correct a little overspray from the painting done in Decatur last May/June. These folks look like experts in their field, and are nice enough to squeeze us in tomorrow and finish on Monday.
Then over to the Orangeland RV Park in Orange, CA. A 9/9.5/9 park, the highest ratings, by far, in the area. Nice place but since it's an older park, built in 1972, and our neighbors are very close.
September 22, 2000, Friday- like everything else, nothing moves without a little re-tracement. First, over to Villa for the reinstallation of our furniture. They did a super job with the new stuffing and the newly shaped arms. The step backwards was a punch in the lower screen door. So, tomorrow we go to the screener. Afterwards we went to the Paint Department where they started work. After we returned in the late afternoon, they had stripped the finish and were repainting a significantly larger area then originally planned. With the two color coats and a clear coat finished, I noticed that the base tan color was different then the other tan colors, so, Monday, we hope that we can move a few more steps forward
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September 23, 2000, Saturday- oh how nice to just sleep in after a week of early mornings. We decided to blow off the screen repair at this time, and worry about it down the road. Instead we headed to Newport Beach and Balboa Island. Both were magnificent places with wide beaches, lots of boardwalk action, and cute beach homes. Of course there were boats, or yachts, galore, and shops to match.
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Afterwards we headed to Costco where they must have been giving it away. It was like you had to make a reservation for a parking space. With a heavy Asian community, the Costco merchandise reflected many eastern products, many of which we had no idea of their use. Twenty and fifty pound sacks of different types of rice and other starches were in every aisle.
September 24, 2000, Sunday- another perfect day in sunny Southern California. Perfect for a 32 mile round trip bike ride. Just outside the park is the Santa Anita River. Calling it a river can only be described as a California term since it's really a concrete channel for floodwaters. There is no river flow until it rains. Then rain water and other storm sewers can create a raging torrent of water. Alongside the river is a paved bike path that goes below each cross street, so, it's just pedal and pedal. A joy not to have to worry about cross traffic, traffic lights, etc. Afterwards, into the Jacuzzi and let the muscles relax. Definitely the way to go!
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September 25, 2000, Monday- up and at em early. On the road at 6:45 AM to get back to the paint shop. Good folks at the paint shop, but I had a senior moment that was close. After backing into the space, I was shutting everything down. Lights, radios, air horn, neutral, etc. when I heard a knocking on the door. I said come in but the door wasn't opening. I was getting out of the seat to open the door when I hear Susan screaming over the handheld radio-you're rolling. I had not set the break, and with my head down, focusing on the door, I wasn't looking outside. I had picked up some good speed, but didn't reach the big steel equipment that was 5 feet in front of me. Wow did I feel stupid and lucky that no damage occurred. The paint crew extended the touchup area so that it's all 100% good now. They finished this morning, but the fresh paint had to wait until tomorrow AM to be buffed. Then, off to Awahnee, 302 miles to the north west. We should be there before dinnertime.
Another touch of good luck. I noticed a nail in one of the Jeep tires. So, off to a tire place- before removing the nail- to check if removing it will cause a leak. I guess we still have some rubber left of the tire because there wasn't any air escaping.
September 26, 2000, Tuesday- 5 AM came around quickly as the painters start at 6AM, but staying in their lot overnight helped reduce the commute. The Paint Department did a great job of prepping, painting, buffing and cleanup. In fact, they even detailed the coach with a wash, blow dry, tires and even detailing of the mud flaps. What more could a man want? We hit the road at 10:30 and reached Robert in Fresno at 2:30. Picked up the Gateway computer from him and headed to Ahwahnee Resort in Oakhurst, CA.
The park lacks a little maintenance- many low trees. Finding an acceptable spot was a challenge. The open spots were blocked in the distance by trees, and the treed spots provided a challenge of dropping acorns. One coach owner told us of his two slide awnings being damaged by falling, pointed bombs. So, on our four try, we got a space that received satellite but was not in the war zone.
Those no good slimeballs at Gateway erased the hard drive. So, this evening I was creating and restoring, but things are not going as well as I had hoped. Some of the programs are elsewhere, like at Steve's and Phil's. Some are gone forever. I had been using an old copy of Quick Books. When I tried to reinstall it a year ago, the disks were shot. Then I had downloaded a Y2K compliant version last November, so again, no programs to reload. Not good.
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