We Can See Clearly Now

After getting some work done at Brannon's on Monday, we returned to Bruce and Melody Deaton's Campground.

We needed make an unplanned stop at Bay Diesel to get the 'ride height' checked, so we called for an appointment and got scheduled for 1:00 PM on Friday.

Meanwhile, we contacted Waylon Burroughs (Burroughs Custom Upholstery, (662)687-1748), to get upholstery repair work done on our couch.  The middle seam was giving way.  It had a temporary repair, but after talking with Waylon, we wanted to get it fixed permanently.

He came over to our campsite and removed the back of the sofa.  We also saw damage where the back the of the sofa was rubbing against the window valance.  Years ago I kept a window screen behind the couch and tore a hole in the upholstery you can see below.

Wayne returned a day later with the repairs completed.

He took the whole piece of upholstery off the back and sewed the middle seam from the inside.  He also stretched the material so the worn area from rubbing against the valance was covered.  He replaced the torn area with a new, large piece that replaced the torn section.  $200 well spent.

With that done, we had time to get propane before our after-hours windshield replacement appointment.

I always feel for the folks that have to crawl under the back door to hook up the propane and fill it.  ($71.23)

Next, our major cost item ($1,600) this trip - a new windshield.  I contacted David Hestor who does windshield repairs and replacements.  We had made arrangements to be at Bunkhouse RV ( the former McKinney RV location) at $;45 PM.  When we arrived they were finishing up another windshield replacement.

We left the Roadrunner and drove over to Sparks Restaurant in Belmont for a quick dinner and returned about 6:00 PM.  David and partner Nathan had already removed the original windshield and were cleaning out the rubber trim gasket channel thing.   Once that was done they got the new windshield (which Tiffin buys from Turkey, something I found interesting) and hoisted it into place.

They sealed it with caulking and a secondary rubber trim gasket thing they glued into place.  It is always fascinating to me how these things go together.  Its fun watching the professionals do their thing.

We were at Bruce Deaton's to get two cracks fixed that were above the top corners of both front slideouts.

We also got a touch-up paint repair kit and Austin reinforced the DS front bay door area where the hinge attaches to the door.

He secured a piece of aluminum over the old area, then painted it before attaching a new hinge.  One more pesky item checked off of the "Red Bay Repair List".

The next day we called Bay Diesel and they moved up our appointment for 1:00 PM on Thursday.  That was the last item on our list (or so we thought).  We arrived about 12:30 PM the next day and pulled into the service bay.  Aaron, the tech and I agreed the coach looked as if it was lilting to once side noticeably.  uh oh.  It was more than a ride height issue.

After checking things about he determined the DS rear ride height controller was not working and needed to replace it.  Yikes, I wondered how much that was going to be?  (not too bad - the part was $101).

It took a couple of hours to get the part replaced and then the ride height adjusted.  It works perfectly now.  The automatic leveling is on the mark and the coach doesn't lean while stationary.  ($330.42)

We always love coming to Red Bay and this visit was another great experience.
Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Red Bay Times and Repairs at Custom RV

 We love coming to Red Bay and are here again to spend some time and $$.  We love the people and have become familiar with many of the businesses.  There is nothing like taking the Roadrunner to a professional and getting work done right.  

Our campground of choice this time is Bruce Deaton's. We have full hookups and it is at the corner of Second Street and Fourth Ave (the main street running through downtown Red Bay).  We hear a lot of traffic but it is not a problem for us.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and still had plenty of time to drive around town and see if things had changed.  I noticed a sign at the edge of town for "Java and Jazz".  Sounded like a coffee shop and sure enough it is.

Looks as if it may have potential.  I'll have to check it out. It places like this that I love to support.  Don't know much about the owners or how they decided to get going but I admire their effort.  Without small businesses, where would our country be?

We drove over to the Tiffin RV Campground, aka at Allegro Campround, and were surprised to see the motel next to it, gone.

It's been scraped!  

Around the other side of the Tiffin Campground on Gates Road, we saw an RV repair shop and two more RV campgrounds that have popped up.

Double B RV

Convenient Camping

1st Class Campground

We drove over to Bunkhouse RV (formerly McKinney RV) and saw they major cleanup that has happened.  The property has been transformed after a couple of years.  They have done major work and it looks better than ever.

On Monday morning we were at Brannon's Custom RV for our list of things to check out and / or fix:

• DVD player quit working and we were prepared to have the whole Surround Sound replaced.  A new set up is available through the Tiffin Parts store and we expected it to cost at least $500. (Brannon said he'd check it out and sometimes its just the cables that need to be replaced.  Turns out it was wired up incorrectly both at the TV and on the back of the player. Not sure how that happened?  45 minutes later after pulling both the TV and DVD player, it was rewired:  $63.75).
• The air horn and electric horn both needed to be checked.  It was fun dealing with it when it sounded off while driving in New York and again a few days ago,  (Brannon checked the fuses, looked at the relay, did some other magic things and it was working fine.  No need for a horn or relay: $21.25).
• Entrance steps/step cover was sticking and not working at times.  (Brannon lubed it and it works great now: $21.25).
• Shower door was sagging and hitting the bottom corner. (Brannon noticed the bottom frame was curling up slightly causing the contact.  He put a well placed screw into the bottom tray.  Door swings freely now: $5.14).
• Front awning strap wearing out.  The loop where we insert the rod to pull the awning out was missing the rubber protective loop. (Brannon replaced it with a new one: $26.39).
• The jacks seem to level with the PS always needing to be manually raised. (Brannon adjusted them: ($21.25).
• Chassis batteries were drained when we tried to leave Virginia Beach 10 days ago. We have not had the slightest problem with them since then. (Brannon checked the batteries to see if they were still go and they are fine. He also checked a fuse but suggested we start up the coach once a week). 
• Water leak down near clear water tank. (Brannon found that they water pump was leaking.  It was several years old so he replaced it: $83.75).
• Passenger side blinker camera has never worked correctly and now there is no picture at all from the camera when the right blinker goes on.  We went over to the Tiffin spare parts store and were told those Sony cameras for our 2007 Allegro Bus are no longer available.  They searched a few bins and found a Sony camera.  (Jason looked it over, took off the old camera and found the new camera set up was considerable larger.  He worked with it and re-engineered it to work!  For the first time ever both side cameras are working.  I went back to the parts store and told them it worked and they said, "No charge, glad it worked out." Labor only: $42.50).

We were prepared to buy a new sound system for the coach ($500+), a new side camera ($300), a new battery, and whatever else needed to be replaced.  Instead of $800+ we ended up with a bill of $316.  As my friend John said, "You're in good hands with Brannon". That is an understatement.  Brannon is simply the best in the business. We love getting work done with him.  It seems he'd rather troubleshoot and fix something than yank it out and put in a new one.  

We are off to a great start in Red Bay and have a few other things to get done.  More on updates to come.  

Thanks so much for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Even if we don't get a comment from you, we know you are out there and we thank you!

Loving the RV Life

Here's a look at the route we've been on since we left Virginia Beach on Saturday.  

Everything doesn't have to be going our way all the time for us to love the RV life.  There are ups and downs.  The last few days have been a wonderful with a few things that went a little sideways.  We notched a couple of "wins" however, and are happily camped at the Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground (private) in Maynardville TN, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We've been here many times over the years.  This is one the Roadrunner's favorite spots.  We're on Joan and Mike's property with water, 50 amp service and a dump station.

Here are the wins:

• Traveling in beautiful weather
• Visiting with good friends
• Catching an uninvited guest: a mouse
• Attending a good church
• Safely boondocking/dry camping in sketchy area of town
• Terrific early morning breakfast in Greensboro
• Getting in to the Cummins Coach Care facility first thing Monday morning
• Correctly diagnosing the engine hesitation with new fuel filters
• Getting underway before 10:00AM
• Seeing the wonderful Shenandoah Valley
• Not more engine hesitation
• Arriving safely in Maynardville TN

During Saturday's drive from Virginia Beach, we noticed how well the coach was running.  It was a smooth, comfortable ride at 62 mph.   We love traveling done the road and enjoying the ride.

We are grateful for good friends and love to visit when we have the chance to see people.  We had dinner and went to church with D and Jackie and got to catch up with each other.  Great times!

3 or 4 days after Halloween, we had a large bag of candy in our snack drawer.  That is probably not a good idea on a number of levels.  One morning Pam sadly announced we had evidence of a mouse in the Roadrunner.  One had eaten through a candy wrapper and apparently enjoyed a portion of a Reese's cup.  Yikes!  I got out 4-5 mouse traps we carry and set them up.  It took another 6 days before the munchy mouse met his match.

We always enjoy a good church service. We were able to attend Freedom Church with D and Jackie in Lincolnton, NC and were refreshed, renewed and encouraged.

After church, we decided our fuel hesitation issues required us to find a Cummins Coach Care facility and get it properly diagnosed. En route to Denver (near Lake Norman) the Roadrunner began hesitating slightly going up hills.  It has previously been an issue.  We guessed it the coach needed new fuel filters.  A similar issue occurred last December when we left Virginia Beach.  After sitting for months, the coach began slipping going up hills.  We guessed it was the same problem this time.

Unfortunately we had to back track 90 miles and arrived at the Cummins repair shop in Greensboro NC.  The gate was locked and it didn't look as if the electric hookups in back were being used.  We realized we had to find a place to stay overnight.  We first parked on the street outside of the gate. Our  satellite wouldn't lock on, so we looked around and decided on the abandoned restaurant next door.  It  had a parking small parking lot on one side and a staging area for a septic service on the other side of the building.  Surprisingly three truck came and went using that side of the parking lot.

We found a level spot and backed up the street 50 yards into the parking lot.  We were hoping we could stay there all night without causing problems.

We opened the Passenger Side slides but did not put down jacks.  We fired up the generator for a couple of hours.  Our TV satellite dish didn't work in that location, but at least we were off the street. Our Over-the-air (OTA) digital antenna picked up 22 stations and we watch some sports, read, and had frozen dinners.  It also was a restful night.

We were up early and went to breakfast at a local place and it was a real treat.  Lots of local folks there early getting a bite before work plus a few retired people.  Good food, huge biscuits.

We were first in line when the Cummins repair shop opened.  We carry spare fuel filters and left them on the seat of the coach for the mechanic.  It took about 90 minutes and we were done and back on the road.

There was some road construction and detours and we found ourselves on I-81 going through the Shenandoah Valley.  It is one of the scenic drives in America!  It was a clear day and we loved it.

We went up quite a few hills and had no more engine issues!  The Roadrunner ran smoothly up big inclines and we're thankful for that.

We continued over to Morristown TN and then to Tazwell TN before arriving at Joan and Mike's in Maynardville and our site.  It was late afternoon and a nice afternoon.  We got set up and are ready for a nice Thanksgiving.

Hope you and yours are enjoying the week and have a nice holiday.  Where are you for Thanksgiving?


Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Stumbling Out of the Chute

We left Virginia Beach this morning for our Winter Travels 2018-2019 trip.  It didn’t quite go like we thought it would be we managed to get on the road by 7:00 AM.

I got up my normal time a little after 4:00 AM.  I love the morning time to get some reading and reflection time in before the day gets going.  Pam got up at 6:00 and we went a about our normal routine and had breakfast, got dressed and stowed things for travel.

I had already put away the sewer hose and water hoses, packed up the grill, and rolled up the front door mat.  I went outside, took the cover off the tow bar, rolled it up and put it away.  Next, I moved the car from in front of the Roadrunner and parked it across the street out of the way.

It was about 6:20 by now and time to fire up the coach.  Pam turned the key and the engine was barely turning over.  Oh no!  Maybe we weren’t going anywhere today!  She let it sit for a few minutes and tried it again.  It wasn’t happening.

Now what do we do?  (We seem to ask that question a lot at times like these.)

The engine was trying to turn over so I figured maybe the chassis batteries were dying.  I got the car and pulled it alongside the coach on the passenger side (PS).  Then I got out our extra long jump cables and connected the car batteries to the coach batteries.  We waited a couple of minutes and Pam turned the key on again, and the engine struggled once and caught.  It fired up and we were back in business!

I went around to the driver side (DS) and disconnected the electrical cord from the pedestal and reeled in into its bay.  It was about 6:35 AM and then the air horn went off!  Apparently over the last few weeks of being stationary, I pressed the horn button.  Now that the air bags were filling the air horn went off!

Yikes!  Not exactly the way to win friends at the campground on an early Saturday morning.  Not knowing that I had accidentally turned the air horn button on, Pam turned off the engine thinking it might affect the air horn.  Nope!  She then found the switch and turned the air horn off.

This is the same horn that gave us issues last summer while traveling to Watkins Glen NY.  It is on the list to get fixed at Red Bay when we get there right after Thanksgiving.

The air horn had been blasting loud and clear for about 15-20 seconds. It was long enough to completely wake up people in 20-30 rigs.  It finally went off. Oh man.  We felt terrible!  But what could we do?

I did a quick walk around and looked underneath the Roadrunner to see if we had left anything.  That looked good.  Pam opened the door and said the front DS jack would not entered raise.  This is not uncommon.  I got out two blocks of wood and my crowbar and pryied the jack all the way up into its cylinder.  It stowed correctly this time and we were set to pull out and connect our toad.

Pam lined up our Honda CRV, I connected the safety cables, lights, and Air Force One brake.  We did a signal and brake light check, prayed for protection and safe traveling and got underway.

Whew!  Looks like we will add two chassis batteries to our list at Red Bay but we are thankful to be on the road again.

We are heading to Maynardville, TN for Thanksgiving with a couple of nights in Denver, NC to see friends.  After driving for an hour and a half, Pam took over.  I got in a 20 minute nap and decided to get a jump on my blog post for the day.

We pulled into a rest stop to stretch or legs and use the facilities. When we returned a couple in a motorhome had pulled in next to us.  I waved, he walked around his coach and we ended up in a short conversation.  Their motorhome was new to them and they were on their way to Mississippi.  He had been to a 60 day school in the DC area and she flew in to join him on the return trip home.  It was fun to meet some new people.

While driving along a slight upgrade I noticed a slight hesitation in engine.  It wasn't chugging badly (we know what that is all about) but it was running less than smoothly.  Later, when Pam was driving again, it began acting up slightly.  In our experience, "slightly acting up" usually leads to "acting up" so we figured we need to get it looked at before we continue on to Maynardville.  We looked at a Cummins Coach Care which is 90 miles east of us in Greensboro.  We'll decide on that later since they are closed on the weekends.

We continued on and stopped for fuel a couple of hours later.  With news of falling gas prices around the country we were hoping fuel would also, but it hasn't happened yet in North Carolina.  We got to our campground near Lake Norman and found it to be congested.

We arrived at our campground about 2:30 PM and saw that our front HWH jacks would not fully extend.  They are only 2" off the ground but for some reason will not extend.  Hmmm.  Another item to address.  They are really adding up on this trip? 🙁

We passed by a Publix grocery store that was only 3 miles from the campground.  After getting set up, we went back to the store for some Key Lime pie.  We also picked up their own brand of Seafood mustard which we think is yummy.

Then we went over to D. and Jackie's place for the evening.  We had a great time catching up and seeing their new place again.  They moved to the area last July.  They are settled in now and have plans for more work on the house and property.  We had a terrific dinner and a great time of fellowship, topped off with some pie and coffee.

They are Oklahomans and we watching an excited end to the OSU - WVU football game.  OSU won a nail biter which made them pretty happy.  There is never enough time with good friends, but we bid them farewell and returned to the coach for the evening.

It was a long and eventful day and we were read for bed!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Tooting Your Own Horn

Sometimes you can't help it.  It just happens and before you know it, you are tooting your own horn.  I've thought about the whole idea many times and usually it is not a good idea.  Or at least the best option if you have a choice.

I know what you are thinking...

Or at least I think I do.

But there we were, moving down the highway in Massachusetts, heading west toward Albany.  We were on I-90 had been passed by a couple of long I-beams being escorted with flag cars and State Police.  It was about 1:00 PM and we were cruising at about 62 mph with the Speed Limit posted at 65.  All was well.

We caught up to an I-beam convoy (the I-beams looked like bridge or overpass replacements) that was in the left lane.  The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.  For some reason, the left lane looked like it was a little wider than the right, and merging traffic was less likely to impact their movement.

So there we were, and we approached the last State Police car.  We were about to go even with him and our calm setting developed into a bit of a crisis.

Our air horn went off!

Yikes!

Talk about being a little un-nerving!  I thought maybe I was a bit too casual in my driving and had lapsed into a fog and let my elbow rest on the horn.  Nope!

Wow!  I was thinking, that was rude!  Oh wait...it IS still rude--- this is not over!  I pounded the horn (the space in the middle of the drivers wheel) to get it to turn off, thinking it was stuck.  --- Nope!

It continued to blare away and I was passing the State Police and escort car on the left.  Hmm--need some quick thinking here...

Nothing came to mind-- no such help at the moment.  I pounded and lifted, cajoled and nothing-- it was still screaming away.  Hmm---

Next thought I had was to put on the flashers so the convoy on the left (that I-beam seemed as if it was 100 yards long)  might be able to figure out this was not what I intended.  I didn't mean to be honking at them.  There was no one in front on me and a quick check on the mirrors revealed quite a few vehicles behind me...

Oh great!  Nothing like a little pressure!!

What was causing this??!!!

I was quickly out of ideas of what to do, and about that time (we were probably into minute 2 of this little adventure...) Pam got out of her seat and reached over me to flip the switch on the driver side console (the row of switches including one that said "HORN").

That complicated things.   Now, I couldn't see much as I was driving down the highway.  Oh man!  I calmly told her, (I wish) that I could not see very well and that I had already checked to see if the switch was the culprit.

It was not.  

Yikes!  By now we about mid-way along the right side of the I-beam convoy.  With flashers going and no satisfaction in pounding the horn, or flicking the HORN switch, I decided to speed up and pass everyone.  That way people could move around us.

As I went passed the front of the convoy on the left, the State Police car at the head of them slowed down, thinking ...  ?  who knows what he was thinking?  Meanwhile, I was beginning to surmise this horn was going to blast away forever.  On to plan B.  Or C, or where ever we were in this daytime nightmare...

Thankfully, there was no smoke or fire or any other safety issues that we could see.  Except for the fact there was no shoulder on the road where we could pull off.  By now, we were probably into minute 3 or 4 and we looked for an exit.   We found one a little over a mile away.

Gladly we took it.  My mind was a bit flustered so-to-speak and I was thinking maybe we could find a fuse to pull and turn the thing off.  Hmm,  next question was where was the fuse for the horn?

Meanwhile, the horn was not giving up.  It continued to blare and blast! Oh man...

About 100 yards from the exit, we came to a stop and turned right.  We saw a T-intersection with a turnout about 200 - 300 yards up the road were we pulled off and parked.  I double checked the "HORN" switch on the console again, and I pounded the wheel again hoping it was stuck or something.  No help.

Wow!  The horn was really loud and a bit annoying.  Did you know how badly a loud horn interrupts one's piece of mind and ability to trouble-shoot/execute analytical thinking?

Man - OK, let's see, there is a bay door underneath the driver's seat I could unlock and take a look at. Maybe there was a fuse there that had something to do with the horn.  I opened her up, we both took a look.  No help.  Nothing labeled anything that related to the horn.

We knew there was a fuse box under the middle console, hidden on the floor under the two drawers.  We took those out, shined the flashlight (that horn was really irritating by now and we were a bit on edge) and could see the scheme of things on the inside of the fuse box cover.

Sure enough there was one labeled "HORN".  Yay!  Maybe success was just around the corner... I had gotten a pair of needle nose pliers from the car and Pam pulled the fuse.

No cigar.

What??

Maybe we got the wrong one? ... check and double check... No, that was the correct one.  She tried pulling and replacing a couple other ones with similar results.

WOW!  This is not going well!

Last resort was to call the Tiffin Service Desk.  I semi-calmly (we were probably into 10 minutes of this deal at that point), spoke to the lady on the other end of the phone and she politely asked if I needed the Parts Department? or Service Department?  I asked her, "Can you hear that horn blaring away??--It is stuck in the on position and I need to speak with a tech in Service please"!

Next, there was complete silence on the phone.  After about thirty seconds, the recording said, "There are four calls ahead of you".  Oh my.  I put the phone on speaker and we waited.  A couple of minutes later, the recording said, "There are two calls ahead of you...".

We waited about four minutes and Jonathan answered.

I asked him if he could hear the blaring horn, Yes, -- yes he could.  I may have been projecting a little concern or something there, but I distinctly noticed a difference in his tone of voice as he tried to help.  He asked what year make and model of the coach.  Then he said, "Wait a minute, while I pull up the diagram for your coach".

Yikes, this was going to take some time.  The air horn was still blasting away.  Then things changed.  There was a motor sound or something, but the air horn quit.  To my surprise, the regular horn was working fine and was blasting away.  I flipped the "HORN" switch on driver side console again.  No change.

Now we had a new concern.  We noticed a bit of a 'hot' smell and the motor was whining away against the backdrop of the horn going off.  I was hoping we weren't progressing toward more serious issues...

Jonathan got what he needed and came back on the line, then told us to pull the fuse.

Check.  Did that.  Horn still blasting.

Hmm, he said, "Well I guess the only thing you could do is pull the wiring".   Sounds good to me!  I asked him how I do that?

He said, pop the generator toggle switch under the front driver side bay door (where we had just been), pull out the generator as far as it will go.  Next,  look on the firewall for something that looks like a horn.

Pam reached inside with the flashlight, found the horn,  saw a wire leading to it with a white plastic connection piece in the black plastic housing, unhooked it and SUCCESS!

Our nightmare was over!  Phew!  We pushed the generator back in and secured it.  We locked the bay door and went back inside, put the cover on the fuse box, and put the two drawers back in.

Wow!  Another bizarre and strange deal in the life of an RVer!  Still don't know what may have caused the horn to go off.  Pam was speculating, maybe some of the rain we had been going through earlier in the day had caused a short in the system?  Don't know.  We've been through a lot more rain and that never happened.

We waited for things to calm down some and then continued on our way.  One more item to add to our repair list.  And to add to our list of adventures.  We drove through the little town at our exit to find an access point to I-90 and had no further incidents.  That was enough for one day!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Repaired and on to the Best Austrian Food in Years!

We finished up our appointment at the Freightliner Custom Chassis Repair Facility in Gaffney, SC on Monday at about 5:00 PM.  We had the standard M3 maintenance list plus we added a couple more items like dash air conditioner not blowing cold air.  We also had them check why our coach usually has a hard time starting after sitting for a few days.  We recently had a weird ABS light on the dash come on when we pulled the coach forward after fueling at the last truck stop, so we asked them to look at that too.  We had a Onan 7500 generator problem but they don't trouble shoot issues, they just do the maintenance on it.

I was hoping for a bill under $1000, but that was pretty unrealistic. Labor is $100/hour and they put two guys on it for six hours.  Pam was thinking it was going to be $2000 or more.  The bill ending up being almost $1842 which I thought was pretty reasonable.

You might ask, "What else did they do?"  Just for that possibility, I included pictures of the work orders and invoice which itemizes things:

Work order

 Invoice and notes

M3 Maintenance list

Battery test results

During the afternoon as we waited for them to finish, we were still thinking we'd travel that evening.
We were thinking we'd hop in the Roadrunner and drive three hours down the highway and stay at a campground along the way.

But the more we thought about it, we decided against that plan.  We had gotten up early and we didn't relish the idea of going through Charlotte rush-hour go-home traffic after a long day.  Instead we decided to go dinner somewhere decent and get a good nights rest.

We found an Austrian Restaurant in Spartanburg which was only about 25 minutes up I-85.  Except we hit the evening traffic going that direction and had a 30 minute slowdown.  We were surprised the traffic was that congested on a Monday afternoon.

Then we found out it wasn't usually like that.  We notice there were no cars coming in the opposite direction.

And this was why.  Somehow the truck driver had gotten himself sideways across the entire two lanes of traffic.  And he was seriously into a ditch, so there was no getting that guy out for a while.

We continued on to the restaurant and were in for a big treat.  Gerhard's Cafe is in a shopping center next to a grocery store, so we didn't know what to expect.  We were greatly surprised and pleased to find it was very authentic and the food was really really good.

When we got seated we looked around and there are a lot of memorabilia from Austria.  A lot of thought went into the cafe which could easily pass for a gasthaus.  The ambiance and decor was non-commercial.  The wood floors and ceiling timbers were authentic. You could image looking outside near the barn where the cows were being milked...

The cafe is a mix of fine dining in one section, casual dining, with a small bar and then a larger bar and pub in another area.  It also has outside dining but that was not an option because of the 90 degree weather.

We enjoyed the selection on the menu and ordered Weiner schnitzel and Cordon Bleu.  Pam and I lived in Germany for three great years (and our kids were born there) and loved the food.  And I liked the beer.  I got a draft beer which was delicious.  The glass said it was from the world's oldest brewery.  I don't know about that.

As I recall, dinner in Germany was an event of sorts and not something to be rushed.  Here too, we had plenty of time to enjoy the atmosphere and chatted with the waitress.  We learned that the owner and chef, Gerhard opened the place in 1993 and went back to the home country to bring back three containers full of memorabilia and artifacts.  No wonder the place looked and felt Austrian!

When the main courses were served they looked fantastic.  Schnitzel cooked to perfection with fried potatoes done the Austrian way.

And Pam's Cordon Bleu was equally appealing and delicious.  We had the best time enjoying that food!

We took a different route back to the Roadrunner that was still parked in the Service Center campground and returned in about 30 minutes.  It was the best German food we've had in the U.S. (technically Austrian - but who can tell the difference), ever!  It was a place I'd go back to in a minute.

Another great day on the road in the Roadrunner.  Thanks for joining us today!

Troubleshooting the Door

The Roadrunner must be getting a sense that it is heading to Red Bay soon.  A couple of things stops working.  First, we went to dump the tanks and get more water and when we returned from the dump station, our DS slideout would not extend.  It only went out about a foot.  Yikes!

We looked for a sheared off bolt, mulled it over and thought about it and decided the best thing to do was to get it back in and get it fixed at Red Bay.  Pam pressed the button while I pushed the slide from the outside and it came back in snugly.  Whew!

I don't know how to manually reel in the slides, but I know that it can be done.  Glad I didn't have to learn that one...

One thing we did know (from previous experience) is that if the slide isn't operating correctly as in this case, we want to secure it with wood blocks.  To do that, we had to measure the distance from the from of the inside wall at the top -- to the backside lip of the slide out.

Once secured in place by just wedging it in there, the slide out can not move out.  We'll wait to get to Red Bay next week to get that one fixed.  I am guessing its a motor but we'll see.

Another day the keyless door entry quit working.  We punched in the numbers and everything seemed to open and close OK on the bay doors but the front door did not work.  We used an extra key and locked and unlocked the door for a few days.

Then Pam cleaned the contact points on the inside frame of the door.  That did not help.  A day later, we thought it might be a fuse.  The fuse for the keyless entry is inside of the bottom front bay, behind the wall.

I removed the faceplate / wall and found the fuses.  There were two and we inspected both and they looked good.

Then we removed the contact point on the inside frame of the door and found a dangling wire.

That was our culprit.  Pam keeps extra pieces in our bin trays in bay two aka 'the garage'.

After putting on two clean connectors, the contacts were good and we tested it.  Yay!  It worked.  I can always tell when Pam gets excited-- she clinched both fists and said, "We did it!".  And gave me a high five.

Besides troubleshooting the door and the slide out, I think we are good to go.  We've ordered the carpet from Lowe's and it should be there next week.  Hopefully all will go well.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Projects Around the House

We have been enjoying the best job there is the last five months or so:  Being Grandparents.

Most of our days we get to go over to Jon and Kelly's and baby sit Harrison who is now about 3 1/2 months old and Brooks who is 27 months old.  Kelly is doing well after her surgery a month ago, but still has about eight weeks before she can do regular baby lifting.

That means we spend most of the our days at their place arriving early and coming home after dinner.  But it is great to be able to spend time with them and to help out.  Since she has some help, Kelly has been doing a few projects when the boys take a nap.

I think the first one she tackled was the loose door knob going into the bathroom.  She took off the handle and applied about 4-5 coatings of wood filler similar to this.  She added a little each time, let it dry completely, added some more and sanded it down again before she painted it.  That stuff is really strong.

Not surprisingly, it turned out great and you'd never know there was an issue.

Next, she had a project I could help with - a headboard bench.  I found some 4"x 4" wood for the corner legs and then bought some other pieces to build this platform.  A couple of 2" x 4"s and a 2" x 6" were cut to length and used for the bench piece.

Kelly put a few coats of while on the frame and backboard and I stained the cross pieces.  Next, I secured them and it was all done.

In the bathroom, Kelly was not too fond of the oak color and silver handles on the sink cabinets.  She took off the knobs and handles, then sanded them down before spraying them a new dark color.  She did the same to the cabinet before putting on three coats of paint.  She lightly sanded between coats and it looks like a whole new piece in the bathroom.

Jon and I installed a new back door to the deck almost three years ago.  But the door trim/insulation was showing its wear, so Kelly and Pam bought some replacement weatherstripping.

It worked as advertised and could not have been easier.  Just pull it out, cut a new piece to length and press back into place.  20 minute job.

Back at our home, we had a couple of church friends Tim and Arlynn over for dinner and a tour of the Roadrunner.  After another fantastic lasagna meal by Pam we were sitting around chatting.  Tim ran his fingers along the top of the sofa and saw that it was splitting.

Confirmed.  After 10 years of normal wear and tear, the top seam was coming apart.  I indicated it was on our list to get fixed when we go back to Red Bay next month.  He said, "I could fix that right now if you have a curved needle.  But few people have a curved needle handy."  

As it happened, I did have a curved needle and he fixed it!  He is a professional who works on used cars with dealerships, working on the inside or cars doing repairs and detailing to get them looking new again. 

He really knows what he is doing and it took all of 20 minutes.  It looks great and should hold up for another 10 years.  You never what kind of skill set people may have when you have them over for dinner.  It was nice of him to offer and we're glad he took a minute to stitch up our sofa.

Whether you are in a lovely home that is a few years old or a motorhome that is 10 years old, they both require maintenance.  Little projects around the house can make a difference and they are fun to knock off the "To Do" list.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!