Where oh Where Is Our Little Awning Now….

Quick recap….When we bought our Dynamax Isata six weeks ago, it had no awning over the slide-out.  On the PPL website the picture of the slide-out shows a “ripped” awning, but after the picture was taken the owner asked them to take it off since other potential buyers wanted him to fix the awning.  Now this would have been around a $400 fix…after the awning was taken off and the unit did not sell the price dropped two or three times, once by $1,000 just as we were looking at it.  So it was a bad decision of the owner to remove it and not fix it, that is for sure.  For us, it has been a bit of a drama getting one put back on.

So we took possession on the 18th of April, and made arrangements for PPL to put an awning on the 28th if we returned…and since we would be there, we included some other work to be done too.  Well, they assured us they would have the awning, and we agreed to the other work.  Well, the other work got taken care of, but the awning never arrived in time.  So Joy, the service manager, agreed to ship the awning once they got it to my sister’s house in California.  On May 13th, in response to my email, Joy told me that the awning had arrived, “will be sent out today”.  On Friday May 16th I asked for a tracking number, and, well, here is what it said….

So “it will go out today” means, “we will ship it out on Friday when you ask for the tracking number”.  But, it got worse….of course….

As you can see in the upper right corner, it was being sent to Holiday Florida, and not Citrus Heights, California as we had agreed to.

So on to Tampa it went, where the new delivery location request finally stopped it short of being delivered (it was on the truck!).  Thursday it arrived at Orlando….and it stayed there and stayed there and stayed there.  So Tuesday morning I called and had a harsh talk with PPL, who talked with FedEx, and I was promised delivery on Wednesday, May 28th.  I even talked to a representative at FedEx who assured me that it was going to be on a plane Tuesday and would be delivered Wednesday.  And until 11:45 pm Pacific Time Tuesday, nothing had changed on the website, until…..

…just 15 minutes earlier it had arrived at Sacramento.  By 8 am it was on the truck and going out for delivery.  And here it is 6 pm and I am still waiting for it!

I have had some kind words said on the blog about PPL, both times we bought from them.  Frankly, I still think good things about them, but I also feel a bit let down.  We made a special trip to Houston for this awning, and although other work was performed, the awning was the reason we went there.  But when they said they would ship it to California, that made things better.  But it arrived to PPL, could have been there a few days and it took my email to inquire about it before Joy said, “It will go out today.”  Even then, it did not go out for another three days….and then, it was sent to Florida, and I am the one who caught the mistake.  Then, FedEx sat on it in Orlando, due to the holiday I was told, and it will be here today unless the truck breaks down.

UPDATE:

The awning arrived!  Just before we went to dinner, FedEx delivered the awning.  The box was not in the best of shape…the two metal covers were not at either end where they belonged, and the upper end in the picture the box was broken nearly all the way around, but taped up.  As for the awning, I cannot see any apparent damage, but we hope to have it put on next week and the “experts” at the RV repair place we use will determine its condition.  I just hope it is the right size and everything, we went through enough already with this thing.

Camping Again! Fort Smith, Arkansas

Oh, it is SO NICE to be camping, really camping, again!!!!!  The drive from Houston to Fort Smith was ok, it is nice to be out of Houston and the traffic and the smog and the humidity.  It is in the low 60’s at 5:30 here in the Fort Smith area, very low humidity, and this COE park is quiet and not even half full.  The Corps of Engineers operate a number of parks, many near to the lock and dams they oversee. We are at Springhill Park.  Due to the senior saver, it only cost $10 per night for electricity and water, with a dump station free to use if you camp.  We got to choose our own site, and I got a nice, fairly level one.  Many are very, very deep, you could fit a 45’ motorhome, pulling a trailer and a car without any problem….well, except for how narrow the pads are.  But hey, we are not complaining because we are camping again!!!

    

The dogs, Bubba and Skruffy, could not believe their eyes….or their noses.  No more civilization, no more of those dreaded spurs which got into their fur, not much grass…but they are not complaining, that’s for sure.

And look at us…no neighbors to our right side, left side, straight across or behind us.  I think we will get some good solid sleep tonight, and tomorrow we will spend the day visiting Marcia’s relatives, and getting a little grocery shopping done. 

Someone emailed me asking if I apologized to “Joy” for my attitude over the phone when I first learned of the awning not being in.  Now this un-named person (Mom for short) knows me better than to ask, but I will share my email to her after we left ….

Joy,
Although I was a bit worried there for a bit when I found out the awning had not come in, you sure smoothed things out with your open honesty to the situation.  I am sorry if I came off a bit strong right at first, but we had a very bad experience at the Ford Dealership in Florida near our condo where they had the motorhome in their shop for 30 hours and never even popped the hood....and this was just for getting a tune-up.  I was promised it back after one day, two at the most....well needless to say they lied, and that work will be performed in Sacramento now.
Please send the awning to  ….
Thanks again, and thank your staff too.  Please just let me know you got this email, I did not get it off until we got to the rest area on Highway 59 about 100 miles north of Houston.
Dave Burdick

And her reply….

Thanks for your business, and I have always lived my life that honesty is the best policy and that holds true with life and work.  I appreciate you giving us the opportunity to work on your vehicle.  Once the parts get here, I will send it to the address below and will send you an email with the shipping number.

See you soon mom….love ya!  --dave

Is Everything Big in Texas?

As we were driving to Houston last Sunday, we stopped at the Welcome Center on I-10 just over the boarder from Louisiana.  I decided I needed a bit of a walk and decided to use the Welcome Center’s facilities….well, that was one, long walk.  Never had to walk so far to use facilities at a rest area.  On my way back to the motorhome I came upon an older couple and I said, “When they say everything is big in Texas, they are including the walks to the bathroom facilities too.”  They chuckled, as did I as I headed back to the parking area.

Now you can included the dog park in this list too.  Bubba is way off in the distance left, and Skruffy is in the not so distant right.

Here Skruffy is near me…Bubba is way the heck out there.

  

But you have not seen “big” until you see the big dog area!  It is at least four times bigger than the small dog park.

And yes, it includes this big pond for the dogs to swim in!  There is even a dog cleaning station, where you can wash your dog down before you take them home.  WOW!  It is called Pawm Springs Dog Park, and it is located in Sugar Land, Texas, just southwest of Houston. 

And you just got to love this sign!

We are at a rest area along Highway 59 about 100 miles north of Houston.  On the other side of the highway about four trucks have pulled in carrying these huge windmill blades.  I have seen these things passing through Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma before.  They are huge.

Yep, we found us another nice rest area to stay at.  The “RV’s” get to park along side the building, while the trucks are out further in the parking lot.

It is a nice little building, very clean, and about seven years old according to the Texas Highway website.

What do you mean you want to go back to the dog park?

Speaking of big, let me tell you a bit about the huge heart that Joy Wiese, service manager of PPL has.  Yesterday around 4 pm, just as we were returning to PPL from a shopping trip to Wally World I get a call letting us know that our motorhome is back on the pad at camp PPL, and oh, by the way, the awning did not come in as expected…..  Well, that is all I remember as I kind of blow my temper over the phone and let them know we are less than ten minutes away and I will be talking to Joy personally about this.  Well, Joy just looks me in the eye and tells me the honest story about how the supplier had not told her that it was going to be 3-4 weeks, instead of the standard 1 week, for this awning due to the special order.  I immediately see that she is telling me the truth, and now it is just “what can we do about it?”  We can come back in 2-3 weeks, or cancel it, or have it shipped to California…which is what we are doing, at their shipping expense.  We then go over what needs to be done still, and she hopes to have it ready by noon, no later than 2 pm on Tuesday.  Well, it was ready at 1 pm, they also fixed a slight leak in the toilet, have ordered a part which will be sent along with the awning, and the price was $300 less than her quote twelve days ago.  She said they were charging $150 labor to put the awning on, and that was deducted, and there were a few things she did not even charge us for.  What a nice lady, with a nice, good, big heart.

Houston–Camp PPL

Wow, what a ride this has been!  We bought our little Isata 10 days ago, drove it to Florida, got it registered, tried to get it looked at by a Ford dealership, which went array, packed it up Thursday and Friday and headed back to Houston, arriving here Sunday afternoon.

We essentially reversed our travel from Houston to Florida….staying at Flying J near Tallahassee (until at 2 a.m. the motorhome next to us still had not turned off its generator so I got up and drove another 30+ miles to a rest area, which worked out great), then to Louisiana where we stayed at the same rest area we stayed at when we left Houston nine days earlier.  Now we sit in the PPL parking lot in one of the four over-night parking places with 30 amp service. 

As we neared Houston we decided to go to a “Blue Beacon” truck wash.  We had cleaned the inside of the motorhome pretty good at one of the rest areas, and I wanted to get the outside washed down.  So here we were behind this US Army Recruiting Truck.  We had a long wait, and I sat there and admired the art work…that is when I saw it.

Do you see it?  Here, let me reverse it so you can read it better….

Why they have the word “Champagne” written on the vehicle this soldier is in is beyond me….tried doing a bit of research while we awaited our turn, but did not turn anything up on that.  Then I go in and pay, and guess what….the poor “real” soldiers are trying to pay for their wash with a US Army credit card, and it is refused.  They tried three different cards, no go….all refused.  The manager looked at them and said, “Give them a complimentary wash…”   Nice going Blue Beacon….you now you have my patronage for a long time now.

As for the bad weather….we did not have anything buy high winds on Sunday in Texas…not the first time, not the last I am sure.  We hope that we don’t hit any bad weather while we are in Arkansas, and as we travel through Oklahoma and Kansas later next week.  I do hope that my friends and family in Arkansas are safe tonight, because is does not look like it is going to be a fun night.

Got IT! Headed back to Florida

Just a very quick note....we drove away from PPL Motor Homes at 5 pm, just the time one wants to drive through the heart of Houston.  We made it to the outskirts of Houston to a Flying J around 6:30, had dinner at a Cracker Barrel a few mile further, and made it to a rest area 100 miles into Louisiana by 2 am.  After a few hours of sleep we are going to head further to Florida.  Following a good size storm, don't think we will catch it though.  Pictures later, we promise.

Looks Like It’s A GO!

We arrived at PPL Motors promptly at 9:00 a.m., they open at 8:30….we didn’t want to seem like eager beavers. (Ya, I think we blew that cover by driving 950 miles from Florida in two days, don’t you think.)  It didn’t take long before our salesman Ash was driving us over to the Isata.

  

We were extremely pleased with the inside.  The dark wood, the comfortable feeling.  The couch slide is deeper than our Jayco, which opens up that part of the room much more.  And the bedroom is laid out a bit better than the Jayco where the bed was off to one side just a bit.

This awning, which was above the slide, was taken off by the owner when perspective buyers wanted it fixed before they bought it.  He refused, and had it removed.  You can see the rip in this picture from their website.  We are going to pay for a new one to be put back on.  We are also having the roof seems resealed, and replace the outer seal of the slide so that it will seal better when closed.  When we started looking at this motorhome the price came down $1,000, and this work is going to cost us $1,700, so in reality I look at as it only cost $700.  Other than a few minor flaws in the stripping near the two cab doors.  We had the same thing along the front of the cab with our last motorhome…something that happens with age.  After all, this is a 2005 vehicle, but it is in pretty good shape for its age.  When I got on the freeway I floored it and it had more pep than our Jayco did…same engine, less weight.  This also has rear airbags, and we could really tell the difference in the ride.

PPL's Pre-Delivery Check Out and Demonstration

The pre-delivery check out and demonstration includes the following equipment:

• Generator
• D/C Power Converter
• Roof Air Conditioner
• Refrigerator (gas and electric)
• Slide Out 
• Range
• Furnace
• Microwave
• Hot water heater
• Toilet
• Fresh water pump and System
• Holding tanks (filled to 3/4 full and then checked for leaks)
• Hydraulic/electric jacks
• Electric Step
• Awning (demonstration only) "As Is"
• All batteries are "As-Is"
• Headlights, blinkers, brake and marker lights
• Roof and Window Seals "As Is"

Our cost for this is $290.00. The above items, are demonstrated prior to the "closing". If any of the items listed above do not work properly during the demonstration, we can cancel the purchase if the owner will not repair the item, and our $500.00 earnest money would be returned and the demonstration fee waived.
 
Schedule
If the checkout goes well, we will head back to Florida with it on Thursday so that we can attend church on Easter with our church family.  The next week we will register it and get our Florida plates, then purchase items we need to replace for travel, load it up and have it back here to PPL on Monday, April 28th.  Then I have a doctor’s appointment up in Little Rock where we will also visit friends and family in Arkansas, and then head out west to California where mom has a big family gathering planned for May 10th…something we thought we were going to miss due to our Alaska trip, but now, we are going to try and make it.  We also found out that mom is going to have hip surgery in June, so I think we will be hanging around the area during much of the summer again.  Between the family gathering and the surgery, I think we are going to just have to visit Yosemite, something we missed last year.

950 Miles, Tomorrow Will Tell If It’s Been Worth IT!

We left Holiday/Tarpon Springs area about 1 pm Sunday, arrived in Houston at 5:30 Monday evening.  The HHR drove great, getting nearly 30 mpg for the trip.  We stopped in Daphne Alabama at a La Quinta, where we will be staying here in Houston too for a few nights.  We appreciate La Quinta because they are dog friendly…even though Skruffy is now a Service Dog, we want to support those places that appreciate dogs and dog owners.  Bubba stayed back in Florida mainly because of room…we had the HHR packed with enough stuff to “Camp” in a motorhome for a couple of days if we indeed go back home with another home on wheels.

 

  

We think it will be worth it….will let you know tomorrow.

Have an Itch,Then Itch it

Is this 28' 2005 Dynamax Isata 280 with 26,000 miles our traveling home for the future?  We should know next week after we make a quick (or not so quick) trip to Texas for a visit to PPL Motors, where we got out first motorhome back in 2011. 

  

Yesterday (Thursday) we went to Tampa to Lazydays to look at a BT Cruiser and a Phoenix Cruiser.  We liked the Phoenix Cruiser better than the BT Cruiser, but the Phoenix Cruiser has some serious paint issues on the drivers side….it looked like either it was too near a fire, or it was parked where the sun reflected off a “mirrored glass building” and melted some of the paint….yes, melted.  I was ashamed of Lazydays for having such a vehicle up on their website for $65,168  (yes, that price with the mark out) and then “Contact Lazydays for Even More Discounts and Benefits”.  Did they, at one point, really think someone would buy it for that “old price” in this type of condition???  Makes you wonder….and again, if you have a website, ADVERTISE your asking price.  This is not rocket science here.

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On our way home from Tampa we heard from Blue Sky’s insurance adjuster.  We sent our signed title to them today, and we should have a check issued next week, with one on it way for personal property loss already.  We are satisfied with the outcome.  Once home we called PPL, and found out someone had put an offer in for the Isata we have been looking at for the last week or so, just a few hours earlier that same morning.  What a let down.  So we planned a trip to Jacksonville to see another Phoenix Cruiser and a Forest River Lexington GTS for today….then I told Marcia that since we had to get the title in the mail, and my emotions were all twisted up after seeing that Isata slip through our fingers that I wanted to wait until after Church on Sunday to head to Jacksonville, stay the night and come back home on Monday.  

As believers we have relied upon prayer to help us through this entire endeavor.  It has brought us peace and comfort…and today we feel blessed when the previous prospective buyers of the Isata pulled out of the deal when the owner would not come down on the price.  Now I had done extensive research on this, and we both felt that the price being asked was a fair price.  So as I awaited one final communication from the Blue Sky adjuster I called PPL to check on the status of the Isata…and low and behold, they had pulled their offer because the owner would not come down any further.  (Remember, nearly all of the RV’s at PPL are on consignment).  So we got an email application for putting up earnest funds on our credit card, and after church on Sunday we are headed west.  Do we have to buy it, no.  Do we want to buy, we sure hope so.  Will it need a little work, yes, but not much, and put what possible work it needs together with the price and we will be a few thousand under what the insurance company is going to pay us just for the loss of the Jayco if we do go ahead with the sale.