Warranty Work

August we left Louisiana to take the RV back to Fleetwood in Decatur, Indiana to have some repairs and warranty work done.  There was nothing major to have done, but little things like a cracked shower stall or a punctured slide awning.

The puncture below is probably due to some debris, like a twig, getting caught while bringing the slide in.  Of course this is not covered under warranty, but I had it patched, which will work fine.

This is one reason why you should always get on top of the RV and sweep off your slides before you bring them in.  I usually sweep them off, but must have missed it this time.

Punctured slide awning.

One stop we made during our trip to Decatur was at Camp Lakewood Campground & RV Park in Effingham, Illinois to split up the trip.  It is a very nice campground that has a beautiful lake and decent play area for the kids.

Lake Pauline at Camp Lakewood Campgrounds & RV Park.

Tia, Courtney, Ethan, Avery, & Ian on Lake Pauline.

We considered coming back here to stay for a month after the RV repairs were done, but they did not offer a thirty day fee so it would cost more to stay there than we like to pay.

While at the Fleetwood service center, you can stay on the facilities, but the only hookup is electric, so you have to dump your tanks and fill your fresh water tank as needed since they do not have full hookups.

Since they come and get your coach at 6 AM, we do not fold out the couch and let the kids sleep on the dinette, so when we bring in the slides, they can continue to sleep.

The dinette is not really that comfortable to sleep on, but the kids seem to do OK.  I would not recommend it for adults though.

Courtney, Avery, and Tia sleeping on the dinette.

While they are working on your coach at Fleetwood, you are allowed to stay in it.  If they have to do any type of work that could bring you harm, such as fumes when they do body work and paint it, then you have to exit the RV, but in most cases you can stay.  

Misty ended up taking the kids to a local park playground and a McDonald's with a playland to play while I stayed in the coach and worked.  That way the kids were not in the way and I was there to answer any questions and make decisions for repairs.

The cracked shower was easily fixed, but meant we could not use it for a couple of days.  Even though we would sponge bath and wash our hair in the kitchen sink, it was nice when we could use the shower again.  If it would have been any longer, we probably would have gotten a hotel room just for the shower.

If we were boondocking or roughing it, then you expect not to have a hot shower everyday, but one reason we bought a RV was so we had our shower too.

For us a shower is what starts the day, so without it, we just do not feel right.

Out of commission shower, while being repaired.

 While in Decatur, one place we ate was Arnold's Fabulous Fifties Drive-In, which as the name implies, had a 50s theme.  When the kids saw the stand up of Elvis, the girls wanted to take a picture so that they could send it to Aunt Lynn, who loves Elvis.  

This is actually the forth picture I took and is why Tia looks like she is upset.  She was done with taking pictures after the first one and did not appreciate me making them get back up off their stools to pose again.  I'm not sure what Avery is doing.

Ian, Tia, Ethan, Avery, and Courtney posing with Elvis.

 On another note, Misty has been wanting us to buy new bikes so that we can ride with the kids and get into shape.  We decided to by Schwinn mountain bikes along with a cart so that we could take Avery and Chloe along.  Avery has his own bike, but has not mastered it well enough to keep up with us yet.

Misty's new Schwinn mountain bike with cart.

Avery testing out the new cart.

The cart also has a handle and front wheel that can be attached easily to convert it into a stroller, which works pretty well.  It is very easy to push and has plenty of storage for other items to include the kids.

Don's new mountain bike.

We have not exactly figured out how we are going to haul them along with the other six bikes we have, but will work it out somehow.  

Well that is about it for now, so until next time may God watch over all of our family and friends and keep them safe.

Thanks!

Don, Misty, and Kids.