We’ve Arrived in Bandera

The warranty repairs were wrapped up on our rig early Wednesday afternoon. Demontrond and Lippert did not agree on how the step should be repaired. Our RV tech said that he has found with this particular repair, that although the bolt sheared off, it isn’t as easy as drilling out the old bolt to replace it. He’s not sure if they use some sort of locktite or what but he’s found that it takes several guys on a wrench, a blow torch and many hours of hard work to get the old one out. After all of that he thinks that it weakens the strength of the metal and may pose a safety hazard. Lippert, on the other hand, won’t replace the steps but is happy to mail out the $2 bolt. Shocking, huh ? Since manufacturers will only mail parts out by “ground”, the bolt wouldn’t arrive in time so it’s being shipped to Bandera and we’ll have it installed here. I’ve alerted Class A RV Repairs that the part is on its’ way. The other items were fixed. Our awning now runs out whisper quiet and doesn’t get hung up. Speaking of whisper quiet….operation of our microwave now doesn’t require turning the TV up full blast. It’s so quiet ! The screen door on the garage entry door doesn’t bind and actually latches. The ramp door bracket has new bolts and the screws were replaced on the slide out arms so they actually bite into the wood. Great stuff that we are glad to have done !
We left the repair place to head to Tommie Vaughn Ford for the safety recall. By the way, in Texas, there is a $200 fine if you are caught talking on your cell phone. I can totally appreciate that situation as being a major distraction when driving. I think a law enforcement officer might have frowned upon my actions and found fault with what happened as I was leaving the RV lot. You remember that we had purchased a new storage cart that holds our printer. It does have locking casters but when you drive across something that closely resembles a ditch, the laws of gravity take their toll on something perched on wheels. Like a lunge from an outfielder trying to catch a ball going over the fence, I saw the stand and printer from the corner of my eye as I tried to cross the “ditch”. Over it went and I managed to catch it while still navigating the rig into three lanes of traffic. I wasn’t sure what to do with the whole monstrosity I was holding in my right arm so I laid it against the table that had been propped up against the front of the unit….in hopes of preventing such an accident (obviously it didn’t work). The stand looked like it was frozen in mid-air….drawers half way out….leaning against the table. Printer was on its side…wedged between the table and the couch. I left it there until we got to the Ford dealership. I needed my arm back so I could steer the rig. The entry into their lot wasn’t any better ! Linda was ahead of me and looking back in the rear view mirror she thought the rig was going to tip over when I drove up into the lot. The steep drainage things they put along the sides of the streets, that vehicles have to cross, is ridiculous ! Once I parked at Tommie Vaughn’s, we discovered that we had forgotten to secure another storage cabinet in the garage. It was surely a day for messes.
Philip came out and gathered the VIN #  and mileage and went to check into the safety recall. When he returned he said he was sorry but it was still too soon. Parts have not been shipped to dealers yet and the letters are just going out to owners. He said that usually recalls entail a “look and see” approach, to see if there might be a problem and IF they need to replace a part. This is a definite replacement recall but he feels confident that we won’t have any problems till it can be replaced. We’ll probably wait till we head to Oklahoma City and get it done then. If the indicator cable broke, it only impacts me knowing what gear I’m in. I will still be able to shift between “Park”, “Drive”, “Neutral”, etc.I just won’t be able to see that when I look at that display. It doesn’t affect the cable going to the transmission. No sweat…..now I know what to expect if it did do something.
So we left the Ford dealership and started out for Bandera….4.5 hours away. By this time, it was 3:30 or so. We were tired and hungry so we drove a little while till we got to a Flying J. We filled up on gas, got propane and ate dinner at their Denny’s and used the 29% off coupon for their Leap Day special. It took some “discussion” with the manager to get the discount since he insisted we print the coupon and we told him that since it was a mobile app, why would there be a requirement to print it. It doesn’t make sense. After some more “discussion”, he made it happen.
We left Denny’s and drove about an hour and then stopped at a rest stop for the night. It was a very warm night and also a very noisy one. The noise level in the loft bedroom is quite a bit more than we ever experienced in the 5th wheel bedroom. Neither of us slept very well and we’ll rethink a rest stop for future night stopovers. Further down the road, when we left this morning, we saw those picnic areas off the road and realized those would be a much better option. The parking is end to end and not side by side. We’d only have to deal with the engine noise from one rig to keep us awake and if we were lucky enough to be at the tail end, it would be quiet. Note to self: in some instances, it’s good to be in last place.
We arrived in Bandera about 11:30, had lunch, got showers, dressed and hit the road selling. It was a beautiful day today, in the 70’s. Boomer is in his glory with our camp site. We are parked right alongside the donkey and steer pasture. We ate supper to the sounds of the steers mooing and the donkeys braying. He loves it ! He will certainly enjoy himself while we are here.

Making the Best of it….

Well it’s day 3 at Demontrond RV. The approval, from Thor, came through yesterday afternoon and our service tech was supposed to start work on our rig mid afternoon. When there hadn’t been any sign of him by 4:00 I went back in and asked Jeannie what was up. She had been under the impression that he was working on our rig. She went to find Mike, our tech, and Mike told her that he was going to “knock all of the work out” today. I stressed to Jeannie that we still have to go to the Ford dealership to get the safety recall dealt with and we need to be in Bandera on Thursday to start work. She said she understood.

Come 5:00, as supper time was approaching, Linda decided to do some grilling. What better place to do some tailgating than in a big ole parking lot full of RV’s. It sure got the attention of all the workers as the smell of the marinated veggies was wafting through the air. I put Adele’s CD on and cranked up the outside speakers. Linda went over and invited the other couple, who is staying on site, to join us for supper. Marg and Burt are traveling health professionals. He is a home based physical therapist and she is a home hospice nurse. They brought their chairs and plates over and we had a nice meal of veggie burgers, grilled veggies, cottage cheese and cut up pineapple. Their two schnauzers also came along to visit. They have a house in the state of Washington but go out in their motor home, to work, 6 – 9 months out of the year. We had a nice visit with them and stayed outside until it got dark. It was a great way to pass the time while waiting for our rig.
It’s now a little after 8:00 a.m. and I know Mike comes in at 8. Guess it’s time to go see what time he’s going to get hoppin’. Hope all of you have an awesome Leap Year day. Make the best of it !

Waiting….

We left Montgomery, TX this morning and drove about an hour to Demontrond RV to get our warranty items done. We are outside of Houston, just off I-45. The shop has closed for the day and we are in our rig, right outside of the garage door and are here with one other full timer couple….locked in for the night. Our service advisor gave us a key to the gate, in case we need to get out but we’re staying put. We went out earlier and went to Sam’s Club, which is only 3 miles from here. This RV service shop is huge. There must be 8 or 10 rigs parked on either side of us. Jeanie, our service advisor said that 22 rigs came in last week, without appointments. Wow ! She said it gets like that every year as spring break looms near. No one thinks ahead about getting their service work done. Full timers like us, who cover a lot of miles and have tight schedules, know that you have to schedule service work sometimes months out to make it fit in with your schedule. Jeanie said that I was spot on with the three week window I told her we needed for getting the new microwave in. She said she waited several months for a Spartan part cause they had to make it first, then the holidays came and then they had to ship it. the manufacturers are competing their part inventory really tight, which sometimes hurts the consumer who has to wait for a part to arrive. Good thing that we don’t need many parts, although we do need a bracket for the ramp. I hope we don’t have to wait several days for that to come in. She said the approval of the warranty work would be the longest part of all of this. Thor tends to be a little slow with their approvals. She said we might be here several days. Sigh….Good thing we padded in this whole week for the work.
Temps were gorgeous today….supposed to be in the 60’s overnight.

AGS/TXAd Annual Meeting

We arrived in Montgomery, Texas a week ago Friday and have been staying at the Lake Conroe KOA. We have a great site, facing towards the lake. On Sunday, the folks who made it into the $100,000 club had brunch at the local country club. We had gotten an e-mail several weeks ago saying that we had exceeded $100,000 in sales…thus making it into this group. We each got a jacket, with the 100 club insignia on it, and had a great meal. I think I counted nine couples in total that were there.
On Monday, the information sessions began. Lots of great information was shared and I find, with conferences such as this, that you always learn the most from the other people that are there. The networking and sharing of ideas is the best part of events like these. On Monday evening there was a nice dinner and the awards ceremony. In addition to getting certificates for the 100 club, Linda and I also were chosen as Rookies of the Year. Quite an honor, we must say as many teams were hired in 2011. We were really surprised !
Here are the owners of AGS/TXAd – Brian and Debra Shaeffer. If you’re wondering why we are dressed in cowboy attire, it’s because the theme was Denim and Diamonds for the banquet. We got shirts and a hat for Linda…all for $15 at the local thrift store. What a deal !




Look at Brian and Debra’s cowboy boots. They are made out of stingray.

Here is Linda and I with Rick, our scheduler. He has the crazy task of keeping track of all the rep teams and figuring out where they are to go.






On one of the evenings, Linda and I helped Rick with a version of the Newlywed Game…..four couples tried to match answers with their spouses on RV and work related questions. Linda asked the questions and kept the couples in line and I kept score. It came right down to the bonus round to decide the winner. We all laughed so hard at some of the wild answers.Thirty of us went out to eat, at a Mexican restaurant on Thursday night and we had a great time. Some of the reps have started pulling out, for their next destinations, but we are here till Monday morning. We are going to a Thor approved warranty center, outside of Houston to get warranty work done on the rig. One of the major fixes is replacing the microwave that buzzes very loudly whenever you use it. Won’t know what to do if we don’t have to crank up the TV while the microwave is running. As soon as we finish at Demontrond RV, we are going to a nearby Ford center to get a safety recall taken care of on our rig. We’ve allowed plenty of time to get everything done, that is needed, as we will have a busy year ahead. We’ve picked up about nine new parks, gave up three and will be working on the east coast at two parks in Gettysburg, couple in Virginia and one in North Carolina. Gonna be a busy, but fun year ahead. Buckle up your seat belts….Ready, Get Set…..GO !!