A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit Of That – Eugene, OR

Paul hangs out by the lovely Willamette River in Eugene

Since we swept ourselves inland and off the coast several days ago we’ve had a busy time doing a little bit of everything. Whether it’s the shock of suddenly having over 40 different shopping options or simply being back in the buzz of “the city”, everytime we come here we seem to go crazy with activities and plans. Being a bustling RV center Eugene also inspires RV projects, which lead to more RV projects, that trigger yet another slew of potential RV projects…and finally end in the thought that if we only had unlimited time, unlimited muscle and a large barrel of cash we’d be SET. Alas (or perhaps rather thankfully) we’re only here for about a week which limits the amount of damage we can do, but does keep us rather busy….

Tucked in for the night at Cummins Northwest in Eugene

We started our week at Cummins Northwest for our annual engine & chassis service. After our excellent experience in Idaho last year, we’ve decided to make this dealer part of our yearly stop. In Coberg (just north of Eugene) they have several overnight parking spots (electric/water) where service RVs can stay for free. It would actually be an ideal (and rather sneaky) boondocking spot if it didn’t also serve as the nightly Sysco truck depot providing the company of large and noisy diesel truckers…ALL night long. We may not have slept much, but the beast enjoyed herself and got an oil change, chassis lube, air filter change, hydraulic filter change, air dryer service and (even) an engine warranty service, all for a mere $800. It’s alot of moolah, but a happy and humming RV is…as they say…priceless.

Paul tackles the RV roof

After our internal cleansing we felt the beast needed outside beautification too, especially after 2 months on the salty coast, so we parked at our favorite Eugene park (Armitage County Park) and embarked on a major RV washing. By cunning plan our RV pals Alex & Ellen were also in town, so we enlisted their help in a communal RV bath and got not just one but BOTH rigs sparkling clean. A very crafty and productive effort, if I may say so myself.

And prepares to tackle the macerator (no, it’s not as much fun as it looks)

At this point my inner RV monster was fired up to keep going so we took on several other long-pending RV projects including a complete macerator overhaul (if you don’t know what a macerator is, you don’t want to know…), removing and cleaning our roof Maxx Air Vents (which had transformed from clear plastic to a decorative black), changing out some internal drawer clasps, flushing out our grey tank (including a vinegar flush to sweep out some annoying calcium deposits) and doing a mini-wax with ProtectAll (part of our regular 1/2 yearly “easy” wax). We also got our ever-helpful pals from Elite Repair and Remodel out for a few items we couldn’t manage ourselves and even completed a rather exciting internet connectivity upgrade  (but that story will have to wait until I can dedicate a full blog post to it).

Phew…..! And you probably thought we were just hanging out, eh?

Paul and Brett over for a chat and wine

Despite all this activity we’ve crammed in a bit of fun time too. Since we’ve been at the park we’ve met no less than 3 couples of blog readers. Brett and his partner Paul, both avid week-end RVers (and potentially future full-timers) hung out for an evening of chatting and wine. We stopped by to visit Susan and Dave, a couple with 2 lovely dogs on a year-long RV adventure who happened to be staying here to visit their son. And we bumped into our next-door (literally) neighbours also happen to be blog readers. Who knew that Eugene would be such a hot-spot of RV socialites all with such excellent blog-reading taste?

It’s blackberry month in Eugene…oh, YUM!

And then of course there’s everything we love about this town. Great bike riding, good hiking, good food, and fabulous farmers market. We’ve gorged ourselves on extra-tasty gluten-free Pizza, played by the river and even managed some golfing (well, Paul has anyway). September is blackberry month too so we’ve been walking and munching our way around the trails while we enjoy the warm weather and sunshine. We’ve got another 4 days or so here before we caravan off with our buddies to Crater Lake so we’ll be cramming in a few more RV projects, some outings and (who knows) maybe even a couple of extra social visits before we head on out. It’ll have been a busy week but we’ll have full bellies, happy souls, a spanking clean RV and be ripe and ready to get lost and dirty in the boonies. Perfect!

Good RV Repairs & The 80/100/100 Rule – Elite Repair & Remodel, Eugene, OR

The fine crew at Elite RV Repair & Remodel

An old-time RVer once told me that if 80% of the things on the coach are working, he is 100% happy 100% of the time (I call it the 80/100/100 rule & it’s a complete oddity of RVing). Going into 3 years on the road I find that’s a pretty good approximation. Taking what is basically a normal home and rattling it around in all kinds of weather on a constant basis is bound to “shake” things up, so whether you like it or not you are going to have strange, lonely screws that seemingly pop out of nowhere, occasional leaks with no obvious source, equipment that breaks for no reason and mysterious electrical problems that simply can’t be explained. It’s just the reality of life on the road.

Paul discusses our perplexing alternator issue with Eric

But the most pressing issue of 80/100/100 is not the breaks but getting someone reliable to fix them. We struggled with this our second year out when we had massive problems with our big drivers-side slide, and this despite using rvservicereviews.com as a resource. We used a well-rated shop in Colorado where we spent 2 full days (only to be sent away ‘coz they couldn’t fix it), and waited almost 3 weeks in Eugene to get into the Monaco factory (never did get in). Finally, with the clouds parting and angels singing we were introduced to Marty ((541)-517-1716), Mark((541)-515-2740) and Eric ((541)-255-6231) at Elite RV Repair & Remodel (a mobile outfit of highly experienced guys who all worked at the Monaco factory for years). You may think I’m exaggerating, but after several months living with a non-functioning & leaking slide it was aaaalmost a religious experience. In a few hours these guys came out to the rig and completely fixed what the other shops couldn’t handle. We were hooked and decided we would use them for every single RV repair we could in the future.

Elite’s new digs in Harrisburg, OR

This year was no exception. We came back to Eugene with a few minor but annoying issues which we hadn’t been able to fix ourselves -> a missing cable on our bedroom slide (which was causing a small leak), a broken door awning motor, a mysterious alternator problem and a very tricky broken kitchen island pull-out catch. Our very first call was to Elite who came out right away to assess the repairs. This year we had the added complication of wanting to use our new Extended Warranty (I’ll write another post about Warranties soon -> I’ve been “testing” this one and there’s a whole lot to talk about here). Not only did Marty jump through all the hoops required by the warranty (and believe me there are always hoops), including attending an inspector who had to came out to assess the damage, but the crew got it all fixed and completed in the time requirements we had. Perfect!

Mark works on our slide

Elite recently opened a shop location (in Harrisburg, just north of Eugene) so they have both mobile and fixed service now. They do serious remodelling too. We had a RV buddy who did a massive make-over of their Monaco w/ these guys incl. new floors, custom computer desk, new valences, updated kitchen…you name it, and they were very happy with the results. Depending on budget we may well come back later in the summer for a bit of remodelling ourselves.

In the meantime, we’re finally off to the coast and once again 80/100/100 happy.  If you’re in Eugene and need some work done I highly recommend these guys. And no I don’t get paid for this….but now that you mention it maybe I should bargain some remodel work for it…hmmmm?

Polly is a very patient RV repair doggie

Paul passes time at Elite Repair. He has aaalmost got Polly fully trained to pick-up the golf balls.

Plans Sculpted in Jello -> More Slide Woes in Eugene, OR

The fine folks at Elite Repair and Remodel -> a fabulous outfit!

So, we were all ready to go. The route south had been planned in superb detail with a sure promise of fabulous vistas, great campgrounds and (even) a secret boondocking spot. In short, the camping route of a genius. Plates were tucked away, the last cup of coffee drained and we were off…..

Or such was the plan anyway….

That very last bit was interrupted by what I can only describe as a giant splosh. Now whereas our big slide had warned us of a leak by a dignified “plop“, this was really more like the sound of a Japanese water garden, coming from the right, and overall it would have been very relaxing had not the outlet of said tranquility been inside the RV. This was not just a leak, it was a veritable gush and it was coming through both the door AND the slide.

We were faced with a conundrum. I had planned a reunion down in Mammoth Lakes with my Nepal hiking buddies in just over a week, but if we left as planned that meant living with an indoor water garden until we managed to find a reputable shop, always an iffy question. On the other hand we were in Eugene, RV repair town galore and probably the best place on earth to get this thing fixed. And where else, other than rain-swept Oregon, would you have such a prime opportunity for discovering leaks?

Chatting about the slide repair with Marty and Mark

With 8 days of rain forecast ahead and the prospect of more wetness for our trip south we decided to change the plans that had been happily sculpted in jello and stay to get this fixed. Thankfully we ALSO knew JUST the guy to get it done. Our last slide fix had been handled by the fine folks at Elite Repair and Remodel (Marty: (541)-517-1716 Erik: (541)-255-6231)), a mobile outfit of highly experienced guys who all worked at the Monaco factory for years. They’d come highly recommended on all the forums, had a pristine 5-star rating on rvservicereviews.com and our last experience with them certainly bore that out (can’t recommend them enough!). A call to get them out and they were on the job. They re-sealed the entire slide and discovered some other spots that needed work, as well as a rotten seal on one of our other slides. We decided to tackle everything as well as a couple of extra jobs from our list while we had them.

Not a bad spot to be hanging out. Fall colors in Eugene.

The entire project will take several days (going on into next week), meaning we can’t drive the rig to my reunion. So I’ve booked a ticket from Portland and we’ll scoot on up and onwards from there. As luck has it our prolonged stay in Eugene has meant the discovery of a new ”freebie” site (review coming), viewing of fall colors, another run at the fabulous farmers market, plus more social activities as well as a re-reunion with our friends Alex and Ellen up in Portland.  Cool!

The new plan may also be sculpted in jello, but clearly it was meant to be…

P.S. I must thank my RV friend Jil for the jello idea. You made the comment and it just wobbled and stuck

RV Slide Woes & A Total Change in Plans

“When life throws you a curve ball, learn to hit a good slam off it” Anonymous

"The Beast" goes into the shop

There are a bunch of classic quotes centered around the life and curveball theme, but they all got one thing in common.  Sometimes things just don’t work out as planned and so you gotta learn to play the game differently. 

That pretty much summed up what went through my mind after we’d spent 2 full days (that would be 48 hours for those counting) sitting at the RV repair shop only to hear the tech tell us “I’ve tried everything I can think of and I just can’t fix it”.

Bummer!

I can definitely recommend these guys

The thing is, I really believed him. This shop (Humphrey’s RV) in Grand Junction came highly recommended and our experience, apart from the fact that we couldn’t get our problem fixed, had been excellent. The customer service was friendly, the tech and mechanics up-front and honest. They let us stay overnight (with 30Amp) on-site and ended up only charging us for 4 hours of labor (!!) because they felt bad they couldn’t fix the issue. Honestly, I would recommend them wholeheartedly and had nothing (at all) to complain about.

Hanging out at Humphrey's RV

But that still left us with the situation of a broken slide. You know the story of the leak and bend from our “incident” in the mountains, but turns out our slide problem was much more serious than that (and *not* by the way related to the “incident”). Over the past year of RVing the whole slide seems to have somehow gone out of alignment and the back corner was “catching” the side of the RV everytime it came in , bending the RV wall and causing a “pop” on release (yikes!) 

Our free camping spot for the night at Humphrey's

We’d made a note of it about a month ago and thought it could be fixed by a simple alignment. But ohhhhh, nooooo…..the slide was fully aligned, fiddled, checked, taken apart, put together, even had a shimmy put under the back (to raise it 1/4″), but nothing worked. After spending several hours with Monaco on the phone and trying everything they could it looks like we might need a total slide re-build.

OK…not what I had planned…hmmm, what now?

My new "do"...it's been a while

The manufacturer of our coach is in Oregon and looks like that’s the logical next step. That means Idaho is out the window and Oregon in. After feeling rather depressed and decidedly “non-Zen” for an evening, we found some bright spots in the whole ordeal:

• Weather: The weather in Oregon seems fabulous right now. Idaho (at least the southern part which was our plan) is roasting. Ass in the sand and feet in the ocean…oh yeah, I can dig that!
• Hair: The 2 days we spent at the RV shop gave me time to get a haircut of which I was in dire need (my last professional cut being over a year ago). Hairdressers worldwide are rejoicing at my transformation.
• Time: Paul’s got a couple of weeks on his own next month (while I go to Denmark for a family reunion) which will be fruitfully spent getting repairs. Time-wise it’s kinda perfect.
• Money: We have an extended warranty which covers the slide, so it’s not like the financial concern is there.
• Why Not? We’re mobile and fancy free, so why not make the drive?

So all in all we’ve decided run with this curveball and take it where it goes. That means a TOTAL change of driving plans which we’ll be working on over the next 2 days. In any case, Oregon here we come….

An Unexpected Turn in the Road

In the service bay...not where we expected to be today

Every now and then life takes you along roads which you didn’t expect to travel. Experience has taught me that it’s best to go with the flow of these things. After all, if everything is telling you to go in a certain direction, then you might want to follow that lead. I’ve found this philosophy can apply to major life decisions as well as the small things that come up on a daily basis and as it so happens, one those little kicks came our way today.

We were all ready you see. We had been planning for about a week to boondock in the Apalachicola National Forest. In fact, I was rather excited about it both because it would be way “out there” and second because…well…it’s darn cheap! Things, however just seemed to keep getting in the way. All this week the weather had been on the fritz. Days of rain and hard chill followed by only faint peaks of sun kept postponing our drive. Finally, this morning things seemed to take a turn for the better. The sun burst forth, the air warmed up and everything seemed prepped for the move. We happily packed up the RV, tucked in her jacks and got a-rolling on the road.

But alas…it was not meant to be…

Almost at once an alarm went off, the dash panel went berserk and the beast told us we had an Alternator Failure. “A what?” was my first thought. My second was “DRAT….! Call up the bleeding roadside assistance”. As it turns out the alternator is a charging device that maintains the electrical system and having it fail means, amongst other things, that you might not be able to start the RV next time you try. Not really an ideal situation for a home on the move.

Southern Truck and Trailer -> good people!

Thanks to Good Sam’s Platinum Roadside Assistance (which we’ve been quite happy with, by the way) we located a shop (Southern Specialized Truck and Trailer Service) a mere 25 miles away in Lake City, who turned out to be excellent people. They took us in immediately, spent over an hour and a half checking the alternator, the batteries and even the dash panel and charged us just one hour for the whole thing. In the end the alternator was fine and we decided condensation from the last 3 days of chill (and running the furnace) might have messed with the dash panel. With only a minor charge from the mechanics we flew off without the alarm going off, and thus much, much happier.

The time spent, however had thrown the boondocking idea out the window and we opted instead to stop over at Stephen Foster State Park just 10 miles away. We arrived at ~4PM, a lovely large spot just happened to be available and church bells welcomed our entry to the park. Now, if that ain’t serendipity, I don’t know what is. Our first impressions are that this place is excellent and I’m quite happy our day led us here despite the unexpected turn in the road. Also, seems the weather is turning south again with the rain and chill coming in overnight which would have made boondocking a rather muddy, frosty affair. So, I’ll take the path that was given and quite happily walk along to wherever it might go. That’s life, after all….