Wednesday January 30 2013.

Today was a beautiful day. It reached about 67 degrees and the winds were very light so it felt like a perfect day.

Leslie called early this morning saying they removed another 3 liters of fluid from her last night. Hopefully she will start eliminating the fluid on her own within the next couple of days. She also said her IV got dislodged and the saline was going under the tissue and her arm was very swollen this morning. Nothing seems to go right when in the hospital! She also said the doctor is planning to let her go home later today and if she needs the fluid aspirated again she can come back as an outpatient.

We worked around the motor home today and Larry dug out the rope lights which I put around our palm tree next to the patio. He also put together the lighted ornamental palm tree which I put in front of the motor home. Most of the residence here in the resort have lights of some type on their site and at night it looks very pretty.

Larry talked to Ken today and they still have not received their money to complete their transaction on the park model they purchased. He said Judy and Jan were at the bank trying to find out where the money went that their Canadian Bank said was wired to the bank in Yuma. How frustrating this has been for them!

The cats enjoyed most of their day being outside since the weather was so beautiful. If they are not outside, they are inside sleeping the day away. Such a life!

Tomorrow it is suppose to be warmer and through the weekend as well. January and part of February is always a mixture of weather here but at least we do not have to shovel snow!

Leslie sent a text message around 4:30 this afternoon saying they were releasing her from hospital. I know she will feel much better.

Tuesday January 29 2013

We had the motor home power washed and waxed this morning. It looks really beautiful. It was very dirty from the drive in the rain from Red Bay, AL.

Leslie called this morning. They aspirated the fluid on Monday but she said she can feel she is bloated back up again this morning. The doctor told her it will be at least another 48 hours before her body starts eliminating the excess fluid on it's own. She has been so sick and I feel so sorry for her. I hate being away when they are going through such a horrible time. She is not sure if they will release her to go home today or not but I told her she needs to stay until she starts getting some relief. She has had a lot of shoulder pain and shortness of breath. The xrays showed she had a small amount of fluid in her lungs as well.

We walked up to the club house about 11:15 for the weekly Burger Bash here at the resort. On the way up, we stopped and visited for awhile with Judy and Ken Jackson. They and Jan(Judy's sister) bought a park model here in the resort, which is very close to our RV Site. It is a beautiful place with a nice covered deck and an Arizona Room. The bank in Canada told them the money had been wired but the bank here in Yuma has not yet received. I know how frustrating this is as we dealt with the same thing when we bought our motor homes here in Arizona. It's like they are sending the money from outer space as it seems to take forever to arrive.

We walked on up to club house and had a hamburger and salad for lunch. The food is always good and is cheap. We were almost through eating when the entertainment began, From past experience, we know the entertainment is nothing we want to hear. The band is made up of residents from the resort and are quite talented but their choice of music is horrible. They always play country but from an era probably preceding my father's generation. I hate the songs and we always want to get the 'Hell out of Dodge' every time they start up!

We went to Walgreen's to pick up a prescription and while there I bought 'Icy Hot' patches for my back and some ZertecD. I cannot seem to kick this cold since leaving home but now am wondering if it is my annual Arizona sinus infection as my ears are hurting and I'm having daily headaches. My back is hurting so bad just below my shoulder blade and I really believe it is from coughing so hard. Each year I see a doctor here in Arizona and they always tell me to start on the ZertecD and give me Amocillian. I have a bottle of Amocillian that I bought in Mexico so will start it in a few days if Zertec does not help.

We got a phone call from Carole, Larry's sister, saying they found our passports at home. Thank God! I have driven myself crazy in the past 2 days trying to find them here in RV. I was almost certain I had brought them. I woke at 3:00am this morning and came out in the living room as I thought of another place to check for them. Thank you Carole and Ed for taking the time to look for them at the house! You truly saved my sanity!!!

We made a trip to Wally World, the first since arriving in Yuma. As always we buy more than intented, which is why Walmart is so successful. After we left we decided to eat at a Chinese Buffet by Walmart. The food was very good and abundant as all Chinese food restaurants seem to be. I left the restaurant with enough food left for my lunch tomorrow.

Monday January 28 2013

Leslie called early this morning and is still feeling terrible. They have an appointment this morning with the fertility doctor at 10:00am. They are both very upset about yesterday's stay in the ER as they were never allowed to talk to the doctor directly. They have many questions that they plan to get some direct answers to today.

I started laundry and Larry went to resort office to pay our rent and to ask them to send the maintenance men down to trim the tree behind our RV as it is hanging over the wall from the neighbors yard and rubbing against the motor home. The guys showed up and cut a huge portion of the tree off so we may have some unhappy neighbors when they find out. Larry called to make an appointment to have the RV washed and waxed and they are coming tomorrow. We washed the RV in Red Bay, AL before we left but drove through rain and dust and it is very dirty again,

I started thinking about where I put our passports and looked for them for an hour. I'm thinking I must not have grabbed them when we left home. This is not good since we have dental appointments in Los Algodones on Feb. 12. I drove myself crazy trying to remember if I brought them or not. Since Leslie and Pete are not in a position to go out to house to look for them, Larry called his sister, Carol to ask if she would go to the house to look. She said they were coming to Peoria tomorrow and go by the house and check for them. I certainly hope they are there because I don't think they are here. This will drive me crazy until I know for sure.

Pete sent us a text message to say that the doctor admitted Leslie into Methodist Hospital when he saw her this morning. They are going to give her pain and nausea medication to try to help her feel better. I hope they can make her more comfortable as she has really been miserable since last Wednesday.

Larry went to grocery store and we planned to grill tonight but the temperature dropped and the wind was very strong so I cooked dinner inside tonight.

Judy Jackson came over to visit because Jan was cooking tonight and she decided to remove herself from the kitchen. Later her older sister Pat came to tell her dinner was ready. We had not met Pat, who is here staying in the resort for a month with her husband. The 3 sisters are all very close and we found that Pat was just an older version of Judy as she is also very witty and fun to talk to.

Pete called to say they had aspirated 3 liters of fluid from Leslie so she was feeling better tonight. The doctor told them that this is not unusual and that within 48 hours she should be feeling better and her system would start eliminating the fluid on it's own. What a miserable time she has had since last Wednesday. I pray things will turn around soon for her.

I saw on Facebook that my friend Cathy posted that they had 74 degrees in Missouri today. I did not want to tell her that it was 10 degrees warmer there than it is here. The forecast is predicting much warmer temperatures for the rest of this week. Hopefully the wind will cease as well.

Sunday January 27 2013

We left Las Cruces around 7:00am this morning and drove in the rain most of the day. As we drove into Arizona the sun came out and it was pleasantly warm. After we left Tucson, we drove in rain off and on until we reached Yuma.

We arrived at Las Quentas Oasis about 3:30 and drove about 550 miles. I should say that Larry drove and I read and relaxed, which has been our roles since leaving home. I have offered to drive but he enjoys it and I don't!

When we drove into the resort, we saw Ken Jackson and stopped quickly to say hello. Ken and Judy Jackson and Judy's sister Jan Norfolk, are friends from Canada that we met here last year and Judy and I have kept in touch all year.

We found our RV site and as we were unhooking the car dolly, Ken came over to help us get the motor home backed in. He is such a terrific guy and he and Larry really enjoy each other.

Larry worked on getting things set up outside and I cleaned the inside enough to put everything back in place. Later Jan, Judy and Ken came over and we sat outside and had beer and visited for a long time. I so enjoy all of them. Judy is so much fun as she says what she thinks and you never have to guess at where you stand with her. She is also very witty and keeps us laughing. She had to share a funny story regarding their travel down from Canada. Last year she got chewed out here in the resort for driving too fast and we really had fun teasing her about it for a ong time. On the trip here this year, she was driving and they were coming through El Centro, CA and she got pulled over for driving too slow on the highway. Jan almost got them in trouble with the police because she could not quit laughing when she found out why they were stopped. Judy said it was very windy and dusty and she was having a hard time seeing so she was following another car and was driving about 57 mph. The police told her that the speed limit was 70 and she was expected to drive the speed limit or higher. We almost split laughing about this and of course no one could tell the story like Judy!

David and Cynthia whom we were parked next to last year were on Security Duty tonight so we got to talk with them as they drove by our site. Cynthia and I have also communicated all year since we left for home. She is such a great person and I really enjoy her as well.

Our next door neighbor is Wayne and Evelyn and are also Canadians. We meet them and talked a long time last night as well. Of course as with every RV Resort in Arizona, the majority of the residence are Canadian. Most of them are great people and we have befriended many in the last 5 years. Larry had met Wayne while we were here last year and they were in a motor home parked near us. Wayne told me that they ended up buying the 5th wheel they are living in before leaving last year and they leave it here all year. They got a terrific buy on the RV so he said it was much cheaper than driving their motor home down. The price of diesel is so high that we could probably do the same and wouldn't cost any more than what we pay to travel in motor home.

After Jan, Judy and Ken left we drove over to Appleby's and had a sandwich for dinner. We had not had a lot to eat all day so we were starved by the time we ate.

Leslie and Pete have been going through a fertility doctor and last week they went to Rockford to the clinic to have eggs harvested for fertilization. Since they have been home Leslie has been very sick with nausea and her stomach is huge from bloating. The doctor gave her enough medication for 6 shots that cost $1000 and she was to take daily. My understanding was it would help reduce the fluid and bloating but each day her stomach has increased more. She finally went into the ER yesterday as she was also having difficulty breathing. The ER did a sonogram and gave her 3 bags of saline because they said she was dehydrated. They told her she had many pockets of fluid around her internal organs and also some fluid in one lung. They talked about doing aspirations but the pockets were numerous and small so they said she could risk infection if they aspirated. They wanted to admit her but she said all they were going to do is give her pain meds and more saline so she decided to come home. They have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning so possibly he will decide he best route of treatment.I am very worried about her and have debated on getting a flight home. I will wait until they find out more tomorrow.

By the time we walked out of Appleby's tonight it was raining pretty heavy. It was still raining when we went to bed but the forecast is for sun and higher temperatures this week.

Saturday January 26 2013

We were awake early again this morning. The cats cannot let
us sleep past 5:30. They expect their teaspoon of moist food
to be served up bright and early each morning and nothing
delays this event! I keep saying we need to try to reverse
their expectations by giving them their little treat of moist
food at bedtime but doubt they would ever get the idea that
the morning routine is no longer an option!

We both had showers this morning before leaving. I fear our
water supply and holding tanks are in need of a fill and a
dump so we may have to find an RV Park tonight and actually
pay for a camp site for the first time since leaving home!!

Larry bought more DEF(Diesel Exhaust Fuel) at Walmart and
added to the DEF Tank before leaving. The DEF is a fluid that
must be added to the newer diesel engines to cut down on
exhaust emissions. Not exactly sure the quota of DEF to
Diesel but believe it is around 2 percent DEF to Diesel. All
I know is it is a 'must have' and if it runs out the engine
shuts down until it is supplied. Another wonderful use of
money for the motor home(or Diesel Truck) owner!

We left Amarillo around 6:30am and headed west on route 40 to
Las Cruces, NM. The sky is pretty overcast and the wind is
pretty strong. By the time we got to Albuquerque we started
traveling in moderate rain. We would drive for a few miles in
the rain and then for a short time the sun would come out so
basically we drove in rain and patches of sun all the way to
Las Cruces.

We called the KOA in Las Cruces to reserve a camp site for
tonight. We stay at there almost every year at least for a
day or two. It's a beautiful campground and sets up above the
city of Las Cruces. We also called Las Quintes in Yuma to
find out if we can just pull into our RV site in case we
arrive on Sunday and they told us that would be fine.

We arrived at the KOA in Las Cruces around 3:30 and got the
motor home set up and I cleaned inside as I could no longer
stand the dirt and cat hair. The rain held off until we were
all set up and then it rained again but the temperature is
very mild and at 6:00 it was still 64 degrees. Las Cruces is
located in a valley with mountains all around so it stays
warmer than some of the other areas in New Mexico.

I made meatloaf a couple of days ago and froze it so that is
going to be the meal of the night. It's good to be hooked
into the water and sewer as it makes everything much easier
when cooking and cleaning.

Not sure if we are going to stay here another day or head to
Yuma tomorrow. Guess that decision will be made tomorrow.
Yuma should be a pretty easy drive tomorrow. Will be good to
get where we are going a chill out for awhile.

Friday January 25 2013

We traveled all day today and drove a little more than 500 miles. We stopped for the night in Amarillo, TX and again made use of the local Walmart parking lot for the night.

The weather was very cold most of the day but warmed somewhat in the afternoon. At least we missed the freezing rain predicted for Red Bay on Thursday. It was raining when we left this morning but was not a heavy rain and the temperature was warm enough that the roads were not slick, so again we dodged the weather bullet.

I talked about our tour of the Tiffin Factory on Thursday but there were several facts mentioned durning the tour that I found pretty interesting. When we arrived in Red Bay, I fully expected it to be located on a lake or some type of a bay area but found nothing to confirm the name. Our tour guide told us that the reason it was named Red Bay is because of the red dirt, which is a very deep orange color, as well as a

local tree known as a Bay Tree. Bob Tiffin, owner of Tiffin Motor Homes, is at least a third generation of Tiffins raised in Red Bay. His grandfather was Chief of Police of Red Bay for many years. His father owned a lumber supply and a cotton gen and Bob worked in the family business as a young man prior to developing the Tiffin Motor Home Factory. Part of buildings that house the motor home factory is the original building used as a cotton warehouse that his father owned.

I believe the first Motor Home was built by Tiffin in 1973 and parked next to the visitor's center is a 1976 model of a Tiffin Motor Home. The motor home is open to the public and we went inside and was amazed at how far this company has come from the first homes built. The interior of the 1976 motor home was a pea green shag carpet and the wallpaper was the same green with a very ugly print. The walls were cheap wood paneling and everything about it was just very dated and ugly. I put this in perspective by realizing that our oldest daughter was born a year after this motor home was built. The progress in the past 36 years is absolutely unbelievable!

We met Bob Tiffin last year at the Good Sam Rally in Phoenix, AZ. He is like your next door neighbor, friendly and wonderful to talk with. His policy on customer service is matched by no other motor home manufacturer in the U.S. He encourages his owners to contact him directly with any problems they incur and tells them to call him at home if needed. Tiffin is family owned and his sons are now part of the business as well. We had several minor issues as well as a rather major problem with the propane tank on our RV. These were taken care while in Red Bay and everything, including 8 nights in the RV Park was free. The service people were friendly, helpful and basically wonderful to deal with. Tiffin has 60 service bays totally devoted to service on Tiffin Motor Homes. The RV Park was filled with Tiffin owners whom, many of them, make a yearly trip to Red Bay to have their motor homes serviced and problems corrected. I think the idea is that it all gets done at once and if parts are needed they are normally available immediately. There are also a great number of people who bring their motor homes and leave them for several weeks to be serviced when time is available, rather than staying with the RV waiting for service.

Also our tour guide mentioned that Tammy Weyneth claims Red Bay as her home. She told us where her home was located just outside of town. The museum in Red Bay has a Tammy Weyneth room and would have be an interesting place to visit if we return. I am glad we made the trip to Red Bay as it was a friendly, clean little town with a lot of charm. After hearing some of the history, we should have plenty to see and do when we return.

Thursday January 24, 2013

Up and running at 5:30, got showers and was at service bay just before 7:00. We decided to take the Tiffin Factory Tour this morning and it starts at 9:30 at the visitor's center which is a few blocks away from the RV Park. We went in the customer lounge to wait until time to drive over for tour. We meet such nice people in the lounge and everyone visits while waiting for service work. There are people from all over US and Canada here having service done.

We drove over to the Tiffin Visitor's Center and had an amazing tour of the factory. Tiffin builds all their own cabinetry for every coach and they mostly use cherry wood. It was so interesting to watch them cutting, sanding and actually assembling the cabinetry and each coach get a specific design so there is many different sizes, shapes and stains going on throughout the shop. We then went through one building where they were building and wiring the chaseys and depending on which model of Tiffin they are building depends on the chasey style. Tiffin builds about 5 different models and each is in various lengths from 34 to 45 ft motor homes.

We continued on the tour to another building where they take the chasey and assemble the pretty much the entire home from the inside out. They build the floor, install the cabinetry, all the plumbing and fixtures for bath and kitchen and as it continues on down the assembly, the walls and outer shell and roof are placed. Basically by the time it comes off of this line it is ready for the paint shop which is in Belmont, AL, about 20 miles from Red Bay.

They told us we could visit the paint shop anytime we'd like and we had several Tiffin Owner's tell us it is a wonderful experience to visit. We planned on driving over to Belmont after our factory tour but came back to RV Park to check on progress of service and found everyone was at lunch and our motor home was setting outside. We assumed it was finished but no one was available to check so we drove about 4 miles out of Red Bay to Swamp John's for lunch. We were told by several people, including our tour guide this morning how wonderful the food was.

We stopped to fill up with gas at a station just outside of town and the Indian owner was very angry with me as I dumped my ashtray in his trash container outside and set it on fire. He was such a jerk I wanted to tell him to get over it or pack it up and go home to India so we could pay an American to run the station. I really get sick of the U.S. Government catering to everyone but our own American business owners! It doesn't matter where we travel we find the Indians own all the motels and gas stations and they act like they begrudge we the American customers-- Don't get me started on this subject is all I have to say.

Anyway, after starting the fire, we drove on down the road and found Swamp Johns and it was packed with the lunch crowd. They had a buffet today including fish, frog legs, shrimp and chicken. Larry had a couple of frog legs and fish fillets and I had fish and a few shrimp. The fish was to die for and I wished I would have just had the fish as I could have enjoyed only the fish without all the sides but it was a wonderful meal. We will diffently return on our next trip to Red Bay!

Went back to RV Park and they had pulled the motor home back into the service bay when we arrived, When Larry checked with them they said they were almost done.  When they finished with the service, we loaded the car and hit the road. We drove until about 7:00 tonight and stopped in Lonoke, AR. which is about 20 east of Little Rock.

We are making good use of about 6 parking spaces at the local Walmart tonight. We have the Gen Set running and the furnace cooking as it is extremely cold here tonight. Arizona here we come but not as soon as we had planned!

Wednesday January 23, 2013

We were up at 5:30am and ready for service appointment at 7:00. They looked at the Propane Tank and decided the regulator was bad and changed it out. We were done at 9:30am and debated on hooking up the car and leaving but Larry decided we should wash the motor home. We also needed propane so we finished cleaning the RV we filled our holding tanks with water and drove over to the Propane Dealer and filled the tank. It was around noon so decided to go ahead and do my laundry and we would leave tomorrow early.

I went up to the laundromat in the RV Park which was very nice and clean and I was the only one there so had no problems getting all the laundry going at the same time. When I finished, we drove back up to RV and when I got out of the car the smell of propane was overwhelming! Larry checked the tank and knew it was coming from our RV. He went back to the service bay and talked to the repair guys and they told him to bring it in. They looked at the tank again and told us to have there tomorrow morning as they were going to have to replace the entire tank. Since the tank is stationary, I'm sure this will not be a 30 minute job so looks like we will spend yet another day in beautiful Red Bay! We just bought 18 gallons of propane today, which I'm sure they will burn off tomorrow before they can remove the tank. Come easy go easy I guess on the money spent to fill the tank!

At 3:30 we had not had anything to eat and we were starving. The lady at the RV Office told us to try eating at the 4th Street Steak House so we headed over to try it out. I had Catfish Fillets and Larry had the whole Catfish dinner. My fish was good, Larry's was undercooked so he had a hard time eating. I would have had no problems sending it back but he ended up eating part of it. We had the salad bar and wonderful hush puppies, my favorite! Of course Larry hates hush puppies so I had his as well -- NO Problem for me!

We waddled out of the steak house and drove back to RV. I have formed an addiction to putting puzzles together so I worked on one that we brought with us. It's relaxing to me to sit and work on the puzzle since there is not much I care to watch on TV. Guess I am officially a Senior Citizen as all the RV Resorts we visit always have a puzzle in process in the club house.

Well off to bed so we can be up and ready for yet another service appointment at 7:00am tomorrow.

Tuesday January 22 2013

We got most of our work on RV completed yesterday with a 'maybe' from the repair service to look at our Propane Tank today. We waited all day but no call so Larry preformed his magic(nagging) with the repair guy and they told him to have the RV at Bay 40 at 7:00am tomorrow morning. I know they are sick of his bugging them daily but I'm beginning to think that's the key to getting anything done without spending another week of waiting.

We finally went into the grocery store and stopped at Fred's which is Red Bay's knock off of Big Lots. We probably could have gotten many of the items we needed at Fred's for a much cheaper price than the local Piggly Wiggly. I was shocked to see that Piggly Wiggly still exists as I thought they went under years ago but it is the only grocery store in Red Bay.

We came back to RV Park and had left overs for dinner. I haven't exactly been the gourmet cook since we left home. I prepared a few items for the freezer before leaving so we have had Italian Beef several ways over the past few evenings. I did cook a nice meal on Saturday, which we enjoyed as a left over also.

The weather was decent today with the temperatures around 45 during the day. From what I saw on Internet, Peoria has been much colder so if we can't be in Arizona, Red Bay is not so bad.

Monday January 21 2013

We were up this morning at 5:15am to get everything prepared for them to take the motor home in for repairs. We waited about an hour and then Larry went out to find Norris, the scheduler, to find out what time we could expect to be called in. According to Norris, we were not on the schedule. Larry then went to the repair shop to find out what was going on and the guy told him it would be later today. About 10:00 we got a call to bring the RV into Bay 31. We drove over and had to take the cats out of RV and put them in the car. They were not happy with their new home and Raven made sure everyone was aware of his unhappiness!!

We sat in the lounge until about noon and found the repair guys had all gone to lunch so we drove into Red Bay and grabbed lunch ourselves, since we had not had anything to eat this morning.

When we came back we sat around until 3:30 and were told everything was repaired except our Propane Tank, which they would work on tomorrow. So that means another day, if not more, to get that taken care of. Since the repair guy did not know what the problem was, he put a call in to the supplier and was waiting to hear back as to how to correct the problem. I will be very surprised if they figure it out tomorrow.

Setting in the lounge, I heard people say they had been here up to five weeks waiting to get problems taken care of. Several of them sounded like they had more serious issues than ours but I could see where you could spend the winter here if you needed a serious repair. One couple was staying in a cottage that Tiffin was paying for and had been in the cottage for over two weeks.

I sat all day and worked on a puzzle in the lounge. I enjoyed working on it and it made the time go faster. I assume I will have a chance to finish it tomorrow but would prefer to be on the road by Wednesday.

We called the RV Resort in Yuma this afternoon to tell them we would be at least a couple of days late, which they seemed to be fine with. Who knows when we will get out of here. They have a very large repair area, as I mentioned before, they have 60 repair bays. There are something like 99 RV Sites here on the Tiffin grounds and almost all are full so depending on how long each takes to repair, they are busy constantly.

We did get new mattresses for our bed today. That was one of our chief complaints as they started breaking down within a month after we bought the RV. We can only assume these will do the same. Renee, the Canadian guy who is parked next to us said they replaced his and the new ones did the same thing so they finally gave him money to buy his own. Time will tell I guess.

So back to repair tomorrow to see what the new story is on the Propane Tank!

Sunday January 20 2013

We had to disconnect RV and drive over to the main water source to refill our holding tank this morning. I actually got a shower but barely got the shampoo rinsed out of my hair when the water ran out. I hate not having water at our site. We asked at the office why they cannot turn it on at least during the day since it has been in the high 50's the past several days. They told us they will not turn it on until the night time temperatures are above freezing. Seems crazy that they do not have it set up so it can be turned on and off easily.

After we filled the water tank, we drove to Tupelo, MS and little did I know that the basic reason we were going was to see a battlefield!!! I have seen so many battlefields since being married to Larry I could write a book. I absolutely hate going to these boring sites. We headed toward Baldwyn, MS which was about 30 miles north of Tupelo to see Brice's Cross Roads. I assume this was some type of significant battle, however, I had never heard of it--NOT SURPRISING since history bores me like watching paint dry. The visitors center was closed so we drove through the battlefield and Larry walked around reading the signs while I chilled out in the car.

After leaving the battlefield, we drove back to Tupelo and stopped at the mall and of course made our Walmart run as there were a few items we forgot yesterday when we were in Florence.

We drove back to Red Bay around 3:30 and had left over's for dinner. I have not yet had my night out for our Anniversary Dinner but believe me, I will not forget to claim it when the time comes. Since I didn't get a card again this year, Larry will have to pay up with a nice meal.

It was another beautiful day. I think it was 60 degrees or more today and the sun was bright all day.

Tomorrow we are suppose to get the RV in for repairs so hope it goes as scheduled!

We drove over to Florence, AL today. We stopped and had a huge breakfast at Shoneys in Florence. We drove around awhile and found Sam's. We picked up coffee and paper towels while there and went down the street a couple of blocks to Walmart, where we picked up the rest of the grocery items on our list.


After getting the needed items, we shopped awhile and Larry found a pair of shoes at Gander Mountain that he wanted and I bought a top at Kohl's before heading back to Red Bay.


Yesterday one of the service guys told Larry we need to see the Coon Dog Cemetery which he said was on the way to Florence. On our way home, we found the correct road that lead down to the cemetery. I could not believe that it is actually a cemetery for Coon Dogs who have died. It was complete with flowers and tombstones. Some of the tombstones were actual engraved marble tombstones and others were either rocks that they had placed the names and owners of the dogs on. There were some of the markers that were as simple as wooden signs. Wow these people must have a huge attachment to their dogs. I took several pictures that I wanted to post on the blog but something has changed since I updated the blog last and I can no longer get the pictures to upload. I sent a complaint and hope to have a response soon, I can't wait to tell Larry's brothers, my friend Cathy's husband, and of course Pete and Leslie about the cemetery. I told Larry I'm going to tell Leslie that I found the perfect resting place for Ava and Memo, of course if the cemetery will allow two Whippets to be laid to rest alongside the Coon Dogs!

We got back to Red Bay about 5:00 and I cooked dinner and hoped I had enough water left in the holding tank to wash dishes afterward. We will need to move the motor home tomorrow over to the water supply to refill our tanks. We only filled them about half full when we came in on Thursday and are almost out.

Tomorrow we plan to drive to Tupelo, MS, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. We were there about 8 yrs ago when we rode the motorcycles down to the Natches Trail. There are several other things to do in Tupelo area, one item is some kind of battleground, which Larry is hot to see. I hate looking at battlegrounds, but we don't pass too many by on our travels.

Had another beautiful day and I actually was very warm in my sweatshirt that I wore today. Not sure how warm it got but I'm guessing around 60 degrees.

Friday January 18 2013

Today we had several Tiffin service people in and around the motor home checking on our list of repairs. The original repair guy came early this morning and talked to us about all the items on our list. He said they should be able to get us in for our repairs Monday and most likely will get them all done in about four hours.


One of the guys came to do a quality check on the motor home and just basically checked outside for any issues that we did not list. Another guy came from the body shop to give us an estimate on doing the repair on the back of the motor home where Larry backed into the car dolly last week. He estimated about $1,000 to repair and repaint. He also said they could probably get us in right away and would take about a day and a half to complete. We have yet to decide if we want to get the body work done here or wait until we get home.

We walked down to the Tiffin Store and Larry found they had the covers for the roof vents, so he is also debating on having the service area install them on Monday if they have time. We also bought an Allegro mud flap for the back of the RV and Larry brought it back and installed it himself this afternoon,

We are due in Yuma on January 26 so unless we can leave on Tuesday, we will have to call to find out if we can move our reservation up a few days. We will have to make our decision by Monday as to what we want completed while here.

I was not feeling very well today so I basically took the day for some R&R. I slept some and read most of the day. I hope to kick whatever I've had for the past two weeks, SOON!!

We talked to the lady who takes care of the RV Park area about what was around that we could do, since we will have two days to wait for our repairs. She told us that we could drive an hour in either direction to find shopping. She told us that Florence, AL was a nice city so I think we will drive over tomorrow as we need a few things from Sam's and Walmart.

The weather was beautiful today and got warm enough that we opened one of the roof vents inside the motor home as it got a little warm inside. The temperature was probably around 55 degrees.

We drove from Sikeston, MO to Red Bay, AL, about 320 miles.

Red Bay is a tiny town just inside the Alabama State Line. We
arrived at the Tiffin Factory about 3:30 and checked in with
the office. They provided us with paperwork to list our
service needs and gave us our RV Site. Looking at the number
of motor homes in the park, I have a feeling we will be here a
few days, however there are 60 service bays on site here in
the campground. There is a constant movement of motor homes in
and out of the campground going for service. The campground
reminds me of an Alaskan campground as it is nothing but a
huge, paved parking lot with hook-ups.

The weather was very cool when we arrived and the wind made
it feel much colder than the temperature indicated. The area
had snow during the early morning and the news reported
several school closings for the day.
What we saw of the town of Red Bay, it could be a pretty
boring stay as there was very little to do here. The town
appears to be about the size of Hanna City. I guess this is
the perfect place to build an RV Factory as I'm sure the
labor and the land prices are very cheap.

We turned in our service request and they informed us that
someone from the service area would contact us early tomorrow
morning to give us a date and time for service. I doubt we
will be arriving in Yuma at our appointed time but will know

more tomorrow.

Trip to Arizona January 2013

For my family and friends who have not read my blogs before,
I mainly post the blog not only for my own benefit of keeping
a record but also for those who enjoy following along with
our travels.

We are off to Arizona via Red Bay, AL. Not exactly a direct
route but we are going to Red Bay to have several minor

problems corrected on the Motor Home. Red Bay is the home of

Tiffin Motor Homes and we plan to park in the Tiffin RV Park
while they try to correct our issues. We could have had our
work done in Yuma but would no doubt have to give up the
Motor Home for a couple of days for the dealership to do the
needed work. Traveling with two cats does not make for
finding other lodging an easy task. So we will drive the 500
plus miles to Red Bay to get the work done. When we talked to
the Tiffin factory, we were told most of it will be done at
the RV site.

We got a rather late start from home this morning as we had
the last of the packing to do, which is the refrigerator
items and our last minute personal items. We left Peoria at
11:18am and had a very easy travel day. It was a beautiful,
sunny day and the temperature was in the mid 30 degree range
most of the day. We drove to Sikeston, MO and had dinner
tonight at Lambert's, the home of the thrown rolls. If you
have not experienced dining at any of the Lambert's, it's a
rather unique dining experience. It is real 'down home'
cooking and the quanity of food is enough to feed a family of
10 for a week if you indulge in all of the 'pass arounds'.
They constantly walk by your table with buckets of various
food items that they encourage you to eat above and beyond
the normal huge meals they serve. They walk by and throw you
a hot homemade roll that could be considered the size of a
small loaf of bread. They are wonderful and I, being a carb
freak, could eat nothing but the hot rolls and waddle out the
front door fat and happy!!

We had planned to go to Walmart to park tonight but our
waiter at Lambert's told us to just park in the back lot and
we were welcome to stay the night. The weather is too cold
for the RV Parks to have the water to the sites on during the
night so this works just great and a lot cheaper. We have a
generator so we have power and really need nothing else.
We will head toward Red Bay again tomorrow. We probably will
make the trip there tomorrow as I think we are at least half
way.