Java and Jazz - New Coffee Shop in Red Bay

I previously mentioned I stopped by a new coffee shop in Red Bay and wanted to give Ken and Lara shout out this morning.

I like to promote small businesses and this is another worthy one in Red Bay.  If you like good coffee,  a pleasant atmosphere and good conversation, Java and Jazz is a great place to check out.  It is located down the street from the corner of the Red Bay Hotel.  The building previously housed a Snow Cone shop.

They have a FaceBook page that gives a little history.  They have have only been open a couple of months and already are establishing some traction.  Every Tuesday they offer free coffee to Veterans and First Responders.

They have a U.S. map on the wall as you enter, and encourage folks to mark where they are from on it.  They also created a group "Tiffin Travelers" which is pretty creative.

I like this place and wish I had visited our first day instead of near the end of the week before we left.  It has wifi, and is a nice place to get some work done, or reading.  Or, if you are like me, it is a great place to meet people.  I picked a good time to meet Ken and Lara and we hit it off as they explained their journey and how they were led to Red Bay.

Ken and Lara left Wisconsin and have a place out of town past where Bay Diesel is located. They attend a local church and heard that Red Bay needed a coffee shop and one thing led to another.

I found this on their FaceBook Page:

Why not check them out and tell your friends?

That's all for now. I just wanted to give them a plug and hope you have a great week!
Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

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!

Florida Plans for the Winter!

Its hard to believe that we've been here for almost three months.  We leave in a little less than a week to spend the 2018/2019 season in Florida.  It's getting a little harder to leave these little ones (and the big ones)

Daughter Kelly, Jon, and the boys

En route we are planning stops in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.  After the snow bird season, we'll come back to Virginia Beach.

If our travels and schedule line up with yours, we'd love to see you!

Here is our current itinerary:
November

• 17-18, Cross Country RV Park, Denver, NC
• 19-23, Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground (private), Maynardville,  RN
• 24-30, Red Bay RV Campground, Red Bay, AL

December

• 1-5, Blue Angel MWR CG, Pensacola NAS, FL
• 6-7, TBD
• 8-16, Ft DeSoto State Park, Tierra Verde, FL
• 17, Miccosukee Casino, Miami, FL
• 18-31, NAS Sigsbee, Key West, FL

January

• 2, Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanner, Vero Beach, FL
• 13-31, Racoon Creek Recreation Area CG, MacDill AFB, Tampa, F

February

• 1-28, Pelican Roost CG, Mayport NAS, Jacksonville, FL

March

• 1-2, Pelican Roost CG, Mayport NAS, Jacksonville, FL
• 3-16, Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanner, North Fort Myers, FL
• 17, TBD
• 18-20, Deaton Campground, Red Bay, AL
• 21-24, Maynardville, TN
• 27-31, TBD

April

• 1-30 Virginia Beach

Grandkids and a New Deck

We're enjoying our time in Virginia Beach.  We've been spending a lot of time at Kelly and Jon's and with grandsons Brooks and Harrison.  These two little guys are something else!

We are content to spend time with them and just hang out.  We are glad to spell Kelly at times during the day so she can run some errands by herself.  We've also been able to babysit so she and Jon can enjoy a date night now and then and let them have some time off.

Meanwhile, we can always find things to do with they boys.  We've spend as much time as we can outside.  One favorite is picking up pine cones.  We got some of those $1 "pickers" (plastic 3' poles with a hand squeeze) and then can spend lots of time with the kids wandering around the front and back yards picking up pine cones at Goldmanor.

We also manage to help them ride their little cars or bikes or swing in the front yard.  Sometimes, its just too much and we just tucker them out...

It's usually the reverse though, we often wear out long before they do.  Their front yard has a long wall that is just high enough for them to walk on which is another source of wonder for them.

Kelly and Jon have been chipping away at a couple of projects and its fun to see them come together.  It only took two days to get the deck done in the back yard.  First, Jon removed the large azaleas and relocated them in other places around the yard.

Then the professionals came in the next day and did their magic.  The new deck off the sun room is at the back of the house.

 They had the posts in the ground, the cross beams leveled and deck joists in place before lunch time.

It is fun to watch professionals at work in their sweet spot. They did a great job and it all seemed so effortless.
We continue to enjoy our time here with the kids and grand kids and seeing some projects getting done.  Its been a warm late summer but in the last couple of days has turned cooler.

Kelly and Jon have introduced the boys to smors.  It has been a closely supervised but a big after-dinner treat.

That's all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us.  Hope your week is a great one!

Why Write a Book?

Year ago someone mentioned that I should write a book.  Really?  Why should I do that? What would I say?  How does one do that?

I dismissed the idea then, but now, I'm a few weeks away from completing "The Wonder of RV Living, Vol 1 in the Roadrunner Chronicles".  I thought "Roadrunner Chronicles" already has some familiarity with RV blog readers, so I'll continue here with it.  It has been 18 months in the making.  I've had some expected false starts, weeks of having the words flow, followed by the ups and downs of getting across the finish line.

I can't say for sure when it will be out on Amazon for purchase, but I'm working hard to make it happen before Thanksgiving.  We will see.

Why do that?
May main motivation was that it would be a nice Christmas present.  I thought it would be cool to send a copy to each of my three brothers.  It still may happen and I'm only one year off my original goal of Christmas 2017.

I also thought that it might be helpful to pull together some information and send it along to folks who are curious about "How We Became Full-time RVers".  For others, I thought actual "Stories From Our Adventures" might be interesting.  Those two ideas comprise Part 1 and Part 2 of the manuscript.

Now, I look at it as a way to remember these great years on the road.  Last winter when we were at Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande, AZ to see friends Karen and Steve, I remember RV neighbors who showed us there hardcopy book of their book on the trip they took on a boat around the Great Loop.  It was amazing to have a copy of their adventures in my hand and be able to read about it.  More motivation to get the Roadrunner Chronicles (Vol 1 - the book) completed.

How I started:
Rewind back to almost three years ago when I learned a friend was writing a book.  Wow - that was interesting.  Wes has a very good command of words and a knack for painting pictures with his words.  His Little Book of Misadventures got me thinking, "Ugh - There is no way I could do that."  I know I don't have nearly as a creative mind or story-telling creativity.

On the other hand, we have stories.  We've been living the dream for over 9 years now, and I have my own approach.  It began here with the blog Roadrunner Chronicles.

Where We Are:
Over 70,000 words, thirteen chapters, I'm now almost done with the second edit and thinking I have one more to go.

I have a couple more changes to make before I am happy the book cover, but it will be some variation of this.

That all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles -  next week, I'll share the titles of some of my chapters.  Thanks for taking a look today!