Repair repair and more repair

Well after we finely left Elkhart Indiana, we were heading to Dubuque Iowa to have our two front seats reupholstered at Flexsteel. On the way there we stopped at a Flying J to get a few hours sleep. We turned on the propane because it was very cold and we needed to start our furnaces, after about 15 minutes running the propane gas leak detector sounded. We immediately turned off the propane and aired out the coach. We waited about an hour or so and tried it again, and the leak detector went off again.

We decided to pack up and head on to Flexsteel in Dubuque Iowa because they have 50 amp hookup for us to use at the building. It was too cold to be without heat and when we finely arrived at the Flexsteel factory in Dubuque at about 1:00 in the morning, we got our electric hooked up and turned on our two portable electric heaters. We slept most of the next day, and had to wait until Monday to check in at the factory. By Monday Joe, who had not felt well for a couple of days, finely said he needed to go to the hospital. Turns out , he has pneumonia and spent the next couple of days in bed and taking his antibiotic.

Well, I found out that repairs go on, even if Joe is sick, so I got busy coordinating with Four Winds warranty service to see about getting our propane leak checked out. I also had to check in with the Flexsteel people to make sure they are working on our seat covers. I found the RV repair place a few miles up the road, and drove over there to make sure that they could look at our propane issue as soon as Flexsteel finished our seats. Gee, I miss Joe!!

So Thursday morning we were done at Flexsteel, I had taken Joe back over to the doctor's for a recheck to make sure the Levoquin was working, and we headed over to Coulter Valley RV to have our propane issue checked out. The only thing they found was that the front furnace was cycling off and on because it was getting excessively hot, they recommended having another heat duct put in the front of the coach to relieve some of the heat from the furnace. But, no leak of propane gas was found.

Looks like we are finely heading to Missouri.........but we should have known it would not be that easy. It started raining after about 1 hour of driving and our windshield wipers started the same thing they were doing before the visit to Camp Mandalay in September for our service appointment. They adjusted the wipers at the factory service, but maybe they should have done more than adjust, because the wipers are worse now. The driver's wiper only goes half way across the driver's side then it flies off the window and goes airborn !!! This wiper slaps back on the window and hops across to the middle, and then repeats. Then as the rain got worse, the wipers got worse, and slowed down to a crawl. So, I am on the phone with the factory warranty department trying to find someplace to get them looked at and Joe is driving about 35 on the highway with the emergency flashers on, trying to get to the Flying J about 5 miles up the road. Wow isn't this fun !!

Finely we found the flying J and parked for a few hours, still trying to find a place to get the windshield wipers repaired. The rain finely stopped and we decided to head out and try to make it the rest of the way to Camdenton MO, we were in St Louis area, so we were not to far away.
We will work on trying to find a place in or near Springfield, that is only about 85 miles from Camdenton and the campground where we will be staying for the next couple of weeks.

Good Bye to Elkhart Indiana

We finely left Camp Mandalay today, the 24th of October, five weeks after we arrived. We got all of our write-ups taken care of, and we are now on our way.

However, we have had a slight change of plans. We are heading for Dubuque, Iowa where Flexsteel is located, this is the company that made the driver and passenger seats in the coach.. We called them and got an appointment to have our two front seats reupholstered. The factory called and authorized the work, so we are headed there to have this done. One thing we have learned during this two and a half years full timing, is that you have to be flexible. All plans are subject to change at any time.

For us, just being on the road again and out of the Mandalay parking lot is a big step in the right direction, and we will be heading SOUTH in a few days and toward warmer weather !!!

Mandalay Factory Service, Elkhart, Indiana

We are in Elkhart Indiana now at the service department, what the Mandalay owners affectionately call "Camp Mandalay" . We have been here for 4 weeks last Friday, and hope to get out of here sometime next week.

We were here for 5 weeks last year, and do not want to break our record this year. Hopefully we will be south of here before the snow comes, but it is very cold here, 30's at night and upper 40's during the day. We have our alarm clock set for 5:45 am and have to have our coach ready for the workers by 7:00 am, we get it back each day by about 3:30 pm. This is almost like having a job, ha ha (except we don't get a paycheck)!

We have met a lot of people here, and made some new friends too, like Ed and Rosemary from Minnesota. They came in just after we arrived and we quickly became friends. We hated to see them leave to go home, it is a little quiet around here now.

Our daughter, Kristy and her 6 children live in the next town south of here, Goshen, so of course we have been able to see her and the kids a few times, and that helps to make this a more enjoyable time. They are all doing great, and it is so much fun to see them and catch up on what is going on in their lives.

Our next stop after we leave here, is Camdenton Missouri, to visit with our Son Frank and his family for a couple of weeks, them we are heading for Florida and have reservations in the Orlando area from Dec 2nd until Jan 5th.