Remembering Those Who Served

Today we went to Denny's for a late breakfast-early lunch. Sitting near a window, we saw streams of motorcycle riders coming into the parking lot--and looking for the bathrooms. Seems they are part of the Memorial Day Run for the Wall, an annual motorcycle ride to Washington, DC, and the Viet Nam Wall. Obviously, many of the riders had served in the military during the Viet Nam War--old white guys riding Harleys. (We can say that as old white folks who were around during that war.)  Others are vets of more recent military actions. This is just a small part of the crowd.

We learned the group had left California yesterday. Riders travel several different routes. Winslow is along the Central Route. The ride is very organized. We saw men and women directing the traffic and parking here, as well as lots of signs on sleeves and windshields indicating various teams helping everything go smoothly.

Riders sported patches showing the motorcycle group and which Run for the Wall events they had participated in or ridden the whole way.

There were trailers full of snacks and beverages for the riders to consume during their break here.

The men and women who have fought for our country and our freedom and for freedom in other parts of the world deserve our respect and gratitude. It was inspiring to see so many people who are really aware of the debt we owe these folks and who are willing to take their time to demonstrate that to others for Memorial Day.

In case you are wondering why we are still here at the Flying J in Winslow, the new shipment of parts for our RV arrived late yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, one part is missing. So we wait while someone drives to Flagstaff to pick up the part from NAPA--apparently the closest place that had the part in stock. We sure hope it is the correct part and we are back on the road by the end of the day.

Waiting

Now it's a waiting game. At 5 am this morning, I called Lippert to see if they could send us the bolts we need to reattach the brake caliper to our wheel. No, not without a serial number of the axle. Since we don't have that number, I made several other calls. At 7 am I finally reached Kodiak, the company that manufactured the caliper. Jesse there referred me to Shadow Trailer Parts in California. He knew the company had what we needed and they are located closer to our location than Kodiak.

I have talked to Frits at Shadow Trailer with the part number Jesse gave me. The bolts have already been shipped, FedEx overnight. Hopefully, they will arrive by mid-day tomorrow.

As most of the 18-wheelers that spent the night here in the Flying J lot pulled out, we moved to another slot. This time, we have enough room to open all three slides, giving us a lot more room than last night. We have traded a truck neighbor for the trash dumpster. Usually we avoid dumpsters, but in this case it makes out life much more convenient.

Last night we were only able to open one slide, making for a pretty crowded living room. And with the off-door slide retracted, much of our storage and one door of the refrigerator are unavailable. We also couldn't open the bedroom slide, so we couldn't walk around the bed and the drawers were blocked.

Today, we are feeling more comfortable with more space inside. We have the generators for power but we are dry camping. We never travel with water in our tanks unless we know we are going somewhere we need it. We didn't know that yesterday when we pulled out of Homolovi State Park. It took awhile, but we are remembering what it was to camp in a tent or popup with no water.   All we need is a jug of water so we can heat water on the stove and we have what we need to washing dishes and taking a spit bath.  The RV fuel island has water so we can go there as often as we wish to fill our 3 gallon jugs. We checked at the Flying J today and found we could take a shower for $12, and we could both use it. Still, $6 a person sounds really high.

We had lunch at Denny's again today. The secret to good food there is to order something they have to cook to order. We both had the Santa Fe skillet--breakfast for lunch. The food was good and John ate every bite of his.

Waiting and Done

+Scott took our RV into the shop at 6 am. After going over our list of issue, he said he would see us again about 2 or 2:30. We had expected to be at the factory for 2 days, so we wondered if everything would really be done by then. Shortly before 2, he came out and said he was finished! We looked over all the work and saw that all items except one were taken care of. And they gave us the parts to install the last shelves ourselves. We were delighted with how quickly the work was done and very pleased with how it was done. We hooked up the truck to the 5th wheel and drove to Shipshewana, IN, where we will spend a few days.

While we were waiting for Scott to finish the work, we attended the 10 am factory tour to see how DRV builds 5th wheel trailers. We came away even more impressed with the quality of our Mobile Suites. And it helps to know what is hidden under the floors and inside the walls. Ryan Miller was the day's tour leader.



Here we could see the basic frame for a new trailer. They are just placing the floor, which has already been given a moisture-free barrier on the bottom side.



This is what the aluminum floor structure looks like before the sub-flooring and that black barrier is attached.



Vinyl floor squares are installed which allows individual pieces to be removed and replaced if they are damaged.



The front raised section framework is attached.



In some factories, there is a moving assembly line. At DRV, the individual units are moved by hand on this wheeled base, pushed by one a couple of workers.



Stacks of interior walls are moved from place to place.



Most RVs are built on I-beam chasses like this one. DRV uses I beams only on one less-expensive model.



All other DRV products, including our Mobile Suites, is built using 15" stacked box tube frames. The I-beam fram can support 9 1/2 pounds per square foot; the stacked box frame holds 21 pounds per square foot.



Ryan said that Trailer Life Magazine has reported that driving an RV down the road is like subjecting it to a 6.5 earthquake. In California, where buildings must be constructed to handle such earthquakes, components are assembled with screws and blue, not welding. So DRV uses screws and glue to fasten the studs to the trailer floor.



All the windows are framed with wood, helping to prevent transfer of cold or heat to the metal trailer frame.



The trailer insulation is made of wool, which is formaldehyde-free.



After the walls are up, the insulation is put in place.



Wiring is installed. Can you imagine keeping all this straight?



Next, a long sheet of fiberglass is attached to the exterior. First they put glue on studs, then glue it in place.



The covering is also screwed in place.



Next, the necessary openings for windows, doors and slide-out rooms are cut out. The slide-out rooms are also built in the factory by DRV craftsmen. The same roll of fiberglass is used to cover the slides as was used on the main trailer body.



We saw lots of evidence of the quality control used in the manufacturing. See all these instructions, comments on the fiberglass exterior of an RV. All are problems that must be corrected before the unit moves to the next stage.



We also saw light switches and window curtains being tested and cabinets wiped down with furniture polish, both inside and outside. At the DRV rally last month, we learned that each week a couple of newly-built units are randomly selected for a thorough quality inspection by department heads. That helps them keep ahead of possible poor work habits.

We have subjected our home on wheels to earthquakes and also found some issues with appliances that had been installed. But we continue to be impressed with the quality of construction and we love our home. Our factory experience yesterday just increased our confidence.

Still Waiting

Today we have our long-awaited appointment at the DRV Mobile Suites factory in Howe, IN, to have some repairs done. We spent last night in their parking lot.



The sun wasn't even above the horizon when we had the RV slides in, ready for the tech to take it into the shop at 6 am.



While we waited for today, we visited the Wellfield Botanical Gardens in Elkhart Saturday. The gardens were a delight to see and walk through. Water was a major feature throughout the gardens.



I love Adirondack chairs and they had placed them in several places where you could sit and enjoy the flowers.





We saw several different gazebos.







Numerous different flowers in oranges and yellows were blooming.



And also many in pink and purple.



Sculptures had been placed throughout the gardens.





There are elk sculptures in many places in Elkhart, including three at the gardens.



Wellfield Gardens were established 10 years ago and are built and maintained entirely with donations and volunteer labor. No tax dollars are involved. The gardens are located over the largest operating water wellfield in Elkhart, one of three owned by the city. The gardens are being expanded and we saw some of the construction areas.



There is texture and patterns everywhere, from the paved walkways



to the foliage.



We enjoyed our visit. We went there to get some exercise, but we were so busy taking photos, we didn't have time to walk very fast.

What a Month

What a month it has been. One month ago tomorrow, we saw our new RV on the assembly line at the DRV factory in Indiana. We were very excited about what we saw. And we really doubted he was telling us the truth when the production manager said it would be at least 2 weeks before the trailer was done. "You've got to be kidding" we thought. What more is there to do? It had to go out for painting, for one thing.

Go forward two weeks. We contacted our dealer in Kansas, who contacted DRV in Indiana. He was told the RV should be back from Mor-ryde (where the suspension was being balanced or adjusted) by the end of the week. Then there would be another week of final details at the factory.

On Friday, Oct. 11, we again inquired about the delivery date and were told it was on its way to Chanute, Kansas, from Howe, Indiana. We could come to the dealership on Tuesday and it should be ready then. We had been hanging out in Peculiar, MO, near Kansas City, doing genealogy research, playing tourist and seeing family.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we spent in Iola, Kansas, just north of Chanute. The park only costs $11 a night with our Passport America discount, so it was very inexpensive. There we relaxed, planned and toured the small town. We drove to Chanute on Monday (leaving our trailer in Iola)and were able to go in the finished rig--without the slides being extended. We were told we could probably do our walk-through Wednesday, then begin moving into the new RV. We were getting everything ready for the short move when we received a call saying the DRV techs found that the black tank dump valve was broken. A new part would be sent overnight from Indiana, but the trailer wouldn't be ready by this afternoon. We decided to come to Chanute anyway.

After setting up in the Santa Fe Campground in Chanute (first 2 nights are free, after that it is $10 a night), we went to the factory and learned it could be as late as Monday when the RV was ready for us. Since we are so glad they found the trouble with the black tank dump valve, we decided to settle down and enjoy the area. It would have been extremely difficult if we discoved this problem as we were driving to Arizona. Who knows what it would have taken to get it repaired then.

You can imagine how delighted we were when the phone rang just before 3 pm, telling us to come in at 8 am for our walk through. After that, we sign some papers, then we begin to move from one 5th wheel to the other. Whoopee!!!

When we get moved in and catch our breath, I will post lots of pictures of our new home.

The Old and the New

Our waiting has moved from Peculiar, MO, to Iola, KS.  Today we took a walk from our mediocre RV park in Iola  to check out the small old town.  On the way, we came across the Southwind Rail Trail.  It follows an old railroad bed, but the trail just opened this year, so it is the new.

We crossed an old steel railroad bridge.



The trail builders were really serious about keeping the folks who use the trail from jumping or falling into the water below.



As we crossed the creek, we could see the nearby highway.





We had a big rainstorm last night and there was standing water near the trail, in addition to this pond.



I thought these grasses were pretty.



We passed the shell of an old train signal tower.







It appears the local fox can enter the private property on either side of the trail, but not the humans on the trail.



After walking about 3.5 miles on the trail, we went into town. They are proud of the high school sports teams. If you look closely, you will see the first championship was in 1915. Iola was established in 1855.



We saw a sign that reminded us of our Colorado roots.



Modern buildings just don't have the charm of those built decades ago. We saw lots of neat old buildings as we walked around downtown Iola.











Have you ever heard of General Frederick Funston? We hadn't, but maybe we should have. This is the house where he was born.



Funston spent 2 years in the Arctic, returning 1,500 miles on the Yukon River in a canoe. He spent time in South America, fought with Cuban insurgents and served in the Spanish American War. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for capturing the commander of the Filipino Army and was made a brigadier general. In 1914, during an intervention in Mexico (has anyone every heard of that? I hadn"t.) and commanded Vera Cruz as military governor, being made a major general. He died in 1917.