I am back at the Tiffin Motorhome Service Center in Red Bay, Alabama.
Some of you may recall that I was here last August.
I'm here for some routine maintenance, some minor repairs to the coach,
and an upgrade to my satellite antenna.
One of the great things about Tiffin Motorcoach's is the fact that they have
this service center where you can come and have work done by the same
people who build it.
Many times if you bring an RV to just any dealer, the guys working on your
rig are also getting their on the job training on your coach.
The entrance to Camp Red Bay (CRB) as it is called.
You arrive, check in and fill out a list of what you want done, and then get on
the schedule and wait your turn.
There are about 100 spaces for RVs here, plus many more in RV parks in the area.
The service facility has about 50 service bays dedicated for all facets of repair needs.
Windshields, Paint, Tile, Welding, Mechanical, Slides are a few of the specialized
bays and then there are general repair bays.
I arrived on Saturday after leaving Freightliner in SC and the waiting began.
On Monday I had an appointment nearby with Nick Brewer, a Tiffiin employee
who does after-hours work to have my satellite antenna changed to a different kind.
While he worked on the coach, I talked to the locals....
In this case some 3' tall ponies.
Nick does entertainment system work for Tiffin by day.
His workmanship was impeccable.
While he worked, a neighbors dog came strolling in.
I made the mistake of petting her and all of a sudden I had a new best friend
who would not leave me alone :-)
Two hours later he was done.
I had swapped my in-motion dome type for a stationary only type antenna.
The benefit of the stationary antenna is a bigger dish that works better in rain,
plus can receive all three satellites at once.
The new dish up on the roof.
As luck would have it, I was called into a bay on Tuesday afternoon. Many
days before I thought I would get in.
I was in the bay thru Thursday afternoon.
After 3:30pm you move back to your site for the night and then back into
your bay by 7am.
You might also recall that last winter I lost a panel off of the side of the coach.
While here I had the replacement aluminum panel painted.
Before
After
Good Craftsmanship is about the details...
Notice how the screw is painted to match the stripe.
After finishing up in the service bay I had to wait to get into a welding bay.
My service man had found a small item that needed welding.
Fortunately I was able to make it into the welding bay in a couple of hours and
the welding was done in about 10 minutes.
I'm now back in my space waiting for the windshield bay as I need the windshield
replaced due to a crack received this winter.
There are 3 bays dedicated solely to windshields here
and I'm hoping for Tuesday or Weds to be done with mine.
In the meanwhile I'm going to hit a few of the sights that I missed my last time here.
First on my list is the Coon Dog Cemetery.
Established in 1937 by Key Underwood as a final resting place for his faithful
Coonhound "Troop" It has grown over the years as a sort of Mecca for
deceased Coonhounds from all over the country.
Currently there are about 185 graves.
Once a woman from California inquired why he didn't allow other breed of dogs
to be burried here and he replied:
"You must not know much about coon hunters and their dogs, if you think we would
contaminate this burial place with poodles and lap dogs," he responded.
Many of the gravemarkers are quite interesting.
My visit to the Coondog cemetery concluded, I returned to CRB where
I am back again in wait mode.
Tomorrow I hope to make it over to the Tiffin Paint shop and show you
how they put these fantastic paint jobs on these coaches.
And of course.. show you how they replace my windshield.
Then after that... I head back home.
