Freightliner, and Allison, and Cummins, and Onan … Check

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

When we purchased our “gently-used” 2009 Phaeton, we had everything checked out before plunking down the purchase price. That was in May 2010. Granted we didn’t get to use the coach much last year, but we hope to change that this camping season. So, with that in mind, we decided to get the annual inspections done on our Freightliner chassis, Cummins engine, Allison transmission, and Onan generator.

At first, we were going to take the rig to two different service centers. Then we found out that the Johnson Truck Center in Gainesville, Virginia was qualified to handle all of our inspection needs. Well, the decision became a no brainer at that point.

If you peek into the first bay, you’ll see what we saw.

We dropped the Phaeton off on the 15th. A few days later, we received the news that all was well — with the exception of a few warranty/recall items that were quickly taken care of. One part had to be ordered, so we left the rig at Johnson over the weekend. We were notified this morning that the coach was ready for pick up. All I can say is … WOW! That’s the fastest we’ve ever been in and out of a service center. And it certainly wasn’t for lack of business at Johnson; the service bays were busy with ongoing work and the yard had rows of vehicles (including a couple of RVs) waiting for their turn to be serviced.

A busy place to be sure.

“We’re RV friendly,” Jeff, the branch manager told me when I met him this afternoon. I would agree. The quality workmanship, and excellent customer service, including prompt communication, earns the Johnson Truck Center two thumbs up from us.

With the toad hooked up, we were soon on our way. Next stop — the Fannon station where we filled up on diesel at $3.87/gallon. Not bad for this area! Then, onto the storage lot, where we put the coach to bed. Now that she’s greased, lubed, and oiled, and all her fluids are topped off, the Phaeton is ready for her first outing of the season. But first, Mui has a few maintenance things he wants to take care of this weekend. And, I want to take some of the stuff we took out of the coach at the end of the last camping season back and start getting organized again. But the weekend after that we’ll definitely be going camping.

This is how you replace the water filter.

By the time we were on our way home, it was past 6:30p. With stomachs grumbling, we decided to have our weekly date-night a few days early. We could have gone someplace new, but decided to go to the Copper Canyon Grill again. This time, we shared a Caesar side salad, and split Mary Ellen’s Crabcakes. I have no idea who Mary Ellen is, but her crabcakes were delish; as were the sweet glazed carrots and orzo rice with a southwestern twist. We topped off our meal with an excellent Key Lime Pie. The dessert was rich and creamy, and very tasty, and there was enough to not only split, but also bring some of it home for tomorrow night’s dinner.

Yummmm!

SeeLevel Installed … Check

Saturday, 12 March 2011

A few weeks ago, we dropped off the rig at Reines RV to have a new tank monitoring system installed.  Not that there was anything wrong with the one that came with the unit.  Mui just wanted something that his research had indicated was more reliable.  Enter into the scene the SeeLevel II Tank Monitor.  We thought the old monitoring system would be disengaged, but it was left intact.  So now we can use it as a back-up if we suspect that the SeeLevel readings might be wrong.

Monitors galore in the rig.  The SeeLevel gauge is the top-center one.

The gauge goes on the outside of the tank; here’s the one for the fresh water tank.

While the coach was at Reines, we asked them to de-winterize the rig as well.  We’re now ready to go on the road.  In early April, we have a reservation at Pohick Bay, the scene of our not-so-smooth camping episode last November (click here to read the post).  We’re hoping for better luck this time.  Mid-April will see us on the road for a week-long trip to the North Carolina coast.  We’ve not been down that way before, so we’re looking forward to exploring new places.  Of course, if the opportunity presents itself, we’ll go camping before either of those trips … we’ll see.

From the Reines camp store, Mui picked up a couple sets of …

… tension-mounted fridge bars.

The bars are supposed to keep things from falling off the shelves while we’re on the road. 
We’ll see if they really do the trick.

After we returned the Phaeton to storage, we headed home.  We usually have dinner out on Thursday nights.  With the monsoon-like rain we had all day this past Thursday, we postponed our date night this week.  That being the case, we decided to have lunch out today instead.  We came across the Copper Canyon Grill in Centreville on our way back from the storage lot, and decided to give it a try.  We came away very happy with our choice.

The place was all but empty when we arrived shortly after noon.  By 12:30p, patrons were streaming in one after another.  Our server, a pleasant and very helpful young woman, ran down the specials and offered a few suggestions without being pushy.  The booths offered plenty of privacy.  And, most importantly, the food turned out to be full-flavored and was nicely presented.

Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre in Spanish) is a group of canyons in
the Sierra Tarahumara in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico.

We started off by splitting a bowl of Tortilla Soup (thickened spicy chicken broth, fresh rotisserie chicken and avocados, with Monterey jack, cheddar cheese, and crisp tortilla strips) — the perfect warmer-upper on a cold, spring day.  My main course was a Pan-Seared Crabcake Sandwich (jumbo lump on toasted bun, lettuce and tomato, with rémoulade sauce) — simply excellent.  Mui was most pleased with his perfectly seasoned Southwest Salad (rotisserie chicken, iceberg lettuce, black beans, tomatoes, jicama, corn, Monterey jack, chipotle-bleu dressing, avocado, and BBQ sauce).

As is our habit, we skipped dessert since we did not split a main course this time.  Fear not; Mui had a treat waiting at home.  Occasionally, we enjoy having a bite of something sweet after dinner, so Mui recently started baking sheet cakes at home.  After he freezes the cake, he cuts it into miniature portions, and puts them back in the freezer to be pulled out and served when dessert cravings need to be satisfied.

About a month ago, he baked a carrot cake; yesterday he baked what he calls a pineapple coconut cake.  Don’t ask me for a recipe since he made it up as he went along.  He likes to experiment that way.  It turned out absolutely delish.  Why wouldn’t it?  It has all the right ingredients — vanilla pudding, dried cranberries, crushed pineapples, finely chopped walnuts, shredded coconut.  Oh, and of course, the usual ingredients you need to make a cake … sugar, flour, eggs, milk, and what have you.

A sweet ending to our day.

The rig is ready to go camping and we found a great place to have dinner when we return from camping trips.  All in all, a very good day indeed.