Still Here at Freightliner

We are finished with getting the oil change, lube and other minor things that had to be done to the motorhome.  They were all finished last Friday, however they ran into a problem with the air suspension system.

The air valve came in and was installed, however that didn't fix the problem.  It seemed that there is another master cylinder that directs the air to each of the air bags and this unit was failing.  The techs didn't think they could make this repair since they didn't have any schematics and information about the cylinder.  All this came about late Friday afternoon and as stated in the previous blog I called La Mesa RV to get on their schedule.

The bill was messed up Friday evening and we settled up today.  Since they couldn't repair the actual problem, they only charged to look at what was needed, plus the charges for the other work.  It turned out to be well below the first attempt at preparing the bill.  I will give Freightliner credit for not charging for something they could not fix.

In the meantime we spent the weekend at Camp Freightliner.  The photos below were taken from the entrance to their repair facility.  

The passenger side is now too high in front and low in rear.

Tucson Freightliner shop

Nice covered picnic site with two tables.

 All in all it hasn't been too bad staying here with the full hookup and nice camping area.  We'd rather be moving down the road but these things happen with motorhomes.

Hopefully La Mesa RV can diagnose the problem and order the part on Wednesday morning.  If so, we will spring for overnite shipping so we can head north.  If not, we will find a spot to hang around waiting for the part.

On to another subject.  I read a number of RVing blogs to help find places to visit, good campgrounds and other information from the bloggers.  In the past month or so a number of these bloggers have decided to "hang up the keys" and settle down in houses, trailers, etc. and come off the road.  Most of them have been blogging for 7-10 years or so and finally have run out of interesting things to blog about.  Many have migrated to Facebook and other sites to keep in touch with each other.  Others have health and family problems that come up requiring them to be near health care centers and relatives.  Some just get tired of seeing the same sights over and over.

At the same time a number of new bloggers have started up and it's interesting seeing them discovering how great RVing is.  It's a little like if you don't pay attention to history you tend to repeat it.  Out with the old and in with the new.

That was our weekend, how was yours?

Two Day Visit to Freightliner & Big Change in Plans

Wednesday I went to the dentist early in the morning for some  work that lasted two hours.  $$$$  After the appointment I headed back to the park and finished loading the motorhome and getting ready to leave the park.  

Our destination was Freightliner of Tucson for some routine maintenance work that needed to be done.  Nothing major  except for some work on the front air bags.  The passenger side one was working on and off and I didn't trust it.  We arrived at Freightliner and parked in one of their courtesy full hookup sites.  Very nice ones at that.  

The service writer came out and wrote up our request for the work needed and said to be at the gate before 7:00 AM Thursday so we would be the first in line.  I mentioned that the air bag wasn't working very well and asked for him to work on that first.  Good move on my part since it was not working at all in the morning and I had to drive the MH to the gate with the passenger side tire rubbing since it wouldn't air up.

It's worse than it looks.

 They spent a long time diagnosing the problem and finally decided it needed a new valve.  They had to spend a lot of time locating the part and finally had one shipped overnight to their location.  In the meantime, they finished up with the other work and said to park it back outside and then bring it back the next morning to finish the work after the part arrived.

Fast forward to today and back into the shop we went.  We got there about 10:00 AM and parked the MH at the gate.  Off we went shopping and doing a little geocaching along the way.  We returned around 3:00PM and they still weren't done with the work.  

Sitting in the RV lounge on easy chairs before the bad news.

Finally they came out and said there was another faulty part and they didn't have the skills to finish the job.  WHAT!!!!  A quick call to La Mesa RV and we are scheduled for service there on Wednesday of next week.  DOUBLE WHAT!!!!

We will be staying at Freightliner's rv sites until Wednesday morning and then driving over to La Mesa.  They took forever to get the MH ready for us to park for the night and we didn't get out of there until after 8:30PM.  They did present the bill to me and it was all messed up with prices and how much the extended warranty firm was to pay.  I said that I wanted a correct bill but I was told they can't do that until Monday.  No problem since I hadn't paid it yet.

At least they did give us a nice benefit while we waited.  Do you think it worth it?

 So, for the next five days we will be guests of Freightliner.  Never a dull moment out here on the road and as they say, plans are written in jello.

Change of Pace

I thought I'd write about something other than food, beer and travel for a change of pace.  Hope I don't lose too many readers because of it.   NO, it isn't anything political.

RVs are notorious for having things break down in them.  Imagine that you put your home on wheels and haul it down the road at 65mph over potholed roads and worse.  As you can imagine you will have some breakage doing this for your house.  RVs aren't that much different except they are built to withstand some punishment.  Given that, there is always something that breaks or is in the process of breaking.  Thankfully, the following wasn't anything that serious.

The hand sprayer for our toilet developed a leak about a month or two ago and I didn't have time to repair it.  We just put a small plastic tray under the sprayer and that worked for a while.  I finally got down to it on the job list a couple days ago.  Simple job, well not really.

We went to Lazydays first to find the part.  It is a simple part on the Dometic toilet but they didn't have it.  They could order it if they could find the part number.  They said it was "only" 59.95 for the hand sprayer.  WHAT!!!  It's only a 3ft long plastic tube with a sprayer on the end of it.  No thanks!

Next was Camping World and they didn't stock it either and could order it for a higher price than Lazydays.  No thanks!

I then called Tiffin (motorhome manufacturer) and got their message to call during regular working hours. Oh, oh, time difference.   I called again the next day and got a young lady on the line who didn't have any idea what I was talking about.  Yes, she worked in the parts department.  After going back and forth with her for way too long, I gave up, thanked her and hung up.

Then I called the Dometic number on the sheet that came with the toilet.  Well, that didn't work since the number was not in working order.  So I then googled Dometic, found another number for them and managed to actually get to talk to a live person after a wait.  When I explained what I needed, he knew right off what it was and asked if I wanted a plastic spray or a chrome spray.  Chrome is what we had in there and asked about it and he said I should call a dealer in my area to buy the spray.  He explained if he sold it to me, it would be much higher than a dealer and they could get it in a couple weeks.  No thanks!

I did call another dealer in Tucson and got nowhere with them.  They didn't have any idea what I was talking about and didn't really want to deal with it.

Did I give up now?  Nope.  I remembered a tv add I've heard many times and it went like this:   Ace is the place.  Right, Ace Hardware.  So I went to an older Ace Hardware nearby and found exactly what I wanted for $16.00.   All I had to do was cut off the end with the copper connector on it.  

Then it was a battle to install it on the toilet, but Gerry and I twisted and cursed long enough to actually hook it back up.  It was in a very tight space and neither of us could get our hands in there to unscrew the clamp holding the old one on.  From that point on it went well.

In the end I paid 1/4 of what it cost to purchase the part from a dealer by using Ace Hardware.  Yes, Ace is the place.

  
If you are still reading this blog after all the verbage above you must be a very patient person.  Thank you for listening to my rant.

That was our day, how was yours?

Bisbee Pt 2

March 20, 2016

 When I show people Bisbee for the first time I always take them up the Brewery Gulch and check out the colorful houses painted in purple, red, yellow and many other bright colors.  The road dead ends and there isn't a spot to turn around, so be careful.  The return is steep with about a 20% grade bordered by a 9ft drainage ditch.  I think Dale was a little uneasy sitting so close to the ditch. 

Gerry, Debbie & Dale went into the Copper Queen hotel to see what it looked like and thought the lobby was quite old.  The Copper Queen was constructed from 1898 to 1902 by the Phelps Dodge Corporation to serve as lodging for investors and dignitaries visiting its nearby copper mine.

The furnishings were in good shape and looked like they were from a different era.    

Bisbee is an artist's colony and there are numerous works of art throughout the town.  This is an example of art objects all over the town.

I'm not sure what the art below represents, but it was neat looking.

We ran across this old house for sale in Bisbee and Gerry was ready to buy it and fix it back up.  Anyone want to come in with us and help fix this one?

We had to leave Bisbee and start the long drive back to the RV park.  It was late when we got back and dinner at Hotrod's grill and bar sounded like a good idea.  Gerry saw how pretty the sunset was and managed to get a nice photo of the Houghton Rd bridge in the picture.

That was our day, how was yours?

Bisbee Bound

March 20, 2016  Bisbee, AZ

Our friends Debbie & Dale stopped by the park on their way to Las Vegas and stayed for a few days.  We hadn't seen them since the 4th of July in Rapid City, SD and we caught up on each others travels.  They went full-timing 2 years ago and are still in the move around a lot stage, but needed a break from that.  

They hadn't been to Bisbee so we decided to head that way via Sierra Vista and Naco on the back roads.  They weren't that impressed with the border fence or Naco.  Neither were we.

We stopped in Lowell, AZ which is next to Bisbee and the old main street is unchanged since 35-40 years ago.  When the copper mine closed down it seemed like time stood still for Lowell.  

Lavender pit at end of the road

The end of main street is the beginning of the Lavender Pit copper mine.  While it isn't the biggest copper pit we've seen, it is quite deep and leaves an ugly scar on the landscape of the area.

Bisbee is on the other side of the copper pit and it is a vibrant town to this day.  Once the mines closed and homes were hard to sell, the artists found the place and have spruced it up a lot.  There is a nice museum in the center of town with many pieces of equipment from the old Queen Mine on display.

Engine to pull mine cars.

Explosives and latrine cars with the engine

Elevator to go down in the mine.

Steam hoist

Bisbee is a place that has to been seen in person to appreciate it.  We drove over 210 miles on the little jaunt and were tired out when we returned.  We saw a lot and I'll add some more in the next blog about that.