Monday we dropped Filbert off at the dealers so they could fix the refrigerator. We kind of need that for the trip west, and certainly for the time we'll be living in him.
They had to order a part. If only I had a dime for every time a service person told me that...
They expected the part in on Tuesday...the same day the region expected the second snowstorm of 2014. On Tuesday the guy called to say they hadn't gotten the part in and they didn't expect to since they were CLOSING because of the predicted storm.
They were closed Wednesday too. We didn't hear anything from them on Thursday. It's now Friday...if we get Filbert back today, that gives us 3 days to pack for the trip west and beyond. Please say we get him today. If tomorrow...I can only imagine the chaos. We have a list a mile long of things we have to do in the house before we leave and most of it can't be done until the eve of our departure.
I have a bad feeling.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Trial Run, Part Deux
Things to think about when choosing an RV park
1. Stay away from those with lots of permanent residents. At Shady Cove (our home for the last two days), there were several. One resident was so permanent he had a porch attached to his mobile home and a shed built beside it. I'd say he's staying put. Many of the permanent residents tied their dogs up outside or let them run loose. Try walking a dog on a leash with several small yippy dogs running around you in circles.
2. Consider parks that have shower rooms -- meaning rooms that can accommodate a normal sized human being. Having a shower in the RV is convenient but it is entirely too cramped. After two showers in Filbert, a room large enough to fit a tiled stall shower, a toilet, and a sink sounds like heaven. Many of the RV parks we are considering for the move west have just what we're looking for.
3. Amenities like free electric, WiFi, and cable are nice, but a bar or restaurant on site would be cool too. We're thinking of staying at one in Texas that has an on-site saloon. A couple drinks after a long ride -- we're planning 500-600 miles per day -- would be just the ticket.
4. Dog runs and/or fenced dog areas would be great too. No matter the type of harness, a hound dog will pull...and Nutella can do a number on anyone's back. We would love to have a safe area to let them off leash.
5. And finally, some nice scenery. We'll be arriving at most of the parks along our journey close to nightfall, but nevertheless, we'd like to see something...and have a pretty path or trail to walk the dogs on...even if it's only for the walk before we pack up and leave.
We managed to get out of Shady Cove earlier today with no incident. Derron disconnected everything and got all the hoses and pipes packed away. He did remember the TV antenna at the last second but fortunately before he passed under any tree limbs.
On an aside, we paid for the RV spot in cash. When I called as we neared Shady Cove, the manager said it was $33.00 per night. They did not take credit cards and she was on her way out for a while, so she said just to leave the cash in an envelope (available outside the office) and drop it in the drop box. We did. But later that evening I realized I made a math error - go figure. We had left $63 in the envelope, not $66. So we went to the office and brought this to the manager's attention. Her response..."Whatever you left was fine". Wish I'd known that...
Hazelnut and Nutella were very please to get home...as was Gracie. They all did great on the hour + drive home. They are very happy to be sleeping on the living room couches right now. Don't think we'll be able to get them up to do anything, anytime soon.
1. Stay away from those with lots of permanent residents. At Shady Cove (our home for the last two days), there were several. One resident was so permanent he had a porch attached to his mobile home and a shed built beside it. I'd say he's staying put. Many of the permanent residents tied their dogs up outside or let them run loose. Try walking a dog on a leash with several small yippy dogs running around you in circles.
2. Consider parks that have shower rooms -- meaning rooms that can accommodate a normal sized human being. Having a shower in the RV is convenient but it is entirely too cramped. After two showers in Filbert, a room large enough to fit a tiled stall shower, a toilet, and a sink sounds like heaven. Many of the RV parks we are considering for the move west have just what we're looking for.
3. Amenities like free electric, WiFi, and cable are nice, but a bar or restaurant on site would be cool too. We're thinking of staying at one in Texas that has an on-site saloon. A couple drinks after a long ride -- we're planning 500-600 miles per day -- would be just the ticket.
4. Dog runs and/or fenced dog areas would be great too. No matter the type of harness, a hound dog will pull...and Nutella can do a number on anyone's back. We would love to have a safe area to let them off leash.
5. And finally, some nice scenery. We'll be arriving at most of the parks along our journey close to nightfall, but nevertheless, we'd like to see something...and have a pretty path or trail to walk the dogs on...even if it's only for the walk before we pack up and leave.
We managed to get out of Shady Cove earlier today with no incident. Derron disconnected everything and got all the hoses and pipes packed away. He did remember the TV antenna at the last second but fortunately before he passed under any tree limbs.
On an aside, we paid for the RV spot in cash. When I called as we neared Shady Cove, the manager said it was $33.00 per night. They did not take credit cards and she was on her way out for a while, so she said just to leave the cash in an envelope (available outside the office) and drop it in the drop box. We did. But later that evening I realized I made a math error - go figure. We had left $63 in the envelope, not $66. So we went to the office and brought this to the manager's attention. Her response..."Whatever you left was fine". Wish I'd known that...
Hazelnut and Nutella were very please to get home...as was Gracie. They all did great on the hour + drive home. They are very happy to be sleeping on the living room couches right now. Don't think we'll be able to get them up to do anything, anytime soon.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Trial Run
Yesterday we set out for Shady Cove RV Park, just outside Hattiesburg, MS (about 70 miles from home) for our trial run with Filbert.
Lots of lessons learned.
Hazelnut (in purple harness) is not happy when the RV is moving. Not much we can do about that except be patient and hope she acclimates. Nutella (in pink harness) was the champ of the ride here. She was not frazzled in the least. In fact for most of the drive, she comforted Hazelnut.
Gracie freaked a bit when we hit the road, but then I put her in the bedroom and closed the door and she seemed to calm down a bit. We thought we'd have to have her travel in her carrier but the bedroom seems to be a better alternative. When we're stopped, she seems happy enough in her "perch".
Derron managed to get all the stuff hooked up - sewer, water, electric...and we had heat last night.
Good thing because it dropped down to 19 degrees!!!! Very glad I decided to go with a down comforter in the bedroom.
We cooked a dinner of meatballs (I made them ahead of time and froze them), sauce and pasta. Not bad for a camping meal.
We got the dogs' kennels set up last night and them inside without too much trouble. They seemed just fine until 4:30 AM when Nutella started crying. We took them for a walk to settle them down. Yes, 19 degrees is really, really cold! We think tonight we'll see about them sleeping with us. Hazelnut seems very comfortable in the bedroom...in fact she's in there now sleeping. But we'll see.
Nutella is pretty happy lounging on the couch.
We decided taking the kennels down every morning and putting them up again in the evening would be a huge pain in the butt. So Derron came up with a good solution. He was able to put Nutella's (in its upright position) up in the perch (and still leave plenty of room for Gracie). He folded Hazelnut's with her cushion in it and got it up there too, with a blanket on top for Gracie. Should make for an easier deployment tonight...
Lots of lessons learned.
Hazelnut (in purple harness) is not happy when the RV is moving. Not much we can do about that except be patient and hope she acclimates. Nutella (in pink harness) was the champ of the ride here. She was not frazzled in the least. In fact for most of the drive, she comforted Hazelnut.
Gracie freaked a bit when we hit the road, but then I put her in the bedroom and closed the door and she seemed to calm down a bit. We thought we'd have to have her travel in her carrier but the bedroom seems to be a better alternative. When we're stopped, she seems happy enough in her "perch".
Derron managed to get all the stuff hooked up - sewer, water, electric...and we had heat last night.
We cooked a dinner of meatballs (I made them ahead of time and froze them), sauce and pasta. Not bad for a camping meal.
We got the dogs' kennels set up last night and them inside without too much trouble. They seemed just fine until 4:30 AM when Nutella started crying. We took them for a walk to settle them down. Yes, 19 degrees is really, really cold! We think tonight we'll see about them sleeping with us. Hazelnut seems very comfortable in the bedroom...in fact she's in there now sleeping. But we'll see.
Nutella is pretty happy lounging on the couch.
We decided taking the kennels down every morning and putting them up again in the evening would be a huge pain in the butt. So Derron came up with a good solution. He was able to put Nutella's (in its upright position) up in the perch (and still leave plenty of room for Gracie). He folded Hazelnut's with her cushion in it and got it up there too, with a blanket on top for Gracie. Should make for an easier deployment tonight...
So what else did we learn on the trial run so far...disconnect the water hose if there's a chance the outside temperature will drop below freezing. It's 12:32 and we're still waiting for it to defrost so I can wash breakfast dishes and we can take showers. We also learned our refrigerator does not work, contrary to what the service technician told us. We looked it up online and there's a recall on our refrigerator for a part that controls the temperature - exactly our problem. Good thing Derron brought a cooler full of ice.
And finally...although we have good WiFi here, we don't have cable - fine with me - but Derron's hellbent on finding something to watch. He's forgotten how bad local daytime TV is. Thank God for Netflix.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Filbert Is Here!
We picked up Filbert yesterday. Long orientation with a service tech and we're still not sure how everything works!!!
Dragged the dogs and cat in...Nutella was very inquisitive and excited, maybe a little too excited. Gracie was terrified but found a good hidey-hole/observation post and relaxed. Hazelnut was Hazelnut...rigid and inflexible at first. But finally, after about 20 minutes, she too was checking things out.
Monday is our first short trip to test things out...between now and then we'll continue acclimating the pets and packing/sorting things out inside.
Dragged the dogs and cat in...Nutella was very inquisitive and excited, maybe a little too excited. Gracie was terrified but found a good hidey-hole/observation post and relaxed. Hazelnut was Hazelnut...rigid and inflexible at first. But finally, after about 20 minutes, she too was checking things out.
Monday is our first short trip to test things out...between now and then we'll continue acclimating the pets and packing/sorting things out inside.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Tomorrow Is The Big Day!
Tomorrow we pick up Filbert! Gave the salesperson a piece of my mind yesterday when he called with yes, yet another delay. I threatened to talk to the manager and guess what...lo and behold, Filbert is ready to be picked up. Of course I confirmed that all the repairs plus detailing would be done by the time we get there. I also reminded them that they promised to have a tech on hand to show us how everything works.
So we're pretty excited. We are looking forward to a quick turn 2 night camping trip to test things out and to help acclimate the pets. This should be "fun"!
More to come...pics and stories from the road.
So we're pretty excited. We are looking forward to a quick turn 2 night camping trip to test things out and to help acclimate the pets. This should be "fun"!
More to come...pics and stories from the road.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Thought For The Day!
We are relocating to Corvallis, Oregon...and this captures my state of mind at the moment.
Friday, January 10, 2014
And We Wait Some More...
We should have had Filbert by now. But during the test drive, the salesman noticed the engine was "missing" slightly at lower speeds. Good thing he caught that. Since then though, it's been a comedy of errors.
They closed between Christmas and New Year's. Once they reopened, they forgot about us until I called and asked, "What up?".
Their mechanic didn't have the skills to identify what was causing the engine problem. So they then sent Filbert to a local Ford dealer who sat on him for four days...did nothing at all. They didn't even look at the RV.
Called the salesman this morning, got a bit of a run around, then hours later an apologetic call from his partner salesman, much younger and possibly greener (read "sacrificial lamb"). "I am sooooooo sorry...your RV is now at another Ford dealer...can you give me a couple more days?"
Let me add that they've had our money since December 19th.
Not a happy camper (no pun intended).
They closed between Christmas and New Year's. Once they reopened, they forgot about us until I called and asked, "What up?".
Their mechanic didn't have the skills to identify what was causing the engine problem. So they then sent Filbert to a local Ford dealer who sat on him for four days...did nothing at all. They didn't even look at the RV.
Called the salesman this morning, got a bit of a run around, then hours later an apologetic call from his partner salesman, much younger and possibly greener (read "sacrificial lamb"). "I am sooooooo sorry...your RV is now at another Ford dealer...can you give me a couple more days?"
Let me add that they've had our money since December 19th.
Not a happy camper (no pun intended).
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