Another Weekend in Red Bay

The last item on our service list is to get into the paint bay to get the cover on the new water heater painted, as well as the clothes dryer vent cover that was broken off when the coach was prepped for delivery. When we finished our service on Wednesday, we had been in service bay #3 a total of 4 1/2 days. It just seems like longer because we arrived in Red Bay 4 days early for our appointment on Wed 5/22, then our tech had 1/2 day off Friday 5/24, and Monday 5/27 was a holiday.

Progress in the paint bay had been fairly up to date, but a couple of big jobs came in that pushed those waiting back a bit. On Thursday afternoon, Don talked with the supervisor and found out it was doubtful that we would get in on Friday. We didn’t want to sit around another day waiting for a phone call, so he asked if we could get in on Monday. Yes, for sure, we’re number 1. So we were free to wander and we made another trip to Tupelo on Friday just for shopping and lunch, and to get a screen protector on my replacement Verizon Droid Razr Maxx. It’s so nice to have my smartphone back; I really missed it! And it didn’t take long to recover my phone contacts, download all my favorite apps and get everything set up again.

Meanwhile, all our friends have left, so it’s been a quiet weekend. We did manage to have one last meal with Tom & Debbie Abernethy and Donnalyn & Jim Vickers at the Speedy Pig in Russellville. Love those smoked chickens!

Weather has been a little unsettled during the last few days, even though we didn’t get any of the wild wind, rain and tornados experienced by others. Our prayers go out to those who lost loved ones, homes, schools and businesses. But when we were hit with a heavy rainstorm yesterday afternoon, we were really glad not to be on the road.

Because of the delay in getting into the paint bay, we won’t have time to visit Nashville before going to the Newmar rally in Du Quoin, IL (for RV Driving School), so we’ll just have to put the Grand Ole Opry on our bucket list for another time. Paducah, KY was our alternate destination, and they have experienced flooding from the storms. So we’re doubly glad not to have reached there earlier.

Below are a few miscellaneous pictures. Wandering around with my camera keeps me out of trouble while we’re waiting for time to pass.

We stopped by the Allegro Club to meet Jimmy Johnson, Club President, who’s also an instructor for RV Driving School. But no, he doesn’t drive a race car.

One of our neighbors in the campground has been working to increase the fuel mileage on his Allegro Breeze. He placed large pie pans over the rear wheel hubs.

And he added baffles underneath, visible in the above pic, and devices to break up the wind on the rear end cap, as seen below. He now gets 11.8 mpg, and is aiming toward 12.0. Not bad for a 32-ft. diesel pusher with 2 slides! Maybe our friend Dennis Hill could try these tricks on his 43-ft. Newmar!

The Breeze is the newest model from Tiffin, and is downsized a great deal from the other motorhomes. You can really see the difference below, a 28-ft. model in comparison to a 43-ft. Allegro Bus. It’s much shorter in both length and height. (But keep in mind that the angle of the first pic makes it look even shorter.)

Unlike our neighbor’s 32-ft., the 28-ft. has only one slide.

I’ve noticed that some of the motorhome owners have removed the name of their model. Here are two almost identical coaches. One is obviously a Phaeton; the other one is, too, but without the name. On closer inspection, it’s also missing a front license plate, so maybe it’s in the process of getting the Diamond Shield replaced, or being repainted. But I noticed others around the lot without a name, as well. We call them “No-Nommies.”

Red Bay is very patriotic. We’ve enjoyed seeing the flags in Red Bay’s city park, but I didn’t get a picture, so I’m stealing this one from Larry Clark’s blog.

And it was especially nice to see that the locals make a big deal out of military members from the community returning home.

While we’ve been stationery, I’ve been knitting and crocheting, of course! I finished this lapghan while we were in Tennessee and sent it to the VA Hospital in Mountain Home, TN.

I’m also having fun making more colorful chemo caps, as they’re easy and quick to make, and hopefully will help make some cancer victims more comfortable during their recovery.