Finishing Up Our Successful Florida Trip

We left Saturday on our sojourn to Florida for repairs.  We decided mid day on a Saturday would be fine to go through the middle of Atlanta, but when we checked traffic just before, all of mid town was stopped with several accidents, and since the western side of 285 was closed for construction we detoured and went down outside the west side of the city like I used to drive to work.  That worked out fine and we had fine sailing to our stop for the night in Elko, GA, at Twin Oaks.  We pulled in and then I made a very bad decision still unknown at that time to run the leaking slide out one more time.

Got off the next morning at a leisurely pace, after all we were just going to a spot at the service center, Josam's, outside their gate so we didn't feel we'd accomplish too much by getting there early.  Pulled in the slide and off we went at about 10am.  All was fine until we stopped for lunch, Jan went out to stretch her legs and when she came back in noticed that the front of the leaking slide was out a couple inches.  Hmm, so I tried to pull it back in and it popped farther out, maybe 6 inches!

Then I decided I'd run it all the way out and bring it back in, all that accomplished was to make it a bit worse, we tried physically pushing on it to no avail.  So we decided we'd just have to drive with it like that and deal with it later.  Thankfully it never moved.  We finally pulled into Josam's at 6pm after spending an hour in stop and go traffic all through Ocala, made for a very long day, but we persevered with a drink and a cigar:-)

Looks pretty idyllic, right?

As we enjoyed both the drinks and cigars we were entertained by huge lizards on the wall and building!

And the slide at least was stable, no changes.

Barry got us in the shop first thing in the morning, and the first thing he found was the ABS valve was not leaking but there was a PPV, a pressure prevention valve that was, so that was replaced and 3 new brake lines installed, and we were out the door before 10am!  Then off to Classy Motor Coach Custom RV Repair in Mulberry, FL, just south of Lakeland.  We pulled into their yard at 11:20am and were met by Sonny and Dustin, and after we got the truck unhooked I backed into their workshop.  They were a little surprised as they knew we were coming with a leak but not an askew stuck slide, but they took it in stride.

They checked things out, agreed the leak could not possibly be in a worse spot, and the first thing Dustin did that amazed us was he released pressure on the synchronizing cylinder and the side of the slide that was sticking out miraculously just moved back in!!!  

The synchronizing cylinder lives in this compartment just above the fuel tank

Incredible, but now the slide would not move at all.  It was then discovered that our leak was much worse than we thought as we found the reservoir for the hydraulic fluid (ATF) was almost empty, we got that filled up and bled and voila, the slide moved, on to the leak.  We had thought initially, wouldn't it be sweet if it was just a loose connection instead of a bad ram or worse, no easier to reach, but wow that would that be sweet.  And that is exactly what it was, a loose connection almost impossible to get to, but they persevered, and with a bit of jury rigging and combining several different tools and extensions and going through all sorts of contortions Dustin was able to get it retightened and leak free.  They moved the slide in and out several times after cleaning the connection up and left it pressurized overnight just to be sure and no leaks at all in the morning!

Maybe I can get in there from here

No this way works better

After a pleasant quiet and completely dark overnight and after checking one more time for the leak, we all called it good and then they called our attention to several places on our belt line both bottom and top where it was pulling away from the wall which can lead to leaks and all kind of problems, so we opted for them to repair those.  Turned out they had to repair about 16-18 feet of belt line, all good to go now.  They even recaulked all our slide toppers, and above our door awning.

While they were working on the repairs, there were two things on our list to do since we were in Lakeland, yeah we have spent quite a bit of time in that area over the years.  One was to get pho at a very favorite restaurant, Saigon Bistro, we still think it is the best pho we have ever had anywhere, saying a lot, and the other especially for me was to get the best strawberry milkshake in the world at Parksdale near Plant City.  So while they were working we were keyed up to go do those two things, but guess what, both were closed on Tuesday, grrrrrrrrr!

Oh well, you can't win them all, and we were so pleased with our repairs, the shop, both Sonny and Dustin, our experience was so good and we can't recommend them enough.  So it was worth missing our pho and me my shake:-)

We will be back in Atlanta Thursday, we are expecting our revised plans later today, and will forward them to the builder and see if we can't kickstart this deal by next week.  Continue keeping your fingers crossed for us.

Two Weeks and Not Much to Report

Just a quick update with not a lot to say.  Basically we've just been biding our time and getting a few odds and ends taken care of.  New tires for the truck.  But, of course, finding some new places to eat and revisiting favorites.

We found a new to us sushi joint, Fuji Sushi near by and thought it was pretty good.  We are still very disappointed that our go to place, Nori Nori has permanently closed:-(

We've met Karen and Tom for several lunches and visits, and also had a nice visit and lunch with them and one of Tom's sister's, Teresa and her husband Bill.  No pictures though, unfortunately.  We've seen John and Diane a few times, but mostly we are sitting around waiting and dealing with delay after delay on the house build.

We found another new restaurant for us not far away, 1885 Grill, turned out quite good, wish the service was as good as the food.

A sort of Cobb salad with shrimp

Very good flounder sandwich with unique and delicious creamed corn

With all this free time we opted to make a foray to Buford Highway in Northeast Atlanta considered to be the heart of ethnic food in the Atlanta area.  We had been putting it off because of perceived traffic inside the perimeter, but then said what the hey?  One place in particular we wanted to go was Lee's Bakery, considered by many to make the best Banh Mi's anywhere, even the New York Times wrote them up.  Off we went, and as it turned out it was cake getting there, very manageable in late morning, even said we'd gladly do it again to sample some of the other places in the area.  It is a simple place in a strip mall with a bustling take out business as well as a sit down area.

Reportedly they also have awesome pho, but we'll have to wait until another time as we both ordered a different Banh Mi and shared, one was the standard cold cuts with pate, and the other was a barbecued pork, both were exceptional and very fairly priced, and oh the bread!

Staying on the food subject we also found a fantastic authentic Mexican place, Taqueria Cambray, order at the counter and they bring your food to you, in addition to normal stuff they also serve tongue, one of my favorites, tripe, beef head.  Anyway their street tacos are amazing, and so has been everything else we've tried.

Refried beans, Lengua (tongue) in the front and 2 fish tacos

An Asada (steak), and a carnitas (pork)

As for the house build, with all the delays, we decided to make another few changes, so the architect is working on that now, we should have them back in a week or so, and sure hope to hear something more definitive about the same time.  The way it's going with speed bump after speed bump, maybe we aren't destined to do this, time will tell, please keep your fingers crossed for us.

A Reminder That Murphy is Always Lurking

In addition to visiting with Karen and Tom in Ellijay, we wanted to get our very dirty motorhome washed, so early in the morning before it became stifling again, we got it done.  Jan did the roof as usual, and then together we finished the rest.

 

We usually pull in the slides when we wash to make it a lot easier and quicker.  Later after the concrete had dried we noticed a small puddle on the passenger side where the AquaHot lives.  Oh no, we checked the AquaHot and it was completely fine and dry.  Weirdly it felt oily, maybe like transmission fluid, what?!?  The only possible thing in that area is the slide mechanism for the front passenger side slide.  So we went inside, it could not possibly be in a worse location, absolutely inaccessible, and only in sight with the slide all the way in, and lo and behold we find the leak, whether it is a fitting or a leaking hydraulic ram is to be determined, at least it only leaks when the slide is moved.  The next is a poor picture of the leak, even getting a shot of it is difficult.

Ignore the dirt, it is in an impossible place to clean.  So we filed the leak in our minds and headed back down to Winding Water, our long term campground in Cartersville.

Then while we were getting situated in our site with me moving the coach per Jan's direction, my phone rang with a call I was waiting for so I am sitting there with engine idling with my foot on the brake talking on the phone and I start hearing this loud alarm!  I look down and see my air pressure is going down and since it is past 50-60 lbs, it sets off the low air pressure alarm.  Now what?  So I get off the phone, set the parking brake, stop pressing on the brake pedal and the air starts building back up.  Obviously we have a leak somewhere in the service brake system.  Luckily we are in our site in a campground.  I could just picture us either sitting at a traffic light for a while, or going down a road that required a lot of braking with it leaking down, what you have to understand on air brake vehicles, whether semis or RVs, when the air pressure goes down past the alarm, the spring brake or parking brake goes on, NOW.  It is air pressure that keeps it off.

So the next day, Jan and I decide to see if we can find the air leak, that way we would at least be able to tell a mobile tech what we had found.  We did not feel safe driving it.  So I cranked it up, built up the air, shut off the engine and pressed on the brake, we felt since it went down so fast, 15-20 seconds, it would be easy to hear.  We tried about 4 or 5 times and could not hear it.

We had used a mobile tech from a nearby shop about a month or so ago and were pleased so we went up to talk to the shop.  We explained what we had, the fact we could not hear it, agreed a leak that size should be able to be heard and they would send a tech to our site the next day.  He showed up right on time and we proceeded to find the leak, I would air it up, shut it off, he would crawl all around and Jan would relay when he wanted me to press the brake.  We did it 5 or so times and he had found nothing!  Now we were panicking as it seemed the only place left was up in the ceiling of our basement bays, another almost inaccessible place, but before we committed to that he decided to go back underneath and see if he could find it one more time.  This time when I pressed the brake, even I, in the driver seat, could hear him yell that he found it.  We breathed a big sigh of relief.  He found a split braided air line leaking right at the drive axle, and with the braided material around it, it muffled the sound.

He pulled the line off and the next day, had a new one made up and installed it, so we are back in business.  He did suggest replacing all the brake lines in that area since they were susceptible  to some chafing, and also he thought there was a small leak at the ABS valve in the same area.

The bad line in my hands while he is installing the new one

With the mobile rates so very high, and us with two problems now, we opted to go to our favorite chassis shop, Josam's in Orlando where we knew we could completely trust them to fix us up, as they have a lot more experience with our coach and coaches like ours unlike the shop here in Atlanta.  So now we are planning a trip to have the brake air lines replaced and whatever else needs it, and also we have an appointment down the road in Lakeland at a specific Monaco shop, Classy Motor Coach to fix our slide leak.

One more update with the house build, we have encountered yet another speed bump that we are trying to work through, so it will most likely be another week or so before an update:-(

Back Where We Started

 One more lunch at a favorite place, Dolphin, and that was that.

Fell down on the job, no pictures of our delicious lunch, fried haddock, fish chowder, and awesome homemade blueberry muffins!

We made our way back to Brattleboro, VT and Pine Grove, PA retracing our steps, then detoured to Hayes, VA to one of the very nicest parks we have ever been to, Machicomoco State Park to visit Colonial Williamsburg.  Huge private sites, with enormous patios, completely dark and quiet, only ding no sewer, no big deal.

In all our years of travel we had never visited Williamsburg.  It was very hot, but we did manage to walk from one end to the other, very interesting and beautiful.

We spent several hours walking around and then it was time for lunch and oysters, we had to redeem ourselves after not really enjoying Maine oysters.  We were between two different restaurants and chose one, we ordered and in a few moments the waiter came back and told us they were out of oysters:-(  But the rest of our meal, a couple different appetizers was quite good.  So after we drove down to Jamestown, not really knowing what we could see, actually not much as it was so long ago, not much left, but they had a nice drive through road with lots of signs and information, after that, well we still wanted oysters, and it was a very small lunch so......  We went to the other restaurant that we had picked, Berret's, and wow, they had $1 oysters all day!  So we got oysters and a local beer, Jan had 10, and I started with a dozen, and then had her 2 that she couldn't eat, she was full, but loved them, then ordered 6 more, they were delicious!

Then we had one more thing on our agenda, crab cakes.  There is a small restaurant chain in that area that I discovered long ago while flying, and got Jan to a couple years ago that has amazing crab cakes, Surf Rider.  They also offer a unique side dish, when you order an entree, you can pick any two sides or broccoli, yes broccoli, it is a huge portion simply steamed that is served with a sauce on the side, it is good, delicious, and different:-)

Fried oysters

The broccoli

And the amazing crab cakes!

So now we are back in Georgia, at Talona Ridge in Ellijay visiting Karen and Tom for a few days, then will return to Cartersville.  There has been progress, at last, on the house build and will share more in the next few weeks as it, hopefully, comes together.