HAMBURG, NY RALLY, CAMP DECATUR (SERVICE CENTER),
TRAVEL BACK TO NAPLES
October 1, 2001, Monday- and the coaches keep rolling in at the American Coach Rally in Hamburg, NY. Almost 150 at the Fairgrounds.
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After chatting with the staff at Decatur, we head to Indiana on Saturday for side wall service next week. Unfortunately we miss Becky and Steve in New York City this weekend, but in two weeks we'll see them in Denver. Holding mileage seats from Fort Lauderdale to Denver via Chicago on Sunday the 21st.
October 2, 2001, Tuesday- all of our service people came at once. We were getting a 50 amp surge protector/ voltage monitor installed. After finishing the vendor was going over a hands free cell phone setup for the coach when I hear the roof being walked upon. A new air conditioner cover was replacing a cracked unit. At the same moment the Sony man comes in to install a new radio with a dash display that works…..my head was spinning with each vendor needing my attention. Next, the Blue Ox tow bar service man shows to do his annual checkout. Join the party!
The evening's activity was a good dinner followed by a dance band that kept everyone up and active throughout the evening….
Today is a special day…a palindrome….10/02/2001.
October 3, 2001, Wednesday- three seminars today….sore butt but learned lots of things about the American Coach Assn, new American Coach models and the input process for future development. Weather is still perfect. Interesting that in April no orders came in for coaches. At the FMCA rally alone, in June in Redmond, Washington, they sold 50 new coaches. Production now is sold out through January. All of the people that had been laid off in the spring have been hired back plus new staff. Go figure.
Let our United Airline miles go back into the bank. Found that we could fly, on Jet Blue, from Fort Myers to JFK to Denver for a great one way price (everyone else was based on a round trip). Not the most direct route, but for $220 a ticket less, it's worth the detour.
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Tonight's activity was the Buffalo Racetrack, part of the Erie County Fairgrounds that we're staying at for the ACA Rally. Trotters and pacers…beautiful to watch. Susan bet on the first race…a horse named Cami. Happens to also be Becky's Mom's name. Bet on show. Came in third. She ran to the window to collect $2.10 on her $2.00 bet. Rich as they come!
October 4, 2001, Thursday- seminars continued today with Spartan Chassis, Cummins Engines, Sherwin Williams paint. Learned lots, more questions sometimes then answers. Interesting to watch the engine reps point to chassis manufacturers and visa versa regarding whose to blame when things go wrong.
Dinner with friends from the Happy Wonderers Chapter at a local joint….private room. Lots of room for noise.
October 5, 2001, Friday- last week's rains returned last night, today and tonight. But, a few more seminars and tonight's banquet dinner….black and white night with a rock and roll band. Lots of hugs and kisses and good byes with many friends. Some, about 8 couples here, will also be at Pelican Lakes in Naples. A similar number of couples are heading tomorrow with us to Camp Decatur for service next week at the factory.
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October 6, 2001, Saturday- boy did it rain last night. All night, heavily. Woke up this morning with flooding everywhere. Could have used hip boots to walk Hobbes and to get the coach ready for travel. Fortunately we headed the 400 miles to Decatur with our friends Sheri and George riding in trail. Fifty miles from Decatur we stopped for fuel and picked up Jim and June. Arriving in Decatur we found about 5 other couples that had also left the rally this morning. Knowing several others that will arrive tomorrow, it will be like a "post rally" following the pre rally and the rally. Fortunately as we left Hamburg, NY, the rains subsided and now we just have to deal with wind and cold temperatures - going to 30 and freezing tonight.
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October 7, 2001, Sunday- how nice to sleep in for a change. A full night's rest and we're ready to knock the world for a loop. A hour plus walk with Hobbes in the sunshine and all is well. Returning to the coach we find that we are at war with our strike back against the terrorists.
A BBQ in the Camp Decatur lot with dinner eaten at George and Sheri's coach and the day was complete.
As we predicted, the parking lot is full with more coaches arriving from the Hamburg rally.
October 8, 2001, Monday- an early start…everyone up by 5:30 with cars moving and coaches warming up for the 6 AM moves into the service area. For us, at 7:30 we were 20 miles away at the Ron's place in Monroeville. What a service day it was…wheel alignment, tire rotation, jack brace added, fluids and filters for the engine, transmission, jacks, hydraulic systems, fan blade replacements, ride height adjustments….whew….a full day and a full price tag.
While I did the coach thing, Susan cruised the mall in Ft. Wayne but was unsuccessful in her search for a few presents. At 6:30 we rejoined at the Fleetwood Service Center…
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Susan finished the sweater for Jayme's baby Cameron. It looks marvelous. A real work of art.
October 9, 2001- Tuesday- well, 5 AM came to start our day. Got ready for the 6 AM coach derby moving all the rigs inside for service. Great day. Our sidewall protrusion was quick work for the team here. Out came the refrigerator, pulled out some material from the inside, drove us near a post and put two braces against the coach to "flatten" the area. A few applications of epoxy against the inside wall and the steel frame, and we are in business. By the end of the day that "big" repair, or at least potential of major work, was history.
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Then, in the parking lot at 3PM, the fun started. Sheri and George sell a new water pump that puts out 5.3 gallons per minute at 65 pounds of pressure. Compared to 40 pounds and 4.5 gallons per minute….then new one will knock your socks off. We can run all of the water fixtures at the same time and each runs at full strength. The old one wouldn't permit a sink and a shower to run simultaneously.
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Dinner with Sheri and George and Bud and Bernice at the Back 40 resulted in too much food being consumed. But, it was good. At $10.95 what could be bad. Filled the Jeep up with petro at $1.15 per gallon. Haven't seen that price for a long time.
October 10, 2001, Wednesday- early morning again….but worth the change in sleep pattern. American Coach folks can't seem to do enough. On three test drives to eliminate an under dash "chirping", we found, or should I say Janice, our lead tech person, found three small items which eliminated 90% of the shake rattle and roll. Knowing where to look and having the dedication to carry out the job, make it a positive experience.
I opened the last case of my coveted Moose Drool beer. What a disappointment when I discovered that the sealed case was shy a few bottles of brew! When we get back to Naples I'll call and see if we can get a replacement.
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Our new water pump was awesome this morning…providing showers with more force and volume then we had in our Vail house.
October 11, 2001, Thursday- up and at them early…..into the touchup paint area for three sections…one of which is the area of the side wall protrusion. By the end of the day we came out of the paint booth and tomorrow we go back into it. In two and a half years the white paint has faded from the original color and the attempted match needs more work. Rain all last night and all day today. Hobbes is a wet mess and getting stinky. Can't wait to get to Naples for a chance to get him clean and dry.
We added another item from George and Sheri….an algae preventive item before the fuel filter and an additive for the first few tanks. It should prevent any buildup on our fuel system as we are parked for a few months this winter. An ounce of prevent is a worth……
October 12, 2001, Friday- Happy Birthday to Susan. Another year down the line and getting better all the time.
Back into the paint area, matched some colors, sprayed, backed and by 1:30 finished buffing. Down the road we go, saying so long to all of our Camp Decatur friends. Hit heavy traffic around Dayton and Cincinnati. Between rush hour and construction, a slow go. Arrived in Lexington, KY at 7:30, 240 miles down the road, and parked at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant. Everyone says that they stay at these places, Wal-Marts, and Flying J's. The main restaurant parking lot was hopping. Had to wait 35 minutes for a table at 8 o'clock. A bus and RV parking lot was wide open and easily held the coach. Not the most romantic of birthday restaurants and parking places, but we are home!
October 13, 2001- Saturday- up at 6 and on the road by 7. A few other coaches arrived after our departure last night to dreamland. We clicked off Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and made it 100 miles into Florida. Arrived into northern Georgia and found the Flying J fuel stops with diesel at $1.06 per gallon. Some of the unleaded pumps were 98 cents. Georgia is definitely a different world, as it relates to fuel prices. Stopped just north of Ocala in a Petro Truck stop. Again the restaurant area was empty, except for some RV's, and far away from the truck area to be reasonably quiet. It was our longest day of driving, pulling in at 8 at night, covering 735 miles. I would have continued the 300 miles to Naples, but Susan said "Uncle".
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October 14, 2001, Sunday- on the road at 7 and arrived at Pelican Lake before Noon, covering 300 miles. One nice thing about traveling on Saturday and Sunday, light traffic through towns and very few trucks to contend with. We got lucky. One exit south on I-75 this morning I noticed some large dark clouds that looked more like smoke then weather. At the exit we were routed off the interstate. On the CB we heard about a car and two trucks, one of which was a tanker that exploded. Fortunately I had the GPS cranked up, and found some local roads to circumnavigate the closed section of highway.
We're now back "home" for the winter. Hot and sticky now but soon it will be winter cool. Landscaping…couldn't believe how much it grew since we left in March. We had trimmed the hedges, bushes etc, but returned to a jungle. Unbelievable!. Quick count…about 28 other coaches parked out of 250 spaces. Some are occupied, and some just being stored.
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October 15, 2001, Monday- early work….wash the car and the coach to get the last three weeks' of rain off. Then the heat and mugginess returned. Had to stop the outside work. Spoke to one of the gardeners and learned that we need a pallet of sod to repair the cinch worm problem, and a hundred bags of mulch to protect the planting beds, and oh yes…..a major trimming and thinning. More money….
Went to work looking for patio furniture and there are tons of options. Big question is to how to provide shade for the Hobbes? Jury is still out.
Big problem tonight. The replacement Gateway computer that Steve brought us in Banff died. Tried to boot up that computer and the old computer after transferring the Ram and the hard drive. No luck. Dead in the water. If we are lucky, the Gateway store up the street will let us get our backup up to date. But, I don't hold out a lot of hope.
October 16, 2001, Tuesday- received our mail drop today and found a letter from the Collier County Development concerning our backyard "greenbelt". Looking at the enclosed narrative and map it looked like the 44 foot strip of land between Pelican Lake and Silver Lake would be turned into the entry road for another Luxury RV Park being build behind our park. Just what we needed, some 250 cars per day passing behind our coach. Well, it turns out that we read things into the letter that didn't exist. All of the land in the area must have been subdivided with the knowledge that an RV Park development required frontage land along a major road. Well the 44' wide piece by a mile long, which then connects with the potential new park, qualifies at the connector. We learned that the DOT wouldn't permit highway cuts for the 44' entry, the Army Corp of Engineers wouldn't approve of paving over the wetland, and the county would insist of a different entry road. Safe!
After buying a small inflatable pool to aid in washing Hobbes, we got to try it out today…..after a meeting of the minds, Hobbes learned who was the boss….
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Headed to Gateway Country Store and they are sending the original computer back for service….$299 and hopefully it will be up and running, at least for a little time.
Over to our third or fourth patio furniture store. Found some nice chairs, tables and a great freestanding 9' umbrella that hopefully can provide Hobbes shade during the day, and protect the table when we are eating outside. Nice folks at a Mom and Pop facility….when we get back from Colorado they will give us a loaner set until our stuff arrives from the factory.
Cards with Jerry and Lois finished a good day…..but still hot and sticky. Keeping both air conditioners on the coach busy.
October 17, 2001, Wednesday- temperatures back towards reasonable today. High 70's for day and 60's for night. Drove across the state to visit Mom for the day. Great day. She looked great, sounded great and was eager to head out for lunch and shopping for Becky and Steve's engagement gift. Bloomingdales provided the wedding registry. Mom picked the present.
The ride across Alligator Alley was lightened by listening to the Car Boys tape on "relations". Lots of laughs.
October 18, 2001, Thursday- continued on the cleanup in and around the coach. A few walks, a few bike rides and chats with the neighbors. Gardeners started trimming overgrown hedges and trees on the property.
We have a meter on the coach that indicates the voltage coming from the power pole. Our outside surge protector shuts down if the power goes below 103 or above 132 volts. For the last few nights, during the dead of night, the power has gone off. Monitoring the meter to day we watched it go up to 132 volts….so we called Florida Power and Light. It seems Pelican Lake is closest to the power substation. They had some equipment down and were pumping more power into our line to ensure sufficient power at the far end of the line. Tonight that are switching back to the regular power grid and our concerns should be alleviated.
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October 19, 2001, Friday- gardeners dropped off a pallet of grass and a pallet and a half of mulch, 100 bags. More cleaning around the coach. 5 PM a BYOB party at the clubhouse, with about 30 residents in attendance. Then off to Marco Island Jewish Center for Shabbat Services, just like the old days, with Jerry and Lois. About 50 people for the early season services. Heavy rains this afternoon, over 2 inches on Marco. Result….lots of flooding and some streets you needed highwaters on your feet to get across.
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Chatted with Jerry about the fly fishing shop that he helps out with. This week one man came in and purchased $10,000 worth of flies. He was heading to Belize on his private jet with some 8 to 10 friends, and purchased a full set of flies for each friend. Wish we had friends like that!
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