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.

Western Pennsylvania and Ohio

When we left Niagara Falls area, we went on to Clarion PA to visit our friends there, Wayde and Emily. We were there for about 6 days and had a great time visiting with them, and checking out the area.

We parked in their great big garage. Wow, what a huge garage, they have hook ups in there and all. Their motor home was at factory service for repairs, so we had the garage all to ourselves.

They have a beautiful home, and very nice neighbors too, it would be nice to live in such a friendly area, and such a nice town too.

We drove up to Titusville PA to the Drake Well Museum, where the oil well was drilled that launched the petroleum industry in 1859. They have a great museum there with the original equipment on display, some still operating, and with films about how the oil well was started. We even drove through a very interesting small town named Oil City.

When we left our friend's house in Pennsylvania, we headed toward the factory in Elkhart Indiana, we had over a week to get there, so we stopped at a Thousand Trails Park in Jefferson, Ohio, just 12 miles from Lake Erie.

We spent 5 or 6 days there and just relaxed and rested, Joe even got to fish a little bit in the small lake at the campground. One day we drove up to Geneva on The Lake, they were having a motorcycle rally there in town, and there must have been over a thousand bikes there. We stopped at the city park and looked at Lake Erie, it looked like an ocean, it was so big!! We went to a couple of Farmer's Markets in the area, and a small car show at the city park in Austinburg.

Erie Canal, Lockport, NY and Old Fort Niagara

While we were staying at the Elks Lodge in Niagara Falls, we visited Lockport NY where locks 34 and 35 on the Erie Canal are still in operation. We went on a boat up the Erie Canal through the two locks and it was really interesting.

We also visited Old Fort Niagara, at the mouth of the Niagara River where it enters Lake Ontario. This fort dates back to 1726 and is a major historical site, and it is very well restored and maintained. They have actors dressed in era clothing and re-inacting those times, displaying tools and weapons and telling stories of the past.

We left Niagara Falls and are now heading for our friends house in Western Pennsylvania. We are looking forward to seeing Wayde and Emily and visiting with them again.

Niagara Falls, New York

We spent a little over a week in the Niagara Falls area, we stayed at the Elk's Lodge there. The people at the lodge were so nice, and there is a lot to do in the area, so we wanted to spend a little extra time and see more of the sites.
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Of course, the most important and popular things to see is Niagara Falls State Park. We saw Niagara Falls about 10 years ago and we stayed on the Canadian side that time, so we decided to go to the American side on this trip. We took a tour trolley around the State Park and checked out the park from the trolley first. One of the stops was the Three Sister's Island, we walked over a bridge to the island and took these pictures there, this island is located just a little from the falls on the American side.

We went to the American Falls next, these pictures were taken there and you can see the Canadian side from these pictures, the Canadian falls is also known as the Horseshoe Falls. You can also see (if you look very close at the last two pictures) the boat that goes under the falls, we took this boat last time we came to Niagara Falls. It is called the Maid of The Mist, you get very wet, it is also a rough ride on that small boat, but it was fun and quite an experience, however, we decided that once was enough.

This is one of the most spectacular sights in the world. If you have been to Niagara Falls I am sure you agree, if not, and you get an opportunity to visit this wonderful place, you will never forget it. Niagara Falls is truly amazing.

Albany, New York Visit

We spend about 5 weeks in the Albany New York area visiting family there, Joe has sisters, a cousin and an aunt in this area. So we had lots to do, and lots of family to visit with.
We had a great time while we were in Albany, and got to spend a lot of time with Joe's sisters and their families.

Cheryl and Chris took us to some free concerts in Albany called "Alive At Five" these are evey Thursday night during the summer months, and a lot of fun. We saw some good entertainment too, The Village People, Hotel California (tribute to the Eagles), The Neville Brothers, and Tower of Power. So we had a great time with them, always something to do.

They took us on the Albany Aqua Duck, it drives around town showing all of the great history then goes into the Hudson River for a short river cruise, and shows us things you cannot see from the land. That was a lot of fun as you can see from the pictures.

Joe and his nephew Christopher played golf a couple of times and had a good time, Christopher plays at several of the golf courses in the area and was able to get them a tee time. Joe was happy to get to play at all, it was raining a lot of the time we were there.

We went to the Saratoga Race Track a couple of times and bet (and lost) on the horses. What a beautiful track, beautiful horses, lots of people there and we had lots of fun.

Everyone loved our motor home and enjoyed hearing stories about our trips, even the smallest of our family members wanted to see all there was to see of our coach. Here are pictures of Joe showing our 7 year old twin grand nephews all about our service area. Joe's sister Luanne looks a little less interested, as she walks away from the lesson. Ha Ha.

Luanne and Joe have a beautiful patio, deck and pool area in their back yard, and of course we spent some time there too. The summer was very rainy this year, but there were some beautiful days while we were there, and we took advantage of every one of them. Here are a few pictures of everyone enjoying the pool at Luanne's.
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We had a wonderful visit with all of Joe's family in the Albany area, we always have a good time when we are there. When we left we were already planning our next trip, in two or three years. We may be back sooner, who knows, we always keep our plans flexible. We are heading to Niagara Falls, NY now for a few days, they on to visit friends in Pennsylvania.