Monday, 01FEB, we
started prepping the RV for departure tomorrow. The RV toilet has been giving
us trouble the last couple of days & Dan tried to fix it one more time
without successL So he had to jerry-rig a
temporary fix. To add to all the things
we need to get done during the day, Dan made pulled pork BBQ for Joe, Rebecca,
Raymond, Jaxson, Mason & Joe’s roommate Travis.
Tuesday morning we dump
sewage & head east to get RV maintenance done in Tampa & visit friends
in Florida. As usual we stay at Keesler
AFB FamCamp (now they take reservations?).
See below BLOG link for our last visit to Biloxi. For dinner it was off to Mary Mahoneys Old
French House – as our BLOG from 09-13OCT13 said -
“Enjoy an upscale and elegant meal in one of the South's most unique restaurants,
centered around one of the oldest homes in America. Dine in an elegant New Orleans style courtyard
under the canopy of a centuries old live oak, where for 50 years, presidents,
dignitaries, celebrities, and millions of others have experienced the rich
history and legendary cuisine of Mary Mahoney's.” Followed by a little lite gambling at the
Palace Casino (no smoking)J
Severe
weather rolls thru during the early AM hours Wednesday morning delaying our
departure. Finally we get on road to
visit our friends the Guldenschuh’s in Navarre, FL. As we usually do, we stopped at the FL state
welcome bureau on I-10 for free orange or grapefruit juice. A couple of years ago they added a computer
set-up where you take you picture against a computer generated background (like
a giant alligator). So we had ours taken
with Captain Citrus. We deal with off
& on rain the entire drive, with a real downpour on our arrival. Early afternoon the rain lessens & we
head over to Chuck & Anneke’s house for reminiscing & a delicious
dinner (see BLOG link for our last visit w/them).
Thursday
morning the rain has stopped & sunny skies (even if it is cold &
breezy). Dan made a parts run to Camping
World w/no joy. Late in the morning
Guldenschuh’s come by to pick us up for lunch.
On the way we stop at Open Road RV to check their parts supply. Open Road is one of those vanishing
businesses that carry a huge (& often old) inventory to insure that almost
anything you are looking for, they have. Dan was looking for a replacement lock
assembly for one of our RV cargo hatches.
These locks haven’t been made for over a decade; & if we found one,
the key wouldn’t match the other cargo holds.
One of their employees looked at our lock & stated that the lock
wasn’t bad, we just had wrong key (even though our key worked for nine
years?)! From behind the counter he
pulled out boxes & boxes of keys & found the “right” one. Amazingly it worked & no new lock was
needed (& the “new” key does work in all our remaining cargo hatches?).
After
that it was lunch at McGuires Irish Pub – where there is a millions of dollar
bills on the ceiling & walls. The
original McGuires is in Pensacola & started in 1977. Then it was back to the Guldenschuh’s for our
favorite game - Mexican Train Dominos; before saying our good-byes (so they
could head to one of their grandkid’s b-day).
Friday
morning we start making our long drive to Lazy Days RV in Seffner, FL. Why visit Lazy Days? Because we have several items on the RV
beyond our capability to repair & we want to see if they can provide better
service than Tiffin Motorhome factory in Red Bay, AL. It seems every year the RV needs a few
repairs that have required us to go to Red Bay & wait days (if not weeks)
waiting for service; since they do not take reservations. Lazy Days is the biggest RV dealership in the
USA & supposedly is one of the top five most visited attractions in FL by
out-of-state visitors. Since we bought
our RV from them; because they take reservations; & they have over 150
service bays, we decided to try our luck there.
Rather than drive the entire distance in one day, we decided to drive
halfway & spend the night in Perry, FL (not Perry, GA).
Saturday,
07FEB, we finished the drive into Lazy Days in big time rain. Even though it is a weekend, it was extremely
bad traffic because the FL State Fair just started. To make matters worse the road into Lazy Days
is all torn up due to construction, & there is terrible signage for Lazy
Days. If you miss the signs (we didL), you end up
on residential streets not meant for RVs.
In fact, most of the trees in other residential streets are pruned for
vehicles up to 14 feet. This
neighborhood had major oak limbs at 11 to 12 feet!!! Our RV is 11-1/2 feet tall & we often had
to drive in the wrong lane to get out of the neighborhood. Owners of the new taller RVs would have had
to back out!
Finally
safely making it to the Lazy Days campground we discovered the rates at RV park
had been jacked up due to State Fair.
After setting up camp (camp is ok, but it is older & not really
adequate for today’s bigger RVs w/multiple slides) we headed to their parts department
- not very impressive. Next stop was
service department check-in desk, where we were handed old information &
brochures for January? All & all,
not a very impressive start for Lazy Days.
Sunday
late morning we head out to Big Top Flea Market; followed by the Hard Rock
Casino. Parking hard to find at the
casino due to the State Fair right next door.
We were not impressed with the casino & left without gambling. Late that afternoon it was off to Jim &
Mary Spence’s for dinner & the super bowl.
Jim was Coast Guard Academy friend & classmate of Dan’s, & they
served together on CG Cutter MUNRO in Seattle back in the mid 70s. As you will see from the below BLOG link, we
also visited them two years ago (also during Super Bowl). A great, but too short time, visiting &
catching up with old & good friends.
Early
Monday morning we moved the RV from the camp ground to the Lazy Days service
facility. Two nice things about the camp
park were – 1) you get a newspaper each morning, 2) & you get meal tickets
for breakfast & lunch each day. We
spent the rest of the day twiddling our thumbs waiting to hear what portion of
the repairs our aftermarket insurance would cover, & what we would have to
pay for. At the end of the day we
learned:
---repair
part for toilet is covered but will take three days to arrive; but if we pay $100
extra we get entire new toilet right now, but it won’t be white. We opt to pay the $100.
---our
roof top AC/heat pump is no longer manufactured; new model will take five days
to get here, insurance will pay for new unit but not the $400 to modify it to
work with our thermostat. We opt to pay
for the new thermostat.
---cabinet
work is not covered by insurance; carpenters will hopefully look at cabinet tomorrow
so we can have an estimate. Cabinet is
“falling” from ceiling, repair must be done.
Tuesday
more twiddling of thumbs with no progress. Wednesday,
10FEB, progress being madeJ! Toilet installed; slide
& levelers serviced; carpenter provides estimate on cabinet repair; AC/heat
pump is enroute.
Thursday
morning not much happens. Turns out
today is start of President’s Day “sales event” for Lazy Days. For the next five days they will have free
hot dogs (aka Lazy Dogs), chips & sodas.
In fact, these sales events are known by certain resident of the
community on a fixed income – they come by for a free meal & take two hot
dogs to go! The AC/heat pump arrives
after lunch & installation begins; late afternoon AC/heat pump installed; &
it turns out the technician has seen the compatibility issue between the new
unit & old thermostat, & knew how to solve the problem! $400 dollars saved!
Friday
not much done in AM; more free hotdogs for lunch. Cabinet repair done early afternoon. Rather than hit the road we moved back over
to Lazy Days campground to do some small maintenance & get RV & Toad
repacked for two day drive back to Houma, LA.
That evening Jim Spence dropped by for a quick visit & more
reminiscing.
Was
it worth it to have repairs done at Lazy Days vs the Tiffin Motorhome factory
in Red Bay, AL? Yes. Lazy Days uses reservations; & even
though you know they can’t get all the work done in one day, they need to finish
you as soon as possible to keep system moving & service bays full. At Tiffin you can wait days/weeks after
arrival to even start; & then Tiffin might fix one thing & you wait
days/weeks for next item. The camp
ground at Lazy Days although tight for room, is much better than Tiffin’s
(& you have all of Tampa/St Pete for things to do). In addition, many manufacturers have “classes”
at Lazy Days (eg – Dan took the RV driver class).
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