Rolling, rolling, rolling!

Wow!  What a time we had in Atlanta.   It started off with a terrific visit from our son Jason and his girlfriend, Joanne.  It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed meeting Joanne.  We were busy and shared a lot of laughs over their short time here.

Then, of course we had to see the dentist, yes we still come to Atlanta for that.  Maybe some of you feel like we do about dentists, once you find one you like, it is VERY hard to switch and find a new one.  We have been going to this dentist for 20 years, and plan to continue for the time being.  A couple other Dr appointments and we can now call it a year.

We met friends, Brett and Sandra for a great visit that included dinner, drinks, dessert, and an awesome quick visit to a sensational house they are in the process of buying.  They have an exciting time ahead of them.  We sure enjoyed seeing them and do each time we come through Atlanta.

We also enjoyed a couple days of pouring rain.  Sounds funny, but sometimes rainy days are welcome, and especially since we had so very few all winter long in Florida.  It's nice to cozy up, watch a few movies and listen to the sounds of the rain on the roof.  I also think it knocked some of the pollen out of the air:-)

Then we finished our time in Atlanta by going over to our friends, John and Diane's beautiful lake house for a few days.  They are long time friends and we always enjoy their company.  

The view off their porch

Diane, moi, and John enjoying some philosophy:)

We even got in a boat ride, and of course, a stop along the way for a beer.

A nice day

Managed to get into a very hotly contested Cornhole tournament, which I am sad to report Jan and I lost the tie breaking game by 1 point.

Hot competition

And a lot of fun and discussion into the wee hours...

Good times!

We got back to the coach to see how Bert survived 2 nights alone, and other than a couple presents on the floor and being very relieved we returned, and writing this 2 days later, he is almost recovered.

So after our whirlwind time in Atlanta, we have now moved up to Marble, NC to actually begin our travels.  We are at a new RV resort, called Valley River.  It is still partly under construction, and has a beautiful clubhouse, a bath house and pool under construction, a whole new area of sites being worked on, very friendly managers, and unfortunately an entrance that was not built for a 45' motorhome, as we drug our rear end getting in and will most definitely drag our way out.  It is truly a shame with as much thought and work that has gone into this, and going to be beautiful resort that they missed such an obvious and important feature.  Will we come back?  Hard to say.

The clubhouse

Another subject.  As I have mentioned, Jan and I have taken up fly fishing, again for me and new for Jan.  We have really been enjoying it.  A company named Denver Outfitters makes and sells a fly rod and reel holder for your vehicle, essentially they bought out another company and with growing pains are building this rod holder, called a Rod Vault.  During a promotion, and after seeing quite a few in use out west, we ordered ours in June of 2017, also paid in full.  We just had it delivered, FINALLY, after delay after delay, to our campground here in NC.  It came broken down into a couple pieces, as it has to be, as it is 10' long, so some assembly is required.

Putting it together

After a bit of adjusting to get it on the truck just right we are happy to say it is all mounted and ready for use.

Our new Rod Vault

Now I will try to be straightforward and unbiased in my comments.  We were truly frustrated by the 10 month delay in receiving this product.  When we saw the package when we arrived, we were saddened to see how awful the packaging was, the one end of the holder was completely exposed!  But, nothing was damaged.  One end almost fell off as 2 of the 3 rivets holding it on fell out, but luckily rivets are one of the items I carry all the time so that was easily fixed.  We were very impressed at how solid and rugged the Rod Vault is, very nice quality.  Instructions to assembling it are poor, but it really isn't difficult, but all in all, Jan and I spent a couple hours getting it right.  This company is now advertising a 30 day delivery schedule which will have to be observed before believed, at least for us, but it is a very cool product which allows you to transport up to 3 completely assembled and ready to go fly rods up to 10' long.  It will allow us to get on the water in mere moments, and does seem to have the quality and heft to last a very long time.  We will be able to better assess it after a full season of fishing.

So after mounting our new toy, and settling in to our site, Jan and I sat down for a "on the road again" drink.  So cheers everybody!

New bags, out of Florida, and now visiting Atlanta

We had a pretty much uneventful trip out of the campground in Florida, although we left early in the morning instead of in the afternoon as we wanted to beat a big rain storm to Orlando.....and we did, not a drop.  We arrived at our very picturesque "camping" spot outside the fence at Josam's where we were scheduled to have all of our air bags replaced the next morning.

Our rain free early arrival

Sure enough at exactly 0700 the next morning we entered a bay to have our repairs done. We were met by Keith who was assigned to us.  We started by helping the process by raising the coach on our jacks, dumping all the air, and then he was able to jack up the axles to take the pressure off the bags for replacement.

Ready to start

Wheels off

Keith about to install a new bag, old one beside him

Monaco didn't make this operation simple, Keith was impressive as he contorted himself to get to almost inaccessible bolts in order to get the bags off.  

One of our shiny new bags!

In all fairness we had added 2 other items to our list, one to replace the desiccant cartridge on our air dryer, and to check and replace if necessary an air fitting for our auxiliary air compressor and leveling system.  The desiccant cartridge helps remove moisture from the coach's air system, for suspension and brakes, and should be replaced every 2-3 years depending on where you operate the coach, humidity plays a big part.  I had mentioned in my last post that I had discovered that for some reason the line from the air compressor to the tank was blocked, and wondered if a check valve that was supposed to be removed had somehow not been removed and had seized up.  With the wheels off the drive axle it made it almost accessible for Keith to get the fitting pulled out so we could inspect it.  

The fitting in question is at the top of the photo

It turned out to not be a check valve, just a straight fitting as it should be, but it was completely blocked!  We think there might have been a screen in the fitting for some reason that corroded and blocked it.  Either way, Keith was able to drill the fitting clear and reinstall it so air flows readily now.

The blocked fitting

Clearing it out

I can now say the fitting works as it should and air flows each way, from the coach and from the air compressor, success!

Keith worked diligently all day and was almost beaten by the rear most bags on the front or steer axle.  Their air fittings were almost impossible to reach, and even when he could get a wrench on them, it was impossible to move it with the tiny amount of space.  He contemplated the situation as he finished the other front bags, and came up with a great solution.  He ended up cutting his wrench in half, and by shortening the wrench was able to break the fittings loose, but out of time we spent the night, this time inside the fence, and now he could say confidently, he would be able to quickly replace the rear air bags in the morning.  It would also give us an evening to make sure there were no leaks.

Our "camp" inside the fence

The air held beautifully all night and right at 0700 we headed back in to get the last 2 bags replaced.  He finished up quickly, and I started it up to bring up the air, and what?!?  The front wouldn't come up!  Keith wiggled under to feel for leaks, couldn't find anything, I juggled the leveling pad back and forth, but no way would the front raise.  We were pretty stumped.  We figured the only thing that could have happened was he must have accidentally bumped the ride height valve for the front with the jack.  The ride height valves control the air suspension as you go down the road, one in the front and 2 in the rear.  So we wanted to get the coach moved over one bay to the alignment pit so they could check it out.  Easier said than done, with the front all the way down, I could only turn the wheel a tiny bit to work our way out of the bay and into the pit, but we did.  After we got in there they thought they heard a leak, told me to shut it down, but then they couldn't hear it anymore.  So off comes the right front wheel, Keith contorts to get to the fitting and tries to tighten it, back on goes the wheel, start the coach back up, won't raise, do they hear a leak?  Turn off the coach, no leak, start back up and have me raise the front manually with the leveling pad, and yes they hear a leak, but only when I put extra air to the bags, back off comes the wheel.  Anyway, they take off the air fitting, clean it up again, retape it, install it again, wheel back on, and yes, it raises right up!  Good to go.  Even with all this we were back on the road by 1030.  

We had a treat waiting for us in Elko, GA at Twin Oaks Campground.  Debbie and Harold were already there and were going to make us dinner, and we would be able to visit and have one last goodbye until July.  We had a fantastic time, and a delicious dinner, maybe drank a little wine before we left early the next morning on our sortie to the Vet's for Bert.

Our wonderful rendezvous!

 So after getting to the Vet on time, having Bert all checked out, he passed with flying colors, we cut across northern Atlanta to Allatoona Landing Campground for our time here.  We have several visits coming up with family and friends, doctor and dentist appointments all before we really start our summer ramblings.

All settled in here in Atlanta