What a Weekend

Today we returned to Heiskell TN from a terrific and dramatized weekend. Thursday we drove the rig to Middlesboro where we spent the night in the city parking lot. It was a sleepless night for me, I guess I was just worried about getting the rig in the shop Friday AM.

Friday we dropped the rig off at Dodson's Truck Repairs where Granville assured us he would have it ready for us around 2PM. We went to visit dad while we waited, and since dad sleeps in a lot we were able to help with a few things around the house while he slept.

Later we ran a few errands, Marcia looked for a new outfit for the reunion, and wound up back at dads for lunch. Dad slept in longer than he has in a long time, it was noon when I couldn't take it any longer and went in to wake him.

After dad had got himself composed and going we went to the cemetery to mow. It was hot and humid, and by the time I finished mowing I was ready to take a nap, but that wasn't happening today. Marcia and I loaded the new heat pump which had been delivered to dads for the RV. (Granville (the mechanic) had offered to set the heat pump on the roof for us, so we wanted to have it when we went to pick up the rig.

Now picking up the rig was another disaster. The expensive Koni Shocks I had ordered didn't come with dust covers, and the OEM dust covers that were on the rig wouldn't fit the Koni shocks. The parking brake wasn't fixed, (although Granville did adjust it some) because Ford doesn't sell parts for the parking brake, you have to buy the entire unit, and it was $1100. I was really glad to hear they could send it back and not be charged.

With the temperatures in the 90's and the humidity about the same I was in no mood to be up on the roof of the rig changing out the AC unit, so we just paid the bill and took off to the Cumberland Gap National Park so we could get the rig plugged into the 50 amp service and get the rear AC blowing. ( I have to get that Onan Gen Set fixed )

Saturday AM I got up feeling very energetic, so I got everything set up so Marcia and I could change out the AC unit with the new heat pump. It was a sight to see when we slid the heat pump up the ladder. Marcia was on the roof pulling the rope and I was pushing the unit up the ladder. I am impressed with the way Marcia pulled that thing up there.

Hooking the new heat pump up wasn't really bad, nor was it hard, after all it has a remote and the only wires to hook up was the 115V (3 wires), the 12V (2 wires) and the aux heat wires (2 wires). I had just finished when dad pulled up.

Marcia drove dad and myself back to Heiskell TN where my aunt was hosting a family gathering. (1/2 mile from Raccoon Valley RV Park) It was a good visit with plenty great food, but we had to leave early so we could get back to Middlesboro and get ready for Marcia's High School Reunion.

The reunion will come in a separate blog after I get the pictures loaded on the Laptop.

Sunday turned out to be a very stressful day because my brother (the one that crashed the motorcycle for the third time about 6 weeks ago) gave us all a hard time about me bringing the two motorcycles back to Heiskell to sell. I was glad my nephew Cody and his wife and baby were in town visiting for the weekend. He rode one of the bikes and I rode the other one back to the rig.

I was disappointed that we didn't get to spend much time with Cody, Nichole, and their 1 year old son. But then we didn't get to spend much time with Corey, Jenifer, and our 15 month old grand daughter either.

Marcia and I missed the thunderstorms on our drive back to Raccoon Valley. The new Koni shocks are an improvement over the OEM shocks, but they are not worth the extra money. If I could do it over I would buy the Bilstine shocks and save the extra money. ($90 vs $160) I bet the Bilstines even come with dust boots.

We are now parked in lot 24 at Raccoon Valley. Tomorrow I will try to get a post about the reunion. (the MARGARATOR was working overtime).....