Plugging Up the Holes

Monday, 11 February
Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 44F / Hi 61F (7C / 16C)

I am way behind with my Red Bay posts, so before I go back in time to catch up, a quick note — WE’RE DONE!  That is … done with the work at the Allegro Tiffin Service Center.  We ‘checked out’ from the service office and paid our bill on Thursday, 14 February.  I guess you could say that was our Valentine’s gift to ourselves ;-)  That’s nine work days from our first day in a service bay to our last day.  From all accounts that’s not bad at all.

Just because we’re done with Tiffin doesn’t mean we’re leaving the area, however.  Not only do we want to stick around a few days to make sure we don’t need to get something tweaked by Tiffin, but we also have a few things we want to have done at some of the other shops in Red Bay.  After all, it’s only fair that we spread the wealth.

We hope to be on our way out of here on Thursday, the 21st.

---

Back to catching up.  We woke up to cloudy skies today (the 11th), but the sun did come out to shine on us eventually.  We didn’t have a service bay assignment this morning.  Since hope springs eternal, we didn’t stray far from Camp Tiffin.  But in the end, the Phaeton did not get to roll her wheels.

I did drive into town to visit the dentist — it was time for my six-month cleaning.  I asked a couple of the ladies who work in the Camp Tiffin office and they suggested I go to Dr Nix (513 3rd Ave).  Turns out Dr Nix is Bob T’s brother in law.  Yup; it’s a small town.  Anyway, I left pleased with the work the hygienist did.

Sunday, 10 February

Boy was it ever a wet day.  It rained, and it rained, and it rained — quite heavily at times.  No problem; Mui’s project to plug up as many holes as possible to minimize entry points for uninvited guests kept us plenty busy.

Since we had found some mouse droppings under the bed, that was our first project.  It turned out to be an easy one.

(Don’t know if the droppings were from the December incursion or from when the Phaeton was in storage, but we didn’t want to take a chance either way.)

The first step was to remove the Sleep Number mattress so that we could get to the piano hinge that allows us to raise a portion of the platform for under-the-bed storage.  The platform removed, Mui found three rather large holes around the cables and pipes.  OK then — let’s plug them right up so that mice can’t get into the living space from there.

(Before spraying the foam, Mui ran the slide in and out a couple of times to make sure the foam would not hinder slide or compressor operations.)

Removing the piano hinge that allows a portion of the platform to be raised is easy-peasy.

There is an easy way to disconnect the strut from the platform, but since we were
unable to figure it out, I hold the nut in place so Mui can get to the screw from the top.

Next step is to remove the screws that secure the stationary part of the platform to the frame.

This is what's underneath our bed … no easy way to photograph the three places that
need to be plugged up with foam; the white box in the foreground is the compressor
for the Sleep Number bed; the black cylinders behind it are the slide mechanism.

Mui picked up some of the spray polyurethane foam that the plumbing guys used
in the wet bay to plug up some of our holes; may not have been sprayed as elegantly
as a professional might have done, but the holes are plugged up.

Next up was the slide-out pantry in the kitchen.  (We suspect this was the entry point for the first mice incursion when the Phaeton was still in storage.)

The access panel on the side of the pantry is held in place with a ten pound catch.  (Photo to the left.)  With the panel easily removed, this turned out to be a relatively quick project as well.

As expected, we found some droppings in the back reaches of the cabinet, so the first step was getting it all vacuumed up before using the spray foam to plug up the openings.

Mui also found a rather large opening in the side wall of the cabinet — an uncovered access panel to the area behind the shower stall.  He asked the cabinetry people for a piece of scrap wood and installed that over the opening.  (If anyone ever needs to access the area we covered up, it would be a simple matter of removing the screws.)

We’re not sure if we’ve been able to seal the area behind the pantry completely, but mice (and other critters) will definitely have to navigate a couple of hurdles before they can get in this way.

First Mui vacuums up any droppings, and then he plugs all the holes with foam.

access panelto the area behind the shower stall — before and after.

And to wrap up this post — the camp host called about an hour after the end of the workday (Monday) to give us our service bay assignment for tomorrow.  We’ll be up early to go to Bay 36 for the recall on our rails.  As they say in New Orleans, laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll)!

Camp Tiffin: Catching Up

Friday, 8 February
Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 37F / Hi 52F (3C / 11C)

Today was our first real “sit-tight day” at the Allegro Tiffin Service Center.  No calls to roll the wheels to a service bay; no “house calls” by the mobile van either.

The items that remain on our “list” require us to be in a bay where body work is done.  Of the four bays equipped to handle such work, only two are in operation; the other two are tied up with what the dispatcher describes as “big jobs.”  We’ve inched our way to the top of the queue, so we should be called in early next week.  In the meantime, we’re keeping ourselves busy.

There’s a camp store on site filled with all kinds of parts and pieces.  Mui went shopping there Wednesday afternoon.  He was gone for so long that I didn’t think I was going to see him again, but he eventually showed up with bags full of stuff.  It actually makes sense to get our spares and whatnot while we’re on site as prices are wholesale as long as you buy while you’re here.  Off-site purchases are shipped from the parts department; retail prices apply on those orders.

♫♫♫ Lonely, I’m Ms Lonely … I have no neighbors, for my own … ♫♫♫ — or so Phae sings as we look out the window.

Thursday, we were at our site all day, but did make a quick trip — all of 15 minutes — into Bay 10 at the end of the day to have the rear driver side slide seal checked out.  This is where we had a minor leak — just enough to dampen the carpet — during a particularly nasty storm while we were still at Fort Pickens.  Chad found a spot where he thought water might have been pooling, so he filled it with silicone.  Keeping fingers crossed that’s the end of that problem.

You might think that’s our Phae, but you would be wrong!
This is the only other rig here at the service center that is a twin of ours.

When we’re not working on things around the house, we go for walks around Camp Tiffin.  Nothing fancy, just wandering up and down the lanes here between the coaches, chatting with others who are out and about.  When it is cold, as it was today, the long hall separating the service bays makes for an interesting place for a stroll as we can check out the various bays to see the work being done on all the other rigs.

They stay busy here; no doubt about it.  Not only are they working on rigs like ours — meaning the owners are here as well; but they also have a slew of rigs dropped off here by their owners parked on the runway (this was the site of an old airport).

This is one half of the long hallway between the bays where we are free wander.

Looks like this rig is having its slide repaired.  But what really caught my eye were all the colors

This rig is here to get a ‘facelift’.

We’ve also been out to dinner a few times this week; the second time with our neighbors — Curt and Deb from southern Illinois.  On both occasions we went to the 4th Street Grille and Steakhouse, which is just down the street from the Service Center.  From what I read in another blog, this restaurant is apparently an improvement over the one that used to be located on the same spot.  Not much ambiance, but the food was good on both occasions; as was the service.

This week, we also got the cabinetry work on our wish list taken care of.  TJ, who stopped by to give us a bid last weekend, was unable to fit us in.  Chris Berry, who also comes highly recommended on the TRVN forum, was having an unexpectedly slow week, so we decided to go with him instead.  He completed the installations last night; I’ll do a separate mod post featuring his work.

The rain that plagued us overnight and through mid-day today has left the area.  There’s the promise of sunshine and comfortable temperatures for tomorrow.  I think we’re going to take advantage of the fact that we don’t need to be on service stand-by over the weekend to do some errands and check out a few sightseeing spots readers have recommended.  Looking forward to the change of pace!

Weekend at Camp Tiffin

Sunday, 3 February
Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 30F / Hi 56F (-1C / 13C)

Despite an overnight low of 26F (-3C) Friday, we were comfy during our second night’s stay in front of Brannon’s service bays.  Saturday morning found us ready to move on to Red Bay proper.  Destination: the campground at the Allegro Tiffin Service Center.  It was a short drive, but by the time we negotiated an unexpected road closure that wasn’t accounted for in the directions for the campground, we had 10 miles (16 km) on the odometer.

Arriving mid-morning on Saturday, we found the campground less than half full.  A steady stream of rigs coming in today has filled all the sites in our row and the row across from us; there might be a few spots left in the row closest to the service bays, but not many.  As crowded as this place seems now, I’m told this is nothing.  In the spring/summer months apparently not only are all 93 campsites filled, but also the overflow is packed tight.

It’s so funny to see rig after rig lined up — all the same brand, but different models; some old, some new, some newer.  We have one thing in common … we’re all hoping to get things taken care of as quickly as possible so we can move on to do what we were intended to do — enjoy life on the road.

Before the campground filled up … we’re in #18 on the right.

Check in at the campground office was quick.  Before long, we were settled into site 18.  Camp Tiffin is really a big parking lot with pull through FHUs.  Well, normally the sites are FHUs.  At the moment the water is offline because of the cold overnight temps, but there are two places here where we can take on water if need be.  Considering the “Tiffin Shuffle” we expect to be doing moving from one bay or another, topping off the tanks won’t require us to move just for that purpose.

Wouldn’t want to be here for one of these front or end caps!

Soon after we were settled, it started pouring rain.  So, we ate lunch, completed the service list we’d been asked to return to the office before 6:00p, and settled down with our computers to catch up on our emails and internet browsing.  There is wi-fi at the campground, but when everyone hooks up, the speed leaves a lot to be desired.  Not a problem for us.  When the wi-fi becomes problematic, we just hook up to our own network … we’re getting good 3G reception with our Millenicom (via Verizon), boosted to five bars with our Wilson trucker’s antenna.

When the sun came out, we bundled up and went for a walk around the campground and service area.  The temp was the highest it had been all day — 46F (8C) — but the light breeze made it feel colder.  Still, the sunshine felt good and we got to know some of our neighbors!

Mom is impatiently waiting for junior to finish feeding so she can get going!

Left: Bovine Love!
Right: Who ya looking at?

We’ve had a couple of visitors since arriving here — both mod related.  First to come by was Trevor Nichols.  He stopped in Saturday afternoon to give us a bid on a custom-cut dash cover and show us samples.  After looking at pictures, we decided to add a custom-cut entry mat to catch all the dirt that gets tracked in despite our best efforts.  We also needed the binding on the slide carpet repaired.  By noon today (Sunday), he had all three jobs done.  (Separate post for the Mods page coming up.)

Trevor zipping down the edge of the carpet with new binding for a fresh look.

One side of the machine holds the thread (photo above); and this side has the binding spool.

Trevor used to work for Tiffin; he has since branched off and owns a small company called Nichols Customs.  He did an excellent job and we would highly recommend him.  (He can be reached at 662-279-4461.)

TJ Allison, who does cabinetry/solid surface work for Tiffin during the work week, has his own business after hours.  He stopped by this afternoon to look at the cabinetry work on our dream list.  TJ is going to get back to us with some pricing, but whether we can use him is schedule-dependent — his and ours.  He did suggest that a couple of the items on our list are best handled by Tiffin (some at no charge to us).  Nice to deal with an honest craftsman.

I wonder if these birds are lined up to get into a Tiffin service bay!

After TJ left, we took advantage of the blue-sky day to explore Red Bay a bit.  Finding parking wasn’t a problem and we wandered around town on foot.  Found a couple of neat murals, located the post office where we will pick up our general delivery mail next week, checked out the grocery store and pharmacy (just for the heck of it), made note of the days/hours the local museum is open, and located a few businesses to which we are going to give some of our money after we’re done with Tiffin.

Murals similar to this one can be found on a couple of the buildings in town.

Tomorrow we will be in Service Bay 10.  We have several things we want to have checked out/fixed, but the appointment we made with Tiffin is for having the leveling system and the driver’s window replaced.  Is that what will be done tomorrow?  We’ll find out when we get into the bay!

Somehow I didn’t expect to see a Kildeer in Red Bay, but it serves nicely as “The End!”