Sharing the Life

We were just delighted to have our son and his girlfriend join us in Florida. It gave us the opportunity to see how comfortable four people would be in the coach. I must admit it went very well. Our sofa converted into a full bed. I had purchased a foam topper for the bed which definitely made it more comfortable.
The weather was pretty nice so Lee and Michael were able to play golf a couple of times. This allowed Amy and I to have some girl time which of course included shopping and lunch. We also took a day to visit the Epcot Center at Disneyworld. Disneyworld was only 2 hours away so it made for a perfect day trip. Since Michael was going to be studying abroad in Ireland for a semester and Amy was going to study in Italy during the same time, we decided that visiting those countries at Epcot would be the ideal thing. In fact, we had lunch in the United Kingdom and dinner in Italy. It was just wonderful!!. The week went by so very fast. We flew back to Maine together in enough time to ready our son for his new adventures "on the road".
Like father (and mother), like son!!!!

Home Sweet Home in Florida

When we finally arrived at Outdoor Resorts in Port St. Lucie, we were so happy that our new coach fit perfectly on our site. We even had adequate room for parking our rental car which Lee picked up at Enterprise. What was especially nice with dealing with Enterprise is that they had someone come to pick Lee up and bring him to the office to pick up our car. We also were going to be able to return this car at the West Palm Beach airport. It doesn't get any better than that!!
It was wonderful catching up with our new friends during our stay (which of course, was going to be too short).
I added some personal touches to our coach. Lee and I really felt at home. It was wonderful to see some of my Longaberger Baskets around as some of the new items I had purchased. There are still items to buy but will take my time.
We left our "winter" home to return to Maine but are looking forward to returning to our life in the slow lane!!

Florida, Here We Come!!!!

Well it was a bright and sunny day when we awoke which always makes for a great travel day. We got up around 8:00am, took quick showers, and enjoyed our O'Charley's rolls for breakfast with our fab coffee. It didn't take us long to ready our coach for our day's travel. Today's goal: Jacksonville, Florida. Lee found a Super Walmart for tonight so I knew that I would have to be on my toes to give him the directions the closer we got.
The traffic was okay despite some construction. As we were driving, Lee informed me that we should look for a truck stop for gas since we didn't want to go through the same experience we had the last time we needed gas (gas light blinking, etc). Luckily we found an easy on easy off station. So far so good!!!
I made some lunch for us on the road and used our ottoman as a serving table. It fit perfectly between the driver's and passenger's seats. Not too shabby. Beats the heck out of eating out of your lap.
I looked up and noticed that we were only 7 miles from the Florida border. This has been a great day!!!

No Place At The Inn!!!

As we approached our Walmart destination, our locator book (once again) did not provide us with accurate directions so we had to retrace our steps. But we finally found a level spot to park our coach and then did a little shopping (as usual)
My family met up with us and we had the opportunity to show them around our new home. We celebrated this visit with a bottle of champagne which my sister had brought for the ocassion. We all went to dinner at O'Charley's which was a great place to eat. They are known for their honey rolls which I must admit were fab. So much so, the waitress packed a few extra for us for breakfast the next morning. We went back to the coach for more schmoozing when all of a sudden there was a knock on the door. There was a Walmart security guard who informed us that we would not be able to spend the night because of a drug and prostitute problem they were having with truckers who spent the night at this location.
So.......when we made our goodbyes to my family, we also made our goodbye to this Walmart location. Fortunately, we found another one which wasn't too far away. Lee unfortunately could not find a level place in this parking lot. He did the best he could (which was fine) and we both fell asleep instantly (readying ourselves for another day on the road).

Georgia On My Mind

Our visit in Red Bay was a great opportunity for us to see just how the Tiffin company took care of its customers.
We were also able to take a tour of the factory which was fascinating. Our tour leader, Red, was in his early 80's and had been with the company for years. What a sweet guy!!!! He knew tons of facts about how the coaches were made and we found out that only 100 Zephyrs were made annually compared to the Allegro product. What an awesome experience to see the coaches built from the ground up (literally).
After a quick breakfast we said our goodbyes to our new friends and promised to keep in touch. Now we were on our way. Lee and I took a look at the atlas and noticed that we would be heading to Atlanta. This was great since my sister lived in Marietta and the possibility of hooking up with her for dinner was looking pretty good.
I called my sister and made plans to meet up at the Walmart in Stockbridge, GA off of I-695. This was going to be a special time for us since we had not seen each other in over a year and a half.

Finally....Red Bay, Alabama

We finally made it to Red Bay, Alabama which is the home of the Tiffin Company. We needed some warranty work done before heading to Florida.
What an incredible operation!!! They have their own private campground area with full hookups so you can live in your coach while waiting to be called for your appointment. We were scheduled for what they called a "3 hour Express". We had our list, waited patiently, and were taken the day after we arrived. Yippee!!!
We met some other RV owners in the service bay area who were watching the work being done on their coaches. It was a fascinating process. Service bay after service bay of Tiffin coaches; every coach with a different issue or concern. Meeting these other owners was a treat for Lee and myself. It made the experience much more fun for us.
Because there really wasn't much to do in the evening in Red Bay, it was not unusual to go out to dinner with our new friends and commisserate together on the completed or uncompleted work of the day. The restaurant selection was very limited. One popular hang out was Swamp Johns; an old converted gas station.
I do believe that there is nothing more fun for an RV owner than to talk about your coach. Everyone has a tale to tell!!! You are with your special breed of comrades who truly understand what you feel when things go right and wrong. We learned quite alot of information during this trip which I know we will pay forward in the future as we continue our life in the slow lane.

Walmart Locator Book

After filling up our tank, we drove for a few more hours and then decided to stop in St. Clair, Pennsylvania. We used our Walmart Locator Book to find a Super Walmart parking lot to spend the night. We found one which was only about four and a half miles off of 81. Lee and I believe in Easy on, Easy off locations.
We were very pleased with our choice since it was a quiet location and it had alot of perimeter parking for our coach.
The great thing about Walmart parking lots is that once you set up, it is fun to shop in the store for last minute incidentals. One caution about this particular store; it did not sell alcoholic beverages. I was very disappointed since I forgot to pack beer. Oh well. There is always tomorrow and always another Walmart!!!

Thank Goodness for CB Radios

As we made our way down to Red Bay we finally needed to stop and get some diesel. We stopped at a service area in Middletown, N.Y. only to realize that it could not accommodate our 45 foot motorcoach. Now you have to understand that I did not know that the Low Fuel Signal light had been on for about 10 minutes. I now realized why Lee seemed very distressed over not being able to stop at this service area.
What were we going to do?? We were both unsure as to how much diesel we actually had left in our tank. Were we going to find ourselves stuck on the highway on empty?????
I suggested to Lee that he contact some truckers on the CB Radio to find out the location of the nearest gas station that could accommodate us. Luckly, a trucker responded and told us about a service area off of Exit l on 84. Yippee, only 10 miles away!!!! Okay...this seemed to be working out. However when you only get 6-7 miles per gallon, we were not too sure that we would make it. Then to add insult to injury, we had to go up hill making us use more fuel. But just when you think it is all over, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our "light" was that the last three miles to Exit 1 was all down hill and we could coast all the way!!!

Off to Red Bay, Alabama

Well, I am glad to report that all renovations both to home and driveway had been completed to satisfaction. With regards to the driveway, we had to excavate in order to develop a contour at the head of the driveway. Bringing in structural fill of crushed stone accomplished the desired parking goal. All's well that ends well, I say!!!
So..... here we are on the road again happily driving our new rig. Our goal after warranty work in Red Bay is to bring our coach to Florida. I must say that as I reviewed the items that we had originally purchased for our day-to-day living in the coach, I was very pleased with myself. All I had to do was pack up our clothes and purchase groceries. So, it was pretty slick. (Helpful hint: duplicate your staple items in your coach such as toietries, cleaning supplies, etc. It makes packing day a breeze!!)
As with all new trips of the season, there are always quirky things that occur. Our quirk for this morning was finding my passenger side cup holder filled with a brackish colored water. Now where could that have come from?????????????????
There were no other signs of water near or around the area. Lee and I would have to check this out further when we arrive at a WalMart parking lot somewhere in Virginia or West Virginia.

You Want to Stick What Where????

After being parked on the street for about a week, we found it necessary to try to park our motorcoach on the existing gravel driveway as a temporary fix until such time as we could have the upgraded work done on the gravel. We really did not want to take advantage of our neighbors any longer and felt this was a means to an end for the time being.
In order to do this, we had one of our friends sit on top of the coach in order to lift up the telephone wires since they hanging lower than we would have wanted. We had another friend watching for any bottoming out which was a major concern due to the pitch of the driveway. Lee was backing her in as carefully as he could. We all held our breath and were relieved when our new motorcoach was sitting in its new home at least temporarily.
We would not be physically moving our coach until we scheduled some warranty work at the local dealership. Our original thoughts were that we were going to be able to live in our coach during our household renovations. All our bathrooms were ripped out. It would have been an easy fix to live in the coach. Now that we were unable to make any "dumps", we had no choice but live in a hotel for a few weeks.
With our son's upcoming graduation, warranty issues to be addressed, day to day monitoring of renovation progress, upgrading our driveway situation, and the general day to day "stuff", we had alot on our plate.
It was time to think about Florida and our Life in the Slow Lane!!!!

Who Says Five Feet Doesn't Make A Big Difference!

Well it took us three days to come back to Maine. We knew we were going to have a parking challenge with our new motorcoach when we got home. We were never planning on purchasing such a large coach considering our old coach was 35 feet. If anything, we were planning on no more than 40 feet. Would the extra five feet really make a difference.
YES IT DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were afraid to park it on our gravel driveway used for our old coach. We were concerned that we would bottom out as well as sink down due the the extra weight.
So...... we parked her in the road in front of our home. Thank goodness we had wonderful neighbors. Thank goodness the school bus and other trucks could pass along side of us. We knew that we had to have the gravel driveway redone and do some other things to make parking our coach as easy as our old one.
Oh, by the way, did I happen to mention that we began renovating our home the day after we returned. Besides that, our older son was graduating college at the end of the month and I was planning a party. Phew!!!!
Could everything be accomplished without losing our minds????????????????????

Bio-Hazard Suits NOT Required

After we successfully emptied our tank, Lee proceeded to hose down the entire area with water. He must have done this for a half an hour or more. We gathered all the "tainted" materials which were on the lot and placed them in a plastic bag and left it for garbage pickup later that morning.
It was sometime after 3:00am when we saw a security guard passing through the area. We flagged him down and told him what happened. He seemed very non-plussed. Did this really happen more often than we thought????? We just wanted to take the responsibility to ensure that there would be no further problems after the clean up. I am glad to say there were none.
After a while, Lee needed me to go into our old motorhome so he could finish the job. As I sat on the stairs, I removed my sandals and disposed of them in another bag before going in. I patiently waited until the cleanup was complete. When Lee came to the door, he had to strip down and dispose of all his footwear, etc.
Finally, we took our showers!!!! Boy did that feel great. As we settled in our bed to try to get a little sleep, we began to laugh. Had this really happened??? This would be another one for the books. Another Griswold first.
Now we were ready to begin a whole new set of adventures...........................or were we???????????????????????????

Required: A Sense of Humor

Well................
As we were standing there in amazement, we both started to laugh and cry. What were we going to do????
At one point, Lee motioned to me to hold his end of the hose along with mine in order to work the problem. As we pondered our predicament, we came up with a fantastic idea. We decided to use the portable dump disposal "wagon" (usually used for grey water) as our portable sewer. We emptied our hoses into this "wagon" and wheeled it over to the sewer connection where we disposed our "stuff". We repeated this process until we were done. It took a while but we did it!!!!!!!
But now there was one more thing to do........
The "toxic cleanup"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "Transfer"

Thank goodness Lazy Days has the Crown Club. It certainly makes your time at the property a very nice experience while your coach is undergoing the necessary repairs/updates during the day.
In the late afternoon prior to the "transfer of items from our old coach to the new one" later on that evening, Lee and I enjoyed three Cosmos and some delicious appetizers from the buffet. I have to say that it was extremely hot (well into the
90's) and the thought of the labor intensive work to move into our new coach was exciting yet physically uncomfortable due to the temperatures. It had remained hot all through the evening hours. I have to admit the Cosmos helped!!!
The coaches were parked in reverse of each other which made it easier to transfer our "stuff". How exciting!!! We were moving into our new home. Finding new places for things, getting rid of other things, sorting out all the stuff the kids played with through the years was quite emotional.
Needless to say, when we were done, we were in desperate need of a shower. Our plan was to sleep in our old coach for the last time. However, Lee needed to do a dump.
That's when the "s__t" literally hit the fan. Our old coach was not lined up well with the septic. Lee thought he could connect an extension hose to make the length requirement. We did not have a joint connector but felt that if held properly, the dump would be successful. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Before you knew it, "s__t" was everywhere. I was holding one end with you know what trickling down my hands and Lee was holding the other. We just looked at each other. It was now 2:30am and we were just exhausted. Was this really happening???
What were we going to do now???????????????????

We did it!!!!!

Well after considerable thought and negotiation, we decided to purchase our Zephyr. Yippee!!!
After the papers were signed, we went to the Crown Club and had a drink to celebrate our new home. One of the benefits you receive when purchasing a luxury coach at Lazy Days is that you become a member of the Crown Club for three years where you can eat, drink, and be merry for free. Pretty nice perk, I must say. This was particular handy during the coach preparation period.
Now the prep process is very interesting. When you buy a coach, there is always something that needs to be done prior to your taking it off the lot. In our case, we needed a new windsheild, detail work in the bathroom vanity area, caulking around the shower, electronic additions, wheel covers, etc. Then there is the "Switch". Since we had a motorcoach to trade in, there was the process of moving all your stuff from one coach to the other.
Now there was the rub!!!!! Little did we know that during the move we would find ourselves living evey owners' worst nightmare...........

Search and Conquer

If you have gone to Lazy Days (aka Crazy Days) you know that it is a Disneyland for grownups. As far as the eye can see, there are rows upon rows of motorcoaches in all styles and colors. Each manufacturer has its own area and within that area the different styles are parked together for easy viewing.
It is quite daunting as you can imagine. We had spoken with a sales rep prior to our visit since we were planning on checking out the coaches which we had seen on-line. If you don't have a sales rep, one will be assigned to you.
One thing we did find was that our rep had some very specific ideas of his own and would make some bizarre comments when we asked questions. At one point during our search, my husband and I had to ask our rep to give us some private time to talk since he stuck to us like glue. It was only then when we could walk around on our own (we actually tried to hide out for a little while) just so we could look at the coaches by ourselves.
We did find a coach, an Allegro Bay, which we thought fit the bill. When we caught up with our rep we talked about the possibility of special order since there were some things that we would have preferred. It was then when we were presented with the Zephyr. We walked into that coach and fell in love. It had everything we wanted and more. I do have to say that our sales rep did not try to show us coaches above our original price range. It was my husband and I who upped the ante. But maybe there was some reverse psychology going on, but Lee and I felt that we found the one.
But now the big question remained: Could we make this happen????????

Happy New Year

Well hello fellow RV'ers,
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. The holidays are a crazy time and it is nice to know that my life in the slow lane is always there for me and my husband.
Thanks to anonymous for their comments. You can find it under the November posting. I am not quite sure why it didn't appear under the December one since it was dated December 10th.

My husband and I indeed purchased a "brand" new Zephyr (Tiffin) at "Crazy" Days. I will tell you that you get bleary eyed after you see about 10 coaches. I think we saw about 20+ new ones before we saw "the one". If you would have told me that we were about to purchase a 45 foot luxury coach with all the bells and whistles, I would have thought you were crazy. But we did and felt that we got a decent price. (maybe not the best deal financially......but sometimes the timing, your particular situation, and the convenience create a best deal at the time!)

But the process to find "the one" was certainly not easy.............