Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A State of Confusion

Sorry about the abrupt ending of the last post.  I knew I would not get back to the computer for several hours so wanted to post what I had rather than hold on to it.

The news from the service department was not so good.  Our main slide (the one with the sofa and dining table) will not work anymore.  Apparently, the strong winds we had in Carlsbad shifted the slide off the track.  Since we were unaware of that, running it in and out the few times since we left Carlsbad, has destroyed the gears, bushings and track.  Almost the entire mechanism needs to be replaced.  We are still waiting for an estimate on parts.  The service department estimates the labor will take 24 hours at a cost of $109 per hour and it will be at least 2 weeks to get the parts.  This has turned into a great big sum of money.  So much that we are now debating whether to have it fixed or trade it for something else.

After we got our bad news yesterday, we went out on the lot to see what was available that we might be interested in.  We went back this morning and took another look around. We have called our dealer in Nashville to see what is available there and we have called other dealers in Albuquerque.  In between phone calls we have been looking on the internet at pictures of several brands of 5th wheels and a few Class C motor homes.  We have been so blown away by this that it is difficult to concentrate on what we need or want to do.

We have moved to a campground only about a mile from Camping World and plan to stay until the issue is resolved.  Of course, we can’t put that main slide out so we are a little cramped.  We can get to the dining table; we just both sit on the same side.  We cannot get to the desk area which means the computers are some place different every time I look.  Other than that, it is home, sweet home.

We are staying at High Desert RV Park.  It is a small campground (about 60 sites) just off I-40.  I heard the traffic most of the night last night, but I’m not sure if it kept me awake or if I was just too stressed to sleep well.  The interior roads are paved with grave pull-thru sites.  The office area is new with a fantastic common room with big screen TV and tables for games or puzzles.  The bath is spotless.  The laundry is also very clean with new front loading washers.  The folks in the office are very friendly and helpful.

Somehow, I was able to get the laundry done.  That was becoming a critical issue as well.  At least I have plenty of food in the house and don’t have to think about finding time to get to the grocery.

Hopefully, we will get a call soon with the repair estimate and we can make a decision.  I expect we will spend a considerable more time inspecting available RVs and discussing pros and cons of everything we see as well as the advantages of having the Montana repaired.  This all makes my head hurt.

I’m sure we will get a little sightseeing done before the week is out.

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