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.