Sunday, July 31, 2016

Our Winnebago Adventure

Hi everyone...
I'd like to share our Winnebago adventure with you, just so you know if you ever need to go to the plant for any repairs you need to make an appointment. Ed called a few months back and they told him he didn't need an appointment... Well I'm here to tell you we traveled from our home park in Texas beginning in April to be there by May 10th... We planned our route with stops along the way. Starting with Lake Whitney Thousand Trails and Lake Texoma Thousand Trails. Then we made our way through Oklahoma to Arkansas where we stopped in Ft Smith to visit with all my cousins, aunts and uncles. We stayed in Alma at a very small park NOT a Passport America, because it was the closest RV park to Ft Smith. We had a great visit, it's always nice to spend time with family. Then it was back on the road stopping for 1 night in Noesho Mo at Stage Stop RV park. A great little Passport America park for only $12.50 a night.

FYI: Passport America offers 50% off camping all across the USA and for only $45 a year it pays for itself the first time out. It has saved us hundreds of dollars in our travels when there was no Thousand Trails parks on our route. BONUS if you get your friends to sign up for Passport America you get $10... just sayin'

Anyway, back to our road trip. Last stop before Forest City Ia was in Des Moines Ia at Walnut Woods State park $15 a night. It was a little off the beaten path but worth it. Nice big clean level sites in the woods.

Finally we arrive in Forest City Ia at the Winnebago Plant, we checked in at the service dept and were told without an appointment we would be put on a "first come first basis" list and they would have a tech look at what need to be repaired. Well, the times changed hourly on the time your were to be there to meet this tech. Our time changed 4 times but we made it in 2 days later at 7 o'clock am. Only to be told by the tech, after the estimate of repairs were established, we would have to come back in a month for the work to be completed. UGH So we decided to make the best of it. What else you gonna do?

We met up with friends Janice and Rick Binns in Bear Creek Thousand Trails in Buchanan WI for 3 weeks before heading back to Forest City.

Once we got back to Winnebago for the repairs, which started June 13 and lasted until June 29, we had to stay in a motel for the 10 days then the rest of our stay, we got to sleep in the coach at night then each morning, Mon-Fri they don't work on Sat and Sun, we dropped the rig off in the am and picked it up in afternoon.. Oh yeah, while we were there our AC went out... SMH we got it fixed but it wasn't cheep. The insurance company agreed to have the living room floor finished along with new carpet in the bedroom. Yea...
Hopefully this will be it for repairs for a while. Fingers Crossed!

While we were there we went to the CDI plant where Winnebago gets all the full body paint done their coaches. CDI is just around the corner from Winnebago so we went over to see if they could take off the old cracked diamond shield from the front of our coach. To our surprise they said they could it for $300... WOW!!!  3M just laughted and all the other places Ed called wanted $2000 or more and would not guarantee damage to the paint. Not only did CDI remove the cracked diamond shield for $300 but they clear coated the radius of the top of the coach for $400. They replaced a slide topper cradle, touched up some minor spots, painted the front of the coach with 6 coats of clear coat and replaced the emblem twice, (it was crooked the first time) at NO charge! yes, I said NO charge... Our total bill was under $750. They come HIGHLY recommend in our book. Just ask for Josh, if you ever go there, he will do right by you that's for sure and they guarantee their work!!!
Happy campers here.
Before
Look close and you can see the ugly cracks on the bottom and the top.
 
After
https://www.facebook.com/ed.hurlburt/videos/10208782722538129/

Well y'all I guess I'll close for now but I'll be back real soon with some new adventures to share.

Happy Trails and Safe Travels...


Friday, July 29, 2016

March and April Adventure

Hi everyone...
It's been way too long since my last Blog and I have so much to tell you about. Oh and the pictures, do I have pictures... 
We took a few months to just chill out and enjoy the Holidays with friend from October 2015 through February 2016. Playing lots of Mexican Train and Rummyqub before hitting the road headed into our next adventure.

Here are just some of the highlights form our March and April adventures.

March 2016 
Starting off from Lake Conroe Thousand Trails in Willis Tx and Colorado River Thousand Trails in Columbus Tx, just chilling and getting all caught up with friends and planning our course to the North. We are traveling with our great friends Janice and Rick Binns on this adventure. We will be touring the all 5 of the Great Lakes along with any other wonderful side adventures we can find along the way headed to Niagara Falls and Washington DC. Our trip started out in our home state of Texas. First stop was at Big Bend National Park and where we stayed at the Maverick Ranch RV Resort in Lajitas Tx. If you ever get out that way it's worth the stop. While your there be sure to take the Prisidio Hwy road trip, the scenery is beautiful, it follows the Rio Grande river which borders Tx and Mexico. 



























 The Rio Grand River


















Next stop Ft Davis Tx. It's a really nice fort with lots of history. Well worth a look. We also had the great opportunity to see the Marfa lights while we were there. They are awesome and eerry all at the same time. Dusk is the best time to view these lights. The McDonald Observatory is interesting too.





























McDonald Observatory, Ft Davis Tx 









 Janice and I looking for a Walmart... We had not seen one in a good while LOL


April 2016
Taking a break and resting up for a few weeks we stopped at Lake Whitney Thousand Trails park before continuing on our Great Lakes tour. We were going to go over to Murfreesboro Arkansas to do some diamond hunting but the weather just would not co-operate. So we headed onto Lake Texoma Thousand Trails for a few days.

Then it was onward through Oklahoma and Arkansas where Ed and I stopped to visit with my family in Ft Smith Ar and Barling Ar for a few days. The Binns also headed to Ohio to visit their families for a while. We will be meeting up again after our detour to Forest City Ia where we have to get some repairs done on the motor home at the Winnebago factory. Details on that later, it's a whole big adventure all it's own... 

Well kids that's all for now, I will be posting the Blog about our adventures in May and June real soon so stay tuned. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Please email me at djh1188@yahoo.com if you would like any info on places to stay along the way on any of the adventures I post. I will be glad to help you in your plans.

Until next time, Happy Trails and Safe Travels...