Tiffin Parts Dept Came Through

Yesterday I sent an email to the Tiffin MH Parts Dept with photos of the fan assembly parts.  We were up at 5:45am this morning to call Tiffin as soon as they opened and managed to find a gem in the Parts Dept named Heath.  He answered the phone and I explained that I had sent an email and he asked if I could send it again to his email address.  No problem.  I forward the email and he received it quickly.

With the photos and my explanation of what happened he determined what parts were needed.  Evidently the fan assembly has been a recurring problem for Tiffin and they have upgraded the assembly unit.  He needed to know what which version of the assembly we had.  When we first bought our Allegro Bus we had a different problem and the whole unit was upgraded.  That helped today since some of the new parts were already installed and made finding the part easier.  

We had a couple phone calls back and forth and he arranged for next day delivery of the parts to the diesel repair facility.  I can't say enough about how professional he was and going the extra mile to keep a customer happy.  Great job Heath!  The Tiffin factory and service center will be closed for a week at close of business today.  Whew, just under the wire to get the parts.  The parts should be here Monday and I have an appointment at the repair facility for when the parts arrive.  It should only be an additional 1-2 hours to finalize the repairs and we will be on our way.

In the meantime, we moved to a campground about 2 miles from the shop.  It only has 30amp service and we can only run one a/c and it is having trouble keeping it comfortable in this 97 degree heat.  At least at night it cools down to the low 60s and is comfortable to sleep with the windows open.  We are paid through Monday night and will stay here after the repairs are done and then leave on Tuesday morning.  That is the plan at least.  

We did drive around the Three Forks area and ran across the Memorial to Montana State Trooper David Delaittre who was gunned down 12/01/2010 about a mile from town.  Evidently he pulled a man over and was shot and killed.  The shooter drove about 35 miles away and took his own life.  David was 23 years old and a resident of Three Forks and highly thought of.  The town got together and erected a memorial to him near where he was killed.

 We heard about a nice restaurant in Willow Creek about 6 miles from us and decided to try it out.  This old barn caught our eye with the hillside and cattle behind it.

 The Willow Creek Saloon & Restaurant was in a quaint old building was just about the only building open in the small town.  We parked and Gerry stood out in the middle of the road to take this picture.  As you can imagine there isn't a lot of traffic out there.

We went in thinking there wouldn't be a wait since the place was out in the middle of nowhere.  Wrong!  They asked if we had reservations and with about 8 empty tables I thought they were joking.  Nope.  There was a 30 minute wait and then we could be seated, but the galley was too small to prepare meals very fast.  It would have been at least an hour before our meals could be served and since it was late we decided to go somewhere else.  Hopefully we can make a reservation for Sunday and try it out.

 We ran across this structure on an old truck on our way out of town.  We couldn't read what was on the sign and turned around to see what it said.

 Yep, you guessed it.  They were selling eggs on the honor system and the last line say if you are broke, take some for free.  Only in the countryside would something like this work.

 The Sacajawea Hotel is in downtown Three Forks and is a very impressive building.  They have a restaurant there if we have time we'd like to check it out.  Gerry was impressed with the huge Buffalo on the pedestal on the side of the building.

The following was copied from the National Park Service website for the Three Forks of the Missouri.

Before Lewis and Clark encountered the Three Forks of the Missouri, it had served as a campground for the Shoshone American Indians--Sacagawea's tribe Photo courtesy of Travel Montana

The Corps of Discovery reached the Three Forks of the Missouri on July 25, 1805. More than 2,500 miles from their starting point on the Mississippi River, the expedition had once again come to a critical juncture, the confluence of three previously uncharted rivers. Lewis and Clark first set about finding suitable names for these Missouri tributaries, naming them in honor of the President and two of his cabinet members, Madison and Gallatin. The next challenge involved choosing the correct river to follow. Should they choose wrongly and be forced to backtrack, they faced the likelihood of getting caught in the Rocky Mountains at the onset of winter.
In an effort to ascertain the best future course and to avoid making an unwise decision, a small group marched ahead and scouted the surrounding areas while the rest of the camp nursed injuries for a few days. Looking out over the lands, Lewis noted in his journal that "the mountains are extreemly bare of timber and our rout lay through the steep valleys exposed to the heat of the sun without shade and scarcely a breath of air" (DeVoto 1997, 174). In essence, the land before them looked rough and unforgiving, foreshadowing the physically daunting terrain of the Rocky Mountains and beyond.

One of the earliest sketches (1867) of the Three Forks of the Missouri, viewed upstream Lithograph and pencil sketch by A. E. Mathews, in his privately published pencil sketches of Montana (New York, 1868), Plate XXIV, Montana Historic Society

Three Forks had previously served as a campground for the Shoshone tribe, Sacagawea's people. It was at Three Forks that Sacagawea had originally been captured and carried away to live with the Mandan tribe of North Dakota. Upon hearing Sacagawea's account of the area, the Americans realized that they had successfully penetrated Shoshone land. Anxious to encounter the indigenous people, Lewis and Clark hoped to acquire much-needed assistance and information about the regions that lay ahead of them on their westward path. So on July 30, 1805, with unforgiving lands lying ahead, the Corps opted for the southwest flowing tributary and pushed onward, down the rough and shallow waters of the Jefferson River.
We plan on going to the Three Forks headwaters area on Sunday and look over the place. It will be in the high 90s so it won't be a long visit.

That was our day, how was yours?