SAYING GOOD-BYE TO KAREN AND HARRY

Friends Karen and Harry are going home to PA for the holidays. We got together with them and Marie and Keith to say Good-Bye. Keith (Chef R), with help from the others, prepared a delicious dinner of Chicken Kiev and Spaghetti with all the trimmings.

They would not let us bring anything to contribute to the meal, so we gave Marie a very special hostess gift (HA HA) – a planter with a bulb from our Purple Shamrock!! We said it’s special because not everybody can have a Purple Shamrock! We told Karen that we have put aside a bulb for them when they return from their trip.

We all had a great time until the mosquitoes came!!! They put an early end to the evening.

AT LAST -- TT ORLANDO, FL

More to the Alternator saga. We took our alternator to Little One Alternator in Ocala. Cummins highly recommended them to rebuild our alternator. When we got there, Owner, Carl said our alternator could not be rebuilt, but he had another make of alternator that was a better one and he could wire it to fit our motorhome.

We picked it up the next morning. Cummins was reluctant to install it because it was not the same make that came in our motorhome. What could we do?? Our alternator has been discontinued; they cannot find a rebuilt one; and ours cannot be rebuilt!! What choice did we have?? Cummins finally agreed to install the alternator from Little One but would not warrantee it (only 6 months anyway) and we were on our way.

We got to TT Orlando on Tuesday afternoon. I've been doing a little line dancing in the mornings. Ken has been playing Pickleball for the last few days; I played a couple of games this AM. We surprised ourselves and did better than we expected we would. It’s been FUN!!

UNSCHEDULED PIT STOP

We continued our trip on Sunday morning. We were driving along, making good time on Florida I-75 South. I had just driven my 100 miles (HA HA) and we were changing drivers when we noticed the inverter lights were RED. Something was wrong. Ken turned on the generator and began driving. It was not long before he noticed the Voltage Meter was far to the left; the batteries were not charging. We did not want to run out of power on I-75 so we contacted Cummins Service 800 number. It turned out there was a Cummins Service Center in Ocala, the next exit. So we have an unscheduled pit stop at -

Really lucky to be so unlucky!! Thank God for Verizon and GPS!!

On Monday, the technician diagnosed the problem to be the Alternator. Don’t know when we’ll get out of here but at least they are working on it and we have 50 AMP hookup!!

Unlucky again!! Our model Alternator has been discontinued. They are looking into having ours rebuilt!! $$$$$$$$ We may be lucky again. We took our old Alternator to the rebuilder. He thinks he has a couple that will work in our motor home so he will not have to rebuild ours. Fingers are crossed.

We’ll get to Orlando when we get there!!!

FILL-UP AT MURPHYS USA FUEL

We left Red Bay at about noon on Saturday, 11/14, heading to TT Orlando, a little more than 700 miles south. We stayed Saturday night in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Dothan, AL where we could get diesel fuel at the Murphy Fuel Station.

I added $$$ to our Wal-Mart Shop Card so we could get the 3 cent/gallon discount. Unfortunately, after we had filled up the motor home (95 gallons), Ken saw the sign! In the state of Alabama, they do not give the discount at the station. You get the discount on your Credit Card Statement. You must use your Wal-Mart Charge Card or your Wal-Mart Discover Card. We had used our Wal-Mart Shopping Card!!! No discount for us!! Funny thing. In South Carolina, you could not get the discount using your W-M Discover Card – had to use the Shopping Card!!

FYI. It is a good idea to check with Murphy Fuel BEFORE you fill up!!

RED BAY, AL - November 3 - November 14

See next four posts.

TIFFIN MOTOR HOMES, HOME OF THE ALLEGRO BUS

We are on our way to Florida by way of Red Bay, AL. We drove the extra miles to Tiffin Motor Homes where our motor home (an Allegro Bus) was built so we could have some repairs made-- Some adjustments made to the slide out; new drapes; cleaning of headlight lens; NEW Splendide washer/dryer.

MARSHA AND ROD

When we checked in at the Allegro Campground, the camp hosts immediately recognized us. We met Marsha and Rod at the Encore Park in Queen Valley, AZ in October 2002. We were staying at the park for a month. Marsha and Rod were staying there at the same time. They made the sun shades for our windshield and did an excellent job.

It was great seeing them again and they took good care of us!!

CHRIS WRIGHT RV AND BODY SHOP

Our primary reason for coming to Red Bay was to have the damage to the rear end repaired. You may recall that back in July I backed Ken into a tree while parking (See August Blog). Tiffin was not able to make the body repairs for about three weeks. They recommended Chris Wright RV and Body Shop. Chris is a nice young man who formerly worked for Tiffin. Now he has his own body shop. In the process of making the repairs we had him remove the faded decals and paint the graphic design on the sides. Here is the finished product!

Here are the guys!! Ken, Justin, Chris, Max!!

Faye did some babysitting so the men could work!! Max was so good!!

"HARVEY"

Believe it or not, the little town of Red Bay has one of the nicest little community theatres. Ken was the first to see the sign advertising that “Harvey” was playing during the time we were in town. HE was the one who suggested that we get tickets.

On Friday evening, we went out to a delicious steak dinner at Gill’s Grill and Steakhouse and then attended the delightful presentation of “Harvey”. I guess that’s out culture for 2009!!

THOMAS HAS A GREAT HALLOWEEN!!

My grandson Thomas is quite a guy now. He took on the job of carving the family Jack-O-Lantern this year. Great Job!! Scary!!

Here he is in costume for Halloween. I could not guess who he was supposed to be, even after reading his name tag – RAY. You all have probably already guessed!! I had to call to find out. RAY - A Drop of Golden Sun!!! How clever!!

“Ray” with his friends, the Top Chefs. They had a great Halloween evening!!

HALLOWEEN AT CHESAPEAKE BAY

October 31 – Halloween in one of the biggest weekends at TT Chesapeake Bay. The campground was 100% occupied, and everyone had a fun and scary weekend! There were so many decorations at the various sites we could not begin to picture them all here. I have chosen a few to show in this collage.

Double click on the collage for a larger version. Arrow back to get to the Blog.

[This is an experiment -- I've never done a collage before!!]

Continued.

Now, how do I add more than one image when using Picasa??

GHOUL CEMETARY

Some RVer's at Chesapeake Bay created this really neat cemetery. It was so realistic. A lot of ghouls!!

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS

A group of RVer's created this Zombie Hospital with all sorts of scary stuff inside!














Our Pickleball friends, Tim and Julie, had this pirate ghost shop on their site!











I really liked this decoration!! It's perfect for Halloween AND Thanksgiving!! Great Job!!

ANIMAL COSTUME CONTEST

During the day the campground sponsored several costume contests. One was for the pets.

This is not a skunk but a puppy disguised as a SKUNK!! Phew!!

First Place went Brad and Carla’s WEENIEBAGO!! Sooooo Cute!!

THE HAUNTED STREET

Mike and Diane have an annual site down in E Section. A group of their friends who have sites in the same section get together every year, close off their road, and create a “Haunted Street”! They have a fun all day long setting up the scary street. Here is a collage. (The pumpkin arch was the entrance to the Haunted Street, but I could not get it in the first position in the collage.)

DOWN THE HAUNTED STREET!!

After the work was done, there was time for some picture taking and eating.

Here is Diane with Elvis [Brad]!! How did I miss being in this picture???

The Blues Brothers [Eddie and Brad]!!

My little friend, Caleb with Diane’s Witch, cooking up a good Witches' Brew.

Of course we had to get together for a Potluck after all the work. Delores preparing enough grilled cheese sandwiches for 40 people!!

Another potluck enjoyed by Billy Babb, et al.

Of course, the Haunted Street was much more Scary after dark. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me. I missed some great pictures –

Like when A Snake dropped down from a tall tree and hit me in the head!! At first, I thought it was a rope or something, but then it started to wiggle around, just like a snake!! I grabbed Ken by the arm and yelled! “It’s moving!! It’s moving!! Ken! It’s a snake!!” I think everybody in the campground saw my reaction. They thought it was hilarious!! Everyone had something to say about it!! We really needed Mark (Phaeton Place) and his camera to get a picture of that awful snake!!

And then there was A Chilling Scene at the end of the trail!! Diane was lying on a table. Suddenly, a spotlight glared; there was a bloodcurdling scream; and a terrifying beast [Mike] chopped off her arm with a huge cleaver! Right there before our eyes!! Blood was everywhere!! A very exciting way to end the trail. So sorry I did not get that picture!!

Great job everybody!!