Cheers for Stuart's Service!

Auntie Violet has been feeling a bit cantankerous lately. She's let us know by pushing out the bedroom slide (slide #2) as we've traveled down the road. She doesn't push it very far, just about two inches. We stop after about an hour or so and push the button to put it back in, then she's usually pretty good about it until we get to our next location and by then it's out about two inches again...

Knowing she was having a bit of a problem, we deliberately scheduled a stop in Elkhart, Indiana so that we could visit STUART'S SERVICE, an authorized HWH repair shop. We had stopped there last October on our way through so that they could install some new hydraulic hoses for us.

We made an appointment for 10:30 this morning and headed to County Road 6 in the midst of scattered rain showers.

Chuck Stuart and his crew very quickly took Auntie Violet into the shop and found that she had a leaking valve. They very quickly adjusted it, then added more hydraulic fluid to replace what she had lost. They then kept her for a another 30 minutes to make sure that the valve would not leak again.

We cannot say enough positive about Stuart's Service. They know what they are doing and take care of things very professionally. We were charged for only one half hour of shop time plus the cost of the hydraulic fluid.

By noon we were back on the road. We took Interstate 80/90 across the remainder of Indiana and on into Illinois. There were ten lanes of traffic! There were a few times when we were hemmed in by semi trucks on both sides and in front and back -- not the most pleasant driving!

We are re-tracing a bit of our route from last fall, but will veer off in order to visit Iowa and Wisconsin which are two of the four states we have not yet covered in the "lower 48."

We settled in at the LaSalle/Peru KOA for the night. This is a very pretty nice little park near Utica, Illinois. We'd like to have stayed for a couple of nights, but they are booked solid for the weekend. We'll head on to N. Liberty, Iowa tomorrow.

Blessings to Stuart's Service!

Up early and on the road; Forry's driving Auntie Violet; I'm following in the Toad.  We had scouted out the route yesterday afternoon, so it was an easy trip in spite of the early Monday morning traffic.  Our appointment was at 9:30 and we pulled in a few minutes early.  We had called the HWH factory early last week --

and they referred us to this authorized Master Service Center in Elkhart --

Chuck and his crew of two immediately got to work on Auntie Violet's hoses, so we took off and went to visit the RV/MH Hall of Fame, Museum and Library.

They have an incredible collection of old RVs.  Many of them were one of a kind, hand-crafted jobs like this one, The Tennessee Traveler --

Many of the early ones were just small trailers, but even then they had awnings --

You sure wouldn't miss this one going down the road --

We had barely gotten a good look around the museum when Chuck called and said that Auntie Violet was finished and ready to go.  We quickly went back and found that, indeed, she was!  They had replaced three hoses, one one-hundred inches and two one hundred and fourteen inches and added hydraulic fluid to replace all that we had lost. And they only charged us for two hours of shop time. All I can say, is that if anyone needs work done on their hydraulic systems, Stuart's Service is THE way to go!

We drove back over to Elkhart Campground and paid for another night.  It was SO nice to put the jacks down and let out the slides -- it's amazing how much room we have. And between the new batteries and the filled hydraulic reservoir, the slides just zipped in and out!


This evening we drove over to Middlebury to Das Dutchman Essenhaus for a wonderful dinner.  My former Mennonite Church Executive Board member colleague, Sue Miller and her family own this Amish-style complex.  I had chicken and Forry had sausage, but we had to get take-home boxes for part of it, so that we would have room for pie.  I had a red raspberry cream pie (my Sister Sherry's is better!) and Forry had a piece of chocolate, peanut butter, banana cream pie that he raved about. Nothing like returning home completely stuffed!

A VERY, VERY Lazy Day!

I was SO tired today!  We didn't get up until almost nine, I ate my yogurt, granola and blueberries; then fell asleep sitting on the sofa drinking my coffee...

I finally gave up and went back and laid on the bed and took a morning nap.  So you can imagine how much day there wasn't left by the time I was awake and functioning again.  I did get a couple of loads of laundry done, but it was starting to get dark when I was hanging the second load up.

I spent a bit of time on the computer looking for a recommendation from HWH on where to get the back slide fixed.  They are actually based in Moscow, Iowa. We were thinking if all else failed, we could go to the factory, but they gave us the name of a place they highly recommend in Elkhart. Indiana.  Stuart Service is only about a day's drive from here.  By the time we had gotten that figured out, it was too late to chat with them as they close at 3 PM Central time.  We'll do that first thing in the morning.

I did have a chance this afternoon to chat on the telephone with Sister Sherry.  My niece Daphne and her boys are there from Virginia visiting at the Touchet farm.  It was sure good to visit with her. I am so impressed with the delightful young women my nieces have become.