September 9, 2004

September 9, 2004

DAY 84

 

 

This morning I wandered around the lot of Total Value RV, the dealer where we're "camped", looking for excuses to spend money. I felt some obligation to spend some money here, to compensate the dealer for the free camping offer we're taking advantage of. First I spent some time looking at a Ford F-550 ( 1½ ton ? ) MDT ( medium duty truck ) "hauler" conversion they took in on a trade recently. The asking price was U.S. $39,000. Moving right along ... next I went to their service department to inquire about their RV washing service. Their price was U.S. $1.00 per foot. Now that's a little more along the lines of what I should be spending to justify my stay here. But ... they're too busy this week to wash Harvey. Their wash bay is tied up washing their half million dollar motor homes that they will be displaying at the Escapees rally. Good luck ! Finally, I inquired about using their dump station. The normal charge is $5.00 for use of their dump station, but ... no charge for me to use it this week. Later this afternoon when I spoke to a salesman again about the $39,000 truck, it was already sold. OK ... can't seem to spend any money here !

Late this morning we went off to shop for RV parts and accessories. First stop was RV Surplus & Salvage, a business that sells the manufacturers' cast offs. Parts that the manufacturers don't want any more because there is a newer model, or they've damaged them slightly, or whatever. It was like a big grubby warehouse outlet filled with odds and sods. We spent quite a bit of time there looking through everything, and ended up buying a new faucet fixture for the trailer. It's much nicer looking than the one in the trailer now, which is beginning to leak where the shower hose attaches.

Next we stopped at Camping World. Our much awaited first visit to a Camping World. Very nice. Best assortment and selection of RV parts and accessories we've seen. We picked up a catalogue, bought a promotional membership in the Good Sam's RV Club, which provides for a 10% discount at many private campgrounds, and purchased a few small things that I've been wanting, like an AC voltage meter and a fridge thermometer. Finally, we drove to Forest River's Cardinal manufacturing plant to pick up the black plastic hub cover that Transcona Trailer Sales arranged for. I was not very impressed. We had a long wait to see Cam, the man we were supposed to ask for. When I got tired of waiting, and told the receptionist I wanted to see a customer service manager, she was visibly annoyed, made a phone call, and Cam showed up immediately. The parts were "on their way" from their "nearby" parts depot, despite the fact that Doug at Transcona Trailer Sales told Cam a week ago that I would be in to pick up the parts today. Doug ordered one hub cover, but since I lost one in the Minneapolis fiasco, and replaced it with a similar, but not identical one, I asked Cam for 2 of them. He obliged.

Joanne is becoming quite dismayed at the lack of "friendliness" displayed in the United States. I guess we have some culture adjustment to do. Throughout our maintenance ordeals, fuel purchases, grocery shopping, etc., we are encountering very "unhelpful" customer service attitudes. It's rather discouraging, especially for Joanne.

We came back to the trailer for a very late lunch in the afternoon, and visited with the occupants of the other 2 rigs that are now camping here as well. One of them is a couple whose story is eerily reminiscent of our own. They started full time RV'ing after the woman's second battle with cancer, and second major surgery to remove it, 9 years ago. They sold their home, their business, and everything else, and hit the road. Life is short !

This evening, we drove to Goshen to see the Elkhart County Fairgrounds where the Escapees rally will be held. It's about a half hour drive from here. Goshen is not quite as close to Elkhart as we thought it was. The salesman here says there will be about 1100 rigs at the rally ! The fairgrounds are very large and very impressive. Not at all what we had envisioned. We thought it would look like a large field. There are many permanent buildings on site, for livestock auctions, restaurants, bathrooms and showers, administration buildings, paved roads, streetlights, designated camping sites, etc., on a large, treed property. Looks like a big giant campground ! There were already quite a few rigs there, all displaying Escapee rally staff signs in their windows.

DSK