So this morning was a very unretired like morning since we had to be up by 6:30 am inasmuch as they were coming for Graybeard no later than 7:30 am.  Yes, they were here by 7:15 am even as they were the other morning.  They are indeed punctual.  Right on time Graybeard rolled into the shop for its long overdue maintenance.

We, on the other hand rolled out in Little Graybeard to Lady Lake for some more Brooklyn Water Bagels.  Hey, we’re not going to be in this area forever so we are making the most of it while we can.

This is a most interesting place.  As I’ve walked around the last couple of days it is remarkable how many people come back to Alliance year after year for annual maintenance.  Others, who like us are full timers, make a laundry list of things that need to be done during their years travel and then come here to get it all taken care of.  Then there is the couple we met who are now buying their third Class A here. We’re not talking entry level rigs either.  This place has a loyal following for sure.

Walking around the service area I took a picture so you can get some idea of the size of this place.  It’s definitely not your mom and pop operation.  They have bays, lots of them.

From what I learned every mechanic has their own assigned bay.  Here’s Graybeard up in the air in order to get the rear end and the transmission serviced.  When he refilled the rear end he used synthetic fluid good for the lifetime of our rig.  Regarding the transmission, the mechanic told me that their was a specific transmission fluid that

needed to be used and rather than use what they had in stock he had it ordered.  Now I like that attention to detail.  Tomorrow the coolant system will be done.  Same deal, they had to order a special coolant specific to the Ford V10.

The Good News is he checked the brakes and told me I had a good 55/60% left on the pads and none of the rotors showed any signs of unusual wear or heat bluing.  Then once the rig was back on the ground he ushered me to the front of Graybeard and asked Have you had any issues with the AC coming out of the proper dash vents?  Well, now that you mention it.  He showed me some cracked vacuum lines which he stated he was going to fix.  OK by me.

Bottom line we’re getting there, inch by inch, day by day, one by one the issues are being addressed.  We should be done by Friday, provided of course the new mirror comes in as scheduled.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Some of course will say none of this was really necessary since there were no presenting issues.  OK.  I on the other hand went by the maintenance schedule for the Ford F53 chassis and made the decision to get done what needed to be done based on mileage and the year of our rig.  To me an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Will there be other issues along the way?  Perhaps.  At least I’m comfortable knowing I’ve done my best to keep them at bay for the next several years.

Time to call it a night now.  We’ve had a rather uneventful day waiting around for all the work to be finished.  Boring, yes.  Yet, no complaints from either of us regarding the time it is taking for things to be accomplished for time is one thing we have in abundance.  Most importantly we’re doing even this together and that makes the day just the best.

Thanks for joining us again on The Road of Retirement.  As I wrap this blog up once again a thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Yes, we could and we did sleep in this morning.  We already knew that they would not be working on Graybeard today.  So our day was more like a normal we’re retired day.   That’s not to say we didn’t accomplish a few things today.

We were on the road mid-morning headed back to Bushnell since Marti had a follow up Vet appointment.  The Little Man is doing good but of course we ended up with even more pills for him to take.  This dog takes as many pills as I do which would be alright if they did anything for him.  But I sure can’t see any difference in him.  He is still grumpy and nasty and wants what he wants when he wants it.  Time will tell what is going to happen.

Next we went to Sumter Oaks so that I could take a shower.  Hey, their showers are really clean, no one is around right now, and Linda the office manager had no issues with me using the shower.  Thank you.

Update.  Before we left Alliance I stopped in at the service desk to get an idea of what was going to happen over the next couple of days.  I was promised a call no later than 5 pm.  It was about 3 pm when I got the call.  First things first, I knew I needed a new passenger side rear view mirror.  No one believed that it would be covered under the extended warranty.  Guess what?  All but $95 of the total cost is covered.  And to think I almost refused this extended warranty when I bought the rig.  All I can say, it’s amazing.  Second, I was told to be ready to roll into the shop by 7:30 am on Wednesday morning.  Super, we’re making progress now.

We ended up the day having supper with our good friends Dennis and Pam.  They knew we were at Alliance and so offered to feed us one night this week while we were here.  Off to their house we went this evening.  Pam made a delicious stir fried chicken.  Barbara brought apple pie and ice cream.  It was a wonderful evening that flew by very quickly.  Thank you my friends for your gracious hospitality.

So that was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We continue to travel along, hand in hand, singing our song.  Even when it doesn’t seem like there is much to do, somehow we always find things that need doing.  Once again thanks for joining us.  We hope you also had a great day.  I’ll say goodnight for now but before I go I thought for all of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

First, thank you for reminding me that my minnow is indeed a great coach and just what we need.  Furthermore, that it does just what we want it to do.  Which is, it takes us safely down the Road of Retirement, on which we travel together, hand in hand, singing our song.

Now for today.  Oh my goodness, how un-retirement like, we had to get up by 7 am this morning!  Graybeard was going in the shop first thing in the morning.  Turns out, however, they really could have put it off to a later hour.  I’ll explain in a bit.

Since we were up and needed to be out of the coach we decided to go for Bagels.  We had heard that there was a Brooklyn Water Bagel Company in Lady Lake – about 20 minutes

away – so off we went in search of it.  I think we each decided this is the first time in over 6 months that we have had real bagels.  And oh were they ever good.  We’ll be back.

Next mission was to find the local dish satellite store in Ocala.  Took a bit of doing, but only because we first put the wrong address in the GPS.  Our fault.  Right address in we

were there in no time.  The store is called International Satellite and Antenna and John is the owner.   I hit him with question after question and he patiently answered all of them.  What he wasn’t sure of he took the time to call his supplier and obtain an answer.  In the end we purchased a Winegard Pathway X2 two receiver bundle at a great price.

Once we are back in Sumter Oaks in November we’ll have it installed immediately.  Like the day after we arrive!  No time to waste, Hallmark Christmas Shows are starting.

About that early hour.  Sure enough they took it in.  However, the only thing accomplished was a slide tuneup.  Really, not even that because they determined that the slide and its – to me – weird behavior is the way it is designed to work.  Now imagine that.  Well, I feel better now knowing there is no issue.

They then tried to do the chassis work but the mechanic who works on the Ford F53 chassis and V10 engine ended up tied up on another project that had been started on Friday.    They did try to change the serpentine belt only to discover they could not get a replacement belt until tomorrow.  So even that was put off.  Grrrrr.  Will anything get done tomorrow?  Not looking good but hopefully Wednesday.  If not Wednesday we’ve discovered another excellent shop in of all places, Bushnell.  I just have to keep reminding myself as I’ve said before sometimes the situation is the boss.  One good thing, our site is not costing us anything.  I like that.

So that was our day.  Alliance didn’t get much accomplished but we did.  Which still makes it a good day in my book.  Thanks again for joining us as we traveled along.  We’ll see you again tomorrow.  Until then a thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

Move day today but no rush since our destination was only 30 minutes away.  We’re moving up to Alliance Coach in Wildwood, Fl for long overdue maintenance work.  They have their own campground of sorts, a huge paved parking lot with slots for I would say about 50 to 100 coaches .  Each slot is perfectly level and has water and 50 amp electric.  There is also a dump station on the way out if one needs it.

This is is our home for the next couple of days.  We got here early and snagged what I believe to be one of the better spots.  It’s up against a section of grass in the back which

is great for walking Marti.  But boy oh boy do I feel like a minnow in a tank full of whales.  To the front and either side there are nothing but really high end coaches.  I

don’t believe there is anything around us that would sell even used for under $300,000!  I’ll bet the mechanics will have a good laugh when they pull Graybeard in.  But it is what it is.  This plaice comes highly recommended by a number of others who where in Sumter Oaks and the online reviews are also excellent.  We’ll know ourselves in a couple of days.

So yesterday they solved the mystery of the slow draining sewer for the site we were using in Sumter Oaks.  It took a little digging on the part of maintenance crew but

they got to the root of the problem, literally.  One whole section was clogged with roots.

Once it was cleared out and everything was put back in order I had no further issues dumping the tanks today.  Whoever will be on that site in the future will be in good shape.

So, we’re settled in and enjoying some cooler weather.  Today it is only 79 rather than the 90’s of the last few days and we have a really nice breezed blowing in the windows.  I can get use to this real quick.

So that was the essence of our last two days on The Road of Retirement.  Laid back without a care in the world.  We’re just traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song. I won’t say goodnight since it is only 5 in the afternoon.  But I will say thanks for joining us again and we’ll catch up with you tomorrow.  Tomorrow we should have a better idea of exactly what needs to be done and how long it is going to take.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before