A pause along the road

We've settled in once again for a several week stay...this time in the area of our old hometown, Toledo, OH.  After leaving Charlotte, MI and our two week stay at Spartan Chassis, we moved on to the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason, MI.  While there we were able to spend time with our son in East Lansing and also to do a little exploring in the area.  We enjoyed having Reid and his friend Kathleen for brunch one Sunday as well.  Next stop was Jackson, MI where we parked for several days in front of Mary's Mom's condo.  We had no special projects while there....just thoroughly enjoyed the visit...in spite of the high heat and humidity.  Then it was on to the Toledo area...we spent Sunday night parked in the lot at the Cummins service center so that our engine would be cold when the techs came out first thing Monday morning.  By noon they had replaced all our manifold gaskets and we were on our way to the Big Sandy Campground.  Unfortunately it was raining.  But, we got parked in the same site we have used the last several summers without any problems.  We're looking forward to some time with friends and family.

Free at last!

Well, we "chilled" all right!    We spent 15 night at the Spartan Service Center parking lot....not the most luxurious campground!  We had great 50amp electric service which kept us comfortable in the high heat and humidity, but no water or sewer hookups.  We had arrived several days early for our scheduled appointment and had figured we would be at Spartan less than a week total....so, by day seven our fresh water was about gone and our holding tanks full.  And then to top it all off, Spartan told us we had a cracked steering gear bracket and the coach could not be driven on public roads.  So, that meant no trip over to the local fairgrounds to use the dump station.  One of the office staff happens to run a pump-out service, so for $75 we had our tanks emptied and then drove out in front of the office and hooked a hose up to Spartan's faucet to refill our fresh water.

The new part we needed was ordered and we settled in to await its arrival...along with three other coaches who discovered they also had the same problem.  Coincidentally,  Spartan was also hosting an "RV Owners Training School" which had 5 coaches attending, so with other coaches arriving for service we sometimes had 14 coaches in the lot.  The class attendees were a lively bunch, and got the rest of us to participate in their evening happy hours.   We were also able to spend some time with our son and Mary's mom on several occasions as they live in the general area.

So, after 15 nights we were repaired, paid a hefty bill, said good-by to all our new friends and have moved about 30 miles to the next county and the Ingham County Fairgrounds and will spend a little more time with family before moving on sometime next week when a Flea Market and a Horse Show overtake the fairgrounds.

Just Chillin'

Well, we've been parked here in the Spartan Motors customer service lot for a week tomorrow.  Over last weekend we had a chance to chill-out and relax.  We drove to Battle Creek and met our son and his friend, Kathleen for dinner at the Arcadia Brewing Company...a great visit and a tasty, fun place for dinner.  Reid stopped by our place for dinner on Sunday, and we enjoyed catching up with him.  On Monday Mary spent the day in Jackson wih her Mom and Tom worked on little projects around the RV.  Tuesday began our adventure with Spartan.  The "44-point Inspection" discovered that we have a cracked steering bracket and our rig was deemed not road worthy.  A badly damaged inside dual tire was also found and we were strongly urged to replace it.  I guess that's why we have the inspection done...but the dollars always add up!  The usual oil, transmission fluid and air filter changes and lube were made as well.  The steering bracket part has been ordered, but will likely not be here till July 11...so, along with two other rigs facing the same problem, we wait.  At least we have some family in the area to visit.