As I predicted in my last post -- August was a pretty busy month around here also. After finishing painting the smaller bedroom upstairs Peggy decided to move on to the large bedroom. More furniture and "stuff" moving, more spackling, more painting ... and more putting it all back together again. She has done a nice job and both rooms can be left alone, awaiting company, for the next several years!
As for me ... well I spent a lot of time completing the finishing touches on my Yamaha restoration project and was even able to take it up to the Owls Head Transportation Museum's Vintage Motorcycle fest last Saturday. I was too chicken to ride it that far so it made the trip on my trailer but I had a great time showing it off even in its "work in progress" condition. Had fun checking out all the other vintage iron also!
Summer 2019 has been ... nice. After being on-the-road most of last summer it was nice to just sit here in Maine and enjoy it. It was nice to see the kids and grandkids, it was nice to enjoy time with friends, it was even nice to get a few home projects completed that needed doing (but there are still plenty more where those came from!)
Since summer is now over it must be time to start on fall chores/projects. My priority project is to get the motorhome ready for winter and a winter trip. Winterizing is a fairly easy process and routine for us that live in the frozen north. Even though we tend to head south in the winter we will still experience plenty of sub-freezing temps before we finally go. Fall is also when I tend to accomplish the routine chassis maintenance as well. Things like checking and adding water as necessary to the batteries, lubricating the chassis, changing the oil in the main engine and the generator engine, and changing the fuel filters. With this motorhome I usually let the Freightliner truck shop take care of the lube, oil, and filter change ... I hate spending money on labor that I could do myself ... but I hate crawling under that rig even more. I will take care of the generator maintenance and the batteries ... but I'll let Freightliner do the rest (and check their work with a fine tooth comb when they are done!).
I also have a couple of "corrective" maintenance items that need to be done. Item #1 is to replace the fabric on both outside awnings. The fabric on both awnings started to separate at a seam about two years ago (slightly over the warranty period of course) and I attempted to keep it from getting worse by using Gorilla Tape, The tape worked for a while but the problem kept getting worse so some sort of more permanent repair or replacement became a higher priority. Over several e-mails I was able to convince the awning manufacturer that they should provide me replacement fabric since the failure was a premature failure of their product ... and they ultimately agreed ... and I agreed to take on responsibility for installation of the fabric. I have had some experience replacing awning fabric on our previous Winne and its not a pleasant experience involving the need for several persons and tall ladders. Peggy and I were able to do it last time ... but we were 12 years younger ... so I think the local RV repair company is going to make some money on this job.
I also need to replace the fake leather upholstery on the passenger captains chair. This was another case where the upholstery started to wear out after the warranty period but long before you would think it should. This time it was Winnebago that came through with replacement material and I agreed to take on installation. I replaced the seat cover on the drivers side chair last year and it wasn't too difficult so I plan to complete the job on the passenger seat this fall.
Hopefully these replacements will complete the necessary "New RV Warranty Claims" that seem to occur with every new RV regardless of manufacturer. We went through the same process with our original Winne where we spent a couple of years getting the poor quality manufacturing issues fixed, then we were able to get several years of relatively trouble free use before things started to need repair/replacement from wearing out.
Such is the life of an RV'er!
And this RV'er is ready to roll! It is way to early to start any countdown ... but we are planning a winter getaway beginning in early January and lasting until around April 1st. This year we are thinking of heading back to Arizona for our turn around destination. How we get there and where we hang out once there are yet to be determined ... and yes ... I know ... we are already behind schedule on figuring that out!
Until then ... time to find the long pants!
