tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23929576499520640302024-03-04T22:15:30.161-08:00To Red Bay.....and BeyondA journal of our trip to Red Bay, Alabama to see our new Allegro 36LA being built. Your are invited to come on board our "Virtual RV" for this journey.. This virtual RV has unlimited seating and no weight limitations, so become a follower and come on aboard! Feel free to leave comments on any entry that strikes your fancy.Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-24921736086733475612018-05-04T20:30:00.001-07:002018-05-04T20:30:25.070-07:00We aren't where we expected to be, but we are better!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, we left the hotel in Brigham City this morning about 7:30 under clear skies and great conditions. The trip was uneventful until we were about 50 miles from Pendleton, OR, our planned stop for the night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems that we were going to arrive there about 2:30 after a 500 mile drive. That would leave us 213 miles to go Saturday to get home. Carol suggested, and I concurred, that it is so early in the day, why not go further. It seems that the 80mph speed limits in Utah and Idaho really made a difference plus we gained an hour with the time change to Pacific time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we pushed on.....and after 23 days, 5,802 miles, 13 states, 10 hotels, countless restaurants, and a zillion gallons of gas, we arrived home tonight at about 7:15pm. We drove 713 miles today in a little under 12 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We would have arrived in Portland in peak traffic hours, so instead, we stopped in Cascade Locks for dinner. Carol wrote about that on FB, so I won't duplicate it. But the food was just OK, the scenery was great, and the company was fantastic. When we did go through part of Portland on the I-205, there was no Friday traffic at all. We arrived home safe, and sound, and everything here was great. No major problems at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This really was a great trip for us. We went to places we had never been before, met some great people (I'm thinking of how I can kidnap some to bring back here to teach people how to behave), and learned a lot about RVs. Also saw the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville at the Marshall Spaceflight Center (Part of the Redstone Arsenal).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favorite part of the journey was seeing how the systems (electrical, hydraulic, plumbing, etc.) are installed in our new RV. Carol's favorite part was watching all the bare chassis being driven about by guys either standing or sitting on temporary seats with absolutely nothing else on the chassis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No more blog entries until we go to get the new RV. Check back periodically for updates! Thanks for reading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-90059307670460848552018-05-03T19:13:00.001-07:002018-05-03T20:03:00.787-07:00Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor Snow, nor Wind, nor Tornadoes, Shall Keep Us.....<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today we left Sidney, NE about 7:30. We planned a 558 mile day to get us to Brigham City, UT. I checked the weather radar (app=Weatherbug) on my cell phone and our immediate area looked good. It was not raining where we were, so we quickly loaded up and got on the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, turns out we were surrounded by nasty weather and as we left Sidney, we ran into some heavy rain. Carol took all the pictures below with her phone as I was driving.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This picture shows us driving just outside of Cheyenne before reaching Laramie, WY. It is at the top of a pass and the visibility varied from about a quarter mile (shown above) to just about zero. The real problem was when passing trucks. They throw up a lot of road spray as they slowly climb the hill. Your choice is to either go less than 30mph for quite a distance or try to pass them and go blind by their road spray until you go in front of them. Almost like flying an airplane on instruments. It was a very tense 20 minutes or so. We had heavy rain, snow, wind and Lord knows whatever else. Had we gone one of the alternate routes we considered, we would have added tornadoes too! I think overall we made the right choice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fortunately after a few hours we were out of the rain. Actually it was just about 10 miles out of Rawlins that we lost the rain, though the picture above was after entering Utah. As we drove on, the sun started to come out and the road dried up as shown above.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And as the drive went on, we were rewarded with some great clouds in the sky. When we left Sidney, the temperature was about 39 and at the summit of the pass, it was 34. But above, the temp was in the mid to high 60s! A very pleasant and welcome change for sure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We entered Utah and as we left I-80 for I-84, we had some great rock formations surrounding us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This road winds through the hills to eventually get to I-15.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now you can see the Wasatch mountains in the distance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another great view of the mountains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="goog_897308080"></span><span id="goog_897308081"></span>As we joined I-15, we had a good view of the Great Salt Lake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We arrived in Brigham City at 4:45pm after a 558 mile drive. Tomorrow should be a shorter 508 mile leg to Pendleton Oregon with another time change in our favor. </span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-42110107114090385332018-05-02T19:04:00.000-07:002018-05-02T19:34:45.035-07:00Half Way to Somewhere or other<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This post is just to catch up on our travels...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Tuesday, we left Fulton, MS at 7:50am and headed home. We went on I-22 through Memphis, TN. Memphis did not impress us and there were a lot of signals when I-22 ended. Memphis is a major transportation hub, so there were 100 million trucks to contend with. But once we exited the city, speed picked up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We went through Arkansas, which was the first time either Carol or I had ever been to that state. We were very impressed by the quality of the roads and the fantastic welcome center. We then entered Missouri. We drove 500 miles and ended up in Clinton for the night. We had a great hotel at a reasonable price. It had a pool and hot tub which we took advantage of.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today, Wednesday, we again left at 7:50. Just a habit I guess. We went through Kansas City, but our timing was good and we missed the commute traffic. We then went up through St. Joseph, on I-49 and eventually went through the lower left corner of Iowa. Then we took state highway 2 over to I-80. Once on I-80, we headed to Nebraska and ended up in Sidney. We actually traveled about 600 miles today which is more than we planned. But we gained an hour due to the time change, so we arrived about 5pm or so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So far an easy trip with no problems. If all goes well, we will be home sometime Saturday!</span></div>
Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-33132916035510947202018-04-30T13:59:00.000-07:002018-04-30T13:59:38.239-07:00All Cleaned Up and No Place to Go<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we drove back to the Red Bay factory from Fulton, MS. It is about 29 miles and an easy drive. When we arrived, we went in search of our RV and it was the first one we checked. Helped having seen the paint scheme.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the RV there were 5 guys working on it fixing various things and testing others.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xcRHeM4sty-u7EU7D8rLEAIGVhCmSJU-qyYOv8-COTUZoTnQhA-qNapDUKWb9fvtLCFg2pIpW2PQdlI94rxJ_noe35IPkw_QgNfKAr7SnqUCPmGtnP8BxBL0NN1yz-spRY_d6_y248w/s1600/01+outside+unbuttoned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xcRHeM4sty-u7EU7D8rLEAIGVhCmSJU-qyYOv8-COTUZoTnQhA-qNapDUKWb9fvtLCFg2pIpW2PQdlI94rxJ_noe35IPkw_QgNfKAr7SnqUCPmGtnP8BxBL0NN1yz-spRY_d6_y248w/s320/01+outside+unbuttoned.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The outside was totally opened up. All compartments were open, covers removed, everything was being checked.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_l8c77GkYqjARF4ijNyodm-YySq4JbhMCTkhSi4eRPbM5T8FVwbMwXpoODRwFLMobGbuMbecB-ZI0mb1j-eSO13J9_js7_cemhpjylXNHQL5Nsa95C34OjMYenH0Y9Zyi7z89lDt2TE/s1600/02+shiny+paint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_l8c77GkYqjARF4ijNyodm-YySq4JbhMCTkhSi4eRPbM5T8FVwbMwXpoODRwFLMobGbuMbecB-ZI0mb1j-eSO13J9_js7_cemhpjylXNHQL5Nsa95C34OjMYenH0Y9Zyi7z89lDt2TE/s320/02+shiny+paint.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I walked around the RV just to see everything and noticed how shiny the paint job is. You can even see a clear reflection in it of the construction going on for the new engineering building! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65iXkUScbPAbzAfUlir4rh8FNr6TiOD9ox8CcrNQagZw59aKmpdN6FGB7HhPY8-pxLq31Qjk1vukQStqvPBENEzFyXCG9R-UB6hWnD0Wp8reuImVHdqeZtXdYISVDQaV7TT-h6G2NBzo/s1600/03+outside+tv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65iXkUScbPAbzAfUlir4rh8FNr6TiOD9ox8CcrNQagZw59aKmpdN6FGB7HhPY8-pxLq31Qjk1vukQStqvPBENEzFyXCG9R-UB6hWnD0Wp8reuImVHdqeZtXdYISVDQaV7TT-h6G2NBzo/s320/03+outside+tv.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last item to be installed here was the outside TV. Earlier the awnings, slide toppers, power steps, and Tiffin emblems were added. I did find a few things for the inspectors to add to the report and for the guys to fix. There was a blemish on one cabinet that could only be seen sitting in a certain chair. a face piece over some electronics was on crooked, the passenger side mirror wasn't aligned and a few other things like that. Fortunately, nothing major really! Once the inspectors and finish team left, it was time for the cleaners to work their magic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi7hwDlFnsvdW7qtEx4iNfi_BX4NprswLjC9D2rkepCHSkum-8Exp_CrB2-XVeIPrbV2OU7dU0nhbEF57YlJwlcwQIsYusPYQ-E9kOm5GetgxnrTkcrRCewJA8Rv7AUo9oW4taEwCRfY/s1600/04+cleaners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAi7hwDlFnsvdW7qtEx4iNfi_BX4NprswLjC9D2rkepCHSkum-8Exp_CrB2-XVeIPrbV2OU7dU0nhbEF57YlJwlcwQIsYusPYQ-E9kOm5GetgxnrTkcrRCewJA8Rv7AUo9oW4taEwCRfY/s320/04+cleaners.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Rachel and Myra, the cleaners, came inside and got right to it. These ladies could give lessons on how to clean an RV and what to use! I joked that I was going to have them come out every 6 months to clean the RV. Myra said she'd love to at $18 per hour. Of course, we'd need to get a bunch of RVs in the Vancouver, WA area to make it cost effective! Any takers?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She also showed us the products they use to clean. We've made a note of them for future use. In case you are interested, here they are:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63IfMA4P4DwqX_lQl9jzgjczGciM7uEAfRVRR4JnIC1WIv9efWUl5oxosR9e4nUmUQyd3-FVGygHAidd425re7iFzE9eNlkGGRNtxmLhCSsvuaJ0JZeQ7n4s9kdcswQyG4aDLYdgbR4k/s1600/05+black+mark+remover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63IfMA4P4DwqX_lQl9jzgjczGciM7uEAfRVRR4JnIC1WIv9efWUl5oxosR9e4nUmUQyd3-FVGygHAidd425re7iFzE9eNlkGGRNtxmLhCSsvuaJ0JZeQ7n4s9kdcswQyG4aDLYdgbR4k/s320/05+black+mark+remover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what they use to remove any black marks on the floor, dash, and other vinyl surfaces.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDl1yNuYX9BJDakMSXErgWmPTJdFl405-KPeiI_YgRIFiSK1A55t7_1G0QkK6tfd6yuqZCuePUk0aznfPq_Y1VGDkBSO9GdW4GChwqXekkvV3X7mmpojbI92u5GLwUdoskhq0jhtCmDc/s1600/06+countertop+cleaner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDl1yNuYX9BJDakMSXErgWmPTJdFl405-KPeiI_YgRIFiSK1A55t7_1G0QkK6tfd6yuqZCuePUk0aznfPq_Y1VGDkBSO9GdW4GChwqXekkvV3X7mmpojbI92u5GLwUdoskhq0jhtCmDc/s320/06+countertop+cleaner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is recommended for cleaning the counter tops. As you will see in the next picture, it leaves a nice shine.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkC5LQpNNjqiRCtb8WzrUJZ7xObO1ofTjs0x26QoRvWzfHy9blz-mpqYO5Ath3Q3hJaOSFN7cIeJSWefGK6E1QEtTnp0yUQG4HTN13KYYIN1VxJKbOIQMydABLQew1kLB3BuxEe2CXjic/s1600/07+glass+cleaner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkC5LQpNNjqiRCtb8WzrUJZ7xObO1ofTjs0x26QoRvWzfHy9blz-mpqYO5Ath3Q3hJaOSFN7cIeJSWefGK6E1QEtTnp0yUQG4HTN13KYYIN1VxJKbOIQMydABLQew1kLB3BuxEe2CXjic/s320/07+glass+cleaner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this is recommended for cleaning windows and anything else like cabinets, microwave outside, refrigerator doors, etc. It supposedly leaves no streaks. These are a bit on the expensive side according to Myra, but makes the job easier. And since she does 3 or 4 coaches a day, she should know!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tonight we are having dinner with a guy who ordered a Phaeton. It was being manufactured at the same time ours was but he could not be there. So I took about 100+ pictures for him and at dinner he is going to copy them onto his computer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then tomorrow we start the journey home. We actually could stay one more day for the last few steps, but we are happy with all that we saw during the build, painting, and inspection/cleaning. I don't think there is much more to be learned and we want to get going home. It is almost 2,500 miles back. The weather may include some thunderstorms over the plains which means we have to be alert for tornadoes. And there is snow falling now in the Rockies. So it could be an interesting trip. I'll blog more on each day of the trip home, but for now, we say good bye to Red Bay and Kelvin, our new RV. Will see him soon, probably around the end of May.</span></div>
Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-17862192873187820962018-04-27T14:16:00.001-07:002018-04-27T14:16:33.848-07:00Let me make this perfectly clear....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I am actually documenting what happened on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I have had a cold the past few days and was not combat ready, so didn't feel like blogging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, we arrived at the Belmont paint facility around 8:30. Our RV actually went into the "Stripe Repair" station earlier in the morning, but we didn't see a reason to go in real early. Would have been nice to watch them pull off the stencil pattern for the stripes though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, when we arrived it was inside the bay where they repair the stripes. There were a number of areas that they touched up with the sprayers. The windows to this booth were splattered with paint, so pictures didn't really come out well at all.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcE3dvFYVx8qz4VeWgTT-eGrifHT7xBaKQmgnelEIuaCBcljaVQyZ6YZpSTy6K0l7WDMWSdiZTkG2TulKJLqK_L4NgIBmolc5lpxoSbaUFEzR-RBjxw4-9PR9Pl2H-Q_aX3twhz0IApQ/s1600/01+out+of+strip+repair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcE3dvFYVx8qz4VeWgTT-eGrifHT7xBaKQmgnelEIuaCBcljaVQyZ6YZpSTy6K0l7WDMWSdiZTkG2TulKJLqK_L4NgIBmolc5lpxoSbaUFEzR-RBjxw4-9PR9Pl2H-Q_aX3twhz0IApQ/s320/01+out+of+strip+repair.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here the bay doors are opened and they are ready to drive the RV out to the next station. They have already removed the covering over the front window so they can see where they are going.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTChh7HvQvrAxLTHGYyhh7gZfVjehdUkJzhC5SXwU18MJGm5ozT6DcZ9YAyc86IyqtRIhI-mC-17u9u4qRTbYAppIABjjVhQkRPTuZzb2GlwoFXbQVvrnai0WM2onLtdeFH1P1PbGkgA/s1600/02+quick+white+touchup7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTChh7HvQvrAxLTHGYyhh7gZfVjehdUkJzhC5SXwU18MJGm5ozT6DcZ9YAyc86IyqtRIhI-mC-17u9u4qRTbYAppIABjjVhQkRPTuZzb2GlwoFXbQVvrnai0WM2onLtdeFH1P1PbGkgA/s320/02+quick+white+touchup7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was one last minute touch-up on the white color before it came out.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKsfigdkCFMm-3-qV6heC5Xc5G_dGj-n1h_vEBmKEj8h28Bqc09zikzZSV5Gm-SIkeWKeZTMlIS-DRRpLOK_TShm18d_SyRUptbosrNAmU2yAkySNyCx4lHYLXTF3SnD4gTOruUvdvpE/s1600/03+out+of+stripe+repair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKsfigdkCFMm-3-qV6heC5Xc5G_dGj-n1h_vEBmKEj8h28Bqc09zikzZSV5Gm-SIkeWKeZTMlIS-DRRpLOK_TShm18d_SyRUptbosrNAmU2yAkySNyCx4lHYLXTF3SnD4gTOruUvdvpE/s320/03+out+of+stripe+repair.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here it is being driven out of the stripe repair bay and to the next station.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFkCvRcXNjZGUQnS1wEnVZpdCD_CiMs9Ky0voCzL01RMNghFOLUj7Ufbq-cav8rq6dstfw8VzUf4hP__Ha61aVbdlJGUxZh9J64-JFUIeRjUy_Z2y0jnsDZQ9ZCdcSCkE576w7TFLR68/s1600/04+inspector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFkCvRcXNjZGUQnS1wEnVZpdCD_CiMs9Ky0voCzL01RMNghFOLUj7Ufbq-cav8rq6dstfw8VzUf4hP__Ha61aVbdlJGUxZh9J64-JFUIeRjUy_Z2y0jnsDZQ9ZCdcSCkE576w7TFLR68/s320/04+inspector.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This station is to get the RV ready for the clearcoat. First, the paint job is inspected. The inspector above is marking areas to be fixed with blue tape. He goes over the entire pain job! You can see two real small fixes tagged to his left. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9oe-soIRxUKAHVh95kX2nxVBGFmIbY2Ou5oiisvpJP4FJSdCilOFDCr0LEnCozFcFvkP1I3jrQ9-NMbJIGOBCEJUcZBXyG-3cgIdq42QpElvUt-Ryu-mMZ2t_FVIuHByQ7E2a8LmAS8/s1600/05+razor+blade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9oe-soIRxUKAHVh95kX2nxVBGFmIbY2Ou5oiisvpJP4FJSdCilOFDCr0LEnCozFcFvkP1I3jrQ9-NMbJIGOBCEJUcZBXyG-3cgIdq42QpElvUt-Ryu-mMZ2t_FVIuHByQ7E2a8LmAS8/s320/05+razor+blade.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of the prep, workers use razor blades and go along the boundary of each color to clean up any adhesive from the tape or stencil. If they didn't do this, the adhesive would end up being under the clear coat and almost impossible to fix later.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hW_-VOOYi43vaL1qLQwMztMmO_OmpHpPRB0ATzEWC56gan-cqqkWAzljsYB7OLHG_lLOc4S6cob6_NKYpsOJq51DM31e4yLFsra_TrHlfiWCVRYCrdEb7HZjOsRgBCd9R_4bvi1M88I/s1600/06+more+touchup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hW_-VOOYi43vaL1qLQwMztMmO_OmpHpPRB0ATzEWC56gan-cqqkWAzljsYB7OLHG_lLOc4S6cob6_NKYpsOJq51DM31e4yLFsra_TrHlfiWCVRYCrdEb7HZjOsRgBCd9R_4bvi1M88I/s320/06+more+touchup.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the areas the inspector found was repaired but still not up to his standards, so he grabbed the equipment and fixed it himself!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBHtlOpfvJjgiSQXt0nNAO06Ctzi2bsz3h0htW1ai6T3djRbM7i4Qrj0VlnpdsWj6mlucJY3JE3i8rhyphenhyphenRKCcLJkWbcS4cCDIiSvYfSvvDPLVmR218Cn6Q5M8DnB8Z8nFxSUmjl-IE_tZs/s1600/07+into+clear+coat+booth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBHtlOpfvJjgiSQXt0nNAO06Ctzi2bsz3h0htW1ai6T3djRbM7i4Qrj0VlnpdsWj6mlucJY3JE3i8rhyphenhyphenRKCcLJkWbcS4cCDIiSvYfSvvDPLVmR218Cn6Q5M8DnB8Z8nFxSUmjl-IE_tZs/s320/07+into+clear+coat+booth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now it is being driven into the clearcoat bay. All windows and other non-painted surfaces are covered or taped so they are not clearcoated.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEc_XRTtsvIVrj7eM4nkaM0CP9aGQ0DuCCO3tOmv8ELzwbbXihWR2aqqCb5oNn9EUDfPB-JhuWl9I-7lVc74TYz5NJza1YKr6DxYHz56SFVexEjMhQ8S5zjh1OosrbXDnS5Lh2uVqb1Lw/s1600/08+clearcoat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEc_XRTtsvIVrj7eM4nkaM0CP9aGQ0DuCCO3tOmv8ELzwbbXihWR2aqqCb5oNn9EUDfPB-JhuWl9I-7lVc74TYz5NJza1YKr6DxYHz56SFVexEjMhQ8S5zjh1OosrbXDnS5Lh2uVqb1Lw/s320/08+clearcoat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here you can see the workers wearing their space suits as they spray clear coat on the RV. They seemed to go over each area several times.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYHGyecWh3b2xnAYpQHLqYjhM_LA5vm4UPS2d58aWq6C1L6azQDWCP3E3IgJ7pB6WCQyLE0YXpPXFBnkT5wJt51xwSs-SKaQ4GfeLj4M499BHp3wi87w_NYUwkCAZePyPIcGmTzfqVYA/s1600/09+the+oven7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYHGyecWh3b2xnAYpQHLqYjhM_LA5vm4UPS2d58aWq6C1L6azQDWCP3E3IgJ7pB6WCQyLE0YXpPXFBnkT5wJt51xwSs-SKaQ4GfeLj4M499BHp3wi87w_NYUwkCAZePyPIcGmTzfqVYA/s320/09+the+oven7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, after the clear coat is applied, the RV is driven into the oven. The oven is actually physically connected to the exit of this bay so that no foreign particles can get on the clearcoat. In the oven, the RV will be baked at a temperature of 160 degrees for one hour to dry the clear coat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We didn't stay to watch the oven drying since there are no windows. Instead we left and will come back on Monday for the final inspections. Between the end of the painting and Monday, all the taping and protective paper will be removed, the outside accessories (TV, awnings, stairs, etc.) will be added, and then it will be bubble tested once more before going into the rain booth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So when we see it on Monday, we should be seeing the final product! We have decided to name the RV "Kelvin" in honor of the supervisor and team that built it. There was no easy way to include everyone's name in the RV name, so we picked their supervisor as the namesake!</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-27749606798653379792018-04-24T15:16:00.000-07:002018-04-24T17:35:11.060-07:00From Catepillar to Chrysalis<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last week we watched a zillion parts all come together to make our RV. It looked like a gray slug or maybe a caterpillar. Everything on it worked on the inside, but it really wasn't nice and shiny on the outside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This week began the process to transform the outside. Yesterday, it went through the wash bay and then four sanding stations. We didn't go to watch that as sanding is a messy business. So when we caught up with the RV, it was being prepped for the base coat.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PAVc7Ny_EWWG7cZgiNSDpiJ2ywFRl9P7c2VaYyvwCMh3FEb6rFIQBJEDDJMOm6-wS_oXoVLdY91q-2rS5wvZ_VFLmkwiaKLFo2mD8Q1eDua8T9ipwSrqjElK0LY-De3-viFaBFj62m4/s1600/01+mask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PAVc7Ny_EWWG7cZgiNSDpiJ2ywFRl9P7c2VaYyvwCMh3FEb6rFIQBJEDDJMOm6-wS_oXoVLdY91q-2rS5wvZ_VFLmkwiaKLFo2mD8Q1eDua8T9ipwSrqjElK0LY-De3-viFaBFj62m4/s320/01+mask.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here you can see the masking tape covering the various parts that are not to be painted. This is just before it enters the first bay to be painted.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEoKgMvEaNBowxvECOZgdynAtQly5Wh7bDtW3l_2smrsbVVRgw8FnyB6nig7DEQBHqK24gk8g_zuBCXm9IVSLBdP1VlxP1OM5EjeVsploTJYZ-6vz6_hZG-4X8E3bd8ZgOabNzfnsx-U/s1600/02+sprayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEoKgMvEaNBowxvECOZgdynAtQly5Wh7bDtW3l_2smrsbVVRgw8FnyB6nig7DEQBHqK24gk8g_zuBCXm9IVSLBdP1VlxP1OM5EjeVsploTJYZ-6vz6_hZG-4X8E3bd8ZgOabNzfnsx-U/s320/02+sprayer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now it is being given a couple of coats of primer. There are 4 painters in the paint bay The room is sealed off and fresh air is pumped up through a grate in the floor. It is sucked out of the room from a system in the ceiling. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGB-WZQEVYyJw2oEr2MXP8amYXPP5X3z7Is6SGz5aY0sbZZWLFOHs5MFz0ANGYdQh7CLjWi78Z368rQvx83N9aBbldastgwQanPGeA_H5G0uY36Zpy0uXKDcCDRqdPWtUJ91CDPkKFBM0/s1600/03+painters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGB-WZQEVYyJw2oEr2MXP8amYXPP5X3z7Is6SGz5aY0sbZZWLFOHs5MFz0ANGYdQh7CLjWi78Z368rQvx83N9aBbldastgwQanPGeA_H5G0uY36Zpy0uXKDcCDRqdPWtUJ91CDPkKFBM0/s320/03+painters.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The four painters in this room are all wearing protective suits and special soft helmets with clear visors. The paint guns are all driven from air compressors which also pump air into the helmets for breathing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxKujGtC8aBvBMUvp8ct9iPaMNv-RB7rGlnEyoMRN6cDlKx_4mnZzPJUG-1N52fObTmqGzA9IeP6gsED5kXrFNjLYBnT7pEy8uZY2JnePYxM9tj8oSK5rljHlcVHNm9TmAkIIzce1ynk/s1600/05+end+of+first+coat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxKujGtC8aBvBMUvp8ct9iPaMNv-RB7rGlnEyoMRN6cDlKx_4mnZzPJUG-1N52fObTmqGzA9IeP6gsED5kXrFNjLYBnT7pEy8uZY2JnePYxM9tj8oSK5rljHlcVHNm9TmAkIIzce1ynk/s320/05+end+of+first+coat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Above is what it looked like after the first primer coat. Almost the beginning of a camo paint job.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2vmmdNxgx5RVCJa0Gk_O1KvMUDgtAEXTw_yNP5eHSLwmJPolMcvVZ_Rdkmc_XMD_9OwFwc03o8pPULPMV49UeE5y1IuUaB0cxOicfpEabE3iFq6PLiVYDYaPP8oNS3oiLn4f7ljeNOY/s1600/04+primer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2vmmdNxgx5RVCJa0Gk_O1KvMUDgtAEXTw_yNP5eHSLwmJPolMcvVZ_Rdkmc_XMD_9OwFwc03o8pPULPMV49UeE5y1IuUaB0cxOicfpEabE3iFq6PLiVYDYaPP8oNS3oiLn4f7ljeNOY/s320/04+primer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now the painters are applying the first of four base coats. It is amazing to watch the color fill in with each coat. Instead of putting it on too thick and worrying about runs, they do four full coats whenever they paint anything!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMOzKo4nS9bpvkx5M23P6ZSS8LaJWMLkJ9HVk7z0Q7eqiVV4qJuD7xCSJIRvuuVsJI4ZSu0uv4MMyfuqOEzUgGcqnaF8ykKnOVCqARtizqM2CxnJub2hg6JiY2M8pSryL_c0f_cUOoow/s1600/07+4th+base+coat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMOzKo4nS9bpvkx5M23P6ZSS8LaJWMLkJ9HVk7z0Q7eqiVV4qJuD7xCSJIRvuuVsJI4ZSu0uv4MMyfuqOEzUgGcqnaF8ykKnOVCqARtizqM2CxnJub2hg6JiY2M8pSryL_c0f_cUOoow/s320/07+4th+base+coat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now the base color is on (it is a shade of white). It looks shiny but it will dry to a flat. After the painters finish at this station, they turn up the heat and bake the paint on.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpkKBqSldT_nhqonqxN0mRK_uicDk9d3rZ499luiMCD0DojSLOhZHaZ2Jj0CY0bYQjW-wVpZNcDU9mqIxdj8JHZdVrDxHzftbfgywnccfIPyvHjSQXNEB4HJtbn78dWGbsaffbvrqlMQ/s1600/09+to+mask+stripes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpkKBqSldT_nhqonqxN0mRK_uicDk9d3rZ499luiMCD0DojSLOhZHaZ2Jj0CY0bYQjW-wVpZNcDU9mqIxdj8JHZdVrDxHzftbfgywnccfIPyvHjSQXNEB4HJtbn78dWGbsaffbvrqlMQ/s320/09+to+mask+stripes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is what it looks like with the base coat.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJRGPn4mqAJzmyNUxsCEUj1Dqz9BaCEYZnLPXw7949xUMaWe5Iyy5uy7LW8M2Rp7XvPhhrMPS3UuIRX2XBEJ8Ag8NNiRVAWOI2zm4meVeYRs7oEdGO3jCjsLY5GVxq6w7YU0Ot0J9Pk8/s1600/10+vynil+stripes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJRGPn4mqAJzmyNUxsCEUj1Dqz9BaCEYZnLPXw7949xUMaWe5Iyy5uy7LW8M2Rp7XvPhhrMPS3UuIRX2XBEJ8Ag8NNiRVAWOI2zm4meVeYRs7oEdGO3jCjsLY5GVxq6w7YU0Ot0J9Pk8/s320/10+vynil+stripes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now comes the interesting part. An army of ladies (we counted 9 at one time) attack the task of laying out the stripes. Long rolls of vinyl are created with the pattern cutout. So where the vinyl is, the base color will remain. Where there is no vinyl, there will be a stripe of a color. They carefully place the vinyl template on the side of the RV and then do it again for the next 3 layers. They do the same to the front and back. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqaxBARD30rhRy1XOMxQoIhQiD8bTmDThVDH6RBUrEvXZIY-70IHGXBKptIkVGklNMoI4z-I1TFRpVNkr29MLrVN_46XbEf82fq2svo7yTkcajqxcXepXzyZWJFmE-2VVkj0x_pMWQGY/s1600/11+pealing+vynil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqaxBARD30rhRy1XOMxQoIhQiD8bTmDThVDH6RBUrEvXZIY-70IHGXBKptIkVGklNMoI4z-I1TFRpVNkr29MLrVN_46XbEf82fq2svo7yTkcajqxcXepXzyZWJFmE-2VVkj0x_pMWQGY/s320/11+pealing+vynil.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When they peel off the backing, the vinyl remains.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszmRzR0m4KAstHviUZxEb0g2ElZop4kHlNElcdPXqTwN7qEwpWxa-Yy5FtImg7X12qbt0fXOMzcHZzz3pbjs48O6MMVfGFEqqXdJ3a159BYOnwJRsvo4WhnjmLvgOAv21rcHzzDXY0pw/s1600/12+green+tape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszmRzR0m4KAstHviUZxEb0g2ElZop4kHlNElcdPXqTwN7qEwpWxa-Yy5FtImg7X12qbt0fXOMzcHZzz3pbjs48O6MMVfGFEqqXdJ3a159BYOnwJRsvo4WhnjmLvgOAv21rcHzzDXY0pw/s320/12+green+tape.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are a lot of uneven edges, like where slides are, or windows, or handles, etc. These are masked off with green tape to continue the stripe. It is really almost an art form to watch the team change an all white whale into a green and yellow striped RV.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBfE4YaXP9B9HCs7g3U2EVaeF5JRb4Kj7L0TNUysC8fGLq18zF5yi2BK-JSIPIVLBLR7af6-5jid79Q2gazMl0NbMNopaiI65egckvlMQ3J78sQCs4GA-DXc_bsSMJg_Xo7I7Mi1fRSnU/s1600/13+first+color+black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBfE4YaXP9B9HCs7g3U2EVaeF5JRb4Kj7L0TNUysC8fGLq18zF5yi2BK-JSIPIVLBLR7af6-5jid79Q2gazMl0NbMNopaiI65egckvlMQ3J78sQCs4GA-DXc_bsSMJg_Xo7I7Mi1fRSnU/s320/13+first+color+black.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now the color black is being sprayed onto the stripes that will be black. Naturally they are doing 4 coats!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFhaF_rBTmsnj_6NhH7E_m_fcOcvjOyn-_y8ZKgBtYIHWpoy-QgaGJaySu5aOcfeBCCMPSEVVe0qwPDLETMCrOy367oe7Si-svUy2bNcgQc9eAmdBbPw_P5LIUZp-0CivFsOQwVRc88w/s1600/15+more+tape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFhaF_rBTmsnj_6NhH7E_m_fcOcvjOyn-_y8ZKgBtYIHWpoy-QgaGJaySu5aOcfeBCCMPSEVVe0qwPDLETMCrOy367oe7Si-svUy2bNcgQc9eAmdBbPw_P5LIUZp-0CivFsOQwVRc88w/s320/15+more+tape.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When they are done painting the black, they put paper over the area they just painted and use tape to hold it there. That way when they paint the next color, it won't ruin what they just painted.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxeOKRtZsVg5PYdje9RsbODlL4cjxgyl-zMDMo6g9xWrXDyw90YYgRURo06MkD92q8xUDZWkazArR1UcCKAxdnCID25XcQfKghYxbg0aOIiBvY2En9TxUWfjThGUx9WNqdkm-STlydao/s1600/16+second+color+grey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxeOKRtZsVg5PYdje9RsbODlL4cjxgyl-zMDMo6g9xWrXDyw90YYgRURo06MkD92q8xUDZWkazArR1UcCKAxdnCID25XcQfKghYxbg0aOIiBvY2En9TxUWfjThGUx9WNqdkm-STlydao/s320/16+second+color+grey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now they are painting four coats of a greyish color. When they are done, they will use tape and paper to protect that color too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgs7HRGj5laK9bNl1a2_G_nVCwRc-QRLOZeQnrAcE9e0AOFQbEr6D7djnmnS6OZXx0h7JuHogElptP-GJ8pfT-yExgSB_xa93N9OPNLG6sk62GVsWy1w1gdyhMVVl7vtnEHgUuFgyR5k/s1600/17+third+color+mahogony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgs7HRGj5laK9bNl1a2_G_nVCwRc-QRLOZeQnrAcE9e0AOFQbEr6D7djnmnS6OZXx0h7JuHogElptP-GJ8pfT-yExgSB_xa93N9OPNLG6sk62GVsWy1w1gdyhMVVl7vtnEHgUuFgyR5k/s320/17+third+color+mahogony.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lastly, they add the 4th color which is a deep mahogany. That color has a good amount of area to cover, so it takes a bit more time to apply all the coats.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LjFNF6dswqk5U3FXj0nsvzpTBag4vVK1yaQhJ8Yvh5glrJxToGrCDAkJhVmP_xqV4fgy6o0vl_iICPLEqdSC-nSuottq6aT_gPEhofWVEuNDeAm2UFzKLf5bxcMxXl8NPbXOwnzm3QY/s1600/18+out+it+comes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LjFNF6dswqk5U3FXj0nsvzpTBag4vVK1yaQhJ8Yvh5glrJxToGrCDAkJhVmP_xqV4fgy6o0vl_iICPLEqdSC-nSuottq6aT_gPEhofWVEuNDeAm2UFzKLf5bxcMxXl8NPbXOwnzm3QY/s320/18+out+it+comes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They rolled it out of the painting bay just before quitting time. Looks kind of ugly at this point. Tomorrow morning, another army of workers will carefully remove all the tape and vinyl to reveal our butterfly. But tonight it is a chrysalis incubating before the transformation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After they remove the tape tomorrow morning, it will go to another paint bay for stripe repair. They carefully go over all the stripes and flag any areas needing touch ups. They start tomorrow at 6am and we are staying 25 miles away. Plus I have developed a cold these last few days and Carol is a day or two behind me with the cold. So we will go over after we get up and check out of this hotel. We will stop by the paint facility to see how it looks and get some pics to share.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then it gets several coats of clear paint to make it nice and shiny. After that, it gets baked and then taken back to the Red Bay factory for the addition of the final accessories like the awnings, trim pieces, etc. Early next week it has a final inspection which we will attend on Monday and Tuesday before leaving for home.</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-38834653081611251222018-04-20T17:36:00.000-07:002018-04-20T17:36:28.793-07:00Meeting the Queen of Paint<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This afternoon we went over to Belmont to tour the paint shop. It is in Mississippi, about 8 miles from Red Bay. This place is huge! It has at least 12 paint booths that I saw. There is not guided tour...the guard gave us the overall layout and turned us loose. So we wandered around on our own. The stations we saw were not in any order, but here goes....</span><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUakZBt7S3z5CGujASTsyk4Ht_j0B4VS8F52rYN4HQOrHsueKZsZUlPa1ZXg-EXTw8nFxOZ2pdJ84BKEqhBq5RKbT9rzq-hrZeLaWtptDqw2vqm7A9HcxCg5HLm_4FQT443BVimQSEuqk/s1600/01+paint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUakZBt7S3z5CGujASTsyk4Ht_j0B4VS8F52rYN4HQOrHsueKZsZUlPa1ZXg-EXTw8nFxOZ2pdJ84BKEqhBq5RKbT9rzq-hrZeLaWtptDqw2vqm7A9HcxCg5HLm_4FQT443BVimQSEuqk/s320/01+paint.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This RV was in a booth getting ready for some kind of paint. It may have been clear coating.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cE0SKmdFJ5I-qmLyu5uD724LVBER4JlQMLBm-anZ94ECOF4pnpbYTYA1PNfkRQfOu6e8fQkJQaDMFJE8rRf9ohXEdC1rwpC3_Ihxh3zuVSMsmr19RTmtOg1ejF2N61JbrOp0ar0trHo/s1600/02+ladies+removing+tape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cE0SKmdFJ5I-qmLyu5uD724LVBER4JlQMLBm-anZ94ECOF4pnpbYTYA1PNfkRQfOu6e8fQkJQaDMFJE8rRf9ohXEdC1rwpC3_Ihxh3zuVSMsmr19RTmtOg1ejF2N61JbrOp0ar0trHo/s320/02+ladies+removing+tape.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These ladies appeared to be doing some inspection of the paint and putting on yellow masking tape where there were problems.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7G_Qcnv-X2HybD0WNe9mePYhulW8KH60f1Fw5Gl27qKx1kXyfIMyckI2_MZUX4MYHxR7OL1ULRCIXQhqLZgKdV2wQ_K-a6oH7aqY5Krm-xk4jcB7ddQi46KsFootfub15Zr5qtV8iuvU/s1600/03+one+set+of+painters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7G_Qcnv-X2HybD0WNe9mePYhulW8KH60f1Fw5Gl27qKx1kXyfIMyckI2_MZUX4MYHxR7OL1ULRCIXQhqLZgKdV2wQ_K-a6oH7aqY5Krm-xk4jcB7ddQi46KsFootfub15Zr5qtV8iuvU/s320/03+one+set+of+painters.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These guys in space suits are doing actual painting. We were able to see them through the window in the booth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBRV1-ZCjzajpQK2co6yGOTtO2LvyVw7o7oAmjmarwujof401L_BMNs0iROtqrBoXkvgSQxAsbGtjU4Bt-pFT4zVrP8kTBGnL5kWoDvf0Tts6IzgU7DOVIBP1-eOdf-Jj3WlxmbsZN7A/s1600/04+just+cler+coated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBRV1-ZCjzajpQK2co6yGOTtO2LvyVw7o7oAmjmarwujof401L_BMNs0iROtqrBoXkvgSQxAsbGtjU4Bt-pFT4zVrP8kTBGnL5kWoDvf0Tts6IzgU7DOVIBP1-eOdf-Jj3WlxmbsZN7A/s320/04+just+cler+coated.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This RV has just finished up in the "Super Clear Coat" booth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFjSlBodb2VP1y7kYZVkHAJccf8tZScpud4x70RLkSPN2jMZk0JTA4gO37l9fhgQeH7KABpBtvITMz19pyw2vleGIlVybCrWIlLJlC9VwQ0ucjTt1b8_H3vuLd2LlEvZXSNFPy-1B8wQ/s1600/05+masked+RV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFjSlBodb2VP1y7kYZVkHAJccf8tZScpud4x70RLkSPN2jMZk0JTA4gO37l9fhgQeH7KABpBtvITMz19pyw2vleGIlVybCrWIlLJlC9VwQ0ucjTt1b8_H3vuLd2LlEvZXSNFPy-1B8wQ/s320/05+masked+RV.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a rig all taped up and ready to go in to get the base coat. From what I understood, the base coat is always white.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF16zgVM8xbq7eB3R2C58y6ClHxysqKNttxQUr8ImTukIBU1nzGM13gupgt4KZYCxxcZ7pq0ff9hCAGBnHBG7nXEMUj2aFv13pVZ84UeZv4BFPXMs8dueqgODhorsKjmtQp8wcOHx6_GE/s1600/06+correcting+minor+flaws0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF16zgVM8xbq7eB3R2C58y6ClHxysqKNttxQUr8ImTukIBU1nzGM13gupgt4KZYCxxcZ7pq0ff9hCAGBnHBG7nXEMUj2aFv13pVZ84UeZv4BFPXMs8dueqgODhorsKjmtQp8wcOHx6_GE/s320/06+correcting+minor+flaws0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is another rig being inspected.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5syeoV_FbCSv9GpkUX5Kz-_1oVLQYixPI8ccJa44fju0e5wPgTBarrDxv_1JWsedk6YugjSjiKHZC5O_Z9Gn5ZKbVLhuXLcjEFVZOsbFGYEpNBQeub_WJMWUs68gv2g7SwZ12qk8sSY/s1600/07+being+painted0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5syeoV_FbCSv9GpkUX5Kz-_1oVLQYixPI8ccJa44fju0e5wPgTBarrDxv_1JWsedk6YugjSjiKHZC5O_Z9Gn5ZKbVLhuXLcjEFVZOsbFGYEpNBQeub_WJMWUs68gv2g7SwZ12qk8sSY/s320/07+being+painted0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hard to see these guys painting. It appeared that there was a lot of spray in the air, but I think that was just on the window I was looking through.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTL_2DMit2lLHaHl1Mvo9lXfYtifhIf6h0z7F32EBiBi6EEOkuzjGAONzZOGlud6pYFkxiPkazllFbEgUC2hCZtuKbjEdG5vjrYjm11tCZMUPjfKzFk5RiGvNYpjR2qgULZolY2vOKxbg/s1600/08+taping+the+stripes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTL_2DMit2lLHaHl1Mvo9lXfYtifhIf6h0z7F32EBiBi6EEOkuzjGAONzZOGlud6pYFkxiPkazllFbEgUC2hCZtuKbjEdG5vjrYjm11tCZMUPjfKzFk5RiGvNYpjR2qgULZolY2vOKxbg/s320/08+taping+the+stripes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here some workers are applying tape for the next set of stripes to be painted.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU57kISFr-YFy2e1F4CgKUkYVX4Soiv-LIpYfvNBjUR1w0s5SZtAxFgglWVpc5hZLg1FOfsjUOf74UM8wzQ7n6SaAbh7x8gBv_IWLcCzzz4T55meFyb5vFDSAIbNxPDjqGhVitiWeSjZA/s1600/09+design+work.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU57kISFr-YFy2e1F4CgKUkYVX4Soiv-LIpYfvNBjUR1w0s5SZtAxFgglWVpc5hZLg1FOfsjUOf74UM8wzQ7n6SaAbh7x8gBv_IWLcCzzz4T55meFyb5vFDSAIbNxPDjqGhVitiWeSjZA/s320/09+design+work.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It appeared that there was some stripes being laid out on this rig.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-i0wmJaxnKdgyftHYdMpL0GaU5Piu0qQSgu5o82p1ZhNHDHQ7FzTV_mwbHoqnj8_RvJA_Vk4jtrZP8LZNN_WfgKwL8i013EvAghDxha9jhdLZsn1tkRy8ucZjaQMpLIkr9zFoSk0Om4/s1600/10+second+stripes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-i0wmJaxnKdgyftHYdMpL0GaU5Piu0qQSgu5o82p1ZhNHDHQ7FzTV_mwbHoqnj8_RvJA_Vk4jtrZP8LZNN_WfgKwL8i013EvAghDxha9jhdLZsn1tkRy8ucZjaQMpLIkr9zFoSk0Om4/s320/10+second+stripes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is one that is getting ready for painting a level of stripes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ArUFSjOvf5-hLeOkn78AJzfB32IX4Cy-YrOHa0VHP1ypuxzE4VqWmF0Cq7ZC9dKaThZxJEyAkfhcBFfRRMUavpVqHeniuBG-hMqFlrMslbH0kGBxy4PdLuIKlAijl0P4jco8XmOk074/s1600/11+fume+removal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ArUFSjOvf5-hLeOkn78AJzfB32IX4Cy-YrOHa0VHP1ypuxzE4VqWmF0Cq7ZC9dKaThZxJEyAkfhcBFfRRMUavpVqHeniuBG-hMqFlrMslbH0kGBxy4PdLuIKlAijl0P4jco8XmOk074/s320/11+fume+removal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were warned by the guard that there could be a lot of fumes in the air. But there weren't really...and I suspect the reason is these huge pipes that pull air out of the booths and send it outside.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeODpp421c9W09IEPWIQWm4xGJn1fblo-Q-VOZctCcfI3EeB0YCNYpCw2CYYFGEQblIomx3roYtcfC7V4BxqhZKimKSqM7OD8jI1MYudgDNj64goShYuBZhpwCw2Y79HUb3FUIcGfDJk0/s1600/12+ready+for+clear+coat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeODpp421c9W09IEPWIQWm4xGJn1fblo-Q-VOZctCcfI3EeB0YCNYpCw2CYYFGEQblIomx3roYtcfC7V4BxqhZKimKSqM7OD8jI1MYudgDNj64goShYuBZhpwCw2Y79HUb3FUIcGfDJk0/s320/12+ready+for+clear+coat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I overheard one worker scheduling the above rig for clear coating. Fairly intricate art work on these.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY23olXQuJpLQ3NTJXtMfZAnAVKhjc7gnxJml2J33dmB-qRLoZQFrk2GN6t5ESYn9mSb28Tlq18izm2ALyewaeGy9WzEnRx2dqorJfmk4VGaIZSxF_nwnKAVPula9Cbg6-Y7crkNip6kM/s1600/13+painting+slides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY23olXQuJpLQ3NTJXtMfZAnAVKhjc7gnxJml2J33dmB-qRLoZQFrk2GN6t5ESYn9mSb28Tlq18izm2ALyewaeGy9WzEnRx2dqorJfmk4VGaIZSxF_nwnKAVPula9Cbg6-Y7crkNip6kM/s320/13+painting+slides.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For an extra few thousand dollars, they will continue the stripes on your slide walls too! We didn't see the need for this option.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TLcgVTZ5WqpaqGnJNEZLa9Y4-t3Dk_mlgBuTpJxGjMRqg7_kstFIRvYhkMfxcFeIzuivTfKowBSzm9glPGDmNoTRbsX1JwddoCQt5DLxXukcYKwSYCNVROP4W44P35Tne-dWlRqp-Zw/s1600/14+empty+bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TLcgVTZ5WqpaqGnJNEZLa9Y4-t3Dk_mlgBuTpJxGjMRqg7_kstFIRvYhkMfxcFeIzuivTfKowBSzm9glPGDmNoTRbsX1JwddoCQt5DLxXukcYKwSYCNVROP4W44P35Tne-dWlRqp-Zw/s320/14+empty+bay.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This bay was prepped to receive a coach and as we were walking away, one drove right in and they closed the doors.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheg8WOta84LZ998pa8pR7hLL1ciQGV477Qg_t6j7wLNCxoPcLSIV57_VoVAwc3qbeuS2Q0Pp9lKqaASK8MmcXt3O1S0L0yoqjcCPqATxws7SLmrwfjMbOoHajEGdQsDylTUSrIuukem8/s1600/15+rain+booth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheg8WOta84LZ998pa8pR7hLL1ciQGV477Qg_t6j7wLNCxoPcLSIV57_VoVAwc3qbeuS2Q0Pp9lKqaASK8MmcXt3O1S0L0yoqjcCPqATxws7SLmrwfjMbOoHajEGdQsDylTUSrIuukem8/s320/15+rain+booth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This appeared to be some kind of spray or wash area. Didn't see much happening here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside of the plant there is a large parking lot. This is where the rigs that are ready for delivery are stored until a driver can deliver them. They are short of drivers, so if you need a job and have always wanted to drive really expensive vehicles, this might be the place for you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were very fortunate to have done this visit to the paint shop when we did. We saw that the color white that we saw on our RV paint scheme really wasn't white - it was "Chocolate White" which to me meant light tan. We met with Melissa, the Queen of Paint to talk about this. She said it was a white, but not pure white. We looked into changing just that one color and she made up some change sheets, but we would have to take them over to the main sales office for costing and approval. Basically, we wanted to use the white from another paint scheme. Why that would cost money since they normally use that paint, is beyond me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went out into the pre-delivery storage area and found our color scheme (Maroon Coral) on one rig and saw an alternative on the other (White Mahogany). Turned out we liked the White Mahogany better. We went over to the sales office back in Red Bay and checked a few rigs there to make double sure....then went in and changed it with the sales office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are buying one of the rigs new, I strongly suggest that if at all possible, you come to the paint shop in Belmont (8 miles from Red Bay) and actually see the color scheme you have ordered. As the Queen of Paint said, the paper version does not do it justice. You need to see it on a rig in the sun to be sure. I know we would have been unhappy with our original choice and if we didn't come to Belmont, we would not have had the chance to get it corrected!</span></div>
Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-58586509022275007902018-04-20T15:26:00.000-07:002018-04-20T19:04:26.288-07:00Final Production Day<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today was the final production day for our new RV. Station 7 involved putting on the compartment doors and inspections. When we arrived at 6am, we found that all the compartment doors for one side were already installed. During our time at this station, inspectors worked their way through the unit and all around the outside to look for things wrong. I had thought that the production team had done a great job, but I was wrong. There were definitely some really small things that they found that I never would have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When they find something, they put some yellow or blue masking tape near it and note it on an inspection sheet. There really were only about 15 items on the sheet, and I was told that it was a relatively small list. Every door, cabinet, drawer, whatever was tested for alignment.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXF4Du-CpNOmbyyT167zJQrThqwTAIPfybmYORe9tL-bji3N3K5WsiNDra_gD6IbPzQzsZQZo-WWjW9N7kJbdfr8nhrH4a7ZuCYiN6JKXiyStUsFYrJyPLaslLAgwc5CDMGcateHvv5TM/s1600/01+inspector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXF4Du-CpNOmbyyT167zJQrThqwTAIPfybmYORe9tL-bji3N3K5WsiNDra_gD6IbPzQzsZQZo-WWjW9N7kJbdfr8nhrH4a7ZuCYiN6JKXiyStUsFYrJyPLaslLAgwc5CDMGcateHvv5TM/s320/01+inspector.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a closeup of one inspector looking at an outside compartment. He spent about 1 minute or two at each compartment with his light and took pictures.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FwqtaBGzDu9zcURSsjmOpUa6eSsTfVLfmEJ-ENZBwwpR9hJLw7cr_30gmyrmscsg4WM46BvcHou5j0eZpeRZkG3OWgcFkEvPr8vZi70cVDkO18ZFAUquu0zmrc1wylYvptoF1T6ve88/s1600/02+sides+on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FwqtaBGzDu9zcURSsjmOpUa6eSsTfVLfmEJ-ENZBwwpR9hJLw7cr_30gmyrmscsg4WM46BvcHou5j0eZpeRZkG3OWgcFkEvPr8vZi70cVDkO18ZFAUquu0zmrc1wylYvptoF1T6ve88/s320/02+sides+on.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here is a picture of the side where the doors were already installed and being inspected.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWtDmWObUzal0jTh53CkMSlU4IHxTbKmZqd69kQpZb0O_sTt6WY41bPROalNeVaEDwmd9BzLH2YxFQoVGUIr1vLfeUJGZzVlxiP6s-S05uJuLAVx_VeQ2W_UyppFbNCwKrg1C3H2ZM1s/s1600/03+sides+to+go+on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWtDmWObUzal0jTh53CkMSlU4IHxTbKmZqd69kQpZb0O_sTt6WY41bPROalNeVaEDwmd9BzLH2YxFQoVGUIr1vLfeUJGZzVlxiP6s-S05uJuLAVx_VeQ2W_UyppFbNCwKrg1C3H2ZM1s/s320/03+sides+to+go+on.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The other side's doors were placed and ready to install. The first side was actually done after work yesterday. Tiffin has a backlog of orders and they are letting the workers have overtime to keep up.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZS0gVx_deYxrb2bdliOtgSSB_nIxqxcvPu3TtjzXkEcD5LvRffdCbj2VsTTmOmQNLLzoeTc4aYyYToE0BRPqp1c0B6kf2RMRxGZjtuokW3UhHpyQoKPymhm4bOGmYW4S7_K5CrzMLJ4/s1600/04+TV+works.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZS0gVx_deYxrb2bdliOtgSSB_nIxqxcvPu3TtjzXkEcD5LvRffdCbj2VsTTmOmQNLLzoeTc4aYyYToE0BRPqp1c0B6kf2RMRxGZjtuokW3UhHpyQoKPymhm4bOGmYW4S7_K5CrzMLJ4/s320/04+TV+works.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All three inside TVs were checked and working. The outside TV will be installed after painting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here the front engine cover is installed. Then we move on to station 8.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At this station, the bubble testing happens. What they do is seal up the unit (doors & windows closed, all intentional openings to be used later are sealed with tape). Then a worker is pushed around on this set of stairs and she squirts soapy water on all seams, joints, windows, and anywhere else needed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We actually had two areas of bubbles. One was on top of the roof and I could not get pictures of it. Apparently a seam had a leak. They redid the seam and caulked it. No more bubbles there. The second set of bubbles was outside the kitchen window. This was an easy fix - just tighten the screws!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everything noted on the inspection report gets fixed here. Some of the items needing fixing were: The outlets over the sink were not powering up, one of the spyder switch control panels had no power, some cabinet doors needed fixing, etc. I even helped the inspector and found that the ceiling fan only worked in one direction. All these and others were fixed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here James, who installed our flooring back on Monday before the first production station, comes in to fix a problem. Apparently the slide had pushed out two tiles. He was able to easily correct the problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Had a chance to even test the fireplace! It warmed up nicely!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the last items fixed outside was a defect in the siding. A worker came over and fixed it and then sanded it down. Every item on the defect list was fixed by the production team before the unit left the main production floor!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a picture of Kelvin, the supervisor of our production team. He has 26 workers under him that cover 8 stations. There are actually two lines making gas coaches. The normal one is called the "gas line" and I believe it has 19 stations. The stations there do less work and the workers are more specialized so the units move through the stations quicker. In Kelvin's team, they take longer at each station and each worker can work on more than one area. It gives him great flexibility and his troops really take their time and do a good job. The production line is officially called the "Breeze Line", but since there were not that many Breezes to make, they make mostly gas coaches too. We really like Kelvin and his team.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kelvin actually responded to two items I had seen. One was the bedroom vanity countertop which I thought should have some trim around it. He agreed and arranged for one of the workers to take some scraps from the counter top and make a mini backsplash. It really looks classy. He also added some trim around a door frame to give it some class! He takes all the time needed to answer questions or concerns.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is Diane, the parts lady. She is the nicest person you would ever meet (except for the rest of the team who are equally nice!). She always has time for your questions too. And if she can't help you directly, she knows who can and gets them involved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Overall, I am so glad we came here to watch our unit being built. It was a great education for me as far as how things are installed should I ever want to make changes (and I have already identified a few) and I think it helped the workers seeing who the customer is. I actually think they did a better job just because we were there watching and interacting. (Though I suppose they would to a great job anyway!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once Station 8 was complete, it was time for it to leave the production building and go be insulated underneath. Then it is off to the paint shop which is over in Belmont, MS, about 8 miles away. It comes out battle ship gray!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Be sure to turn up the sound.......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Soon I will be posting our visit to the paint shop and will explain how it saved us from a major problem!</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-86256108810045121702018-04-19T17:18:00.002-07:002018-04-19T17:30:14.212-07:00Up on the roof.....<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today was an exciting day for our new RV. When we arrived just before 6am, the RV was already moved to station 4 and workers were just getting organized. The first big action was to put the roof on. Amazingly enough, they actually build the entire roof on the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Remember to click on a picture to enlarge it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here Carl is installing one of the air conditioners. All the antennas, fans, lights etc for both the roof and the ceiling are installed while the roof is on the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two movable catwalks, one on each side of the RV, at this station for the workers to install the roof.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the special jig crane used to lift the roof. There are a bunch of suction cups hanging down on the jig. When the jig goes to pick up the roof, the vacuum pump is turned on and the roof can be lifted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before the roof is lifted up, all the wires coming out must be properly placed. The day before this build began, the wires were cut and made into large harnesses to be installed. Each wire is identified by function and name and this information is stamped every 4 or 5 inches for the full length of the wire. So there is no reason not to know what wire does what.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here you can see the fans and light fixtures in the ceiling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The above short video shows the roof being moved by the jig into position.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now the roof is installed and secured. It makes the inside real dark and while all this is going on, there were two workers doing stuff inside. They had on headlamps and you could occasionally see the light beams. Fortunately, it was dark inside for only about 5 or 10 minutes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhta2RhyphenhyphenXgitNGbv0jzxuMIQSziBzxC7wP1b2fd7IyW2KU0h1w9khENOSStPV_Ycg8nLFADf4yHAq9cZUJMbI9a-lpCpL_kfZJ-8AQI0Zej3UO_2xka98UyaHI2mGP8a2dF-T4k6LB50Bw/s1600/08+let+there+be+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhta2RhyphenhyphenXgitNGbv0jzxuMIQSziBzxC7wP1b2fd7IyW2KU0h1w9khENOSStPV_Ycg8nLFADf4yHAq9cZUJMbI9a-lpCpL_kfZJ-8AQI0Zej3UO_2xka98UyaHI2mGP8a2dF-T4k6LB50Bw/s320/08+let+there+be+light.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because they quickly connected those wires we saw earlier and presto, we have lights!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSn2Vv9q-HGJ1jyi8oV9BpYtpd5RAvd6sn43y6HMKDR5W5CoPnN_Gx9XTuEyFTBcbBwMKKlz0vmOAl1oZaJbgYyGlDlW5B9I84m2dHEPRHQcdZ1m2I3d7B7B89fDB95aDVqcV41OrDiQ/s1600/09+spyder+is+alive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSn2Vv9q-HGJ1jyi8oV9BpYtpd5RAvd6sn43y6HMKDR5W5CoPnN_Gx9XTuEyFTBcbBwMKKlz0vmOAl1oZaJbgYyGlDlW5B9I84m2dHEPRHQcdZ1m2I3d7B7B89fDB95aDVqcV41OrDiQ/s320/09+spyder+is+alive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lights and for that matter, most other 12 volt functions (fans, heat/AC setting, etc) is done through a Spyder control system. All these functions are controlled by panels like the one shown above and all the panels and actuating switches are on a Ethernet network in the RV. Later, I will be able to control all these items from my cell phone!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZXPkRWnVRTVdyETM2P1yFHiKw7husEzGD2y4n4j0WPyap1pqt0Yx6B-uX0TaC8JNRDXeeNhFBMBMhFEXF49DXEi4a0XDbw4Mt5XKFd7m8-_x4sbkxTFP8q1_6Gq3W1AxoY06GFMA3Bw/s1600/10+carols+backsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZXPkRWnVRTVdyETM2P1yFHiKw7husEzGD2y4n4j0WPyap1pqt0Yx6B-uX0TaC8JNRDXeeNhFBMBMhFEXF49DXEi4a0XDbw4Mt5XKFd7m8-_x4sbkxTFP8q1_6Gq3W1AxoY06GFMA3Bw/s320/10+carols+backsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At station 5, they made major progress on the interior. Shown above is Carol's backsplash. It took a custom order to get it because we didn't like the one that came with our fabric suite. So we had to special order it and Carol went to Diane, the materials lady, to make sure we got the right one. At first, Diane could not find the special order, but a few minutes later she had it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also at this station, the residential refrigerator was installed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While all the inside work was going on, outside things were happening too. First the front wheel well covers were installed.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMs3dU_woZQpHz-5O4mso48SRXhh_Z-YJWpFK3gIRF9OC4z3VW8ZoTmTbB_aLpun1YlvBPIsq6Q5L2rM3X1X7CpnrJX5HdWQU9ZdAlrCRIFwdEO-BCQqL6e5cfVyLAUtpyFR6bPXA4ZA0/s1600/13+front+cap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMs3dU_woZQpHz-5O4mso48SRXhh_Z-YJWpFK3gIRF9OC4z3VW8ZoTmTbB_aLpun1YlvBPIsq6Q5L2rM3X1X7CpnrJX5HdWQU9ZdAlrCRIFwdEO-BCQqL6e5cfVyLAUtpyFR6bPXA4ZA0/s320/13+front+cap.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then the front end cap was put into position. This cap comes prebuilt with all wires, lights, windshield, etc pre-installed. So it takes about 10 minutes total to place it, secure it, and connect it. Then we have all the normal front end vehicle lights. The only thing missing are the windshield wipers which are put on after painting. But the wiper motors are already there and connected.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our outside door is installed as a unit. There are adjusting screws inside the track to square it up. The door install took about 5 minutes!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwPpHvwAcUgJ6G4sOXCf69W4xeOshERKfqM7sUNIwk183fRgf9iAt7Q9o-v3YKHsiXH1VAQi0qOV9A6K7WVQDcfHbJwBdl_BVR5Yf70wh04YnahTPXmT3Ha9cEZBZf8WqL_OkKZZgwgI/s1600/15+front+windows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwPpHvwAcUgJ6G4sOXCf69W4xeOshERKfqM7sUNIwk183fRgf9iAt7Q9o-v3YKHsiXH1VAQi0qOV9A6K7WVQDcfHbJwBdl_BVR5Yf70wh04YnahTPXmT3Ha9cEZBZf8WqL_OkKZZgwgI/s320/15+front+windows.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also driver and passenger front windows are quickly installed.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfoMlWQaIyCXBwtGR7qf4jrcfwnXQP1raXIdS1Cu6ZCgmHLZVlkxQJWrB2TkjMws9pji-orNWmZuT6e1fqBw8qm2NcTI52VZssBE2Ym7KMiJqpDszxESfNmdHS9g_cKhGb_T4ntZvA4k/s1600/17+carols+fireplace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfoMlWQaIyCXBwtGR7qf4jrcfwnXQP1raXIdS1Cu6ZCgmHLZVlkxQJWrB2TkjMws9pji-orNWmZuT6e1fqBw8qm2NcTI52VZssBE2Ym7KMiJqpDszxESfNmdHS9g_cKhGb_T4ntZvA4k/s320/17+carols+fireplace.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile work inside continues as the electric fireplace is installed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The last major item for station 5 is to put on the rear cap. It already has all the lights and cameras installed and they just need to be connected which takes about 1 minute.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjGBXpdfabQ9nEcOaUSGVEGRq0MDUGCSZM7rtz26qR9X43Vofd5dLZCE5Qg7XFpx0DJGnW6Z0xX0beBG31ttfpKMTV_Ag9n298GJhzR93YHEexzlL-wz_01fnTSWcCj0310lXxARy7tw/s1600/19+testing+for+shorts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjGBXpdfabQ9nEcOaUSGVEGRq0MDUGCSZM7rtz26qR9X43Vofd5dLZCE5Qg7XFpx0DJGnW6Z0xX0beBG31ttfpKMTV_Ag9n298GJhzR93YHEexzlL-wz_01fnTSWcCj0310lXxARy7tw/s320/19+testing+for+shorts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After moving to station 6, one of the workers gets into the 110vac electrical system with a testing unit. She checks all these circuits to make sure there are no shorts.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUYVzbj_7K_-pf1zz3_a7mouD-1TS-aeETQtuEzKa6iOW1SqPHynOKXtrRzST3gwvxq1jOnMGWSJKX1icAxz7-_5D0zJxEQdflxl2-vWw2LODNh6m5NKVa8W6PU-nIJEZ1VUsjzmvGT0/s1600/20+carol+resting+on+sofa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUYVzbj_7K_-pf1zz3_a7mouD-1TS-aeETQtuEzKa6iOW1SqPHynOKXtrRzST3gwvxq1jOnMGWSJKX1icAxz7-_5D0zJxEQdflxl2-vWw2LODNh6m5NKVa8W6PU-nIJEZ1VUsjzmvGT0/s320/20+carol+resting+on+sofa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Carol enjoys our new sofa while workers install trim pieces at various points in the RV,</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjl6YOwxQmweOytLsB8TNXTJJLFSOYv74TZPl9QfRuo1_gJAc8VNSWsUj_Dixd8uQnkknrh1Vy2aWyNv0qRSvEAmBBS5L6zjC2Y8YnBYgW-tUi5xa2dRAF8k2qXGyVGUW-4ZxKN8m9H4/s1600/21+bedroom+tv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjl6YOwxQmweOytLsB8TNXTJJLFSOYv74TZPl9QfRuo1_gJAc8VNSWsUj_Dixd8uQnkknrh1Vy2aWyNv0qRSvEAmBBS5L6zjC2Y8YnBYgW-tUi5xa2dRAF8k2qXGyVGUW-4ZxKN8m9H4/s320/21+bedroom+tv.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The bedroom gets the first of 4 TVs to be installed. All TV share any of the input devices and the same remote can work any of the TVs. The second TV to be installed was the one over the fireplace, but the bracket was bent and Diane needed to get us a new one. Will probably have it tomorrow, so that TV is not installed yet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here the front TV is installed. These TVs are huge!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lastly, the cabinet doors and front seats are installed. The seats are covered with protection cloths, though I wonder if I can get the driver's chair with the patterned fabric shown above?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have two more production stations tomorrow. The first, station 7, is where they install the outside storage cabinet doors. And I believe the last station is mostly for catchup items.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have found a few small items that needed to be fixed. About 10 of our cabinet doors have front cross pieces that are not exact stain matches. Not sure how this happened, but they may be restained tomorrow if it can be done that quick. Otherwise, after it goes to be painted all next week, they will fix it during final inspection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I suspect this problem would not have been caught unless you looked closely for it. So I am really glad we came to Red Bay.</span></div>
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Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-59307571638789500112018-04-18T16:29:00.001-07:002018-04-18T16:29:33.803-07:00Sides, Slides, and Other Fun Things<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shift officially starts at 6am, which means we had to get up at 4! Yuk, But we got to the factory and found our RV Fetus at about 5:50 and they had already been working since 5:15! Tiffin now has 4 productions lines going which results in 13 new RV's coming off the line each day. Different types of motorhomes have different numbers of stations. The more luxury models had more stations so they take longer to make. But not all motorhomes take the same amount of time at each station. For us, our station 1 time was about 2.5 hours, but the smaller unit behind us only needed 1.5 hours at that station. And you can just skip ahead, because there is another unit already at that station.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So they reallocate workers to stations as units move through the plant. We met Diane, the materials lady early this morning. She goes up and down the line making sure that all the components and materials are ready. Tiffin makes most everything except the chassis, electronics, and appliances. They own many small production companies scattered around to create the items like the dash boards, shower enclosures, etc. Diane makes sure everything is available when needed. She even scheduled the cabinet, slides, and roof builds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember to click on the pics to enlarge them.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since they started early, they had already loaded some of the cabinet items before we arrived. Here you can see the refrigerator cabinet and some of the half-bath cabinets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ordered a stackable washer/dryer and here the two are bolted together and placed on a jack. The jack then lifts these into position and they are slid in and bolted to the floor and cabinet walls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The toilet in the full bath is waiting for installation while Manny connects up the water manifold. The manifold should allow someone to be in the shower while water is also used elsewhere without them noticing it. Time will tell on that one!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Manny is connecting plumbing, the washer & dryer are lifted into position.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here you can see one of the workers putting screws along the underside of the edge of the floor. As the side wall is installed later, these will be tightened and will help hold the base of the wall in position.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time for the kitchen sink & cabinet to be placed into position. These cabinets were made in the wood shop which is in the building behind the main plant. All the cabinets come over on a cart and are placed in the station for installation. The drawers will be made the day before needed and installed down the line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile another worker is busy setting up the driver and passenger areas. Here he is connecting up the heating and AC ducts to the various outlets along the dash.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here he has installed the dash and begun connecting the myriad of cables, wires, connectors and whatever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This side's cabinets are all installed. From left to right, there is the bedroom cabinets and wardrobe, the half bath enclosure with vanity, the space for the residential refrigerator, and you can partially see the kitchen counter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are now able to climb up and in as we wish. Here you can see the kitchen sink and counter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the passenger side wall for our RV. It was made at a Tiffin subsidiary company and placed along side our rig at station 2.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMfe9sxB1UUokLtkNrSRGzvli1hTEfeHiHy0Lm2vzbmoW8ys1GqvLPQWSvvv-uDRBsnjuUnLDiA_sggDJ1d1bZeq6Zt_OcOuIB2vrlVHNLomC62efmWzbiP2MqxKOZpiw6FiGoTqBxMjo/s1600/13+wall+in+the+air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMfe9sxB1UUokLtkNrSRGzvli1hTEfeHiHy0Lm2vzbmoW8ys1GqvLPQWSvvv-uDRBsnjuUnLDiA_sggDJ1d1bZeq6Zt_OcOuIB2vrlVHNLomC62efmWzbiP2MqxKOZpiw6FiGoTqBxMjo/s320/13+wall+in+the+air.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sidewall is picked up by the overhead crane and the guys guide it into position and secure it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile the microwave/convection oven is installed. We didn't order the propane oven because we wanted the additional storage space and we use the convection function all the time. We will have a propane cooktop but we also have an induction burner which we use the most.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a good picture of the overhead crane. It can move in two directions - right & left, forwards and backwards. The winch on this crane can then go up and down. The entire unit is controlled by a hand held remote. Most of the time we saw it used, only one person was performing the related task! The driver side wall was also installed using the crane.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The crane is used to hoist the overhead cabinets that go above the windshield into position.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our residential refrigerator is on a scissor lift cart and is now raised up and pushed onto the floor. It has wheels under it and glides ever so smoothly. It will actually be put in the cabinet for it at another station. I think that is because the roof has to go on first but it is way easier to get the unit inside the RV now through the slide area instead of having to manhandle it through a window later.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwIPdZ44qx_Z8Vih9YXEmW1b36Ae4R9d4fZj8_qkU800OfjkRFRNGkxFPvFtHM2zMc4N62-58ZujRmnDvRgYkE7b6wi_77g0iMRwi90HrLhHzcuXrd2PQKC-jGZV1BaP8ND9VNx9wVUk/s1600/18+bed+slide+on+crane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwIPdZ44qx_Z8Vih9YXEmW1b36Ae4R9d4fZj8_qkU800OfjkRFRNGkxFPvFtHM2zMc4N62-58ZujRmnDvRgYkE7b6wi_77g0iMRwi90HrLhHzcuXrd2PQKC-jGZV1BaP8ND9VNx9wVUk/s320/18+bed+slide+on+crane.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bedroom slide comes over on a cart and the crane is used to lift it off and then into position. Installing the slides is a one-man job believe it or not! And the bed and accompanying cabinetry and lights are already installed in the slide! Earlier in the day, I had wandered over to another quadrant of the factory where the slides are made and found ours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here the bedroom slide is in position and being connected to the mechanism. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPk00tj8Klpik_QuVXY6xzFcXPm7ThXKv89FMmJzqe_Zn_FrLsd770NPHek4Hw_GNgv_BHDcuyAvYG2U1AjRa8q-jswhr_he00FR7AIB2KHE83Xb1ufFrfZ1PR5fVlNgMg_JnUgngSZs/s1600/20+main+slide+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPk00tj8Klpik_QuVXY6xzFcXPm7ThXKv89FMmJzqe_Zn_FrLsd770NPHek4Hw_GNgv_BHDcuyAvYG2U1AjRa8q-jswhr_he00FR7AIB2KHE83Xb1ufFrfZ1PR5fVlNgMg_JnUgngSZs/s320/20+main+slide+in.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next the main slide goes in. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cabinetry is already installed in this one before it goes in. And the accompanying furniture is in there too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jTeMoQGirLngQo4hctrHSzkTUZA-efD806XtMpak7Zj7F3YlCNXDvApQb2_IawPPKQfwFzXaL-1tL4hyphenhyphen4LAvhFxWvbNoFUGq9FclxAQEpRTuFnN8aTlUy5OxFz2-XezAr-KOwSxa0Ts/s1600/21+roof+cutters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jTeMoQGirLngQo4hctrHSzkTUZA-efD806XtMpak7Zj7F3YlCNXDvApQb2_IawPPKQfwFzXaL-1tL4hyphenhyphen4LAvhFxWvbNoFUGq9FclxAQEpRTuFnN8aTlUy5OxFz2-XezAr-KOwSxa0Ts/s320/21+roof+cutters.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was three stations worth of work today. I walked over and found the crew that was building our roof. They make the roof with the ceiling material on the other side and make the cutouts. They actually make all the roofs for each line the day before they are needed. And even though our roof goes on first for our line, it was made last so that it would be sitting on the top in the storage cradle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here they have tilted the roof up on an angle and are installing the light sockets and other wired items. Then a huge crane will pick this up and slide it about 100' feet or so to our station #4 where it will be installed tomorrow morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing Carol and I were talking about at dinner.....here we have completed the first day on the main production line and everything is connected, plumbed, and placed so that she could actually do a load of laundry. The fresh water tank is full and the gray is empty. All she needs is some soap! </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-70982490691902825392018-04-17T15:03:00.001-07:002018-04-17T15:03:24.713-07:00And so it began<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to our build schedule, our RV was going into the weld shop at 6am this morning to have the structure under the floor welded. We are not allowed in there for safety reasons. So we didn't plan to get to the factory until about 10 or so to see how it was going. Our chassis was already parked outside when we arrived. Overall, I took a lot of video - over 35 minutes today. Instead of making a video from that, I decided to take some frames and make picture and then tell the story. Some day, when I am back home, I will make a full length video of all stations. But for now, you get pics and text. Remember, to see a picture better, just click on it and it will enlarge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above picture is our motor home to be from front. You can see the engine. The white in the picture is actually sliver insulation.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWdq5mPsFQbFfwkHOav3ES8wUBeFgU8rZpfOizd7IuTOGr3aN44qA_cqnaDN3NOYGIzrBONkhyphenhyphenULnCxgvrgQOm_WjJI-4r2gMidhpoNzmNEnFQ_-Din7Nue74S6qQ3q6wH904jYsrmTw/s1600/02+Bags+of+wires.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWdq5mPsFQbFfwkHOav3ES8wUBeFgU8rZpfOizd7IuTOGr3aN44qA_cqnaDN3NOYGIzrBONkhyphenhyphenULnCxgvrgQOm_WjJI-4r2gMidhpoNzmNEnFQ_-Din7Nue74S6qQ3q6wH904jYsrmTw/s320/02+Bags+of+wires.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All throughout the frame, there are now bundles of wires in bags to protect them from when they sprayed the frame with rust proof coating. They really put this on thick in the welding shop.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHaP-S3h7EVpnIjsB8DFhMozcha5u-gL8x7Ja0bCzpW5Qqx09U27fNA0aDgFO9eWR61KQLLGecFtbCv6sMpx-L6umkAMlXwiDMTAjaws_HUNbwcNdWN_LG5CehSqJlSCWZplDWzmOknk/s1600/03+back+to+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHaP-S3h7EVpnIjsB8DFhMozcha5u-gL8x7Ja0bCzpW5Qqx09U27fNA0aDgFO9eWR61KQLLGecFtbCv6sMpx-L6umkAMlXwiDMTAjaws_HUNbwcNdWN_LG5CehSqJlSCWZplDWzmOknk/s320/03+back+to+front.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This picture is looking forward from the back of the coach. You can see all the framing that was welded earlier. All the framing you see was originally silver but now has the rust coating all over it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we were outside looking over the unit, I went in search of a fellow owner's rig that was also being built. I was going to take some pics of it for him since he could not be here. I didn't find it and as I came out, our chassis was being moved into the second portion of the welding shop. Interestingly enough, they don't actually do any welding in this station and one of the workers saw us by the door taking pictures. He said we could come in and go around in that area as we wished since there was no welding going on there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2yK0DWMEw2l6cqNIzNzt_PgAlpINOYAI7uLEoiFR4IUsUa0m3sw2sLsfY1nHAzswv2WDFom10sE5URCRfAGd2DtkwJ8lSEygf7wK7u-6rD9onZba3iN-iDqUNk0xind65UJgxNLvIHE/s1600/06+at+station+00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2yK0DWMEw2l6cqNIzNzt_PgAlpINOYAI7uLEoiFR4IUsUa0m3sw2sLsfY1nHAzswv2WDFom10sE5URCRfAGd2DtkwJ8lSEygf7wK7u-6rD9onZba3iN-iDqUNk0xind65UJgxNLvIHE/s320/06+at+station+00.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above picture is our unit in the post-welding station. The workers are adding a lot more wires and heavy duty cables. The house batteries are added here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The generator is on a small scissor lift cart. It is rolled to the correct position and slid off of the cart and bolted into position</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPIF4H-H7o_LqRpf2SZIEDFzewxDDHWol-H1jR0_AutKBc4M_3d-m5jxH0aGtu44zH263G93rTibKGHxNKnFow37-2DVmAmT7PrjfLmwzbC3w8j1Zm6jK8pNS9TsAxxZKEMNLUDUMZnY/s1600/08+dsh+air+plenum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPIF4H-H7o_LqRpf2SZIEDFzewxDDHWol-H1jR0_AutKBc4M_3d-m5jxH0aGtu44zH263G93rTibKGHxNKnFow37-2DVmAmT7PrjfLmwzbC3w8j1Zm6jK8pNS9TsAxxZKEMNLUDUMZnY/s320/08+dsh+air+plenum.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While one guy was doing that, six others were doing all kinds of tasks. Above, one has just installed the dash heater and air system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTT8RISk5idHZL2znffvtfmMVJJs9fOwBvRGrTLstDWDI_QYNV7-r_aat02_HjanW3vM6naF1_c0NCqCi9Ni4jkeFdOe6SMmHEtA0Dod1ZccBAOCZ0tqoL5exYYfFfhWnw8aYHaXm1F9U/s1600/09+snaking+cable+bundles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTT8RISk5idHZL2znffvtfmMVJJs9fOwBvRGrTLstDWDI_QYNV7-r_aat02_HjanW3vM6naF1_c0NCqCi9Ni4jkeFdOe6SMmHEtA0Dod1ZccBAOCZ0tqoL5exYYfFfhWnw8aYHaXm1F9U/s320/09+snaking+cable+bundles.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While another is routing some of the 110 volt cables under framing to wherever they need to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamQOsKDDOVITt0aYRcpb0sVE0c09Uvq47fBpgSi2gTwD28dMZGmsd11L03VazSR-8SnUND0Emvd32HLqa-9Uu22GCMJAhDWw9AaPX6xifT9ptQWiVjiVpf8pw6FfbIpGcl9PNl2xqCn8/s1600/10+trash+on+floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamQOsKDDOVITt0aYRcpb0sVE0c09Uvq47fBpgSi2gTwD28dMZGmsd11L03VazSR-8SnUND0Emvd32HLqa-9Uu22GCMJAhDWw9AaPX6xifT9ptQWiVjiVpf8pw6FfbIpGcl9PNl2xqCn8/s320/10+trash+on+floor.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One thing that amazed me is the about of debris on the ground. It is like this all around the unit and for that matter at every station on all four production lines. I did ask about that, and was told that it was just from our coach and a prior one. They make it a point to sweep the floor at the end of the day so that they can start making the mess all over again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lunch for the workers begins at 11:15 and ends at noon. So when they completed all the tasks for the post-welding shop, the unit was moved over to what is called station 00 for the subfloor items. We went to lunch and came back early and the guys had already move the unit into position and begun work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This station is currently outside. Not sure what they do if it is raining! The above picture shows the worker installing the built-in surge protector and transfer switch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next step is to install the fresh water tank. It looked so easy as long as the floor and sides were not installed. Bet this would be a major problem if it later leaked!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another worker installed the black and grey water tanks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They had to back the unit out of the way as it was facing another build that was completed and ready to go to the bubble shop for testing. Then they pulled it all the way into the factory to station 00.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7sdA6WpZmKf24xfL_-PeK9tGEM0kFQuWVdM35p_OeBtBEnHnNsMNPTdMbL8l_vvPPcn5HnRStpI_5ulNx1uz77F9VD3CGuryx1NQnI0JxzNbJcsvStcW6S4IuxWdMTSgI5QsOt7v7jA/s1600/15+that%2527s+one+small+step7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7sdA6WpZmKf24xfL_-PeK9tGEM0kFQuWVdM35p_OeBtBEnHnNsMNPTdMbL8l_vvPPcn5HnRStpI_5ulNx1uz77F9VD3CGuryx1NQnI0JxzNbJcsvStcW6S4IuxWdMTSgI5QsOt7v7jA/s320/15+that%2527s+one+small+step7.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This picture shows Carol as she stands for the first time on our subfloor. That's one small step for Carol, one giant step for our build!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This worked is installing the hot and cold pex water lines. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The floor is lifted by a small winch with clamps that go out to the side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oitfj_qcWGuGHGuGVXR94IGife3rQj3JoIodJ_JBDf86_lczSse8tLYuuuppLPQrmFgiXxujoFHlAM8J3auTBXRTOQHU_xjGkaSnS7NOb4nX3X-6Y_ni7VJDbdsBf8JVg1vyvUqIRpg/s1600/19+pusing+floor+in+place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oitfj_qcWGuGHGuGVXR94IGife3rQj3JoIodJ_JBDf86_lczSse8tLYuuuppLPQrmFgiXxujoFHlAM8J3auTBXRTOQHU_xjGkaSnS7NOb4nX3X-6Y_ni7VJDbdsBf8JVg1vyvUqIRpg/s320/19+pusing+floor+in+place.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The subfloor already is pre-cut with all the holes needed for power, water, drains, etc. This is done at a station that has a computer saw. It is timed so that it is already waiting when the chassis arrives. As the winch lifts it, the workers push it into position, lining up the front part first.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRag-rfCEppjOIbIAGuHOuOsxJ7PxEKFhjNgVh3LXwXZ7Litxc1gWL_qeH2bSblyerZqKI3mXxPXzqcXAJKM5_hSoZhx2GR_pJxd1Z0c2rS8EMkIVKQTY3Ey4Dd7V-RXujw5zBq2xvSY/s1600/20+Dave+to+the+rescue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRag-rfCEppjOIbIAGuHOuOsxJ7PxEKFhjNgVh3LXwXZ7Litxc1gWL_qeH2bSblyerZqKI3mXxPXzqcXAJKM5_hSoZhx2GR_pJxd1Z0c2rS8EMkIVKQTY3Ey4Dd7V-RXujw5zBq2xvSY/s320/20+Dave+to+the+rescue.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As they were lowering the floor, they forget to put this gas line up through its hole in the floor. I ran over and snaked it up for them. I probably should have punched in on the time clock first though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhb3Ms1oEUm5sP8PuV9_tm16HMIQLoqjUNzPIvuinyewa8cBheodRM2F9VQdtL8BBaX8iMWWWHLkCOeVqCwj3k0eayuB4awZwdMms_bZkqIYmiN2UOpcF85X4qam_55my5A2LraZqzQ8/s1600/21+spreading+adhesive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhb3Ms1oEUm5sP8PuV9_tm16HMIQLoqjUNzPIvuinyewa8cBheodRM2F9VQdtL8BBaX8iMWWWHLkCOeVqCwj3k0eayuB4awZwdMms_bZkqIYmiN2UOpcF85X4qam_55my5A2LraZqzQ8/s320/21+spreading+adhesive.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once the floor is placed, it is screwed down with a zillion screws. Two guys went all around it screwing it down and bolting it all around the outside. Then they blow it clear of dust and begin spreading the adhesive for the floor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkSsMZir4R3aMmbcZgabTZJG6lBuZ7XfxRWsbp_XtayLBRS4WJGhiWop_6-79kW9D22iGAEP6-8s5TRy4ROiht3vYOlUK6tp4jOIpTW0DF_gwUau9u_HZBWlv5ku3mVND5TWHQsis_14/s1600/22+install+tile7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkSsMZir4R3aMmbcZgabTZJG6lBuZ7XfxRWsbp_XtayLBRS4WJGhiWop_6-79kW9D22iGAEP6-8s5TRy4ROiht3vYOlUK6tp4jOIpTW0DF_gwUau9u_HZBWlv5ku3mVND5TWHQsis_14/s320/22+install+tile7.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When they have covered all areas that will be tiled with adhesive, they lay down a chalk line from front to back. Then they lay the tiles along this line so that they are precisely straight, front to back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The floor is finished at this point. All wires, cables, pipes, etc. that need to come through the floor are in place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The crew of four at this station have completed their tasks and one of them hops up on the temporary seat and backs the unit out and takes it over to station 01 for tomorrow. It is now time to sweep up the garbage and clock out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And both Carol and I are worn out and we didn't even do the work!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-28813676118693081262018-04-16T17:00:00.000-07:002018-04-16T17:00:15.794-07:00Tiffin Tour<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we took the tour of the Tiffin factory in Red Bay, Alabama. The tour started from the Visitor Center at about 9:30 and lasted 90 minutes. We actually went right onto the factory floor, only a few feet from the workers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tiffin make most of the parts themselves for the motorhomes and they do not start a build until it is sold. They have so many orders, it takes 14-16 weeks to get your motorhome. Our order went in at the end of January and here it is mid-April and today they started building it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, it spent most of the day in the welding shop where customers are not allowed due to safety concerns. So that is why we took the tour.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WQGcIKzbsGCqxR2kMstTncG06F-59zr2hfR54fK47kn4S9at2C4VPbQRqOJB0AYvX2F-oDi8C6RttZaHKE3FgzEQCgMp9MaeqscgZrWRYoCoqm9557FArqqfuC2q1fnXIdEqKpf8wXA/s1600/2018-04-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WQGcIKzbsGCqxR2kMstTncG06F-59zr2hfR54fK47kn4S9at2C4VPbQRqOJB0AYvX2F-oDi8C6RttZaHKE3FgzEQCgMp9MaeqscgZrWRYoCoqm9557FArqqfuC2q1fnXIdEqKpf8wXA/s320/2018-04-16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a picture of the visitor center where the tours start. Anyone can go there and take the tour, or just register as a visitor and wander around! A very open company. Plus you can take all the pictures you wish and that includes video.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow, we will actually get to go and see our unit start to move through the 9 production stations. But for today, the tour was a real highlight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did make a 10 minute or so video of the tour and you are invited to watch it by clicking the link below:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/cqFK0iGMz58">Click here to watch the video</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a large video so please be patient. And be sure to leave comments if you like what you saw!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-18211463769823041712018-04-15T18:51:00.001-07:002018-04-15T19:33:59.259-07:00Guess Where!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, the day started off real cold. Temperature was in the mid-20s when I first went to the car and with a pretty stiff wind, my weather app said the temp felt like 18! That is cold! Thank God for remote start for the car! It got warm and totally defrosted while we finished getting ready and packed up. About 7:50, we loaded up and headed out from Topeka. Our plan was to go about 570 miles to Jackson, TN. Then tomorrow the drive to Red Bay would only be about 100 miles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The driving conditions were excellent. While there was some wind, nothing like the last two days. We did have a few snow flurries, but nothing that really affected us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leaving Topeka, you go on a toll road for about 35 miles. Cost us $3. Not sure what there is a toll road there at all, because it ended about 30 miles or so west of Kansas City. Since we hit KC at nine in the morning on a Sunday, there was no traffic and we zipped right through. KC is a hub where many freeways come together so navigating the roads to stay on I-70 East was a bit of a challenge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We ate lunch at a rest stop just before turning onto I-64 and starting to head somewhat SE. We skirted St. Louis and headed down the Mississippi River for about 179 miles on I-55, then cut over to Tennessee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During our travels, Carol keeps busy on her phone. Either she is looking up pertinent details about things we are seeing as we go, or she is getting route weather, checking accommodations, etc. Not only does it keep her busy, but it is really valuable to know what we are seeing and what the conditions are ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For example, how many of you have heard of the "Orphan Trains?" We came across that on a sign somewhere or other. Carol knew what is was and looked it up online to get even more details. If you are curious, you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Train and look it up from there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As we were going down I-55, Carol was researching where we would stay in Jackson, TN, All the places had either bad reviews or mentioned security issues. After she relayed info on about 8-10 places, we both came to the same conclusion: Forget Jackson, let's just press on to Red Bay and get there. This would also allow us to go on the factory tour, do some laundry, and verify that our unit is on schedule for the build. The build actually begins early tomorrow, but the chassis will spend the day in the welding shop and they don't allow us folks in there for safety reasons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So we arrived in Red Bay about 7:05. It took us another 5 minutes to get the lay of the land and figure out the hotel. It was too dark to get any pictures, so those will have to wait until tomorrow. Hope to get some video too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All together today, we drove 673 miles in about 12 hours and 15 minutes. Our total drive from our garage was 2,473 miles. We added about 50 to that number when we had to divert two days ago to Fort Collins, CO. But overall, we made good time, especially when you consider the 2.5 days of severe weather we went through. I ended up driving the whole route, primarily because of the weather. Our Waze app was invaluable in locating the various law enforcement officers along the route. Also, when going through some of the towns on the state highways, you go through city streets with several turns. Waze had those identified well ahead of the turn, even a detour on I-45 was included in the instructions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are at the Hotel Red Bay staying in their one and only suite. The other rooms don't have all the amenities like the microwave and refrigerator. Took us about a half hour to get the car mostly unloaded. The room is decorated in the old French charm. I took two pics of the room for your viewing pleasure:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Above is a picture of the bed. We have dual AC/heater units and we have a remote control that we can put on the nightstand. We both like to have the room somewhat cool to sleep in, then warm it up when we get up. So now we can warm it up before we get out of bed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This picture is of the sofa and table in the room. There is also a day bed off to the right that you can see. Tomorrow I may make a quick video of the room before we mess it up too much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, I'm tired - not sure why though? I mean I was sitting down most of the day! Tomorrow we journey into the land of Tiffin!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-52369906820415209092018-04-14T19:38:00.001-07:002018-04-14T19:38:53.585-07:00D day +2 - ouch!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Got up this morning and it was cold and windy. Carol found another app called "Weather Route" which is really handy. You tell it where you want to go, and it gives you the weather conditions all along the route including road advisories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our whole route was forecast to have 40+ mph winds, directly 90 degrees from the side, naturally, with gusts to 65. As we were driving down I-25 from Fort Collins to I-70 in Denver, there were many warning signs for trucks and high profile vehicles warning them about the wind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were making pretty good time until about 40 miles from Burlington. All of a sudden, Waze did it again! It changed the route but this time I saw the warning. I-70 was closed at Burlington to the Kansas border.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure enough, as we came into Burlington, I could see the lineup of vehicles stopped on the road about a mile ahead. So we decided to get off and get lunch. We chose McDonalds because it was close and I knew it had free WiFi. Plus it is what she wanted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While in there, others came in to plan their alternates. We had lunch and then dug out the maps. I thought I had found an alternative way to go but it would have changed our destination from Topeka to Wichita. We had driven almost 590 miles the previous two days, so our plan was for two legs of 550 miles and then a 5th leg of just over 100 miles into Red Bay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that plan died yesterday when we went to Fort Collins. Now we have two legs of 600 miles each instead of two 550s. And if we had to go on the alternate, it would have been worse both in time and distance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately, just before we were done with our meal and planning, we heard that the road had reopened. So we filled up with gas just in case and got on it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We saw what the warning to high profile vehicles and trucks meant first-hand. In the space of about 20 miles, I must have see 20 semi trucks flipped over, 3 or 4 motor homes cattywampus to the road, and even a boat trailer flipped on its side with the boat still on the trailer. I wish I could have gotten some pics, but traffic was heavy and I needed to watch where I was going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had the 65mph winds for most of the day. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also had a lot of blowing snow and even one dust storm which brought visibility to just about zero. Fortunately, it only lasted for a quarter-mile or so, A real relief to get clear of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stopped at several rest areas during the day. All were very windy and cold. Temps were about 32 most of the way, and with the wind chill, well, let's just say it was really cold!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will attach a picture of the snow at one of the rest areas we stopped at. It may not look like much, but it was blowing all over and it was COLD!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unless I was going SE, I had to stay below 70 just to keep the car steady. SE I could get to 75 before I felt the steering get too loose. But we made good time getting to Topeka by about 7:45. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided to eat our normal sandwiches for dinner since we ate out for lunch. We are both too tired to really enjoy another meal out. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day! We head to Jackson MS, another 600 miles away!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-2004634488902822482018-04-14T19:16:00.000-07:002018-04-14T19:16:19.151-07:00D Day +1, Uh Oh<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, we got off to a great start. Left Heyburn, ID before 8am and got going on I-84 east. We had the change yesterday to Mountain time, so we lost an hour but we were pretty alert, all things considered. About the time we crossed from Utah into Wyoming, we started picking up some wind and scattered snow blowing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was using an app on my phone called "Waze" that my friend Doug Kretz put me on to. It is a gps navigation program and users update highway conditions as well as the location of the cops! It has many features and I highly recommend it. When I connect my phone to the car via USB, the Waze screen is shown on my dash screen which is much bigger and also integrates to all the car features. Truly a great app to have if your car can run Android Auto.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, we were about 100 miles west of Laramie, WY, on I-80 when all of a sudden, Waze changed the routing and added a diversion of about 75 miles! It did flash a warning, but I was busy passing a truck or two and could not focus on it. Anyway, Carol started researching what, if any, the problem was and she found out that I-80 was totally closed after Laramie. Waze was rerouting us the best way it could to get to Cheyenne.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, that was some extra mileage that we really didn't need as our overall goal was to get to Red Bay, AL. So we did some fast checking and decided to go to Fort Collins, CO instead for the night. We got there late like about 8:30. Had to drive slower due to the strong winds. Idaho, Utah, Wyoming all have mostly 80mph speed limits, so I was making good time until the weather hit. Then I had to slow down to keep the car on the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did go out to a nice dinner at a place called Char Broiler. I had a club sirloin which was really good. Didn't fall asleep until 11:30! Still adjusting to that lost hour I guess.</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-42862311766809575922018-04-14T19:05:00.002-07:002018-04-14T19:05:57.212-07:00"D" Day<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is Thursday, April 12, better known as "D" day. D for departure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We planned to drive 589 miles today and stay overnight at Heyburn, ID. We left about 8am in the rain. We were a bit worried about running into traffic crossing the 205 bridge into Oregon, but while it was heavy, it was moving. Besides, we were taking I-84 east, so we were not on I-205 very long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did have a lot of rain until just east of the Dalles. After that, we did have some showers, but overall, better driving conditions. We arrived in Heyburn about 6 or so and decided to stay at a Super-8 Motel. They have a nice discount for veterans, so it only cost about $59 for a two bed room.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, Carol rated the room as a "B." I would have to agree. They have a simple breakfast of cereals, waffles that you bake, toast, biscuits and gravy, and sausage. They have a few other items. Overall, not a bad breakfast for them to include in the price. Plus they serve it from 4am to 9am! I guess there are a lot of truckers!</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-28431007259181254442018-04-14T18:59:00.001-07:002018-04-14T18:59:04.177-07:00Catching up - Day before Departue<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, this post is long overdue. Sorry about that, but everything became real hectic at the end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday, May 11, was the day before our planned departure. I had a meeting with the WOA (Washington Officials Association). This is an entity of all school sports officials for the state of Washington. I am the coordinator for the committee that runs the football officials. I get to go around and observe the officiating crews at various games and give them feedback that helps make them better officials. I also supervise 15 other observers who do this all over the state. I even get on the field a few times a year to work games just to keep my hand in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, the WOA is really a well run organization, especially when you consider that they have a wide variety of folks to deal with.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, the football committee had its meeting up in Renton, WA on Wednesday. So I got to drive a round trip 340 miles which got me in shape for all the upcoming driving. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We (Carol & I) already had most of the packing done. We had a staging area where items to go on the trip were placed. Then when I got home from the meeting, I loaded them in our GMC Acadia's back space.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I went to sleep and rested for the big drive!</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-46623017293695664872018-04-14T06:15:00.001-07:002018-04-14T06:15:27.491-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a very brief post. We had some severe weather on our route including wind and blowing snow. We were planning to continue east on I-80 but at Laramie, the road was closed due to the weather. So we overnighted in Fort Collins. Plan to leave shortly to go around Denver and east to Topeka for the night. Still bad weather, but this time only warnings for wind. Sky is pretty much clear this morning and route weather is partly cloudy with some snow possible. Wherever we end up tonight, I hope to be able to write more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Already 1200 miles into the journey. With our change in routing, we have about 1300 more to go.</span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-3589431159945445372018-04-10T20:43:00.001-07:002018-04-10T20:43:23.635-07:00Ready, Set.......<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I spent today getting everything organized for our trip. First was a trip to get my hair cut and to let our bank know we would be out of the area. Our bank is good about watching where our debit cards are used and all we have to do is tell them where we are going and no problem. It is a good fraud prevention service.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also filled up the gas tank so we will be set to leave Thursday morning. Then I spent the rest of the morning packing up my suitcases for the trip. We have one suitcase for the clothes we will use on the road and another for the actual time in Red Bay. The temps on the way there will be cold going from Vancouver, WA to Alabama, so the wardrobes are really different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I had my annual physical which went very well. Tomorrow, the day before departure, I have to drive up to Renton, near Seattle. I am the Coordinator for the committee that oversees high school football for the state of Washington and we have our spring meeting there tomorrow. So that will account for that day for sure!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And of course, while I have been doing all this, Carol has been getting her things organized too. That also included some last minute trips to Wal-Mart. So far, all the packing seems to be going well for both of us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been looking over notes of what to check on while our rig is being built. It is so helpful to have all the forum posts from folks who basically did the same thing we are doing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There may not be a post tomorrow as I may get back late. We would like to leave around 9 or so Thursday morning and plan to drive about 580 miles in the car on the first day. Fortunately, both Carol and I can drive the car, so it will be really a big help to have her take over if I get tired.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So stay tuned, the adventure begins in about 48 hours!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-7548823048284396722018-04-09T13:12:00.000-07:002018-04-09T13:12:28.753-07:00The New Allegro Open Road 36LA<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in the previous post, I mentioned that we had settled on the Allegro 36LA as meeting our needs. Here is a picture from the brochure of the floorplan:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did get the L shaped sofa and the dinette with computer workstation. For those of you who are in to the options, we ordered just about everything including: Summo springs, 7.0 generator, amber cabinets, tile backsplash, Malta floor tile, pre-wired for Traveler satellite (More on that later), Winegard connect (more on that later too), 2000 watt PSW inverter, power driver's window, in-dash navigation, central vacuum, stacked washer-dryer, ultra leather power driver & passenger seats with footrest, cooktop w/convection microwave, residential refrigerator, computer workstation, L shaped sofa, fireplace, ceiling fan, AC/heat pump. Some of the customizations we ordered that are not on the normal price sheets include: 2nd AC/heat pump, 26k chassis, and extra plugs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have DirectTV in our current RV and will be moving it to the new one. You can get a domed in-motion satellite dish, but it does not receive DirectTV HD programs, only SD ones. And who wants to go backwards! So we ordered the wiring for the new dish to be installed as a factory option. Then when we get home, I will get a couple of friends and we will set the new dish up on the roof. I self-installed the dish on our current rig and from what I can find out, this one should be just as easy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Winegard connect is a combination router and WiFi extender. It can connect to local WiFi systems and rebroadcast their signal in the coach or you can connect to a cell system and get data that way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Options we did not order included the drop-down bunk which we have no use for, Also did not get the solar panel prep or the CB antenna which we don't need. But we ordered just about everything else!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ordered the Maroon Coral paint scheme as shown below:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0I-vxx3lk6kFinF_SZZ2P3SjYJdvB5AoQQ00p2qh5DnZs5XEzz9p8Qp8IeESfymFNjSVignL2VEUiDRGIm9JxABGTd80WnlMuBMQ23Pz07VNwVUWBKEbd85xAmgbycALlhi3Osf7sWA/s1600/paint.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="788" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0I-vxx3lk6kFinF_SZZ2P3SjYJdvB5AoQQ00p2qh5DnZs5XEzz9p8Qp8IeESfymFNjSVignL2VEUiDRGIm9JxABGTd80WnlMuBMQ23Pz07VNwVUWBKEbd85xAmgbycALlhi3Osf7sWA/s320/paint.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as I am writing this post, Troy P. commented on the earlier post asking what we ordered. Well, you ask, I answer.....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have some major plans for modifications to make when we get the rig home and will blog about those as we go along. Meanwhile, we are now starting to organize and pack for our departure on Thursday morning.....</span></div>
Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-68833040446669548972018-04-09T10:52:00.000-07:002018-04-09T21:13:07.415-07:00The Beginnings.....<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each winter my wife Carol and I migrate south for most of the winter. We live in Vancouver, WA and it gets cold and wet up here. We own 3 shares of stock in Pismo Coast Village, a nice RV resort on the Central California Coast. This allows us to stay there free for about 200 days or so. We often have friends stay with us and they can stay free using some of our days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We drive our 2010 Bounder 35E class A motorhome down there and really enjoy our time there. It is almost like we have a different life for the time we are there. In the winter of 2016-2017 we started thinking about getting a replacement motorhome with more features and space. We came within an eyelash of buying a Ventana. Actually started the negotiations to arrive at a price. But when all was said and done, we just could not see spending so many dollars on a floorplan that was not ideal. So we decided not to pursue it further. We had looked at other RVs, including the new Bounders, but just didn't like their floorplans or use of space either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fast forward to this winter. On the way to Pismo Coast Village (PCV), we saw an RV show (I believe it was "Big Time RV") that featured the Tiffin Allegro in one of its segments. We watch most of the RV shows, so this was nothing special. But the Allegro caught our eye as having possibilities. Carol did some research online and it looked real promising. She even found a new 2017 on sale at a dealer that was not far off the path we were taking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So we stopped in Patterson, CA for the night as we normally do on our migration. Then we drove over to Happy Daze RV in Livermore to see the unit she found. We loved the floorplan and features, but this unit didn't have everything we wanted. But the price looked pretty good. Over the next two weeks, via email, we worked with the salesman to get most of what we wanted added and changed. Then all of a sudden, no response from him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I emailed him 3-4 times and even called the dealership looking for him. He was out with a customer on the lot and they took a message for him to call me. He never did. So after another week of waiting, we wrote him off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I contacted a dealer just south of Portland, Oregon, very near where we live. Had a great online discussion with him and tried to get the price I wanted, which was about 30% or so off of retail. We were about $10k apart and he would go no further.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So contacted a dealer up in Fife, WA. He too would not come down to my price after many emails going back and forth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I began to wonder if my expectations were realistic or not. So I called my niece, Cheryl, who sells Chevrolets at a dealership in Marysville, CA. Asked her if she could find out the dealer pricing on what we wanted. Turns out she did some checking and ended up getting us the price I was looking for (Actually, slightly better!). She had contacted the General Manager at Happy Daze RV in Sacramento, which is the headquarters for the dealership in Livermore! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, Ralp (the GM), was able to accommodate all our custom requests and we placed the order while we were at PCV.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We began looking around the PCV park for Allegro owners and asked them about their rigs and what they liked. Two of these owners (John & Lillian) told us about the online forums and FaceBook pages relating to Tiffins and we began reading all the posts in depth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing stood out....folks like to make the trek to the factory in Red Bay, either for service work or to watch their unit being built. The more we read, the more we wanted to go to Red Bay to watch our unit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the idea for this epic journey was planted. We needed to know when to go and when we would go.....but that is the topic for the next post. Stay tuned!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Please feel free to make comments or ask questions. It lets me know someone is out there!</span><br />
<br />Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2392957649952064030.post-12232803424063637532018-04-09T10:22:00.000-07:002018-04-09T10:22:58.438-07:00<h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To Red Bay....and Beyond</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the story of our trip from Vancouver, WA to Red Bay, Alabama. You might ask why would someone go to Red Bay? What is there and why go there? Well let me tell you.....</span></div>
Raider Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11013826739234643342noreply@blogger.com2