Liberty Gets a Free Facelift plus Much More

Location: Elkhart County Fairgrounds; Goshen, Indiana

This is a long winded post about the free work done on Liberty. It will be handy for me in the future to remember what was done. It is also a testament to Rockwood and Forest River standing behind their products. I am rarely surprised by things, but I was speechless and amazed at what was done, free of charge.

I pulled out of Harrison Lake State Park early since I wanted to get to Goshen early. I had registered for the Forest River Owners Group (F.R.O.G.) rally a few months ago. It is an annual RV rally at Goshen because it is close to most of the factories that produce the Forest River line of RV's. Rockwood is just one of several individual companies that build RV's under the parent company of Forest River. I attended this rally in 2014 when I had only been on the road for a few months. I wanted to get as much information about my RV as possible and the seminars given at the rally provided that information to me. I was unaware, during that rally, that Forest River repaired RV's during the rally, for free, whether they were still under warranty or not. Liberty didn't need any work done so I didn't put in any work requests but Rockwood technicians still came around asking if there was anything needing to be done. 

Fast forward two years. Liberty needed some work and her warranty had expired so I signed up for this years rally and was lucky enough to get in before the registration closed. Two years ago, about 400 RV were at the rally, this year close to 900 are in attendance. Registration closed after just a couple of days. I still wasn't too confident that the work really would be done for free. Each participant can make a request for 3 items to be repaired. 

Last October, while on the Galveston/Bolivar ferry, I was able to see a problem with the roof of Liberty. The seam where the roof joins the plastic front cap had opened up and air was getting under the roof material and making it "billow" up. I had an RV tech seal the seam with caulk to keep the air from getting under the roof material. I checked this part of the roof a few months ago and noticed a crease in the roof material. That was number one on my list of service requests. Number two was a section of the floor in the kitchen area that was "spongy". Number three was the steps going into Liberty had several rivets broken which I had replaced with nuts and bolts. 

After emailing the service request form, they asked if I could come to the factory the week before the rally since some of the work would be easier to do there than at the fairgrounds. I had my doubts they would do anything about numbers 1 and 2 since the amount of work could run up a pretty good bill. But I was going to see how it went and got to the factory early. Little did I know, but the workday for the Amish that works there begins at 5:00 a.m. I wasn't there that early, but still early for a retired person. I pulled in about 9:30 a.m. and was directed to one of the back buildings. 

I pulled up and asked for Floyd Miller, the boss. He came out and was already aware of the things I requested but wanted to see for himself. I figured this was where they would say they couldn't do some of the work for whatever reason they could think up. But to my surprise, the first thing he looked at was the floor. He felt the spongyness and we both agreed it wasn't too awfully bad. To my surprise, he said they would replace the floor. I asked how do you do that? He replied, we disconnect anything connected to the floor then a special piece of equipment will lift the walls and roof, as a unit, off of the floor allowing the entire floor to be removed and replaced. I was shocked at what he was proposing (remember, it's free work). I told him I thought it was too much work and too many things could go wrong. His plan "B" was to remove the underpinning of Liberty and if the galley waste tank wasn't in the way, they could attempt to add some bracing to the floor area. I told him I liked that plan better. He excused himself and went into the shop. A very short time later, an Amish worker comes jogging out of the shop with a "creeper" and tools and immediately slides under Liberty and starts removing the material that protects Liberty's underbelly. Along with the underpinning, he started removing the rear stabilizer jacks. I said, "that's good, maybe you can find out why they started making a loud screeching sound." Without giving it a second thought, he said, we will fix it or replace it. I thought, Wow, that wasn't on my list. 

At this point, I had been at the factory for maybe 15 minutes and they are working on Liberty in the parking lot. The boss returned with a ladder and crawled onto the roof to check out my second work request. Again, this is where I expected the speech about not being able to do the work. Instead, he said, "I see what you mean, we can fix it." I again asked how. He said they would removed the front A/C unit, peel back the roof material as far as needed, then dry everything. While it would be drying, they would remove the large front cap. After things dried, they would glue the roof material down and install a new front cap with extra foam bracing. Again, I was speechless at not only getting the roof fixed, but also a brand new front cap. 

The third item on the list was the steps going into Liberty which was minor work compared to the first two items. He immediately said, no problem, we will put on a new, stronger set of steps. By this time, the guy removing the underbelly material had removed enough of if so the boss could see if the tank was in the way or not. It wasn't, so plan "B" would be done on the flooring. I asked how long the work would take and he said I could pick Liberty up about 11:00 a.m. the following day. That also was unbelievable, due to the amount of work being done. After being there only 30 minutes, all the work was lined out and I left. 

I found a nice motel in town, ate a nice supper and was back at the factory about 10:30 the following morning. Liberty was still in the shop with workers finishing up. I noticed the big living room slide was out and a guy was working underneath. That wasn't on the list, so I asked him what he was doing. He said they noticed a small crack in a plastic part so they removed and replaced it. While doing that, they also removed an outdated slide mechanism and track and put in the new version and lubricated everything. Wow, more additional work. I found Floyd and asked how things were going. He said they were running some pressure checks on the water system and propane systems and would be finished soon. Again, additional work, wow. We checked out the floor, which was solid as a rock, we checked out the steps which were also solid. The new front cap looked great with its new decals shining. Since the Amish work hours are from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., the total amount of working time to complete the work was about 8 hours, which again is amazing. After giving Floyd and his guys a tip, which I had to force them to take, I pulled out of the factory just shy of noon. I was heading to Potato Creek State Park about 80 miles away. I planned to stay there until Friday when I would go to the fairgrounds to set up for the rally. 

While setting up camp, I started to move the bedroom slide out and heard a loud "Pop". I quickly reversed the slide to bring it in. It "limped" in and I could see a loose cable. I wasn't sure if the factory had worked on that slide or not so I called Kelly. She is the warranty representative I had been dealing with about the work requests. I told her what happened and she suggested I go to the fairground the following morning to see what could be done. Later that evening, Floyd called and told me they don't work on those type of cable slides, only the big track slides. I said, "oh, ok". He then quickly said he would have the slide manufacturer's technicians look at it when I got to the fairgrounds and if they needed to replace it, they would do so (again, additional free work). Amazing, uh? I called Floyd as I was checking into the fairgrounds to tell him I was there. While I was setting up camp, he and the slide techs showed up to check out the problem. They found the problem, added a new cable, replaced the seals, adjusted everything, gave me a spare gearbox and were finished within an hour. I tipped them and was shaking my head in amazement again at the speed and quality of the free work Liberty was getting. 

They don't give you a bill when they complete the work requests here, but just conservatively estimating the dollar amount of the work had it been done at an RV dealer would have been in the $5,000.00 to $7,000.00 range. It is just hard to believe a company now-a-days does such a thing. There are about 900 RV's here and each one can submit 3 items of work. The dollar amount of free work done on RV's this week at the rally is going to be in the millions. I can't say enough about Forest River products and specifically Rockwood about their attitude towards customer service.  

OK, this post has gotten way to long, but I'm glad I documented this experience for my future reference.

Pulling into the Rockwood factory. It is located in the middle of farmlands.

This horse barn is in the back of the factory for use by the Amish. Many ride bicycles. 

That's Liberty, second on the right. This section of "campground field" is now filled up.

It is a nice fairgrounds.

I took this picture this morning after the storms blew through last night. This is just a small portion of the RV's. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road. 

      

River Confluence & Travels Continue

Location: Elkhart County Fairgrounds; Goshen, Indiana

I'm in Goshen for the Forest River Owners Group (F.R.O.G) Rally which begins this evening. I showed up early to get some free work done on Liberty. But before I post about that, I need to get caught up on where I've been during the last couple of weeks. As I said in my last post, my niece passed away on August 2nd. I wanted to make a post about her but couldn't find the right words, so instead, I didn't post anything. I finally found some words, although not the words she deserved for her life, they were the best I could do. Now it is time to get caught up with things.

The last travel post was when I was camped at Maumelle State Park just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. I've traveled a few miles since then.

After leaving Maumelle, I stopped at Boomland RV Park for two days. The park is associated with a very large Fireworks manufacturer and retailer, thus the name Boomland. They also have a restaurant, store and gas station. For those of ya'll that have been to a Buc-ees in Texas, well, this is a much dumpier version of that. The good part is the price, $12.00 for full hook-ups, and it was close to two things I wanted to see.

My campsite at Boomland. Not too bad for $12.00/night

I wanted to see the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. They come together at the town of Cairo, Illinois which is at the very southern tip of the state. The town has gone downhill in the past few years and it seemed as though there were more empty buildings than occupied ones. There was nothing I needed to stop for in town so I went straight to the Fort Defiance Park where the rivers join. 

Looking downstream. That is the Ohio River on the left and the Mississippi River on the right.

Standing on the point looking upstream. The Mississippi River and the bridge to Missouri is on the left while the Ohio River and the bridge to Kentucky is on the right. The multicolored triangle in the middle is a navigation aid for the river pilots. 

Someone mows the grass in the park, but that is about it. I was the only one there during the entire hour that I stayed. The location has great history such as the place where Lewis and Clark camped while learning how to determine their location by latitude and longitude. There is a small plague that mentions that which seems to understate such an event. The location was also an important fort during the Civil War, but I didn't research enough of that to say much about it. Overall, I was impressed by the power of the two rivers and liked being at the point where they merge. It reminded me of when I stood at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers (archived post dated September 27, 2014). There is such a sense of power at these points of convergence. I was however, generally disappointed and depressed about the location.

After leaving Boomland I crossed the Mississippi River on I-57. My father was the Project Superintendent on that project back in the 70's while we lived in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It was a long tow of about 400 miles to get to Hueston Woods State Park located just north of Cincinnati, Ohio. I chose the park as a place to kick back and relax before the RV rally. I also wanted to try out the golf course that was part of the state park. I hadn't played any golf or swung a club in nearly 2 years. I was hoping the golf course wouldn't have many people playing if I went during the week because I was fearful that some of my erratic shots may send someone to the hospital. My hopes worked out and I was probably one of only about 10 people on the course. It was a little warm and humid, but I enjoyed myself very much. I actually hit the ball better than I thought I would and ended up with an honest, 11 over par for nine holes. Yeah, I know, I only played nine. That was enough for the first time in so long. It was good.   

This is the campsite at Hueston Woods SP. It got very crowded on the weekend. If you travel through Ohio, you will need reservations at the parks on the weekends since they are reserved well in advance. If you stay during the week, it isn't a problem and they offer a great Passport America rate during the week. 

The lake and beach inside the park.

My golf cart next to one of the greens. I think I may have made a eagle, birdie bogey on that hole. I sure wanted to walk this course while carrying my clubs on a hot and humid day, but the lady in the clubhouse said I didn't have a flat enough belly for that, so I rented a cart. Maybe she said that just so I would rent a cart,,,hmmmmm. :)

After leaving Hueston Woods SP, I went north to Harrison Lake State Park so I would be within an easy towing distance (80 miles) of Goshen. I stayed there only one night. 

Campsite at Harrison Lake State Park

The next morning I emptied my tanks and headed out very early to the Rockwood factory where Liberty was born for some free repairs. I'm still amazed at the amount of free work, but that will have to wait until the next post.

I ran across this picture on the internet a while back. Although, Mandy was confined to a bed for the majority of her life, I like what this headstone represents. We should always cherish our Freedoms and realize that freedom comes in all different forms.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road. 

At Last, Mandy Can Run and Play

Location: Elkhart County Fairgrounds; Goshen, Indian

I have skipped posting on several places where I've been and things I've done over the last 10 days or so. I will get caught up on those in the next post. This post will be about Mandy.

Mandy is my niece. She passed away on August 2nd. Mandy had to fight for every breath she took from the minute she was born. The doctors told us she would not live very long, possibly only a few months. Well, she fooled them and live to be just shy of 35 years of age before passing away. Mandy was born with problems to the brain which created additional complications to her physical condition. She never learned to walk, talk, feed herself or take care of any other personal needs. She also never learned how to give a hug, although she received many throughout her life. 

Ever since her passing, I've been thinking about the things she never experienced. Normal things that we all just take for granted. Things such as seeing a sunrise, walking barefoot in soft grass, smelling fresh flowers or drinking a cup of coffee while watching the rain clean the air. There are too many to list here but I've thought about things that I've taken for granted. I guess we all fall into that trap from time to time. Whether the things are as big as the Oceans and the Grand Canyon or as small as taking a normal breath, and whispering, "I Love You", we should always appreciate what we have been given. "Given" is the correct word since our lives and the things in it are a gift from God. I can't answer why he gave Mandy all of her afflictions but I also can't answer why he gave any of us the things we have received, only God knows. 

About 10 days ago, God took Mandy home. I'm sure her Granny and Pa, my mother and father, were there to greet her. I like to think she ran, ran really fast, into their open arms and gave them a big tight hug. A hug that was 35 years overdue, but a hug that will last forever. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.

On My Way To Everywhere, Again

Location: Maumelle Park (Corp of Engineers Campground); Little Rock, Arkansas

Yep, I'm on my way to everywhere again. It's been 105 days since Brandon's stroke and he has recovered enough to where he takes himself to Physical/Occupational Therapy which will continue for a while. Although I love him and the rest of my family very much, it was decided that things had settled down to the point where I should hit the road again instead of hovering around waiting for a need to arise. So, that is what I did last Friday. But it wasn't without incident.

I have a set of Temperature/Pressure reading devices mounted on the valve stems of each tire on Liberty. It allows me to monitor the temperature and pressure as we travel down the road. It will also warn me of a sudden loss in pressure so as to give me time to slow down, if possible. I also use them to check the tire pressure simply by reading the portable monitoring screen. I usually do this on the morning of my traveling days while I get things travel ready inside Liberty. Since I had been stationary for over 3 months, I figured I better check them a couple days earlier. It's a good thing I did since one of the tires was down to 10 pounds. Wow. Not good.

Luckily, there is a place in Mansfield (Auto World) that works on vehicles and tires. It is the place Brandon used to work before his stroke. They also have a very large parking lot which would work with Freedom and Liberty hitched. Since the tire had a slow leak, the plan was to air it up and stop by Auto World on my way out of town. I was hoping it was just a bad valve stem, which it was, but the tire also had a nail stuck along the sidewall of the tire. A new trailer tire was going to be needed which Auto World doesn't sale. I called Brandon who brought me his truck so I could use it to get a new tire from another store in town. To make a long story, short, I was back on the road after about 2 hours at Auto World. 

After leaving Mansfield and looking at a 5 hour tow, I started thinking about the tire incident. I'm one of those people that believe everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is easily figured out and other times it stays a mystery. So, I started putting the pieces together to see if I could figure out what had happened. The nail had not punctured the tire, but it was stuck along the sidewall about 1 inch deep. The bad valve stem is what caused the loss in pressure. Had I not have been stationary long enough for the tire to lose so much pressure, I would have never noticed the nail. Eventually that nail would have moved enough to rip the sidewall and cause a blow out, which on trailers can be dangerous and do a lot of damage. As it is, instead, I have a new tire and lost 2 hours of travel time. I am way, way ahead of the game. Thank you, thank you.

Although it was only about 7:00 am when I hitched up, it was already hot and very humid. My shirt was soaking wet with sweat by the time I finished. I'm pretty sure the sweating had everything to do with the weather and nothing to do with my healthy weight. The trip was about 250 miles of mostly interstate highways. I had reservations at a Corp of Engineers campground just to the west of Little Rock, Arkansas. The campground has lots of shade trees and lucky me, there was a vacancy right on the banks of the Arkansas river, which is an easy stones throw behind Liberty. 

Nice Campsite on the Arkansas River

I was racing against approaching storms again. I was checking Accuweather on my cell phone about every 30 minutes as I was watched the thunder storms enter Arkansas from the northwest while I entered from the southwest. Comparing the speed and direction of the storms with my intended route, it appeared we were going to meet at Little Rock, my destination. Knowing every minute would count in either setting up camp in the dry or having to wait out a storm, I kicked Freedom and we sped up a little bit. About 30 minutes from the campground, I could see the skies turning dark with lightening flashing in the distance. When I pulled into the campground, I rushed through the check-in process and the camp hosts knew why. I found my site, which was a passenger side back-in, but stuck the landing in one shot (not as rusty as I thought I would be). I quickly set up camp to the sounds of thunder. As I finished and took a quick picture of the campsite, a few raindrops began to fall. About 30 minutes later, a severe storm hit the campground, but we rode it out just fine, no problems.The storms came back last night and are suppose to come back again tonight. I will be pulling out of here Monday and the weather forecast looks like it will follow me on into Missouri. We will see how that goes.

Geese on Parade. There must have been several dozen that walked from the edge of the river to a vacant campsite in front of Liberty. 

My plan was not to explore a lot of this area and mostly just kick back, relax and try to get back into traveling mode. But there was one place I wanted to see which was "The Old Mill". Yeah, yeah, I know it was in the opening credits of some fly-by-night small movie made over 75 years ago. And I know the movie won a few Academy Awards. I think the name was "Gone Somewhere", no that's not right, it was "Gone With The Wind". But frankly, my dear, I don't give a ,,,,,,. Ok, enough of that. The reason I wanted to see The Old Mill was its Concrete Artistry. Uh? Concrete Artistry? 

It was never a working mill and was built in 1933 to resemble an old abandoned grist mill. A land developer was creating housing developments (subdivisions) in North Little Rock and had a piece of property that wouldn't work for houses. Instead he contracted with a Mexican Artist/Architect to develop the few acres into a park as memorial to his deceased business partner. The specialty of the artist was making reinforced concrete look like ordinary things such as trees, shrubs and even water wheels. Just about everything you see at The Old Mill is concrete. Now I've seen a lot of concrete poured and cured over my working career but I was super impressed with this guys artistic use of concrete. Keep in mind this was done 83 years ago. It was definitely worth the 15 mile trip to see it. As an added bonus, the admission is free.

As you look at the pictures, remember almost everything is made of concrete.

This is as close as I could get to the view in the opening credits of the movie

Spooky looking bridge. 

Side view of the bridge

Top walkway of the bridge. Remember, all concrete

Looking up at the mill building from the bridge.

Even the water wheel is made out of concrete and still works.

This is a combination foot bridge and roots from the fallen tree on the left. (all concrete)

The foot bridge to the mill

Looking out of one of the windows of the mill house

My favorite. A bench!!! Made out of concrete to resemble logs

Parting look at The Old Mill

I found this historic picture online. It didn't say who took the picture, so I can't give credit to the photographer. The time is the mid 1930's. Of all of the trees along the side of the water downstream of the mill have been removed and is now a nice neighborhood. 

When I got back to the campground, the power was off in the entire campground. Checking the internet, it was off in a large portion of western Little Rock. I figured I would wait it out so I got a chair and kicked back.

After about 45 minutes of that, I decided I would rather wander around the area in Freedom (hint, hint, air conditioning in Freedom). Off we went with the intent to get lost for a little while. I drove around downtown Little Rock with no idea of where we were, but we weren't lost, since we were still in Little Rock. It wasn't as if we didn't know what city we were driving in. Eventually, I turned west and headed back to the campground. I figured I would intersect I-430 which runs north and south on the western side of the city. Sure enough, I found I-430 and wouldn't you know it, I also found a familiar restaurant. Since the power "might" still be off at the campground, I decided to get a bite to eat at his fancy restaurant.

  

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.       

More "Wow's" (part 8 of ?) (2/1/2016 to 4/18/2016)

Location: Rockdale RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

This is part 8 of a series of posts where I post a picture or two from a location that I really liked. I call them "wow" spots because usually when I saw them, I said, wow. Since I travel alone, it doesn't matter if I say it out loud or just to myself. Although if people are around, I try to be quiet about it or else they look at me funny as though I'm talking to myself. Now I'm not saying I don't talk to myself when I'm traveling, but so far (knock on wood), I haven't answered myself on a regular basis. So far, so good. 

This post gets me caught up to where I am currently, however, I'll be pulling out of here this Friday, 7/29/2016. 

Old style Mardi Gras in Iota, Louisiana

Learning about Cajuns, Creoles and Acadiens at Vermillionville, Louisiana

The Gulf of Mexico at Grand Isle State Park, Grand Isle, Louisiana. It is a long ways from nowhere, but a great place to relax.

Coffee and Beignets at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.

You can see a lot of the town by riding the New Orleans Streetcars. Cheap site-seeing

The Battle of New Orleans Battlefield. Chalmette, Louisiana

Rebuilt beach houses at Waveland, Mississippi. Everything was wiped out during Hurricane Katrina.

Sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico near Waveland, Mississippi

A monument to the "Dogs of War". It is the first and only one I have found that pays tribute to the canine corps of the armed forces. It is at the U.S.S. Alabama Military Park.

Sunset over Lake Seminole, Chattahoochee, Georgia.

Lake Seminole and Liberty

The moss draped trees of south east Georgia.

The Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Georgia

Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina

The Georgia Guidestones, Middle of Nowhere, outside of Atlanta, Georgia

My lucky day. A tornado or straight line winds flipped the neighboring RV. It sucked the wheel chocks out from under Liberty wheels. This is at Old Federal Campground.

Side road while driving the Cherohala Highway in the southern Smoky Mountains.

A waterfall along the Cherohala Highway

One of the many great view from the Cherohala Highway

The Hermitage. Andrew Jackson's home outside of Nashville, Tennessee

Watching the tow boats on the Mississippi River in rural Mississippi about 45 minutes south of Memphis, TN

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.