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Published: April 13th 2013
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We decided to leave Warrenton/Roundtop, Texas on Monday, April 1. We had already been there (and set up for 10 days). What we didn’t know when we ‘signed on’ to do the show….that there is a ‘pre-show’, of which we were part and if you do the pre-show and the regular show…it lasts almost 3 weeks!! We were told that, on Tuesday, wealthy women from Dallas & Houston, would be flying in and Limousined in for a different section of the show, which is down the road a bit and eventually some of them would ‘dribble’ through the fields where we were. We’d had enough of people ‘dribbling’ through for the 10 days that we were set up and we did make some money…..so we were ready to leave. Note about Warrenton/Roundtop antiques show….it is actually spread out over 5 area towns!
Our first day on the road was fairly uneventful and we spent the night in Huntsville, Tx. The 2
nd day started out ok, then while driving at 60+ mph on I-30 in Arkansas, some guy ran out from the woods on the side of the road and right in front of our motohome. Jim was able to swerve
to the right to miss him….and apparently everyone else did too, as he seems to have miraculously made it across both sides of the Interstate. We have no idea what possessed him to do this….was he being chased by someone??? We will never know. Ok, so we continue down the highway…..it starts to rain and the windshield wipers go on. After driving about 10 miles in the rain…..suddenly, the passenger side windshield wiper literally flies off the windshield. We can’t stop right away and assume it somehow fell off and is gone forever. I’m thinking to myself ‘thank God it is just the passenger side’. Then 10 more miles down the highway and the drivers side wiper does the same thing!!! Ok….now we are in kind of a panic (as much as you can allow yourself to panic driving at 60 mph on the Interstate in the rain). When we can, we take the next exit….have no idea where it is going to bring us, but we need to get off the road. Jim finds a place to pull over….and discovers….both wipers still attached. The metal wiper arms have completely snapped off (leaving a little stub) and are dangling from
the windshield washer hoses! Jim removes the wiper blades and puts them into the RV and uses plastic ‘tie wraps’ to tie, what is left dangling, to the grill on the front of the vehicle (so they are no longer ‘flapping in the breeze’). The rain has now let up slightly and I find an address for a Wal-Mart that seems do-able for the night.
We get to Wal-Mart and Jim finds and calls a local dealer to see if they have the parts ‘in stock’….they, of course, do not and it will take days before they can get them. Not sure what to do….we spend the night at Wal-Mart and listen to the weather. It is now Tuesday and the rain will clear out for Wednesday….but will start up again Wednesday night and right through Thursday. We need to find a campground to wait it out. We find a campground in Dickson, TN and Jim starts making phone calls. We find a Tiffin dealer in TN (of course they don’t have the parts in stock) but Jims asks….if the manufacturer is willing to send you the parts, can you install them? They say ‘yes’, so Jim calls the
manufacturer (of the motorhome) and explains how the metal just broke off (they really don’t care a whole lot, but are willing to mail the parts to the dealer in TN). We have only had the motorhome for 3 years and less than 13,000 miles on it…..but, we are told, they will not cover the cost of the parts or the shipping. “How could this happen” and “have you ever heard of this happening?” Jim asks…..yes, they say….they were ‘torqued’ on too tight! (Yeh…well who did that?? The guy that attached them to the vehicle when it was manufactured (their guy)…but none of that matters. So we pay for and have the parts (2-day mail) to the dealer. We call the dealer to let them know they are on the way. In the morning, we head to the campground to wait out the rain. The weather report was right….it rained all night long and all day Thursday. Friday, Jim calls the dealer and to our surprise, they have received the parts. They tell us to come right along….they will ‘squeeze us in’. It only took us about 2 hrs. to get there and the service manager is so
surprised that this is not covered under warranty. He has not see this before. He sends someone out to our RV in the parking lot to install the new parts. We go back in to pay the service manager. He says “no charge….it didn’t take but 10 min.” We were pleasantly surprised and able to get back on the road (with working windshield wipers, should we need them). If you ever have the need….we highly recommend ‘Tennessee RV Sales & Service’ in Knoxville, TN.
Luckily, the rest of our trip was smooth and uneventful and we arrived home safe and sound on Sunday!
Attached are some photos….the first few are of the sunrise when we left Ft. Stockton, TX to go to Roundtop. (I forgot to post them on the last blog.) I post them, because I am never up early enough to actually see the sunrise! Also, pics of the Roundtop area and of course, some of the flowers I found along the road home.
Hope you all have a wonderful Summer season and God willing, I will have another blog for you next winter.
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