Elkhart, Indiana
06/18/2019 - We are here a day late, but the windshield did not come in at the glass company (Duncan Solutions), and the facia board did not come in at Bryan's Custom RV Repair (the appointment we had for 6/17 and the reason that we made the "commando run" to Indiana). Also, I received an email (with documents) from a realtor that I listed a time share we wanted to sell over a year ago. Her email said that they had a buyer for our timeshare. I accepted the offer (glad to get rid of that timeshare - we never used it). Now I had two new projects - find a dentist to get my bridge glued back in; and find a place to copy the docs, notarize our signatures, and mail back.
We parked at the glass company last night awaiting for the windshield to arrive. Without parts, we decided to make our tour date at the Newmar factory. We drove north to a kennel to leave the dogs for the day, then back south {about 35 miles} to Napanee, IN to the Newmar factory. Most of what we saw was as expected except their new Service Center and Campground - 52 service bays and 60 camp sites - Wow! The campground wasn't open yet, as the service center is so busy that they can't finish the campground. They had appointments booked ahead for 2 months (that is why we couldn't get in).
I finally found a dentist that would take me. We arrived as soon as they opened after lunch. I waited almost an hour just to get in, and another hour for them to fit me in for a cleaning of the bridge and re-cement it back in. They were very nice, and only charged me for the office call.
Then we went to a title company, hoping to get the documents printed up and get them signed. They tried, but could not get the email docs to print on their system. They said it was a problem with security (an hour lost!). We picked up the dogs and headed to the glass company so check on the windshield.
While driving back, I got a call from Shane at the glass company. They found a bubble in the fiberglass above the windshield. A production worker had siliconed over it and then installed the windshield over it to hide the flaw. Shane knew that when they removed the old windshield, that the fiberglass and paint would come with it. He took good pictures and sent them to Newmar (as this was clearly a defect during the production of our coach). By the time we got there, Newmar had not called back yet, so we gave them the green light to go ahead and replace the windshield and repair the fiberglass, figuring that Newmar would not fight a production flaw, and we could not risk a leak from the body in our new coach. When we got to the glass company, they had finished installing the windshield and parked it back on the lot to cure overnight. The body work would have to wait to tomorrow----another day delay!
We could not put down our levelers, nor put out the slides, so the windshield could cure without any changes to the movement of the coach. Boy was that a tight fit. While we waited, we visited with out neighbors next to us in the lot. They were from South Carolina and had been out west and through the Badlands. They also had windshield damage, only theirs was severe. While driving through a campground, a branch that came down during the storm almost came through the windshield on the passenger side. It was destroyed, but she was OK. For us, we had to crawl over each other to go to bed, and the 2 dogs had to sleep in their beds in the hallway. Penny didn't like that and whined during the night. So Tom went out and slept on the couch next to Penny so they could both sleep. What a guy!
06/19/2019 - With one more delay, I called our next stop and changed the reservations. We then took off in the RV to Bryan's shop to get the facia board installed. He did get the part in from Newmar, but because they were overloaded with work and worked the night before until 11:30, his help did not come in early. He was actually thankful to us for the delay. At 10:00, his help came in and they uncrated the part, and what do you know, the part was wrong! It was the wrong color and had no lights. It had to go back, and we would deal with it when we get home in September. We took the RV back to the glass company to get the body work done.
While the RV was in the shop, we had about 4 hours to get a couple of things done. We were able to print the docs from my email on Shane's computer. Then, we went to a local bank and signed them in front of a notary. Then we took them to the local post office to be mailed back - one more chore done! Secomd - we headed for the adminstration office of the Indiana Toll Roads to buy an EZ Pass transmitter for all the toll roads in the northeast. My phone's GPS sent us to a closed building, so we stopped at a toll station and were sent to a different location. They were very nice, and sold us an EZ Pass, even though they were supposed to send us to a different location (I think they felt sorry for us after I told them of all our problems). Chore #2 done!
Back to the glass shop, but the work was not done yet. We waited in their waiting room for about 2 hours. Finally they finished and parked us back on the lot to let the work set up and the paint to dry. Our third night in this lot, and we were not planning to be here at all.
06/20/19 - Up at 6:00 a.m. again. Drove the RV to the back to let them check on the work done and do some touching up on the seal around the windshield. All looks good, and we are out of here. We left around 8:30 a.m. headed for Ohio. The skies opened up, and our wipers did not work right. We stopped once, and Tom tried to tighten them up - didn't work. Back on the interstate, in a heavy rainstorm, and no wipers. We stopped a second time at a truck stop. Two men came over and tried to help Tom, and they seemed to work, so we set out again. And again, they didn't work right. Tom stopped and removed the passenger wiper so they didn't hit each other, and drove with only one wiper through a torrent of rain. We both believe that the wipers were removed when they put in the windshield and not put back on properly.
Finally, we arrived in Ohio and on the road to our campground. About 1.5 miles before we arrived, we had to stop immediately - an overhead bridge in front of us was only 10' 8" high, and we were 12' 3" tall. Not only that, we could not back up with a tow car behind. I wondered how a campground would have a low bridge on the road to a campground? We both got out in the rain and unhooked the car while traffic on both sides of us had to wait. I waited in the Jeep beside the road while Tom backed into a private driveway in order to turn around. While I has waiting, a local woman came by and told me how to find the campground. She said that this happened all the time, and the driveway that Tom was parked in was her father's house. I thanked her, and Tom followed me back out to the main road, up to the next road and back in (around the low bridge). When we arrived at the campground, I asked the desk clerk why they didn't tell me about the low bridge, since I had spoken to them twice. She just shrugged her shoulders.
We were both exhausted and went to bed early.
06/21/19 - Got a good night's sleep. Up early, had breakfast, cleaned the RV, walked the dogs, did laundry, and cleaned up the front (lots of bugs) of the RV. All cleaned up and ready to cross the border into Canada. Here is a picture of our first sighting of a Great Lake - Lake Erie PA.
On to the Canadian border. There were so many lanes, and of course, we got in the wrong one!
Got stopped at the border and pulled over. Two agents went through the whole coach, while we had to wait outside on a cement bench. All was OK, but we were delayed another half hour!. Arrived at Scott's Trailer Park in Niagra Falls, Ontario around 5:00 p..m. parked on very soggy grass and gravel and set up. Evidently, it had been raining hard here too,
All of this goes to what I have always believed. If you plan to travel in an RV, you MUST have patience and a easy-going temperament. Things never go as expected. I think that is why all of the RVers that we meet are so nice and easy to get along with. We have all been through similar days of frustration - it just makes us more thankful when everything goes well.
We parked at the glass company last night awaiting for the windshield to arrive. Without parts, we decided to make our tour date at the Newmar factory. We drove north to a kennel to leave the dogs for the day, then back south {about 35 miles} to Napanee, IN to the Newmar factory. Most of what we saw was as expected except their new Service Center and Campground - 52 service bays and 60 camp sites - Wow! The campground wasn't open yet, as the service center is so busy that they can't finish the campground. They had appointments booked ahead for 2 months (that is why we couldn't get in).
I finally found a dentist that would take me. We arrived as soon as they opened after lunch. I waited almost an hour just to get in, and another hour for them to fit me in for a cleaning of the bridge and re-cement it back in. They were very nice, and only charged me for the office call.
Then we went to a title company, hoping to get the documents printed up and get them signed. They tried, but could not get the email docs to print on their system. They said it was a problem with security (an hour lost!). We picked up the dogs and headed to the glass company so check on the windshield.
While driving back, I got a call from Shane at the glass company. They found a bubble in the fiberglass above the windshield. A production worker had siliconed over it and then installed the windshield over it to hide the flaw. Shane knew that when they removed the old windshield, that the fiberglass and paint would come with it. He took good pictures and sent them to Newmar (as this was clearly a defect during the production of our coach). By the time we got there, Newmar had not called back yet, so we gave them the green light to go ahead and replace the windshield and repair the fiberglass, figuring that Newmar would not fight a production flaw, and we could not risk a leak from the body in our new coach. When we got to the glass company, they had finished installing the windshield and parked it back on the lot to cure overnight. The body work would have to wait to tomorrow----another day delay!
We could not put down our levelers, nor put out the slides, so the windshield could cure without any changes to the movement of the coach. Boy was that a tight fit. While we waited, we visited with out neighbors next to us in the lot. They were from South Carolina and had been out west and through the Badlands. They also had windshield damage, only theirs was severe. While driving through a campground, a branch that came down during the storm almost came through the windshield on the passenger side. It was destroyed, but she was OK. For us, we had to crawl over each other to go to bed, and the 2 dogs had to sleep in their beds in the hallway. Penny didn't like that and whined during the night. So Tom went out and slept on the couch next to Penny so they could both sleep. What a guy!
06/19/2019 - With one more delay, I called our next stop and changed the reservations. We then took off in the RV to Bryan's shop to get the facia board installed. He did get the part in from Newmar, but because they were overloaded with work and worked the night before until 11:30, his help did not come in early. He was actually thankful to us for the delay. At 10:00, his help came in and they uncrated the part, and what do you know, the part was wrong! It was the wrong color and had no lights. It had to go back, and we would deal with it when we get home in September. We took the RV back to the glass company to get the body work done.
While the RV was in the shop, we had about 4 hours to get a couple of things done. We were able to print the docs from my email on Shane's computer. Then, we went to a local bank and signed them in front of a notary. Then we took them to the local post office to be mailed back - one more chore done! Secomd - we headed for the adminstration office of the Indiana Toll Roads to buy an EZ Pass transmitter for all the toll roads in the northeast. My phone's GPS sent us to a closed building, so we stopped at a toll station and were sent to a different location. They were very nice, and sold us an EZ Pass, even though they were supposed to send us to a different location (I think they felt sorry for us after I told them of all our problems). Chore #2 done!
Back to the glass shop, but the work was not done yet. We waited in their waiting room for about 2 hours. Finally they finished and parked us back on the lot to let the work set up and the paint to dry. Our third night in this lot, and we were not planning to be here at all.
06/20/19 - Up at 6:00 a.m. again. Drove the RV to the back to let them check on the work done and do some touching up on the seal around the windshield. All looks good, and we are out of here. We left around 8:30 a.m. headed for Ohio. The skies opened up, and our wipers did not work right. We stopped once, and Tom tried to tighten them up - didn't work. Back on the interstate, in a heavy rainstorm, and no wipers. We stopped a second time at a truck stop. Two men came over and tried to help Tom, and they seemed to work, so we set out again. And again, they didn't work right. Tom stopped and removed the passenger wiper so they didn't hit each other, and drove with only one wiper through a torrent of rain. We both believe that the wipers were removed when they put in the windshield and not put back on properly.
Finally, we arrived in Ohio and on the road to our campground. About 1.5 miles before we arrived, we had to stop immediately - an overhead bridge in front of us was only 10' 8" high, and we were 12' 3" tall. Not only that, we could not back up with a tow car behind. I wondered how a campground would have a low bridge on the road to a campground? We both got out in the rain and unhooked the car while traffic on both sides of us had to wait. I waited in the Jeep beside the road while Tom backed into a private driveway in order to turn around. While I has waiting, a local woman came by and told me how to find the campground. She said that this happened all the time, and the driveway that Tom was parked in was her father's house. I thanked her, and Tom followed me back out to the main road, up to the next road and back in (around the low bridge). When we arrived at the campground, I asked the desk clerk why they didn't tell me about the low bridge, since I had spoken to them twice. She just shrugged her shoulders.
We were both exhausted and went to bed early.
06/21/19 - Got a good night's sleep. Up early, had breakfast, cleaned the RV, walked the dogs, did laundry, and cleaned up the front (lots of bugs) of the RV. All cleaned up and ready to cross the border into Canada. Here is a picture of our first sighting of a Great Lake - Lake Erie PA.
On to the Canadian border. There were so many lanes, and of course, we got in the wrong one!
Got stopped at the border and pulled over. Two agents went through the whole coach, while we had to wait outside on a cement bench. All was OK, but we were delayed another half hour!. Arrived at Scott's Trailer Park in Niagra Falls, Ontario around 5:00 p..m. parked on very soggy grass and gravel and set up. Evidently, it had been raining hard here too,
All of this goes to what I have always believed. If you plan to travel in an RV, you MUST have patience and a easy-going temperament. Things never go as expected. I think that is why all of the RVers that we meet are so nice and easy to get along with. We have all been through similar days of frustration - it just makes us more thankful when everything goes well.
Wow. I have read every word you two have written. You have a lot more patients than I do.It's hard to believe ALL that you have been through. I think we will stick to hotels. You are BOTH good RV ers. I now have to go back and read it ALL again. I don't think I have missed anything.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh Mom and Tom!!! I can't believe what you have been through already. I hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly. Miss you!!!
ReplyDelete