Florida Mobile RV Repair

Auntie Violet has been suffering from incontinence. She's had a fresh water leak that has steadily gotten worse. We've been able to deal with it by not using water pressure from the outside hose. We would just turn on the water pump every time we needed water. It's been a REAL pain! (I told Forry he has no idea how many times a day I wash my hands, especially when I'm cooking!) And there's NO pump switch in the kitchen -- I have to walk back to the bathroom to the switch every time. I was always getting in trouble for not turning the switch back off...

Forry and Bill pretty well isolated the problem when Bill was still at Mouse Mountain, but neither one of them could get to it. There's a pipe behind the AquaHot -- and a couple of other pipes -- they could see where the leak was, but neither one of them was skinny enough to get back in there. At least it was fresh water, so we didn't worry about it contaminating anything.

I have to tell you that we have had wonderful referrals when we contact local authorized AquaHot/HydroHot service centers (that's how we got hoses fixed in Kansas). The shop in St. Augustine we talked to had no mobile service and they were booked solid in their shop until the end of May! But they gave us a referral to Florida Mobile Repair. Dave set us up to come into their shop when we left Mouse Mountain RV Park this morning.

Now this is not most likely a place we would have stopped in without a referral about how good they were:

It's certainly nothing fancy with big elaborate bays or anything like that. Kinda looks like an old service station --

They actually worked on the leak problem out on the tarmac in front of the shop. They had this really skinny little fellow who was able to get back in there behind all the plumbing.

It turns out that it was nothing more then a very loose fitting. They tightened it up three turns and even got part of another turn on it! They thought it probably hadn't been put on tight in the first place and just kept getting looser and looser --

This guy really had to get under there and then squeeze up into it to fix it. He actually went ahead and put a little access plate in there so that if we ever have problems again, someone can get at it. The other good news is there did not appear to be any damage to the flooring from the leaking!

So, if you're ever in the Orlando/Kissimmee area of Florida and need some work done on your rig, don't hesitate to call Dave at Florida Mobile RV and Auto Repair. They are at 2255 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Kissimmee, Florida. (407) 518-6739.

We thought their prices were reasonable as well. We paid $180 for two hours of labor plus $20 in parts for the access door. We were out of there a little after one, hooked up the Toad and made it to our new home near St. Augustine by dinnertime tonight. (Tomorrow I'll tell you about our first experience using the new Pilot/Flying J Good Sam Club RV Plus Card to diesel up.)

Wednesday

We paid for a full month at Mouse Mountain RV Park in order to be here to fly out of Orlando International Airport to go to my board meetings last week. (The cost of flying from one of the small regional airports on the east coast was more than double that of flying from here...) The monthly rate at the RV park is quite a bit less then paying by the week.

Now we are just sort of marking time before we start north. I must admit that I am getting a pretty bad case of "hitch itch." I have walked around the park so many times I think I can just about describe every unit in here. This is one of the many "other" residents of the park. There are lots of these squirrels running around. They are quite a bit smaller than the ones we had in Spokane.

This was the beginning of one night's sunset. I thought it would get more colorful, but this was about the extent of it --

We needed to pick up a few things at the grocery store, so late this afternoon we decided to go out to dinner, then go to the store. We've been hungry for barbecue, so looked up a nearby place on Facebook. We found Fat Boys BBQ in Kissimmee that had some good reviews. When we got to the address, it wasn't there. About that time Bill called and he recommended Smokey Bones, a place they had gone to and liked.

We shared a brisket dinner that was really good!

Another Monday

Well, I'll tell you one thing -- I am still tired! I did get ambitious enough this morning to empty my suitcase and to wash a couple of loads of laundry. It's been breezy enough that with the windows and door open, the clothes dried very quickly. Makes it much easier than those very humid airless days we had a couple of months ago when nothing dried.

We watched our usual morning TV, enjoying The View, Millionaire, and The Chew. Then we got our act together and headed into Kissimmee. Toad is a 2005 Jeep Liberty with 109 thousand miles under his belt. Last week before we checked out the route to the airport, he just didn't want to start. After adding some water to the battery and giving it a jump, we got him going, but it was pretty obvious that the battery was going to need to be replaced. He's had it since he was brand-new (he joined us a year later when the lady who owned him traded him in for a diesel model.).

We -- and some of our friends -- have had such good experiences with Interstate Batteries that I went on-line and searched for a store near us. The closest one turned out to be Tires Plus in Kissimmee. I called them to make sure they had what we needed in stock and to find out if we needed an appointment. I was assured they had the right battery and we were told to "just drop in."

They have at least five bays that were all full when we pulled in. The young woman at the counter was friendly, very efficient and got all of the paperwork done very quickly. We only waited about ten minutes for them to get to the Toad and it was all done within a half hour! They even made sure to check out the battery charge once it was installed as well as the starter and the alternator. They checked the air in the tires and made sure all of the fluids (coolant, washer, transmission, power steering etc.) were at their proper levels -- and then checked to make sure all of the lights were working properly. All of that without any additional charge!

If you're looking for great customer service and products while in the Orlando area, you couldn't find a better place. It's busy -- all the bays were again full when we left -- but they do good work. I think we'll probably drive back that way and get Toad's oil changed before we leave Florida at the end of the month.

Disclaimer - We have no relationship with either Interstate Batteries nor Tires Plus other than as customers.