We took advantage of not having anything to do and slept in yesterday morning. It seems like it’s been a while since we could do that.
There were four or five RVs here with us in the camping area at Spartan on Friday night, folks who had finished up with their work but decided to spend the night instead of hitting the road late in the day. But they were all gone by the time we woke up. About midday a Mountain Air diesel pusher arrived and parked several spaces down from us.
I spent most of the day and evening writing, getting a lot done for the new issue of the Gypsy Journal, which we will send to the printer this coming week. Terry was kept busy proofing things as I printed them out, and answering e-mails. Today I will start laying out the new issue.
We needed to pick up a few things from the grocery store, so about 4 PM we drove to the Meijer store out on the interstate. For those not familiar with Meijer, it is a popular regional store somewhat like a WalMart but on a slightly smaller scale. Folks in the Midwest seem to love their Meijer stores.
Back in our motorhome, I treated myself to a nap while Miss Terry made supper. Or is that dinner? I think it depends on which part of the country you are in. But whatever you call it, it was delicious. Just like everything Terry cooks.
The weatherman is predicting thunderstorms for today and Monday, and sometime around 7 PM it started to sprinkle. I told Terry that it looked like the storms had arrived a little early. As it turns out, just about the time I stopped talking, it stopped sprinkling.
After reading yesterday’s blog, I got an e-mail from someone asking if I really thought we needed to spend a lot of money on RV repairs, that if we were able to drive it here without major problems why spend the money? Why not wait until it really needed the work done? Huh? When you know you have a problem with your equipment, why wouldn’t you get it fixed? Especially when you’re right there dealing with the factory that made the chassis and has the parts and the expertise to do the job?
We have been running up and down the highway in RVs for over 13 years now, and if there is one thing I have learned, it’s that it’s always cheaper to fix a problem when you discover it, rather than breaking down somewhere on the side of the road and dealing with it when you have to.
I don’t like to spend money any more than the next guy does, but I’ve never understood some people’s reasoning. I got an e-mail a while back from a couple who bought a ten year old motorhome and were asking me for some advice. They said overall the coach was in good shape, except that the automatic rooftop satellite TV dish did not work and the paint was faded on one side because the rig spent most of its time parked next to the previous owner’s home.
The lady said they were going to replace the TV dish, and were going to get some quotes on getting the motorhome painted, but wanted to ask me about the tires. She said they were the original tires and still have a lot of tread left, since the motorhome only has 21,000 miles on it. They had been advised to replace the tires, and were trying to justify spending the money. I wrote back and asked her how much their lives and their motorhome were worth? If I were in their place, my priority would be safety over TV dishes and paint jobs.
Thought For The Day – We can’t do great things in this life. We can only do small things with great love. – Mother Theresa
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
We just put 6 brand new tires plus a spare on our “new to us” Class B motorhome. It is a 2004 and still had the original tires on it with only 8700 miles on them. They looked brand new. The tire shop guys just shook their heads. . . they said they hated to take off and throw away such good looking tires, but they knew that was the right thing to do. They said once you got on the road and they heated up, the side walls would start blowing out. No thanks. It’s going to Alaska and we don’t want any tire problems.
Hey Nick…..I always say I would rather deal with a potential mechanical/tire problem when it’s my choice and my timing, not when I’m forced to deal with it on the side of the road at the mercy of a tow truck operator/mobile mechanic……mechanical issues don’t improve with time, they only get worse, and more expensive. The same thing with tires…..the most important thing is “how old are they”, not how they look. Once you get to 7-8 years old you are on borrowed time.
Just bought new tires for our truck that pulls our 5th wheel. They too looked fine but had 45,282 miles on them which included our Alaska trip last year. We checked to see when the tires were manufactured and it was quite recent so we didn’t have to worry about that. I sure don’t want a blowout when we are in travel status!
Sure enjoy your blog and learning new places to go and things to see.
Happy Father’s Day to one and all!
Nick,
Well, there really is such a thing as a “stupid question” and the guy who asked it is the same guy who would sell his used car to someone and tells them it is in perfect condition.
You get some of the most interesting email and I can just hear you saying to Terrie: “you are not gonna believe this one!”
I can “hear” my brother the car mechanic heaving a great sigh!! Worse yet to him are those who let just about everybody and their brother “work on the car”…get it ALLLLLLLLLL messed up and then expect him to fix it for a bit of nothing!! Problems just do not disappear on our driving machines!!