Camp Tiffin: Catching Up

Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 37F / Hi 52F (3C / 11C)

Today was our first real “sit-tight day” at the Allegro Tiffin Service Center. No calls to roll the wheels to a service bay; no “house calls” by the mobile van either.

The items that remain on our “list” require us to be in a bay where body work is done. Of the four bays equipped to handle such work, only two are in operation; the other two are tied up with what the dispatcher describes as “big jobs.” We’ve inched our way to the top of the queue, so we should be called in early next week. In the meantime, we’re keeping ourselves busy.

There’s a camp store on site filled with all kinds of parts and pieces. Mui went shopping there Wednesday afternoon. He was gone for so long that I didn’t think I was going to see him again, but he eventually showed up with bags full of stuff. It actually makes sense to get our spares and whatnot while we’re on site as prices are wholesale as long as you buy while you’re here. Off-site purchases are shipped from the parts department; retail prices apply on those orders.

♫♫♫ Lonely, I’m Ms Lonely … I have no neighbors, for my own … ♫♫♫ — or so Phae sings as we look out the window.

Thursday, we were at our site all day, but did make a quick trip — all of 15 minutes — into Bay 10 at the end of the day to have the rear driver side slide seal checked out. This is where we had a minor leak — just enough to dampen the carpet — during a particularly nasty storm while we were still at Fort Pickens. Chad found a spot where he thought water might have been pooling, so he filled it with silicone. Keeping fingers crossed that’s the end of that problem.

You might think that’s our Phae, but you would be wrong!
This is the only other rig here at the service center that is a twin of ours.

When we’re not working on things around the house, we go for walks around Camp Tiffin. Nothing fancy, just wandering up and down the lanes here between the coaches, chatting with others who are out and about. When it is cold, as it was today, the long hall separating the service bays makes for an interesting place for a stroll as we can check out the various bays to see the work being done on all the other rigs.

They stay busy here; no doubt about it. Not only are they working on rigs like ours — meaning the owners are here as well; but they also have a slew of rigs dropped off here by their owners parked on the runway (this was the site of an old airport).

This is one half of the long hallway between the bays where we are free wander.

Looks like this rig is having its slide repaired. But what really caught my eye were all the colors

This rig is here to get a ‘facelift’.

We’ve also been out to dinner a few times this week; the second time with our neighbors — Curt and Deb from southern Illinois. On both occasions we went to the 4th Street Grille and Steakhouse, which is just down the street from the Service Center. From what I read in another blog, this restaurant is apparently an improvement over the one that used to be located on the same spot. Not much ambiance, but the food was good on both occasions; as was the service.

This week, we also got the cabinetry work on our wish list taken care of. TJ, who stopped by to give us a bid last weekend, was unable to fit us in. Chris Berry, who also comes highly recommended on the TRVN forum, was having an unexpectedly slow week, so we decided to go with him instead. He completed the installations last night; I’ll do a separate mod post featuring his work.

The rain that plagued us overnight and through mid-day today has left the area. There’s the promise of sunshine and comfortable temperatures for tomorrow. I think we’re going to take advantage of the fact that we don’t need to be on service stand-by over the weekend to do some errands and check out a few sightseeing spots readers have recommended. Looking forward to the change of pace!