After five years, we've changed our motor home living room!

NOTE: We are about two weeks behind in posting our blogs. As things are changing quickly in our country because of the COVID-19 pandemic, please understand that some of our activities and decisions would be different if they happened on the day the blog was actually published.

While all our repairs were going on near Red Bay, Alabama, we were also designing some inside renovations. We never have liked our L-shaped sectional. In travel mode it looks like a regular sofa with a big unusable corner section. When the slides are out, we can pull out the stored end piece to make an L-sectional to look like this. Even though it looks like a good idea . . .

we've found that it isn't very comfortable. The cushion where Mark is sitting is too hard, and the section to his left is not deep enough to support our legs comfortably. So we rarely pull out that L-section, and it is just taking up precious space.

We shopped for a replacement couch this winter, but couldn't find anything that would fit into the motor home door, and fit into the slides we have. So we have decided to keep the main sofa, but take out the corner section. We had heard that this was a hard job, but Mark made it look easy as he started taking things apart.

He also found that those pieces were very heavy! With those metal upholstered pieces out of the way, we're ready to design its replacement.

We had already contacted Chris Berry Woodworking, another very busy handyman here in Red Bay, Alabama. Normally he would be booked for months, but a recent cancellation made him available to do some work for us. He came over to take some measurements and get our ideas, and he started work while we were waiting on our repairs. At this time we're still looking for projects to keep ourselves busy. Denisa found out that the heaviest piece of that corner sectional made a pretty comfortable place outside to shell the pecans from last fall.

Fast forward a week, and we have finished our repairs at Custom RV. So Mark drove the motor home the 18 miles to Chris Berry Woodworking to install the new cabinet. His shop is down a narrow winding road that isn't wide enough to even paint stripes on it. We had to giggle when we read one of the road signs, "Hootey Hoot Holler."

Chris was excited about the opening of turkey season, telling us about his hunts from years past. He even brought out his collection of turkey spurs that he keeps from the leg of each Tom he shoots. Does that count as the wildlife picture of the day?

Chris has all the wood stains that Tiffin uses, and we could get matching drawer pulls here. So he can build custom furniture in any size you want that exactly matches the rest of our woodwork.

We traded a corner sectional that we weren't using, for a some very functional storage that is just the right size and perfectly matches. Those drawers are 28 inches deep, and Chris made the drawer sides extra tall. We haven't yet filled them up, but this change also saved us lots of cargo weight by getting rid of that metal-framed sectional. Denisa is pretty happy with this renovation!

Mark completed the last step. He had saved the arm from the L-sectional, and it fit perfectly in the space we left between the drawer unit and the couch. Mark attached it securely and we're finished.

The only major hiccup came when we brought in our slides after the installation of our new wooden drawer unit. It looks like one of the screws holding it in place was a tiny bit too long. It cracked the fiberglass on the side of our slide. Double whoops!

That took a little shine off our completed repairs and renovations here in Red Bay! We spent the night outside Chris's shop. The next morning we drove down Hootey Hoot Holler to see the nice lake that is three feet above normal. With all the rain they've been getting in Northern Alabama, the road literally ends in the lake.

If we hadn't already spent nine days in the northwest corner of Alabama, we probably would have stayed a while longer to put our kayak on that water. But we're finally finished with our repair projects and renovations! Now we're ready to be back on the road again with our new living room, and confident that everything is in top working order. It was a productive trip to Red Bay for us!

Motor home repairs and thoughts on an extended warranty

NOTE: We are about two weeks behind in posting our blogs. As things are changing quickly in our country because of the COVID-19 pandemic, please understand that some of our activities and decisions would be different if they happened on the day the blog was actually published.

During these last months while we waited for our RV repair appointment, we developed a very long list of things that need to be fixed. Because of the length of that list (and its sizable price tag), our warranty company sent an independent inspector out from Huntsville, Alabama, to verify that everything fit under the guidelines of our warranty. That took an extra two days of waiting in Red Bay, Alabama, but we thought the inspector was very thorough and very fair. One of our biggest dilemmas was our hydraulic slides that move our huge living room/kitchen slides. You can see one of those deep hydraulic slides in the picture below.

We estimated that 30% of the time, these slides refuse to move when we push the button for them to come in. That is a heart-stopping moment, because there is no good way to budge these big slides on our own. One of those slides holds our entire kitchen, including a residential sized refrigerator! There's no way we're going to be able to put that slide back into travel mode if the hydraulics refuse to work. We've always gotten them in eventually, by killing the diesel motor and restarting it (over and over). It's taken as many as five restarts, and that can't be good for our engine. Each time we are ready to leave a campground we worry, and pray that those hydraulic slides will work. It's gotten so tense that we prefer to live with the slides in, rather than risk them not retracting when it's time to leave.

The problem with getting this fixed, is that 70% of the time they work fine. Of course they worked the first time at the repair shop, when we needed to demonstrate how they didn't work to the repair tech. So when the inspector arrived, we REALLY hoped they wouldn't work. Here's a picture of the inspector now, waiting to see if those slides will go in this time.

Denisa told him that we usually prayed that they worked each time when we were getting ready to leave a campground. Well, this day she told him that she was praying that they didn't work . . .

Her prayers were answered! We even had our repair tech there to check the electrical circuits to verify where the problem was happening. Now we can get that big problem fixed under warranty and Denisa will like her big slides once again. Success!

Other items on our long list included: replacing the motor on our front window shade, fixing a leaking shower drain and valve, recaulking the front running lights that were causing a leak, replacing our CO2 alarm, replacing the tread on our entry steps, replacing the refrigerator damper-control module, replacing the broken slide floor covers, replacing the water-fill valve, reattaching the metal grills over the rear engine compartment, replacing the gray and black water flush valves, replacing an overhead cabinet latch, and gluing on the fresh water tank overflow cap.

Because our holding tanks had to be completely empty for some of those jobs, we had to make an early morning trip to the dump station in Red Bay. We actually made this trip twice. The first time was in the rain on the day we were scheduled to begin work (before we found out we had to wait for an inspector). The second trip was just as early, but thankfully it wasn't raining. It was dark when we left at 6:00 a.m., and the sun was starting to rise as we left the dump station in Red Bay.

We got to experience a brilliant sunrise as we headed back to the repair shop, where work begins promptly at 7 a.m.

The two-man staff at Custom RV zipped through that long list, just like the reviews we had read said they would. They know the Tiffin motor homes better than any other RV repair place, and we felt good to be getting all this work done here. An added bonus is that we can get any parts from the Tiffin factory in town. That saves us the shipping charges that we have to pay under our warranty.

We've had mixed emotions about the extended warranty that we purchased from Wholesale Warranty when we bought our motor home. It's the first time in our lives that we have purchased an extended warranty. It makes getting repairs more complicated, and some times it would just be easier for Mark to fix things rather than waiting to find a certified repair shop. Several times Mark has fixed things that would have been covered under warranty, but we couldn't wait. Now five-and-a-half years into our seven-year warranty, we have used it four different times. This repair bill will now bring the sum they have paid over the amount that we spent on the warranty. But during those four repairs, we have also had to pay for a deductible each time, plus any shipping charges, plus diagnostic fees that were surprisingly high this time. So repairs aren't free, even with a warranty.

There is one other aspect of having an extended warranty that is hard to define by a dollar value. During these seven years, we had the peace of mind that if we had a major repair, we would have help to pay for it. When you use a motor home as much as we do, that peace of mind is nice.

We only had a couple hiccups in our repairs. After we left Custom RV, Mark was studying the receipt and realized that one of the things on our list didn't get fixed. We also found that a new gasket was still leaking. Whoops! But Mark did some googling and tightened some screws, and it looks like we are leak-free now. After camping at the repair shop for a week, we are headed 18 miles down the road for some renovations. We're glad to know that those big slides will come in tomorrow morning, as we enjoy the last evening's sunset across our now-familiar field. Besides having an extended warranty, looking out over God's wonder of another sunset is good for our peace of mind as well.

Wandering Mississippi Wonders looking for zero people

NOTE: We are about two weeks behind in posting our blogs. As things are changing quickly in our country because of the COVID-19 pandemic, please understand that some of our activities and decisions would be different if they happened on the day the blog was actually published.

Many of the days that we are camped at our repair shop, we have to stay close by. It reminded us of being at a hospital with a sick relative, and waiting for hours in the room to be sure you don't miss the unscheduled times that the doctor arrives. We've been waiting for our RV repairman, and now we are waiting for an inspector. We have to stay close by because we don't want to miss the unscheduled times when they arrive. Remember that we arrived several days before our appointment so they could get all the authorizations from our warranty company. But for some reason, our repairman didn't contact the warranty company right away. When he finally called, they wanted an inspector to substantiate all our repairs as necessary. So now we wait another couple days for the inspector to arrive. Then they will have to work us in with other appointments at the repair shop, since it will be past the dates we booked months ago. Sheesh!

The good news is that now we have a day to wander! During this time, the states of Mississippi and Alabama have few coronavirus cases--especially in this isolated corner of the states. Even though we are isolating, we are free to travel from place to place because there are no state-wide travel bans. Within this lightly populated area, we are finding that it's easy to find places with zero people on this nice blue-sky day.

We parked the car, and headed up an old paved road that hasn't seen auto traffic for years. The trees are putting on their spring leaves, and we love finding an occasional dogwood tree in bloom.

These lovely white blossoms appear close to Easter, and we love to be in regions where they thrive in the spring.

We're hiking up to the Divide Overlook. We're not sure what is divided and what we are overlooking, but we can tell that the viewing point is rarely used. Trees are now hiding most of the view of the water below.

That was a nice hike in beautiful weather, and the number of people seen was zero. But the real reason we are in this area was to go bike riding. Mark found a biking trail that started beside the Holcut Memorial. We learned that the tiny town of Holcut, Mississippi, was founded in the valley below us in 1907. But the memorial states that the town was "sacrificed to progress for the construction of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway in 1976." We can see that new waterway behind Mark and that rock memorial. The number of people we saw here--zero.

Not far from that memorial, we found a family cemetery in a field of violets. It is the final resting place for dead citizens from a dead town.

We unloaded the bicycles and took off on the trail that runs all along the ridge overlooking the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

We found a walking trail down to the water, where adjoining creeks flow down man-made culverts in sheets.

This is a carefully controlled waterway, with straight rock banks, and cemented culverts to bring the surrounding creeks together in an orderly fashion. It's not as naturally picturesque as other waterways we have enjoyed.

After four miles, we turned our bikes around and headed back to the parking lot. It was a nice level trail, and good exercise. Again the number of other bikers on the trail was zero.

It was another good quarantine activity. We headed back to the trail head to eat our picnic lunch, and noticed a nest setting on a tall post beside the water.

It looks like a pair of ospreys are sitting on eggs. We saw one bird fly in, but the second stayed sitting on the nest the entire time we watched.

It's only a picture of the top of the osprey, but it will have to do for the wildlife picture of the day. We can report that the number of people sharing that bird view with us was zero.

We took another short hike and once again the number we saw on the trail was--you guessed it--zero. Our next stop of the day, was a lovely view of Bay Springs Lake. This is the lake that the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway flows in and out of.  If we hadn't already taken two hikes and a bike ride, we would have put our kayak on this neck of the lake on this beautiful blue sky day.

On our driving loop back to the repair shop, we drove a few miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The clover on the side of the road is blooming in that striking color of crimson. This road stretches 444 miles--all the way from southern Mississippi to past Nashville, Tennessee. Four years ago we drove much of this scenic by-way in our motor home. It's another good place to spend some time when you want to see zero people.

On our last hike of the day, we found lots of the seed balls that fall from some of the big trees. We must have seen too many coronavirus news updates, because those balls couldn't help but remind us of the virus picture we have seen so many times on television. It's a reminder of the reason that we are social distancing.

We needed a break from the repair shop, and we're just glad that we have the opportunity to wander in Mississippi and still keep our social distance. We'll be glad when we don't have to look for activities with zero people in attendance!

Wandering thru Tishomingo State Park

NOTE: We are about two weeks behind in posting our blogs. As things are changing quickly in our country because of the COVID-19 pandemic, please understand that some of our activities and decisions would be different if they happened on the day the blog was actually published.

We had some beautiful weekend weather after we arrived in Red Bay, Alabama. While we wait for our appointment, we have time on our hands to do some wondering. While many of the surrounding states have stay-at-home orders, Mississippi and Alabama are still in the "social distancing" phase of the pandemic. We think that the best place to keep our distance is just over the state line at the Tishomingo State Park in Mississippi.

The state park's brochure described this park in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains with "unique landscape of massive rock formations and fern-filled crevices found no where else in Mississippi." Since we love massive rocks and ferns and mountains, we knew we would love this outing.

We started our hike at the pioneer cabin, situated along a bubbling creek in the woods.

The young men of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) lived and worked in this park during the 1930's. Everywhere we turned we found evidence of the characteristic rock work that this group has sprinkled all across the United States.

It's neat that these hand-made rock features live on almost 90 years later!

After hiking the 3/4-mile loop around the cabin, we headed up and up onto the longer CCC Camp Trail.

In our 6-mile loop trail we met only one other person. It was easy to give him a six-foot space to pass us.

Denisa loves the surprise of an occasional wild azalea blooming in the woods.

What a wonder to find this delicate pink blossom against the new green leaves of spring and the bright blue sky. Who would ever know that a pandemic was brewing all around us?

Between the rocks and the flowers, we have wandered into another of God's wonders today!

We surprised a few deer, and we saw countless squirrels in our hike through the woods. But our wildlife picture of the day was really tricky to photograph. Several times we heard a slight movement in the dry leaves near our feet, and once we even spotted the wet-looking tail that caused the noise. Only once did the tail (and the attached body) stop on a rock long enough for us to snap a picture.

We think this slimy creature is a skink, loving its home in this moist environment.

Half-way around our loop, the trail led us beside Bear Creek. After last year's clear mountain rivers, it's hard to be impressed with these muddy southern creeks.

The only way to cross the river is on the swinging bridge constructed in 1939 by the CCC.

It did have a lot of swing in this old bridge, whose capacity is only five people at one time.

At the time we were visiting, all Mississippi State Parks were open to day visitors, as well as overnight campers. Those campers had to be in self-contained units, and the day visitors wouldn't be able to stay all day, because all the bathrooms in the park are closed. But we did appreciate having a place to get outside for some good exercise away from people. We didn't realize how we take that for granted in our travels! Thanks Tishomingo State Park for letting us wander your beautiful trails today!

Destination Red Bay, Alabama

We arrived at our destination this morning. Because of the changes in our world from the coronavirus, it looks like this will be the furthest that we will wander south and east this season. Usually destinations are filled with beautiful scenery with plans for great hikes or kayak trips. Sometimes our destinations for the season include a special friend or loved one. But during this crazy year of 2020, this season's destination looks like this.

Months ago we made an appointment to get work done on our motor home. We were going to stop in at Red Bay on our way to our real destination in Canada. But now it looks like this is our destination instead. 

We have lots of little things to repair, and a few big things that have to be done. We saved them up because we have an extended warranty that will pay for these repairs--under their terms. That includes a certified repair shop that will go to the trouble of documenting the needed repairs, and submitting it for approval to the warranty company before work can begin. But mostly we are here in Red Bay, Alabama, because this is the birthplace of our motor home. We stopped in at the campground at the factory, to see the line of Tiffin Motorhomes that stretch as far as you can see.

We have stayed in that campground before, but not this time. This company used to have the reputation of taking care of their motor homes for life. People would drive from all over the country to wait for up to a month to get their motor home repaired at these bays with the reputation for being the best. But that era seems to be over at Tiffin. They have fenced off about half of the camping spots, and a new sign at the entry informs us that only "motohomes" less than one year old can now park here." It's usually a very social experience, visiting with other Tiffin owners, but during this pandemic we didn't talk to anyone.

Some of the best repair technicians have started their own businesses around Red Bay, and that's where we are headed. We've read great things about "Custom RV." We've had this appointment for months, because with their fine reputation they are booked solid. We are glad they will go to the trouble to deal with extended warranties, and it was a bit of trouble this time. We had an appointment to start work on a Tuesday, so we arrived the previous Friday so they could get the warranty company's approval ahead of time. They have electrical hook-ups, so we are camping next to a field, trying to keep ourselves busy with cleaning projects while we wait.

We should mention that we crossed another state line to get to this destination. Red Bay is in the northwest corner of Alabama, so Denisa had to snap the obligatory state sign picture. This one isn't very impressive along this narrow highway.

Besides cleaning the front of the motor home, we're also doing cleaning projects on the inside while we wait. We are finding things in little-used cabinets that we had forgotten we had with us. We are also playing games every day. We are attempting to play every game that we tucked inside the motor home over five years ago. Because we are usually busy planning our next adventure, or enjoying the sights of our present location, we've had little time to play games. But this season we are playing all the two-people games--cribbage, yahtzee, qwixx, rummi-dice, backgammon, speed scrabble, sequence, boggle . . .    During this period of isolation, we even invited others to play games via texting and phone. If you take a picture of the boggle board, you can text it to your sister to play too!

Another game we haven't played in five years is tennis. We dug out our old tennis rackets that were buried deep in the motor home basement, and then headed to the tiny town of Vina. Just two miles down the road from us, it didn't look like this court had been used for a very long time. But we swept off the rocks, and tried to remember how to swing a tennis racket. We had to remember that it was a totally different swing and distance and bounce than we are used to with pickle ball. But it was good exercise chasing all the balls we missed.

Then to further confuse our muscle memory, we got out our pickleball rackets and balls and played a few more games. That was crazy, as our minds and muscles had to rethink this slower game. We didn't see another soul in this tiny town, so it was good isolating exercise for us.

We're looking for other exercise at this season's destination. We found a gravel road at an abandoned industrial site that makes a safe (albeit very boring) walking track. Two different days we went into the town of Red Bay, and took five-mile hikes along the streets and on the only walking trail. It's just a quarter-mile long, so this trail becomes as boring as our industrial site soon.

You would hope that a town with "bay" in the name would include some water feature for boating. But in this case, it refers to the bay trees found in this area. A memorial bay tree is planted on main street in honor of the town's name sake.

So we are now hunkered down at this season's unusual destination. We have some ideas for drives along some lonely back country roads, so we're hoping that even in this isolating season of wandering, we'll find some wonders.