Homolovi Ruins State Park

We enjoy Homolovi Ruins State Park near Winslow and have been here at least four times.  The sites are really spacious.

There are lots of pretty things to see here.

Flowers are blooming.

And we saw this beautiful 1958 Flying Cloud Airstream, pulled by a 1961 Chrysler.  It has been fully restored.  I loved the license plates on the car and trailer.  Cars with those fins were sure cool when I was in high school!

And the ruins, of course.  There are two main sections of ruins visible to visitors.  We walked to Homolovi I the other day.  Here are pottery shards.

And some structure walls have been restored.

This, however, is not something you want to see.  Our campsite has water and electric but no sewer at our site.  When we drove to the dump station, the black tank valve wouldn't open so we couldn't empty the sewer.  An RV technician from Winslow came to try a repair.  He wasn't successful so he ordered a new part.

He returned yesterday with a new part. What he found was that the black tank and the black pipe between the tank and dump valve were full of calcium deposits. The water in Arizona is extremely hard and white deposits develop on (and in, obviously) our plumbing. We couldn't believe how many large clumps of white deposit he was able to flush out of the tank. When we tried to empty it originally, a chunk of that stuff had blocked the tank opening.

Everything seems to be working correctly today. We hope it stays that way.

This Is Better

Soon after we returned to our winter home in Gold Canyon , we took our Airstream trailer to the Mesa Airstream dealer, Desert Autoplex on Oct. 2, to get a window awning installed on the off-door side of the trailer and for some warranty repairs.  We made the appointment weeks ahead of time, thinking they would be able to start on the issues right away.

That left a big empty area on our patio.

Even with the appointment for repairs on that date, apparently that meant we were in the line behind all the RVs already checked in for repairs. At least we didn't have plans for any travel during October. It was mid-month before the work began. Finally, on Halloween, the trailer was ready! We went to get it, checked each item to be sure repairs had been made, and brought it back to our lot.

This looks right, now. This is what our space is supposed to look like.

Makiing Adjustments

The past month has been a time of adjustment. A month ago today we traded in our Mobile Suites 5th wheel for a new Airstream. The MS had approximately 350 square feet of interior space. The Airstream has 224 square feet. That 125 square feet doesn't sound like much--maybe a large walk-in closet? But we reduced our living space by 1/3. That is taking a lot of mental and emotional effort to adapt to.

We lived full-time in a 5th wheel for 6 years. It contained everything we owned (except for what was in a small storage unit). For the past year and a half we have lived half the year in the RV, the other half in a small (719 sq ft) house in Arizona. When we moved into the house 2 winters ago, we left everything that we didn't need in the RV. So we had a lot of down-sizing to do. We have 8 large boxes of stuff our son Eric will ship to us in Arizona in October.

After that process, we had to figure out how to store things in this new, smaller trailer. It has been disorienting, stressful and irritating. Most of all, the small amount of floor space just to walk around in is an issue. We have to turn sideways to pass each other in the hall between the kitchen and the bedroom. The shower is tiny. There isn't much counter space in the kitchen. Much of the storage is at floor level--I get down on my knees numerous times a day. At least it keeps me flexible. But it has been emotionally trying, big time.

In addition to storage and space issues, we have to adjust to the location of cabinets and other hazards. For instance, there is the corner of this cabinet.

Monday night John leaned down to throw something in the trash--but his head hit the corner of the cabinet before he got to the wast basket. We made a trip to the emergency room. They first bandaged the head to get the bleeding stopped. Then they put in 10 staples to keep the wound closed until it healed. Ouch!

We are changing our way of living out here on the road--we are camping, yet we are still living in the RV. The 5th wheel had at least 13 feet of clothes rods. Now we have about 2 feet in addition to the few items we are hanging in the back seat of the truck.

The holding tanks are much smaller.  Each tank holds just under 40 gallons.  That means the tanks have to be emptied every 3 days.  On the positive side, the dump valve handles in the 5th wheel had gotten nearly impossible to pull in and out.  In the Airstream they operate easily.

In past years, we traveled cross-country in a pop-up tent trailer and were able to do that just fine. We only had 2 ice chests, no refrigerator and one suitcase, no closet. Our first 5th wheel had the same size refrigerator/freezer we have now. It will be fine as soon as I learn how much I can buy at one time. It means shopping more often.  (On one trip with that 5th wheel as we returned home from Philadelphia, the freezer door fell off.  We duct taped it back in place until we could get it repaired.)

There are really good aspects of the move as well. This trailer weighs 10,000 pounds less than the 5th wheel. It is so much easier to pull. And we can do it with a new, smaller truck. No more big butt dually! And the gas mileage is much better.  We even pulled into a Wal Mart parking lot this week to do some shopping.  That was a first.

We don't have to worry about any hydraulic slides or a hydraulic leveling system. There are only 2 steps up to the front door. We had 5 steps up into the 5th wheel door and three more into the bedroom!

Although we had 5th wheel trailers for 19 years, John never got really good at backing them into RV sites.  He had been using various types of bumper-pull trailers most of his life.  He is glad to be back to parking that type of trailer.

Before our 5th wheel had such problems, we were thinking about buying either a pickup camper or a popup tent trailer so we could park in campgrounds with smaller sites, like national parks and forest service campgrounds.  With this new trailer, more of those places will be open to us than with the 5th wheel.  And we no longer have to carefully watch signs for clearance under bridges.  The Mobile Suites was 13 ft 9 inches tall.  The Airstream is only 9 ft 9 inches.  Very few places we can't go with this trailer!

Over the winter we plan some changes/improvements. We hope to replace the gaucho couch with recliners.  We might also try to have some extra storage space built in. We're excited about that.

A Life Preserver

We haven't drowned in the jello but it sure has been an intense week. We moved our ailing RV up to Chatfield State Park in the Denver area. We were nervous the whole time, checking to be sure the front landing leg hadn't fallen. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. That was was on Tuesday.

We had planned to take the trailer to Indiana for repairs. But we really didn't feel up to driving 1,000 miles with the RV hooked up to the truck. That would mean taking it to gas stations and grocery stores as well as RV parks. We first had a new leg installed last September. Since that repair failed, we were afraid we would never trust the hydraulics in this rig again.

On Wednesday, looking for a life preserver, we went shopping for a new RV. Our purchase means we are downsizing, since the new RV is much smaller than the Mobile Suites we have been in since 2013. We spent the first year we owned it as full-timers. That means we had everything we owned in the trailer. Then we bought our small house in Arizona and moved a lot of stuff into the house. But everything we didn't need there was still in the 5th wheel. Now we have to deal with that stuff. We have downsized from an 1800 square foot house to a 5th wheel and now to a smaller RV.

But we are living in a real mess right now. We are surrounded by boxes and bags of things we will move to the new RV and boxing up the things we won't move. We will have our son Eric ship those boxes to us after we return to Arizona. Buying the RV, signing the papers, sorting through everything. All of that has been busy and stressful.

What did we purchase? If anyone would know, the Lone Ranger would. You will have to wait till my next blog post to find out.

Jello vs Concrete

RVers talk a lot about their plans being made in jello--they can be changed whenever we want or need to do so. That's all well and good, but personally I prefer plans made in concrete. I like to plan our travels months ahead, make reservations where and when necessary, and then carry out those plans. Not this summer.

We had reservations that covered most of the time from May 3 when we left our casita in Gold Canyon, AZ, through June 26 and four nights in September as we started back south to Arizona. As you have read here, the problems with our hydraulic leveling system have made drastic changes in our plans. So far we have been unable to make it to two of our reservations. We have made plans to travel to Indiana to have repairs made in early July, so I have cancelled two of our July reservations.

Since my last blog post we have had even more problems with the level-up system. The front of the RV started drifting down fairly quickly. Now, we are staying hooked up to the truck, using it to hold up the front end of the Mobile Suites. We'll see how everything goes. Taking the RV with us everywhere is rather a pain (to say the least).

Stay tuned to find out if we will drown in this jello or find some firm footing for our plans. Will we go to Indiana for repairs or buy a new RV? We don't know yet.

Some parts of jello are really quite pleasant. This weekend we are near Canon City to visit John's sister and brother and their families. We discovered that John's great nephew is being married tomorrow and they asked John to bless the marriage. What an honor to be asked to be part of their lives.

It Was About Time

Yesterday we finally were free to leave Elk City, Oklahoma, and resume our summer travels. I considered that a pretty good present on my birthday! On May 8 we left Homolovi Ruins State Park in Winslow, Arizona. Yesterday was the first time since then we were free to travel wherever we wanted. Good deal.

We had been sitting in Elk City for a week, waiting for Slade at Rolling Retreats, a major Mobile Suites dealer, to check out our front landing gear. Early during our 12 day stay at the Flying J in Winslow, the passenger side front leg slipped down while the trailer was hooked up to the truck. Since that had happened last September, we wanted him to determine what was going on. He spent a couple of hours testing to see if there was a leak in the hydraulic system that operates the legs and found nothing. So that wasn't repaired. He did find another loose brake caliper and replaced that. He also suggested a company in Indiana that rebuilds seals on landing gear legs. We will be contacting that business, hoping they can ship two rebuilt legs to us in Colorado.

Getting things fixed is just a matter of finding a mechanic who knows how to fix it and has the time to do it, then finding the right parts. It is the time spent finding the right person, waiting for them to find the time to do the work, and getting the correct parts shipped in.

We have been living in a 5th wheel part time and full time since 1997. Breakdowns are just an unavoidable and unfortunate part of living on the road, pulling your home down the highways. This is the longest we have ever been unable to travel, but we have tried to make the best of our time, exploring the areas where we were sitting.
We left Rolling Retreats about noon and headed west. We are in Amarillo now. We are still a little tentative--with the leg staying up as we travel. But until it fails, it doesn't need fixing, I guess.

Amarillo is along the old Route 66. At our RV park we saw this old truck, memorabilia of times way past.

Recalculating

Does your GPS tell you that when you don't follow the prescribed route just right? We have had devices that say that out loud. Currently it just shows that on the screen. Today we are recalculating. When our brake hub was finally repaired in Winslow, we headed east to Rolling Retreats, a DRV dealer in Elk City, OK. As I wrote about earlier, we are having problems with the front landing leg on the RV. Since it was built by DRV in Howe, IN, and there aren't that many DRV dealers around the country, we decided to see if they could help us.

They were booked solid but we were told to come in and they would work us in. We arrived today and were told it would be next Tuesday before the shop had space to check out our issue.

We will be exploring western Oklahoma and cancelling a week of reservations at Cherry Creek State Park in the Denver area. We had booked two weeks there. We cancelled the first week because we were sitting in the Flying J parking lot in Winslow. Now we will cancel the second week.

I need to recalculate my attitude as well as our schedule. But we have found several interesting museums to visit here and we have a good Verizon broadband signal so we can work online. Glad we didn't have any really important events to attend.

Good Bye, Flying J

It wasn't good until yesterday, but we are finally repaired and out of the Flying J parking lot. It hasn't been grand and we hope we don't return soon, but thanks for the space.

We spent 12 days, 11 nights in the Flying J parking lot and we are delighted to be away from the noise of trucks and the crowded parking, the smell of rubber and exhaust, the oily pavement. The Holbrook KOA looks absolutely pristine and spacious by comparison.

A Goodyear commercial truck shop is not the ideal location to have a 5th wheel RV repaired but they eventually got the job done and everyone there was very friendly and pleasant. But we really won't miss them or the location. It feels so good to be back on the road!

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.

The Best Laid Plans

We had planned to be near Santa Fe, New Mexico, today, on our way to Colorado. We had reservations there for the next 5 days. Those have been cancelled because we are still in Winslow, Arizona, and will probably be here at least until Tuesday. When we finally get out to here, we aren't headed to Colorado. We will drive to Rolling Retreats, a Mobile Suites dealer in Elk City, Oklahoma.

Remember the repair we had done last September, installing a new front landing leg on the RV? If not, you can read about it here. Well, we are facing the same thing again, unfortunately. We have a lot of driving to do between Winslow and Elk City, so John has created a way to tie up the leg when we are traveling. Hopefully, I won't have to get out of the truck every few miles to pull it back up. This is what the rope looks like when the leg is extended.

This is a view of how it works, hopefully.

With any luck, we should be in Colorado before the end of the month, but we have been a little short of luck recently.

At Least it's Free

Well, we're waiting again, or still. The last part needed for our repair (everyone thought) was delivered Thursday. But the manager looked at it and said, no, that's not what we need. After several calls to the company that shipped the part by both me and the manager, he was finally able to email some photos to them and we learned that all the parts that have been sent this week are for a smaller brake assembly than we have!!!! By the time those two finally talked, it was too late to make a shipment that day. That means they--and we-- have to wait till Monday, meaning the parts will be shipped then and we are waiting till Tuesday for repairs.

You can probably imagine what was going through our heads at that time. We have been here since Sunday and it seems everyone, from Lippert to Shadow Trailers in California where Lippert ships parts to techs, shop supervisors and the shop manager have messed up at some point.

Today, we drove to Flagstaff to look around and have lunch. It is cooler in Flagstaff than here in Winslow. And tonight it has cooled down a little quicker than yesterday. The high Friday was 92, today I think it was 88. That is pretty hot when you don't have air conditioning.

The good news is, it is free to park here. I think we usually average about $30 a night when traveling. We will have 9 or 10 free nights. It is about as good as volunteering--at least financially.

Living in a Truck Stop

We have been parked and living in the Winslow, AZ, Flying J since Sunday. Most of the other people who sleep here are only in the lot for 10 hours or so--their required rest period after driving for up to 11 hours. One night, we thought we were limited in space because we had to keep one of our slides pulled in. Look at one of the truck cabs were 18-wheel drivers sleep and sometimes eat and watch TV.

We see drivers sitting in the drivers' seat looking at their phones. They are there all day to drive and during part of the rest period, as well. The truck stop offers a restaurant, showers, laundry facilities, game room and TV room.

Most of the drivers are male, but I have been surprised at how often we see women drivers as well. At least one looked like she was my age or older! Glad that's not my life.

Navigating the parking lot can be difficult at some times of the day. In the morning about 7 to 8, during the lunch hour, and from about 5 pm until dark there is lots of traffic. These big trucks can make amazingly tight u-turns and most of them are skilled at backing into parking spots. We are parked on the back row so we encounter lots of trucks moving at certain times as we are out walking. The drivers don't wave as they are driving or parking, but they smile and even talk to us at times in the store or outside.

Our first night here, one trucker drove up and parked in the site we were planning to go into. When he got out, he asked if we needed help parking. Were we looking for a spot?  Yes, the one you are in. He apologized and said one tip was to put on your hazard lights when parking. Then other drivers know what you are doing. Another trucker, an extrovert, said hello as he walked by. John said, "It's cold." The driver started talking--"I forgot to turn on my bunk heater last night. It was 41 when I woke up this morning." He then talked to us for nearly half an hour.

We see all sorts of different loads on the trucks here. One was hauling bees from drought-stricken California to Colorado.

We have seen new Airstream trailers and vintage trailers being hauled.

Then there are standard 53 ft trailers containing who knows what. Many are refrigerated. Other trucks are carrying heavy equipment or automobiles.

The noise level at night is pretty high, with generators and compressors operating to keep refrigerated loads cool or the sleeping driver comfortable. Every time a truck is turned on or off, there is noise from the air brakes, I guess. Of course, our generators are noisy, too. As loud as the trucks. We are right next to I-40 and it doesn't have near the noise we have here in the parking lot. I'll never take seriously RV park reviews that complain of highway noise after this.

We are grateful for this safe, free place to park while we wait for repairs on our RV brake. And everyone here at Goodyear and Flying J have been friendly and helpful.

But we really hope we get to leave later today after our repairs are completed and working!

Waiting--with water

Yesterday, the bolts we were waiting for were delivered for our brake caliper. Mike was soon under the rig, installing them.

That's the good news.

Now, the bad news. As we pulled out of the shop bay, there was a terrible sound. The brake was locking up! They removed the bolts so we could return to the shop. An examination and a phone call to the business that sent the bolts showed that there should be a sleeve in each of the caliper holes where the bolts go. The sleeve prevents the bolts from going in further than they should. The sleeve had fallen out as well and the bolts and marred the brake rotor. (I wish I understood what I just wrote. I am just repeating what I was told.)

Now we wait again. The parts have been ordered and are on the way.

John put water in our fresh water tank (yea)

and we moved to a new parking spot, right behind the service shop.

Notice in the photo that another RV pulled in right next to us.  As we were setting up, the man came over and said it looked like a good spot and they would join us.  Look at how they parked--taking 2 full parking spaces.  We are only here because we are having work done on our RV.  We know that many RVers do park in truck stops, rest areas and Walmart parking lots.  But the Escapees Club has outlined proper etiquette for doing that.  I'm sure taking 2 spaces isn't included.  I know putting out slides and using generators are not considered proper.  We feel we can do it, since we are captive here.  Obviously the other RV wasn't concerned.

Before the bolts arrived we were uncertain if we would be ready to go or be staying another night. We decided we really needed to shower. So we popped $12 for a team shower at Flying J. This is what is available for truckers for free if they buy diesel and have a rewards card.  Not bad at all.

And these are our generators.

We have had them for years. When used together, they give us about 30 amps of power. However, we haven't used them for several years and I was thinking as we left on this summer trip that I would really push John to get rid of them next fall. NOT NOW. They are what makes it possible for us to charge our electronics, keep the batteries charged and have a fan and lights and watch TV. We won't get rid of them!

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.

So Far, So Good

Outside, at least. Yesterday Scott with RV Doctor in northern Colorado installed a new front hydraulic landing gear on the passenger side of our 5th wheel. That meant we were free to leave Wellington and start our journey south. It seems to be working just fine--not drifting down while we drive.

Now we have to deal with the effects of the terrible Colorado highways. We came into Colorado in early October, driving on I-70. It was terrible--very bumpy. Over the years, they have made many sections of the road concrete, so each seam is a small bump. It is noisy and irritating. Today, we drove south on I-25 to Colorado Springs. Not only did we have to deal with concrete sections, they are in the midst of repaving. They are using asphalt, but they haven't done the bridges yet in many places. There were really horrible bumps. If we could have gone really slow--maybe 45 or so, at times even slower--we might have been OK. But the highway is busy and we had to stay somewhat close to the speed limit.

We were not happy campers when we came inside to put out the slides. The cabinet where I keep recipe books came open and books and loose recipes were spread out everywhere. I have magazines in a container that travels in my chair while we travel. It had bounced out of the chair, dumping all the magazines onto my bookcase. In addition, one shelf in a bookcase fell and the drawer in a small table was falling out. Then I discovered that the MCI day/night roller shade fell out of the rear window. That is a bear to re-attach. Obviously, we didn't get to relax as soon as we were set up.

We can't wait to get out of this state. Thank goodness, we will be in New Mexico. Hopefully, their roads are better.

One finished, waiting for repair

After our brother-in-law's funeral on Monday, we spent two nights at our son Eric's home, enjoying quality time with him, his wife Liz and children Kylie and John. Since we travel and spend our winters in Arizona, we don't have nearly as much time with this family as we did when we only lived a few miles from them. So, it was good to have two good evenings to eat delicious dinners and share their busy lives.

We had a good time hearing about their school lives--both parents are teachers and, of course, the young people are in school.

I was amazed at how focused our grandchildren were on their homework. Both have swimming practice after school, so study time in the evening is limited. In this photo, you can see Kylie (while listening to music on her ear phones) working on a paper while Liz and the rest of us were talking and having a good time. The previous night, John sat in that same spot and read a book while we talked. I guess they have learned to concentrate in a noisy environment. They are both good students.

Now we wait anxiously for the RV repairman to come tomorrow and, hopefully, replace our faulty front hydraulic landing gear. If so, Saturday, we finally head south toward Arizona and our winter home.

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.