Day 8 at Tiffin Service Center

 Red Bay, AL

The sun came out, both literally and figuratively, for us today.

We got the "call" to respond to Bay #36 at 8:10 AM.  Apparently, we got moved up on the list when another rig decided to leave.  I certainly wasn't unhappy to hear that!  We packed up the rig and we were at the door at 8:30 AM.

 The scaffolding used to get up to the roof level is VERY close on each side of the rig.  It's so close that the driver's side mirror has to be re-positioned as close as possible against the side of the rig.  Also, this bay employs the use of the tech to position the rig in the bay.

There are several signs posted in this bay indicating that only employees are to climb onto the scaffolding.  I can fully understand that from a liability standpoint.  I asked permission of the techs to take a few pictures and there was no problem with my request.

Our old fiberglass removed
(Top horizontal lines are NOT cracks, just overhead lights) 

The old fiberglass radius is cut off and replaced with aluminum.  The top edge of our coach is painted all black. Fortunately, the techs have access to aluminum replacement panels which are pre-painted black and this precludes us from having to go to the paint booth later for painting.

  By lunch, all of the old fiberglass had been removed and the area prepped for the installation of the new aluminum.

About 1:30 PM I returned to the bay to check on progress and observed "a whole bunch of rivets" ready for installation to hold the new aluminum.  Notice that the new piece is inserted under the roof section (similar to shingling a roof).

Since it was nearing the end of the workday I returned again about 2:45 PM to see what we would need to do tomorrow.  When I went back the rig was pulled outside of the bay.  I spoke to the tech to see where we were supposed to report tomorrow.  He said "YOU'RE FINISHED".   What?  Did I hear that correctly?     YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!   That completes all of the items on our repair list.


We are free to leave.  Well, not exactly.  We still have to pay the bill and check out with the campground.  We decided to stay in the campground for a day or so to make certain that the water leak repair has indeed been remedied.

We had just pulled back into our camping site (#33) when friends Bill and Kathy came over.  They had just arrived from AZ and have an appointment on Friday for some repair work.  We met them last year while we were here at Camp Red Bay.  They were just about to take delivery of there then new 2012 Allegro Bus.  We saw it over at Sherman RV when they picked it up.  Beautiful rig! They had  met a couple, Bob and Cindy, in a similar manner.  We all decided to get together and do what RVers do best, eat.  We met over in Belmont, MS at a relatively new Mexican Restaurant named Costa Oaxaquena.  The place was very busy (even on a Wednesday).  I thought the food was very good and was reasonably priced.  Unfortunately, we were so involved with swapping stories and having a good time that I completely forgot to take a picture.  Sorry guys.

Well, back to the rig.  We watched a bit of television and went to bed.  We have several things to check on tomorrow, but the best bit of information we received today is that we are FINISHED! Now, it truly feels like our fulltiming lifestyle has begun.

Thanks again for stopping by!