Roof Work in TN

We have been looking forward to seeing everybody in Tennessee for a while.  We hadn't see Joan and Mike, Michelle, Jeremy, Kayla and Noah since January.  And we planned on helping with Mike and Joan's roof which needed to be done.  The good news was that we only had half a roof to do.  The other half had already been replaced a few months ago.

But it was a big job for Mike and I.  We had to take off two layers of shingles,

There are a number of ways to scrape off shingles.  I have seen some use a shovel.  The best way I know of is to use the tool that is laying there right beside Mike.

Here's another picture.  The roof shovel thing is the best invention I have seen in a while.  It made a hard job a lot easier.

It took us a while, but we were able to scrape up the old shingles and felt and nails.  And I only had a couple of blisters…

We left piles of shingles on the ground to pick up later.

Then the fun began.  We rolled out the felt paper to cover the roof.

Then we laid some shingles in place to start putting those down.

We put them across the bottom and sides first.

Then it was a matter of hauling the shingles up the ladder on the other side of the house and moving them into place to put the rest of the shingles on.  We had a nail gun to use the last time I worked on a roof.

This time it was one nail at a time.  Eventually, we got it done.

We had sore backs and I had a few dings in my fingers and hands, but we were glad to get it finished.  Thankfully the weather was nice in East Tennessee and we didn't have any major issues.

That is all for now on this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Thanks for joining us!  Until next time...

Freezing Machine

Last April when we were in Tucson, our Norcold refrigerator died.  Like dead as a door nail.  No more cooling or refrigerating…it was gonzo.

So we 'made do' with a small type refrigerator that is like one college students might use in their dormitory.  But we used it in the Roadrunner.  It worked fine and since we knew we were going to get a new one, we lived with it.

We made a reservation with Brannon at Custom RV in Vina, AL (about 5 miles from Red Bay) and showed up promptly at 7:00 AM.

We pulled into the bay and they jumped into action

The Whirlpool refrigerator had been in the warehouse for a few weeks along with the six AGM Lifeline batteries and the Magnum 2800 pure sine wave inverter that all go together.

Brannon and John got working on the batteries and inverter.  They also cut the seal around the DS window and took off the back panel of the refrigerator to disconnect the propane line and get the electrical wires ready.

Meanwhile, the window had to come out and the fuse box panel door below the refrigerator space came off.  Then the refrigerator was unhooked and disconnected and it came right out.

The new one was put on the pallet and hoisted through the window.

It was pretty amazing.  With a little encouragement it fit right in.  Then the back wires were all hooked up and it purred like a kitten.

The window and window coverings were all put back in and we were in business!

That is 22 cu. ft of pure refrigerator!  We can't wait to fill it up.  We are thankful we were able to save up and get this done.  I think it will be worth every bit of the $6706 (in case you were wondering).

It was a big day and we love our new frig.

I am curious, how many of you all have a residential refrigerator?

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Until next time...

Roadrunner Financials - September 2011

Roadrunner Recap
We like the city RV park in Port Huron because it is right across the border from Petrolia, Ontario where our son's in-laws live.  We always like to visit Marg and Bill.  From there we went south to Dayton OH and the home of the excellent Air Museum.  And we got to see our friend Diane.

• Port Huron Township RV Park, Port Huron MI
• Bass Lake Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton OH
• Allegro Campground, Red Bay AL
• Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground, Maynardville TN

Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled.  You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.  
 


During the month you can see we drove about 1130 miles in the Roadrunner making our way from the Detroit area, to Dayton OH and then on to Maynardville TN.

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget

Biggest Expenses
Our biggest costs for the month were for upgrades, repairs and our SD registration for our Roadrunner and Honda.

Large One Time Cost Items
Our biggest expense for the month was for our residential refrigerator.  We got a newer (pure sine wave) inverter, replace our old batteries with Life Time marine quality no maintenance ones plus all the labor to remove the old refrigerator and dispose of it.  At $6706 it is worth every penny!

Monthly Average

We completely blew our averages with this month's purchases.  My hope is that over the next 6 months we will adjust and be able to get it back down to around $4,000 a month.

I have often said this is more of a tracking tool and an estimate than a budget -- this month's spending proves it.  That's what our spending looked like for the month.  Thanks for taking a peek.  Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort...  If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Wet Bay in Red Bay

We went to Red Bay, AL (Allegro/Tiffin RV Service Center) to get some odds and ends done and to get our wet bay replaced.   This has been a major problem for Tiffin Motor Homes over the last couple of years.  I don't know if there is an accurate count of how many motorhomes have this issue but it is hundreds.  The floor under the water and waste tanks is rotting out and it has to be replaced.

The bad news is that they need to be fixed.  The good news is that Bob Tiffin is standing behind his work and fixing them at no cost to his customers.  The fix is at least 5 hour job for two people.

Since customers with scheduled appointments go ahead of those in the Express Bay (us) Tiffin paid to have us go across the street to McKinney RV and get the job done on a Saturday.  I think we had complained enough that we were moving down, not up on the list, so they finally found a way to get us in.  We were glad to do it since we had been waiting 10 days.  

I was a little concerned since McKinney doesn't regularly do these kind of jobs.  But they have done a few in the past few weeks.  My hesitations were quickly dispelled.  These guys were good.  And Mr. McKinney was there to make sure it was done quickly and well.

Gary, Jim and Eugene started unhooking wires, plastic pipes and hoses from both sides of the bay.  Then they jack up the metal frame that holds the gray and black tanks.  Once everything is freed up, they slide out the clear tank.

They cleaned up the tank on the outside, then had to remove all the rotted plywood.

Then they put in a new floor and replaced the cleaned up clear tank.

Once that was done, they reconnected all the pipes, wires and hoses.  

Then they checked it all out and caulked everything.  

We were very satisfied with their work and recommend McKinney.  Total cost to us:  $0.  And our Saturday.  But we were glad to get that behind us.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  And thanks for those that leave comments!  We appreciate them!

Evenings at the Rattlesnake Saloon

One thing we have taken advantage of since we have been here at Red Bay is seeing the Rattlesnake Saloon.  It is a little ways away from Red Bay and we have been there now three times.  We didn't plan on going that many times but it just turned out that way.

One has to pay close attention to find it but we made the 22 miles in about 35 minutes.  It is a little way past the Coon Dog Cemetery.  We went there the last time we were here in Red Bay.

It was a nice drive and we walked over from the parking lot to the entrance which leads down to the Saloon.

If you want to get  a beer you have to bring your ID and get your hand stamped up by the gate.  If you don't want to walk down the steep road, you can wait for the Rattlesnake Saloon taxi which is a hoot.  

The taxi is a pickup truck with benches on the side.

The walk down to the seating area is about 100 yards.

Once you are down there, you see a very large mouth cave that is about 300 feet long and 100 feet wide.

Very unique.
The menu is limited, but the Rustler Hamburgers were very good.  And we also liked the turkey salad and ham salads.  One thing that we have not had before is Snake Eyes and Tails.

They are deep fried jalapenos (snake eyes) and green beans (tails).  They were great appetizers!  And different.

We found a good table and enjoyed the atmosphere with Jim and Ellie, Steve and Shirley and Mark and Dortha.

The bar and cafe are inside the building underneath the corner of the cave.

The dance floor and stage are in the middle tucked under the main part of the cave.

We enjoyed our time and left before it got too late.   A couple of days later our neighbors near our campsite wanted to go to the Rattlesnake Saloon so we went back.

Bill and Judy, John and Nancy, Brenda and Tom, John and Ann and Pam and I ended up near where we  were seated a couple of nights previously.  And it was another good time.

Some of these local musicians are quite good.

We had fun at the Rattlesnake Saloon and recommend it.  If you are ever in the area of Red Bay or Tuscumbia Alabama, you might want to check it out.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time….

Time at Red Bay, AL

We have been at the Tiffin Motorhome factory service campground for over a week.  Almost two weeks.  They have scheduled appointments and 'First Come First Service' Three Hour service bays.  They have 48 service bays and distribute the work between scheduled appointments and the Three Hour service bays.

We did not have an appointment so we waited and got into a Three Hour Service Bay in a couple of days.  Our list was not too long this time:

• Fix or replace the toilet switch
• Check the step cover which was not closing 
• Adjust the 4" large awning tray so it rolls under the awning when it retracts
• Replace front spotlight on top of the cab above the windshield
• Check electrical problem to determine if it is the inverter
• Check under slide out floors for any leaks or wood rot
• Replace wood flooring under the wet bay

Nathan and Justin got right to work.  

• Nathan adjusted the awning tray while Justin tweaked the toilet switch.  I bought a replacement switch and he showed me how to hook up the wires in case it gives out.  
• They looked at the entrance step cover and it appeared to be working fine.  
• The awning support tray was adjusted so it will roll up under the awning cover when it retracts.
• The electrical problem we described should be fixed when we get an new inverter next when we get a Residential Refrigerator installed off site at Brannon's.  
• All the slide outs were checked for leaks and all is well there.
• Then we got a new spotlight that had to be painted.  After lunch they picked it up and Justin climbed on top of the Roadrunner, got strapped into a safety harness and got it installed.

The wet bay leak is a big problem and they are in the process of fixing hundreds of RVs by replacing the  plywood underneath the clear, grey and black tanks.

This is really a gnarly process:

The piece they will replace looks like this:

Unfortunately, we are quite a few days out to get ours done.  Looks like next week sometime.

In the meantime, we have gotten a new spot light:

The actual work on our coach took a couple of hours.  So we have had a chance to go see the production line over at the plant:

It is fascinating each time we visit the plant.  And we learn a lot!

Thanks for joining us again for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Back in the Saddle

Actually I was never out of the saddle, I just took a break from the blog.  The few days I intended to skip turned into a week, then two and now what has been the longest break since I started the Roadrunner Chronicles.  A pause turned into a break which turned into a hiatus.  But we are back with another edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us!

So the last time we left you we were in Port Huron, MI. While there we saw Marg and Bill for a few days and got to spend some time at their cottage in Tobermory, Ontario.

And we went into town down by the Little Tub for a nice afternoon of ice cream and a walk.

Then we went back to Port Huron to the Port Huron Township RV Campground so I could get my online work done.   We stayed there for another week.  In the evenings, we went for a few walks down by the city park on the water.

The Thomas Edison Railroad Museum is there.  He grew up in Port Huron. It is a very nice park with a good sized walkway and a great place to hang out in the evenings.

We also go to see George and Sharon (RV friends from Tucson) and Rod and Lisa, friends from our days in Hawaii.  Their daughter Andrea and granddaughter Verity joined us for breakfast before we left so that was nice.

After Port Huron, we drove to Dayton, Ohio and saw our friend Diane (also from our Hawaii time).  It is always good to see her.  We got to see a couple of her kids who are all grown up now.  It was nice.

Then we drove to Red Bay where we are now.  We have some work to get done on the Roadrunner and will be posting more about that.

Until next time, thanks for joining us!

Roadrunner Financials - August 2011

Roadrunner Recap
In August we made our way from Grand Forks ND to the Detroit MI border town of Port Huron.  We left Grand Forks after a few days and went to a Care-A-Vanner Habitat for Humanity build in Brookings SD for two weeks.
Then we saw friends in both Sioux Falls SD and Council Bluffs IA (near Omaha NE).

• Grand Forks AFB ND
• Larson Mfg Parking Lot, Brookings SD
• WH Lyons Empire Fairgrounds, Sioux Falls SD
• Horseshoe Casino, Council Bluffs IA
• Port Huron City Campground MI

Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled.  You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.  

We did a good job with things this month.  Although we put some miles on the Roadrunner, we were still under our budget which is always nice.

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
 RV Maintenance, Campgrounds and One Time Costs were those places where we saved the most.

Biggest Expenses
 We replaced our grill for a Weber grill which cost $148.  We also both got work boots which cost $265 for both.  

Large One Time Cost Items
 Our iPad cost us $918.

Monthly Average

We were a little over this money but we went crazy and spent money on some big ticket items.  Not that we didn't want them or need them -- but those four things accounted for our biggest expenses.

That's what our spending looked like for the month.  Thanks for taking a peek.  Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort...  If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!