Dinner, Bikes, Trek and Phone calls

We had a very busy and interesting day and most of it wasn't planned. It started off with our starting the only planned chore on our long list of things to be done. We have to level three tree stumps and that was high on our list to be finished. We made a lot of progress on the first stump and then all our plans went out the window.

Our contact at the Cummins repair garage called us to say the final part came in to fix the radiator fan, but the extended warranty people hadn't called back to authorize the repair. They tend to be very slow when their money is being spent and quick when you owe them; much like the government tax collectors. After a series of phone calls to various people we finally got the ok for the repairs to begin. They should be finished by Friday with that part of the work.

The extended warranty people are balking at paying for a drive shaft for the radiator fan repair saying it is an upgrade. Since they don't make the part any longer for the old fan motor and the new one only takes a shorter shaft, I don't see how it could be considered an upgrade. I have read many horror stories on the internet about rvers having to deal with these companies and all the tricks they pull to not pay for repairs. I made a call to Lazydays, who sold us the warranty, to see what they could do in this regard. More to follow.

As mentioned in a previous posting, the mirror was broken. The trucking company responsible said they had authorized the repair and the ball was in Cummins' court. Only thing is, Cummins never received the authorization from them. More phone calls and finger pointing and I think we have that resolved, also. The mirror was ordered and should be in Friday. Just in case you were wondering, the mirror is in the $700 range. Don't mess up diesel pusher mirrors unless you have a desire to part with your money.

Our son-in-law from North Carolina called us and since he was in York, PA, wanted to see if we could meet him for dinner in Gettysburg, Since it is bike week there, I suggested we meet in New Oxford which is between York & Gettysburg. It was closer for him and only 30 miles from us, so we had dinner at Scozzaro's Restaurant in New Oxford. We all enjoyed the meal and sat around and talked for a couple hours. It was great to see him and get a chance to catch up on the happenings with the family down there. He has an appointment east of Harrisburg in the morning and then will make the long drive back to the Charlotte area. He is also know as FSILINC. For those who read the blog comments, you may have seen that used in the past. Great guy. We enjoyed the visit FSILINC.

The drive there took longer than we expected since it was bike week in Gettysburg. There were hundreds of bike riders all over the place. Some were single riders, but mostly groups of 4-10 riding in a pack. It isn't like Sturgis and all the stuff that goes on out there, since the Gettysburg police dept keeps a lid on any trouble. It was a good thing we didn't meet in Gettysburg, since we would have had to wait a long time to get a table at any restaurant. The event runs from July 12-16 and has concerts by the Charlie Daniels Band, Blackberry Smoke and KIX.

On our drive back we turned off Rt 30 onto a forest road shortcut and had quite a surprise in store for us. As we got near the cabin, we saw a number of people along side of the road and they were pulling carts that looked as big as small Conestoga wagons. We stopped to chat with a man who explained they were LDS Mormons and on a Trek. The Mormons of the mid 1850s made the trek out west with pull-carts and the church reenacts the Trek each year. One of my ancestors made the Trek for real from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City in 1852. The ones today were mostly teenagers from this area with some adult guidance. They were pulling the carts and they numbered over 140 people. I felt sorry for them since they were on a hilly forest road at 8pm and didn't know exactly where they were going to spend the night. At the bottom of the hill they were on there was a small clearing near a stream and that would be the most logical spot for them. Their Trek leader had their stops and route planned out.

They were all dressed in period costumes and were a very polite group of kids. I think all teenagers should take a Trek and see what our ancestors had to go through. That would be a problem for many kids now days since they couldn't take their couch and electronic games with them. Plus, they would have to work.

The DCNR people were working with them and had given them permission to travel on some old fire roads in the area. I don't know if that was a favor or not, since those roads are very rough and not the easiest roads to travel.

So, we went from one dull task to seeing many new things. It's all out there, you just have to go out and get it.