Thursday, July 31, 2014

The beginning of a new romance...

July 31, 2014....a long, tiring, yet exciting day for "G" and I. We drove down to Scott RV in Lakewood, NJ and picked up Allie and brought her home.  The ride home, which is normally a 2-hour drive, took us 4 hours, which landed us in front of 223 at 9 pm.  We were quite exhausted and very hungry. Below are "before" photos of Allie, our 2013, Tiffin Allegro Open Road 36 LA. She needs a little TLC, a good cleaning and some color, otherwise, she is our dream come true.  Dolly Parton was pulled behind transporting my little Nissan and making our total length 57 feet!  Holy cow!  "G' handled the pressure behind the wheel with his usual patience and skill.  And, just so everyone knows, just like in an automobile, the brake does not work on the passenger side of an RV.


Dinette

Master bath - washer/dryer is in cabinet under window!
Flat screen TV with fireplace below


He, who hates to have his picture taken....pilot extraordinaire!


"After" photos will most likely appear section-by-section.  I plan to focus on one room at a time. First, I need to decide upon my color palate. Yellow, blue, red or green....pink, orange, purple or cream? Choices, choices.

Deep thought for the night:  "The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”  ― Sylvia PlathThe Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The end of a romance...


Gracie down at Scott RV
This entry is to inform our followers that our love affair with Saving Grace has, unfortunately, turned out to be short-lived and will officially come to an end tomorrow. 

As in so many relationships, sometimes, you discover that the pretty exterior and first impressions are not what make for a long-lasting commitment. You seek dependability and a fulfillment of basic needs that will provide for a comfortable, practical, exciting  and long future together. While Gracie fell short on the basic amenities we needed, she did afford us a luxurious haven in which to enjoy some fun times. 

So, it is with mixed emotions, that we bid farewell to Gorgeous Gracie and welcome in Pretty and Practical, Bigger and Better, "Allie," a 2013 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 36LA. This motorcoach had always been my favorite, boasting a floor plan that contained everything we wanted and needed for extended trips.

Although a year older than Gracie, Allie is 4 feet longer, sits atop larger wheels, brings us an extra half-bath, a recliner, an L-shaped couch, a fireplace, a larger refrigerator, a table with chairs (opposed to the tight dinette booth), a bigger master bath, much more basement storage, and my personal favorite, a combo washer/dryer. As "G" and I can attest, older is oftentimes better and love can be better the second time around. 

As you may have guessed, we did not deal with Wilkins' RV, but rather found Allie at Scott RV in New Jersey. Thus far, our dealings with them have been friendly, professional and pleasant. Tomorrow we sign on the dotted line and follow the double yellow line up the Garden State Parkway to bring our new baby home. Saving Grace will continue to be the name of my blog, but my Saving Grace has been christened, "Allie."

"G's" biggest chore will be to maneuver a bigger rig and my biggest challenge will be to add some color and turn this rig into a home on wheels. Thank goodness for Command Strips.  If anyone is looking to invest in the market, you just might want to grab some 3-M stock, because photos and art will be going up on the walls! The Newmar's interior didn't really lend itself to being "changed" from its elegant, color-coordination.  Look out "G" and Allie, here I come!

Next entry:  "Before" photos of Allie Allegro.

Deep thought for the day:  As Mick Jagger wailed in one of my favorite Rolling Stones tunes, "You can't always get what you want. No, you can't always get what you want. Yeah, you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Picking Gracie Up

Here we sit, in Gracie, at Wilkins' RV Dealership quite disappointedly.  We took the five hour trek up early this morning to finally retrieve Gracie after over a month of her being in for repairs.  Yup....repairs.  We only camped out in her for a month, yet had to return for "fixins" due to a leak in the shower drain,  a replacement of the power inverter (powers the fridge while you are on the road), a strip of trim was falling off, and our tow dolly, aka Ms. Parton, was making an awful sound when braking, once reaching 40 MPH.

We arrived at 1:30 to find that Ms. Parton's issue was never addressed and that the wrong molding was repaired (really?). We will find out soon if the repair to the shower was successful.  Apparently, they tested the drain quite a bit, because when we hooked up for a night's stay here, the grey water tank was full.  That meant in order to shower, we needed to dump the tank.

Poor "G," after the long ride and the long wait in between the re-repairs, had to un-hook and drive Gracie to the dump station.  Thankfully, there was one on the premises.  But, nothing is ever easy when you are tired, so a bit of a mess occurred while dumping and a process that should have taken 10 minutes, turned into a half hour.  Mr. Clean wasn't so clean after the episode, so a shower was definitely in order.  Once I checked out the bathroom, I noticed that quite a dirty mess was left on the shower floor.  A good scrubbing with some Softscrub did the trick, however, Gracie should have been returned in better shape than when she was dropped off, not worse...  An "F" for Wilkins' RV.

Tonight, we spend the night, here in Bath, and the thing we most look forward to is a Shower!  Dinner was prepared last night, so only re-heating is necessary.  I'm so glad I thought to do that.  It is a beautiful evening, cool and breezy.  A nice break from all the humidity we've been experiencing.

Well, tomorrow is another day.  We are hoping for more positive results.  The sun shall set and will rise again to brighten another day.  Some days are brighter than others.  That is my "Deep thought for the day."