We had a great summer meandering around our great country and now we are back home for the holidays.  We did a lot of great traveling this year.  We left the Florida Keys in April and traveled up the west coast of Florida stopping in the Tampa area to get the annual maintenance work done on our motorhome.  We were originally told it would be a one day process but after discussions about a finicky awning and the need to address a recall on our electric steps the servicing took three days.  Luckily the service center allows RV’rs to sleep in there unit if it needs to stay overnight.  So we spent two nights sleeping in our coach while it was parked in the service bay.  We finally got back on the road and slowly headed north then west.  Our first big stop was Panama City Beach Florida which is a beautiful place.  Then it was west for a few days in New Orleans.  Our plan was to then head west into Texas but due to severe weather in Texas we turned north up towards Missouri.  We needed to make a quick trip home to take care of some business so we decided to stop in Missouri.  After an internet search we found a great indoor storage facility with a 30 amp connection near Springfield MO.  We just plug the coach in, locked the door and left for home.

After returning from home we got back on the road.  We traveled to many states including Missouri, Nebraska, South and North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.  We visited many beautiful National Parks and stopped at many other points of interest.

Our travels were not without a few mechanical issues.  We had a rooftop air conditioner fan blade fail.  Tiffin quickly shipped us a new blade and I made the repair. A loose wire caused our slide control panel to malfunction.  Re-crimping a connector quickly solved that problem.  On our way from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas our motorhome overheated.  We contacted Cummins who was booked solid. They referred us to Freightliner who agreed to get us in on our last scheduled day in Vegas.  They diagnosed the issue as a stuck thermostat and after a day to complete the warrantied repairs we were back on the road.  We stopped overnight in Arizona on our way to New Mexico.  On our trip from Arizona to Albuquerque we overheated again.  We again visited a Cummins dealer who tested everything but could not find anything wrong.  Frustration began to increase as we hit the road again.  After an uneventful trip to Roswell we headed to Texas and overheated again.  We also got a check engine light this time.  I decided to call Tiffin to see if they had any answers and to my surprise they did.  After asking for my VIN number they indicated that I had a defective fan clutch.   I was more than a bit annoyed that Tiffin new about the bad batch of fan clutches but didn’t notify their affected customers.  After overnighting a new clutch and an eight hour installation by Cummins in San Antonio we were on our way and trouble free.  Apparently the two speed electric clutch would intermittently fail when the engine ran hotter than normal due to very hot weather. 

So after seven enjoyable but tiring months on the road and the resolution of a frustrating mechanical issue we decided to call it a season.  We left Texas and worked our way back to Florida.  We spent almost a month relaxing in the Keys before leaving our MH there and driving home. Mid-January we will drive back to the Keys and enjoy a few more months of warm weather before getting back out on the road.  Where are we going next?  Stay tuned!

The first stop on our new journey south was at Americamps RV Resort in Ashland, VA.  Our stay was brief but from what we could see it looked like a nice campground.  It was cold so there weren’t many campers.  The staff was very friendly.   We were only staying overnight so we were given a spot up front, close to the office with plenty of room for our big coach.

We were tired from our long drive and slept good.  We were up bright and early, ate a quick breakfast, and began closing up for the second leg of our journey south.  That is when our first problem developed.  The small bedroom slide-out would not close!  It would begin to close then suddenly stop.  I tried a few times then went outside to look at the track.  The rear slides on our bus are electric so there are exposed tracks on each side of the slide-out.  I noticed a small gouge in the bottom rear track as if something was jamming in the track.  I checked the gap between the slide-out and the body of the coach but did not find anything.  I went back in and tried moving the slide in and out a few more times and it suddenly freed itself and closed completely. What a relief!  Apparently a loose screw had worked its way into the track and that is what caused the problem.  We had the slide checked at the Tiffin Service Center during our visit in April and all was OK.

Our journey south continues…