Our Home Gets Service

For the first time since we've been on the road full time, we took the motor home in for service today. We had a few routine things that needed to be done, rotating the tires and having the differential oil changed. We also wanted the breaks checked and that pesky problem with the brake lights fixed. We had a 10:00 appointment at LaMesa RV in Tucson today. This morning, we woke up early, just as if it was a "real" moving day. By 8:30, we were all packed up and ready to go. We got checked in at 9:30, just a few minutes after we arrived. Our service guy, Joseph, was pleasant and professional. He took note of everything we asked about. He gave us an estimated time our home would be ready to go.

With most of the day ahead of us and two dogs in the car, we set off to see what we could get into. The first stop was breakfast, where we made notes of phone calls we still needed to make concerning our trip to Mexico. After breakfast, we found a nice quiet place and made our phone calls. I think we've researched enough Mexican insurance for our vehicles and we're ready to finalize that decision. While we were parked in an out-of the-way parking lot making phone calls, I saw a vermillion flycatcher. Of course, the cameras were in the motor home instead of with us!

A little shopping at a book store, an office supply store, and we were ready to head back to LaMesa. When we got back, Joseph came out and let us know they'd found a leaking seal that needed to be fixed. This would delay us another hour or two. Now, LaMesa is also the dealership where we saw the Tiffin Phaeton that we both really liked. Spending an extra hour or two here was, to me, like going to an ice cream parlor and having a salad. The temptation to "make a deal" on the Phaeton was pretty darn strong. The fellow who showed us around when we were looking, Rod, saw us sitting on the patio and came over to visit. We explained we are taking a wait and see approach to replacing our Bounder. He, of course, made a few points to try and convince us to go ahead and buy now. But to his credit, he wasn't pushy or obnoxious. Side note: I can't say the same about the sales staff at either Freedom RV, where we looked at Alfa products, or Beaudry, where the sales staff was so pushy, we didn't look at anything.

We did resist temptation, although we looked again the model we'd liked. The work on our Bounder was finally completed, and Joseph came out to explain everything that was done, and all of the charges. We were pleasantly surprised at the cost, which turned out to be about half what we expected. Again, we were treated professionally and promptly. We were very pleased with the experience. Of course, time will tell if the work was well done, but everything seems to be fine so far.

We got back to our space at Diamond J just before 5:00. I took the dogs for a walk around the park. They got fed and settled right in. It is unusual to see them curled up together, so I know they are happy to be "home". So are we.