A View from the road

RV #3 !

2014-05-20T09:00:00.002-04:00

Hi from upstate NY!

Herman and I took the plunge about a month ago and bought a used 2011 Tiffin Allegro Breeze 28Br, class a, diesel pusher. We're the 3rd owners. The 1st owners from Florida put 11k miles on it. Then, they sold it to a dealer in Florida and it ended up being bought by a couple in Vermont. They put just 8k miles on it and sold it. It's only got 19k miles on it.

It's the smallest class A, diesel pusher made. I've spoken with the original owner. He says that people buy a small RV at first and then quickly realize they want something bigger. 28 ft (inside length) isn't that big. Our first RV was the 21.5 ft long Rialta. Then we went to the 24.5 foot long Winnebago View and now we're up to a 28 footer.

Maybe we should skip all this upgrading nonsense and just go buy a 45 footer with 7 TVs, a washer & dryer and 450hp Cat engine!? Anyone got a 1/2 a million dollars we can borrow?

Our new RV is awesome but it is slow, heavy and underpowered compared to our Winnebago view. We've put a few hundred miles on it & slept one night in it so far. I'm getting used to driving it. Driving a wide, diesel pusher is quite a different than driving our last, smaller, class B+ RV.

We're getting a few issues worked out (under warranty) and then it'll be ready for serious use.

1. The air leveling system isn't working properly. Instead of the hydraulic arms that get stuck in the mud, :) It has airbags on each wheel that are supposed to blow up and deflate depending on the terrain it is parked on. I think the system has come out of adjustment because it doesn't seem to know where level is.

2. The RV sort of wanders around the lane while driving. This should be solved by a full alignment and airing up the tires to 85lbs. It's in the shop today having that done. They're going to check the front end over closely for any other problems.

3. I'm having a certified international service center check the engine for any issues that might cause low power. Even though it runs great, I'm convinced that something is wrong. My scanguageD is telling me that the max horsepower it is seeing from the engine is 175hp and max turbo boost is around 25psi. The engine is supposed to be putting out 215hp and I'm not sure what the boost number is supposed to be. The scangauge could be inaccurate but I doubt it is 40hp off in its reading. On 6/13 we will know for sure.

Movie night in the RV

I think we'll probably get out to the west coast this winter. It's been almost 3 years since we did that last. That's just too long. I'm getting the itch to travel. See you all out there!

LL Bean = Made In China = Crap products

2014-03-20T16:21:00.003-04:00

LL BEAN = Made in China now. According to a story I read on the internet, 97% of the items sold by LL Bean are NOT made in the USA. 3% are made here. Sad. I can tell you that the made in China stuff is super cheaply made and wears out really fast.

My mom got me these $50 slippers for xmas 2013... the stitching is falling out and the cloth beneath the heels is already worn right through. It's been less than 3 months and it's not like I wear my slippers that much! How can they be falling apart like this? Because they're cheaply made in China!

LL Bean you should be ashamed of yourself for sacrificing jobs and quality for profits. Boooooooo!

AmyPower Amysystems.com AmyLior Inc (rebranded as SUNRISE QUICKIE wheelchairs) Horrible customer service

2013-10-25T21:24:00.001-04:00

(888) 453-8458 & 1-800-333-4000

This blog is also not only a travel blog but is becoming my way to get the word out about horrible companies with even more horrible customer service.

My 70 year old dad is going through some health issues and has become unable to walk. Since he's not wealthy, doesn't have a lot of time to find the right chair and HATES bureaucratic medicaid red tape ...I went on ebay and found a like new, but slightly used, 2013 power wheel chair made for bariatric (heavy!) people.

The chair was $26,000 when it was sold new a few months ago. It did almost everything my dad needed it to. Thankfully, We paid a fraction of the new cost and had my dad sitting in it before a medicaid worker probably would have found their pencil and paper.

Before purchasing it, I phoned the company to try to find out more about the chair. Evidently, these companies that make medical products don't want to deal with the general public. They only want to deal with distributors and insurance companies. And, NOTHING IS URGENT TO THEM. NOTHING!

I was surprised when the lady at AMYSYSTEMS gave me a less than helpful attitude about answering my questions about the chair. As soon as I told her that I was considering buying it used from an ebay seller, she tuned out. She wanted nothing to do with me since I wasn't BUYING a NEW chair from one of their dealers. I guess AMYPOWER wheelchairs doesn't realize that people do pass on and their very expensive wheelchairs will eventually be sold on the used market by the grieving family?

Fast forward a couple days and I bought the chair from ebay. I had it delivered to my dads house. It arrived a week later & worked well. He was slowly getting used to piloting the gigantic chair around their small living room.

A few days ago he tried to tilt the chair back and ended up hitting a table behind him. He didn't realize this and kept trying to tilt the chair back. Doing so, broke the linear actuator (made mostly out of plastic) and the 2 guide rods (made out of weak pot metal), making the chair all but unusable.

I called the company that built the $26,000 wheelchair (AMYLIOR, AMYPOWER, AMYSYSTEMS... they have 3 names?!) hoping to buy the actuator and rods. Again, I was met with kind of nasty attitude. My subsequent calls were routed to voicemail. When they realized I would keep calling back and wasn't going away (my dad needs help!)... finally I was connected to a parts guy that first said he could sell me the parts and later emailed me saying, and I quote...

"Hi Donald,

After talking to my superior, I was reminded that we cannot sell directly to end user or chair owners. You will need to find a chair repair shop in your area. Sorry.

Best regards,

Paul Leroux

AMYSYSTEMS

Technical Support

T: 888.453.0311 x262

F: 877.501.8458

pleroux@amysystems.com "

I had already explained to Paul on the phone that we didn't need a wheelchair repair shop to install the part. We just needed the part so we could install it ourselves. Time was of the essence.

It shouldn't be too much of a hassle for them to offer some sort of parts availability to "regular Joes" who have bought one of their incredibly expensive (and kind of cheaply made) chairs on the used market.

After much communication back and forth, Paul Leroux told me they can only sell parts to their dealers (which are few and far between) still staunchly refusing to sell parts to "average joe" who foolishly bought one of their chairs on the used market.

I am really disappointed in this company and would ABSOLUTELY NOT recommend buying a chair from them. There are too many other reputable wheelchair builders (with large dealer networks and ample parts availibility) to choose from that will offer advice and parts (without attitude) after the sale.

Do yourself and your family a favor and stay far away from AMYPOWER, SUNRISE & QUICKIE wheelchairs. The AMYPOWER wheelchairs are rebranded and sold by Sunrise Medical as QUICKIE brand chairs.

LL Bean - YOU SUCK!

2013-10-13T00:28:00.001-04:00

I grew up in Maine and have been going to LL Bean since back when they had that really long staircase up to the front door. I'm talking like 40+ years ago. They've always been pretty good but recently I returned 2 Victorinox "signature lite" knives that had been on my key chains for years and were broken.

LL Bean returns dept called me a week or so later and said they no longer offer this knife (probably because it has a light and a battery in it as well as a pen. Eventually ALL of these knives would stop working when the battery dies or the pen runs dry of ink) and they would give me a store credit.

I agreed and they said they'd email the gift card. I assumed it would be for around $60 since the knives were $29 each back when I bought them. http://dev.gifts.com/products/L-L-Bean/L-L-Bean-Victorinox-Signature-Lite-LED?p=6654:62059-1032442:395

The email gift card arrive in my inbox and I was surprised to find a store credit for only $8.95 x 2!

After at least an hour emailing back and forth with LL Beans customer service, I was unable to convince them that whoever processed this return made a mistake. A blantant and obvious mistake as far as I could see. But no, not obvious to them! They would not admit to a mistake.

They gave me credit for 2 of the "Victorinox Swiss Army Classic Pocket Knife". According to the LL Bean CSR, The original price was $12.50 and the last sale price was $8.95 when the knife was last offered in 2006. I looked it up and found out that the current version of the Victorinox Swiss Army Classic Pocket Knife is item #TA247024 and cost $18! Yet, LL Bean decided it would be OK to give me store credit for just $8.95? What the heck LL Bean?

I am somewhat of a knife buff/collector and own many knives. I happen to have a "Victorinox Swiss Army Classic Pocket Knife" (that they gave me credit for) and a "Victorinox Signature lite" (the knife that I returned to LL Bean) right here on my desk. I took photos and emailed them to the CSR and still I get this reply...

"I have researched the Victorinox Swiss Army Signature Lite Pocket Knife and am sorry to say we have no history of selling this particular knife, either by catalog, online,or in our stores.
The knife that was returned was identified as the Victorinox Swiss Army Classic Pocket Knife. The original price was $12.50 and the last sale price was $8.95 when the knife was last offered in 2006. The current version of the this knife is item #TA247024.
Please let us know if you have any other information on when this knife may have been purchased, if it was in your name or purchased as a gift for you by someone else, or any additional information will be happy to research this further and correct the refund.
Sincerely,
Diane"

The black knife is the knife they currently sell for $18 but gave me $8.95 credit for. The red knife is the knife I paid $29 for & returned 2 of recently. They no longer sell this model but it is still made by Victorinox.

I replied with an old link to the "signature lite" on their own freaking website! It's obvious that they did sell this knife in the past. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/62059?page=victorinox-signature-lite-with-led

I am left beating my head against the wall, wondering why LL Bean is fighting me when they supposedly have a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.

LL Bean you really suck!

I'm thinking about returning this $135 lawn chair I bought from LL Bean this summer. The reason I paid big bucks for a lawn chair was because I thought if I ever had problems with it, I would be covered under their 100% satisfaction guarantee. But now I am finding out they aren't really very good at honoring that promise. God help me if/when I have any problems with this chair. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63601?feat=recliner-SR0&page=bean-s-camp-recliner&attrValue_0=Paprika&productId=1066460

Almost a year ago...

2013-02-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

Wow, has it been that long since Tigger and I returned home from out last RV journey? It doesn't seem like it but it has been almost a year.

We've all gotten a bit older and our bones a bit more creaky since then. Tigger sleeps a lot these days.

Things are good for Herman and I. He's still working for Goldman Sachs (11 years & counting) and I'm still buying and selling things at auctions around the northeast.

I bought a used 1998 Chevy K3500 dually 4x4 truck and 8x16 enclosed trailer to make it easier to pick up and deliver auction items. I can haul pretty much anything now. ;)

I hope everyone that I personally met on our trip and everyone that I got to know through the blogs is having a great year. There's still a ton of stuff to see and we will be "out there" next winter for sure.

ENJOY!

-Don, Herman & Tigger

Troy NY

Afterward

2012-02-27T18:31:00.003-05:00

I've been home about a week now and slowly getting back to non RV life.

I am pretty sure that my "RV legs" have turned back to normal legs now.

After a while you start to not notice the movement but it's true... when you (or your dog) move around inside a winnebago View RV, it moves with you (ever so slightly). The movement is obvious enough at first but it becomes second nature to your body after a month or so.

When I moved back into a home that doesn't move when I (or Tigger) do, it was odd. I took a little getting used to.

My brain still isn't 100% convinced that I'm not living in the RV anymore. The other night, I arose from bed not fully awake. In a foggy sleep haze, it wasn't evident to me where I was. I stepped from bed and immediately touched the floor. I knew this was wrong because I'm supposed to climb down a 4 rung ladder before touching to the floor.

I stumbled around in the kitchen and after a few seconds, I woke up enough to realize where I was.

I AM HOME!

I went back to bed and fell right to sleep.

Herman asked what was the best part of the trip. I have to say that Carlsbad Caverns was the most amazing thing I saw throughout the trip. I'd love to go back again because there was much I did not get to see there.

Worst traffic? No doubt, it was on the way home trying to get around Washington DC. What a nightmare that is. I'd rather drive in and around NYC or Los Angeles than Washington DC.

If anyone has any questions about the trip... feel free to ask in a comment below.

One night in the Bayou Cafe in Savannah Georgia

2012-02-18T15:41:00.001-05:00

This will be my last travelling post of this trip.

Thursday night, I was parked pretty close to River Street and the Bayou Cafee in Savannah Georgia. Bored with TV, I decided to stroll down to the bar and have a drink or 10. What a blast I was having... until I got up to leave... Someone either slipped a roofie into one of my drinks or I just ended up drinking waaaaay too much. It was probably the latter.

It didn't help matters that I had eaten a basket of fried catfish and french fries while at the bar. Never eat fried catfish while drinking copious "Cape Codders" . Trust me on this.

Here's a video I shot of the entertainer that night... Don Coyer. He was really good.
Try to ignore the loud, out of tune drunk guy singing along. LOL.

A short time after I took this video, I stumbled outside and headed for "home". For the next few hours, I proceeded to stumble in and out of the RV "getting air" and then usually puking. You know you're in a bad way when people are asking you if you're alright.

That's all I'm saying about this night.

It will not happen again.

Headed home

2012-02-17T19:40:00.001-05:00

Tonight should be my last sleeping night in the RV... on this trip. I am about 8-9 hours from home now. I really can't wait to see Herman and be HOME again.

For me, home isn't anywhere I lay my head (like the Metallica song says). Home is with Herman & Tigger in Troy NY. I miss home.

I am excited to get home and sleep in my own bed again. It's going to be nice.

over and out

Title Pawn ?

2012-02-16T19:37:00.005-05:00

Every small town or city I drive through down here in the south has these sleezy "TITLE PAWN" shops.

I actually stopped at one recently and found out it's not a real pawn shop... it's a TITLE pawn shop. The only thing they want is rights to your vehicles title.

Oddly, if you own a vehicle, you can pawn your title. Who came up with this?

Who would would buy a vehicle and then pawn the title to it?!

TITLE PAWN <---- these places are everywhere down here in the south.

Downtown Savannah Georgia

2012-02-16T19:06:00.009-05:00

Here we go. Driving in to any downtown area is usually challenging in an RV. Savannah is no different. Worth it? YUP! Fo’ Sho’

You know you’re near the center of the city when you see the city hall. I couldn't find parking so I ended up parking in front of a yellow curb near city hall. I carted my 26 pound box about 2 blocks to the FedEx office. They helped me ship the eBay item out to my buyer in California using my Fedex account. My WORK here is done. Now, it's all fun & sun & relaxation. Yeah right.

On Hermans recommendation, I went to dinner at Tubby’s on River St. I met a cool couple from Plymouth Mass. They're driving to Florida. They have a vacation home in Lovell Maine near Shawnee Peak ski area. They were seated one table away and we chatted throughout our meals.

This is a busy port. Lots of cargo container ships coming from Hong Kong heading here.

We have an interesting parking spot. We pulled in around 3pm and paid for 2 hours parking. You have to pay from 9am to 5pm but after that, I guess it’s up for grabs? Free? See the RV?

The view out the window. We are a stones throw from the bayou café on River St.

River St.

Some other crazy RVers traversing Savannahs city streets.

A badass Toyota FJ Cruiser

Cool mossy trees.

Busses look like trolleys here. Lots of cities do this to create a different vibe. It works.

I must say that the 2nd person I had contact with here asked me for money... $3 to be exact. I was talking with a couple asian students trying to find the local FedEx. They helped me but then an older black guy pretending to help me with directions came on the scene. After I told him I was all set, he asked if I could help a veteran. Bums always try to tug at your heart strings. Yeah, ok... I believe that you're a veteran. Ummmm, NOT!

That's not a good start to my Savannah visit. You know I hate BUMS.

Meet Al – Proprietor of POJO’s Treasures & things in Midway GA.

2012-02-15T19:54:00.010-05:00

Today, I was driving through Midway Georgia looking for interesting things to see and do.

I first came across this cool, early 1950's, double sided, neon GULF gasoline sign. It was attached to an equally cool 1950's gas station that was just begging to be restored back to its 50's glory like this one had been.

Then, I spotted a thrift store on steroids and had to stop. It was more than a thrift store. It was like a goodwill, a salvation army, eBay, craigslist and an auction house all rolled into one. If that wasn’t good enough, the owner Al, is one cool guy. He’s originally from Guam and is very affable.

I was trying not to monopolize his time talking about the business. Al knows a lot about a lot of different things. I think I spent a good hour roaming around his shop listening to the vinyl records he was playing on the vintage stereo system in the back.

I sold him the Texas Longhorn, a box of 1960’s slot cars, a set of 5 old truck cab marker lights and the safari hat. All of which I had been carting around (and tripping over) since the Conroe Texas "megapick". A quick google maps search says that’s 980 miles. I sold the stuff for exactly what I paid for it. It’s not always about making a profit.

Here are a bunch of pictures from AL's shop. He’s got a good eye. I especially liked all the vintage metal toys and his huge selection of vinyl LPs.

I was like a kid in a candy store

Quite the collection eh? It goes on and on and on !!!

He got really busy with customers coming in, one after another.

So, we wrapped up our own swapping/buying/selling and I headed on toward Savannah. I drove away with $63 more dollars than I arrived with, a nice swiss army knife (which I used to open a can of beans tonight) and a lot more floor space in the RV. Tigger HATED the Texas longhorn so he's pleased that it disappeared.

If Al wasn’t so busy I could have stuck around & talked with him for hours.

You'll have to go see the manager in the office

2012-02-15T10:59:00.000-05:00

This shack was across the river from where we camped last night. The tide is low right now so the shacks pilings are visible. I wonder if the "manager" ever came across the river to view his "office" at low tide? I think he'd be surprised to see that his main supports are about as thin as a toothpick.

From all the boats, you can tell this business and dock is still in use

You can see the "office" and "manager" signs on the shack. I bet they sell bait.
Notice how thin the pier supports are. YIKES

No See Ums - a short video

2012-02-15T10:16:00.003-05:00

Herman says my videos are not long enough. It takes quite a while to upload them to youtube so that's why I keep them short.

Last night while watching TV, I killed 4 blood filled mosquitos inside the RV. Was it my blood or Tiggers? Who knows?

They were attracted to the light from the TV so it was easy to find them. All the windows were closed so I must have brought them in during the day? Or Tigger did. I have killed 2 more this morning.

In this video shot this morning, I was filming out the bathroom window in the rear of the RV. The bugs were SWARMING trying to get in. It was crazy. I know it's hard to see them because the camera was focusing on the sky and the trees. You can see them in a few frames though.

EDIT: The way I am itching tonight, I am certain that the 4 mosquitoes I killed last night in the RV were in fact filled with MY BLOOD. I hate biting bugs.

Harris Neck - part 2 - Alligators

2012-02-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

Through this trip I've been hoping to see a gator or a croc in the wild. I've seen plenty of signs saying not to feed them but until Harris Neck wildlife refuge, I hadn't seen any.

I saw this sign and rolled my eyes ... "Sure, there's live gators here. Yeah right."
I walk up the bank and look around and I saw my first gator in the wild. He was not a man-eater yet but still was awesome to see.

sunning itself on a log

Gator #2 was about 20 feet long. Not really. More like 4-6 feet long?

They're really cool beasts. They completely ignore humans.

Sleeping?

Off in the distance I see something almost as interesting as wild gators...

Way off in the distance

enroute

there it is

I'm guessing it was 50 feet tall.. just enough to see over the tree tops

It had ladders instead of stairs like some firetowers

Not sure why they needed 4 boats? Maybe to play bumper boats on the park rangers day off?

It was locked. The locking device really only keeps out fat people. Anyone less that a foot wide could slip between the bars and around the device. I'm sure 100's of kids have climbed this. I could have but chose not too. My motto is... "It's easier to ask for forgivness than it is to ask for permission". But, I imagine that it would be really hard getting any forgiveness if I'd been caught scaling the locked tower.

Firetowers usually make great hiking destinations. Here's a website of FORMER TOWER LOATIONS throughout the USA. I'm sure there's one near you to go explore.

Here's a bunch of tower locations in the Adirondack mountains near where Herman & I live.

Lots of towers are being restored now. People are understanding the historical significance and that they make great healthy tourist destinations.

Abandoned Harris Neck Army Airfield

2012-02-15T09:22:00.001-05:00

This is a neat place to explore for a few hours. The state turned the abandoned WWII airfield into a public wildlife refuge/park. They maintain a 4 mile paved road around the park with various historic stops (w/markers) along the route. There are also many roads and things to see that aren't on the map.

The entrance sign

Map and info

Rules

No Dogs or swimming. There's gators here so swimming is definitely out.

fishing pier

Tigger stayed inside a lot during this adventure

Another fishing pier

I hope you can read these after you click to enlarge them?!

Marker

info marker

more info

Prepare for take off Tigger

This is one of the few things left in the park from WWII.

I think it's a munitions bunker. You be the judge.

It's made of thick reinforced concrete

The roof is still solid after 70 years

A view of a View from a munitons bunker roof

Time for a Tigger break

The smallest church in America?

2012-02-15T08:59:00.000-05:00

I am not religious really but who can resist stopping and checking out the smallest church in America?

Roadtrek and other RVs

2012-02-14T20:52:00.001-05:00

I love checking out other RVs. It’s always fun seeing what others are enjoying.

This is a Roadtrek. It’s pretty cool. I’ve always liked them for their usability. They’re don't have any slides and are obviously narrow but… they still have all the features of a larger RV.

I like to check out the drivers too. The little old lady driving it looked like she was scared sh*tless. She just did not appear comfortable piloting it at all. Of course, I only have 1.2 seconds to make my assessment as I drive by and peer through the window. I could be wrong.

This is an earlier View 23. It’s about a foot shorter than the 2008 and later View 24. The number after the model name almost always designates the length of any RV.

This is the “LeSharo” by Winnebago. It had a Renault 2.2 liter diesel in it (usually) and was the predecessor to the Rialta (our first RV).

Dinner last night. Pasta and meat & mushroom sauce. It was also lunch and dinner today and will be tomorrow as well. Left overs are great… if you eat them.

If you saw this off in the distance, wouldn’t you want to go climb it?

Today...

2012-02-14T19:44:00.007-05:00

... we got lost (on purpose) off Rt 17 in and around South Newport Georgia. I pointed the RV toward the ocean and kept going until we couldn't go anymore.

We saw lots of neat things. It seems that a decade or so ago, some people hoped to get rich being "developers". These people bought chunks of land, spent a small fortunes turning the land into a budding "development" and then marketed the heck out of it, hoping the buyers would come.

Sadly, they didn't end up coming.

Exploring these developments today is interesting. You can definitely see & almost feel the hopes of the developer and also feel their failure and utter dismay when the buyers didn't come.

This is the result of high expectations & no buyers. You can click for larger pics.

Exploring. Where's the pool and pavillion you ask?

There was one person who built a home in this development years ago.
I wonder if he's still waiting for the pool and pavillion to be built?

This place has been vacant so long that it's turned into a partying and camping spot for the locals.

Following the trail

Humans have been here

One of those big screened patio enclosures, a mattress, pillow and bedding left to rot after it's immediate need was fullfilled.

a perfectly good tent, blanket and pillow

Is that a bus in the swamp?

Yup, a bus. How the heck did this get here?!

Maybe it was on dry land and it was used for camping? Now, that the water is higher, it's in the swamp? Who knows. I wanted to see inside it but didn't feel like wading through the alligator riddled swamp.

Speaking of alligators... I saw my 1st one in the wild today. It was cool. More about that later.

Here's another failed development that I explored.

The owner of this one had some pretty cool tastes. He (or she) placed real gas street lamps throughout the development. They were probably $500 or more each and at least that much to have them installed.

I'm not gonna lie... I really wanted to rescue one of these cool gas lamps and bring it back to NY. They're just going to rot away in the swamp.

There was a rickety viewing platform that allowed a daring person to look at the swamp from a slightly different perspective.

I don't understand the fascination with living near the swamp. In all fairness, they call it the "marsh" here though. It's sort of like cheap waterfront property but it's not really on the water.

Alligators, tiny churches and other explorations in tomorrows blog post.

Tune in manana, same bat time, same bat channel

More New Sneakers

2012-02-14T12:08:00.008-05:00

Ever since we purchased 6 new tires at Eagle Tire in Milton Fla. (an independent Goodyear shop), I've been wishing we just kept the old Continentals.

The tires they sold me were the correct size and load rating for the RV. They were "negotiators" made in China. The shop called them "off brand" but said they were as good as any other tire. They looked fine to me. Some things that are made in China are fine but evidently, these RV tires were not.

After getting Eagle tire to balance them twice (once when they installed them and then again 3 days later when I drove 100 miles back to their shop) I was still noticing annoying shimmying and shaking at almost all speeds.

I stopped at a Goodyear in Panama City and spoke with the manager there. I was hoping the problem was that the tires still weren't balanced properly. He said that he personally would NOT put THOSE tires on a TRAILER, nevermind a big, heavy RV. He couldn't check the tires balance until the next day. So, I continued east.

Having spent $852 on new tires and ending up with a WORSE riding RV was really pissing me off. The more I drove it, the madder I got. Next, I stopped at a Goodyear in Jacksonville and asked them to check the balance on the front tires. They checked and found out they were in fact perfectly balanced. The shop manager said these tires were just junk and they would never feel "right" on the RV. They didn't charge me. I thanked them, tipped the mechanic $10 and left.

A few days later while on Jekyll Island (300 miles from where I bought the Negotiator tires) I got the idea to call Goodyears corporate customer service line and see if they could do anything. After going around and around with Barbara... she stuck to her guns, saying that since the tires were NOT MADE BY Goodyear & even though they were installed at a shop with a Goodyear sign, there was nothing she could do. She recommended driving back to Eagle tire ($240 in gas and 10 hours of driving) to have them deal with the issue.

A word to the wise, don't think that the big blue & yellow Goodyear sign on a tire shops facade means you're covered nationally by ANY Goodyear location in the event that the shops recommended products and/or labor fails. If you bought anything other than a Goodyear product at a Corporate store or an independent shop, the Goodyear customer service folks in Akron Ohio will basically tell you to pound sand.

To make a long story even longer... I call Barbara back about a week later and asked if she could call my nearest corporate Goodyear store and ask them to give me the very best price on 6 new tires. I just couldn't handle driving around on these Chinese tires anymore. She did just that. She told me the manager said he'd give me as close to "his cost" as possible but he wouldn't lose money.

The View is now wearing 6 spiffy, new Wrangler HT's and it drives wonderfully.

These guys were super professional. They put plastic covers on the steering wheel and seat as well as a paper mat on the floor. The mechanic (Mike) was great.

It was warm out so Tigger and I hung outside. I read my book and he laid in the shade.

After the job is done, the service manager comes out and checks the torque on all the lug nuts. It's probably not necessary since the mechanics are so thorough. It made me feel like they cared about their customers and the job they did.

I called Fedex from the Goodyear store and set up the shipping of the 6 Negotiator tires back to Milton Florida. I'll have to eat the shipping cost but in the end, if Eagle Tire refunds the $852 in full (like they said they would) it'll be worth it.

6 near new Negotiator tires awaiting the FedEx truck

Total cost was $1134... About $300 more than the cheap tires cost. Checking the internet... I found these same Wrangler HT tires for $168 each. (168 x 6 = 1008) So, the price I got isn't anywhere near the Goodyear shops "actual cost" (like the manager told Barbara & I he would strive for) but it's still an OK deal.

And, Barbara is sending 6 $20 rebate coupons (1 for each tire). We'll get $120 rebate at some point in the future. That will help offset the shipping cost of the Negotiators back to Eagle Tire.

The dreaded knock on the door

2012-02-12T21:02:00.007-05:00

It's almost 9pm. I'm sitting here in the completely empty Great Dunes parking lot, with the TV antenna only part way up, the slide in and just one small light on.

I think I'm being fairly stealthy. But then again, I'm in a 24.5 foot long, 10.5 foot tall, shiny white (just washed), RV... in an e-m-p-t-y parking lot.

Then I hear it... the dreaded knock on the door. The knock was so out of the blue that Tigger didn't even bark?!!! He barks at almost everything that moves around the RV yet he didn't bark during the entire visit.

I yell HELLO and flip the porch light on.

The knocker identifies himself at the Georgia state police so I open the door. He was a very nice guy. He mentioned that he saw me overnighting in the park at the other end of the island 2 nights ago but didn't say anything.

I guess 3 nights is the limit here. Pushing it to a 4th night got me the dreaded knock on the door. I deserve it.

The state owns the entire island and the one camping area on it. It goes without saying that they want ALL RVers to stay in the camping area. They get more of our money that way.

After running me through the police system and finding out I have no warrants... He said he'll let me stay here for the night. But, if I don't want to stay in the campground after tonight, I should find another place to vacation.

Fair enough.

Man, it was chilly last night !

2012-02-12T18:51:00.008-05:00

The wind was blowing like mad last night here on Jekyll Island. A couple times I thought the RV would tip over. It got down to below freezing and let me tell ya, RV’s aren’t the best insulated things on earth. Both Tigger & I can attest to that.

It stays a lot colder by the floor so I gave Tigger a blanket. He liked that !

Luckily, I was backed in to a spot next to a hot 110V outlet. That allowed me to have my Seabreeze heater running all night instead of the loud propane RV furnace. If you own an RV and use it when it gets cold out, I highly recommend buying one of these little heaters. They’re small, quiet and they work great. I use this one at home in the bathroom too. They will heat an entire room.

Yup, that little white thing easily keeps this 24.5 foot View nice and toasty in 32 degree weather.

Today was an errands day. We were running out of lots of things and decided to leave the island for the 1st time in 4 days. That meant that we had to pay another $5 to come back on to the island. The $5 pass is good for as long as you STAY ON THE ISLAND. If you leave and come back, it’s going to cost you another $5. That’s cheap considering all this place has to offer.

The bridge over to Brunswick Ga.

Fitness nuts park on one side of this bridge, walk over it, turn around and walk back over it to their car. Looking at where they have to walk (in the breakdown lane) I think they’re crazy to be walking here. People are walking mere feet from traffic. I’m kind of surprised the police allow any foot traffic on this bridge at all. My guess is… a walker will get killed, the state will get sued for not having proper walking areas and then they’ll be no more walking on this bridge.

I went to my first Winn Dixie today and boy, was it ever expensive! I couldn’t believe how much more everything cost compared to Wal-Mart or other places I’ve shopped. I spent $56 for next to nothing and got the heck outta there. I won’t set foot in a Winn Dixie again.

I think this should say… “Winn Dixie, getting more expensive all the time.”

One of the things on “the to do list” was an RV wash. It was way over due. The wait was 45 minutes. Normally, I wouldn’t have waited but for some reason, I did. I read while I waited. It’s a truck wash and the truckers evidently love this place. They line up waiting an hour or more without a second thought.

I finally pulled in to the bay and 6 little Mexicans (is that racist?) with pressure washer hoses start spraying the View in unison. It’s worth the $28 to watch these guys work. They know what they’re doing.

10 minutes later and the RV is clean as a whistle and all the decals are still in place. The pics below are of the RV in front of me. I stayed in the View while they washed. This is the first time they wanted me to stay in the RV. I guess it’s because they’re really fast and they want to keep the long line moving. They did NOT get on a rolling stairway and wash the roof like other RV washers have done. I asked but he said they don’t do that. I thought that was kind of cheesy. Especially, for $28 + a $5 tip.

A sunset from a couple days ago.

Tigger fell asleep playing with his “baby”.

Adding some ads

2012-02-12T12:41:00.001-05:00

In the interest of possibly making a few bucks, I've decided to include some advertising links on my blog using Adbrite. I tell Adbrite what my blog is about and they gather a few ads that my readers might find interesting.

You should see a new advertisement banner right above this post.

You may or may not know that all the advertisements you see on websites generate small amounts of money for the website owner each time a person clicks on them. Over time, those small amounts can add up to an amount that makes it worthwhile.

I'm learning some HTML along the way too. That stuff is mind numbing.

So, if the blog sizes and parameters change or you hate the ads or they're hard to read, distracting or whatever... please comment about it so I can fix it.

This is just a test. I won't pepper the blog with ads. I hope to put a few well placed, pertinent ads on here and see if they generate revenue.

Thanks for being patient with this trial and error phase.

Boondocking paradise

2012-02-11T13:36:00.006-05:00

Jekyll Island is good to RVers (and dogs).

Notice in this picture, curbside 110V power outlets. Directly behind the RV is a brand new bathroom facility with cold showers. To the right is a trash container, a BBQ and fresh water.

Bathroom and outside shower (on the left)

Next to the bathrooms is an eating pavilion with beach access.

Drinking water. Now I can fill all those empty gallon jugs I’ve been saving.

Trash and BBQ

Water for the RV

A nice place to hang out, read, make ice and recharge / refill everything.

Now, if they just had a free WiFi & RV dump station... I'd be all set. >;-)

Did I mention the free electricity?

Killer Seagulls !

2012-02-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

These things are a riot !

Usually, gulls are kind of shy and skittish. Not these ones !

They fly right up to you. So close you can touch them.

Here’s a video of them eating out of my hand. Crazy birds !

THIS IS A RIOT !!!

Walking

2012-02-10T16:11:00.014-05:00

Phew, we just went for a good mile or so walk along the beach.

It's almost low tide so there's lots of beach to check out.

Tigger's tired now. He's sleeping. Imagine that? I'd post another picture of him sleeping but you all know what that looks like. LOL

Wait... here he is... but... shhhh... he's sleeping.

I've had great luck boondocking here in this little park the past 2 nights. After about 9:30 pm there are no more visitors and I have the place all to myself.

This park has everything I need. Fresh water, a cold shower, a nice big, clean, 2 stall / 2 sink bathroom and should I need power, there are 110v outlets inside. It's quiet (except for that one loud bird who squawks once every 30 minutes all night).

I was going to tell this guy to camp here but I like the solitude.

I am going to stay a 3rd night.

I found the best radio station in the country. 107.7 The Fox.
Georgia residents, you don't know how good you have it

Fridays fashion...

Don't wear sweat pants out in public ever. Even if you're going to or coming from the gym... don't do it. To all who see you, it looks as if you've completely given up on life. Not a good look ...even if you HAVE given up on life.