We finished our service visit to the Tiffin Service Center yesterday afternoon a little too late to drive to Tuscaloosa. After a visit to check-out (where we were surprised to find out that, once again, we owed nothing for the work) we got Fred mostly ready to roll and then walked around the campground talking to the people we had met during this visit. It’s always fun to meet new people and talk about NOMADS, RVing and Alabama.
Not bad for a service on a two year old motorhome
This morning, after a before-the-heat walk, we made the short trip to Tuscaloosa where we will be for the next few days working on estate and real estate business with Anne’s brothers. And, yes, we have already been to Cook Out for a shake.
Things are moving faster than we expected here at the Tiffin Service Center. We got a call just after lunch to go to an express bay as soon as we could. We were in the bay less than an hour with a new air conditioner installed and tested. We have to go to a chassis bay tomorrow to try to track down a loose wire in the dash.
Some others are having to wait a little longer to get into a full service bay.
It has been a very busy week. Also a very hot week. Close to record highs each day. We are 10 or more degrees above normal for this time of year every day.
Another few hours on the tractor
We hit the ground running after the long day of driving last Friday. On Saturday Max worked on the drive way that had washed a little due to all the recent rains. After that he was on the bush hog until about 7:30 Saturday evening with a little break for lunch and lots of breaks for water. Anne worked on laundry and started the process of emptying closets in preparation for selling the house. Sunday we met dear friends Barry and Donna for breakfast before church and then went to church and Sunday School. We heard a great message from Pastor Harvey. During the Sunday School hour the Director of Kids International Mission, the children’s home and school in the Philippines our church supports, spoke to everyone about the work being done and needing to be done in the Philippians. It was a wonderful time. After church we headed to the nursing home to visit with Aunt Jean and Aunt Helen. They seemed very happy to see us and we had a good visit. Randy and Debra, Max’s brother and his wife, arrived Sunday afternoon. They came with materials and tools for working on Max’s grandparent’s house.
Monday morning we started bright and early working on what we all call “Granny’s house”. It’s a farm house that is now over 100 years old. Therefore, it always needs work. This time we worked to cover the fascia boards with metal, replace some of the masonite siding with cement board and replace the ceiling and lighting in the kitchen. We worked twelve hour days more like Constructors for Christ projects than our NOMADS schedule. We were able to complete all our tasks late Thursday. It was a hard week but we got it done plus some additional items that came up like getting our air conditioner repaired, repairing a toilet at our house and two at Helen’s. Debra and Anne also began work on cleaning out some of the items we quickly moved to Helen’s when Jean had to go to the nursing home. They also put together some birthing kits for our mission team to take to the Philippines next week. We then took Friday for all four of us to visit with the Aunts, friends, and run a few errands.
Squirrel proofing the the old house
Facia covered and lower planks of siding replaced with cement board
Ceiling before
Staining boards for the ceiling
Wiring new LED lights for the kitchen
Ceiling after
Making birthing kits for the Philippines mission project
That brings us to today. Randy and Debra left around 9:00 heading back to South Carolina and we left shortly after that heading to Red Bay, AL. This evening we are again parked in the Tiffin Service Center campground in Red Bay. Our rear air conditioner is not working properly (remember how hot it is?) Fortunately, the problem developed now because our two year warranty expires June 7. Hopefully we can get it replaced early next week. Maybe we can get a little rest while we are here.
The past two days were beautiful although a little too hot. Yesterday we didn’t really do that much. We decided to go to the Chatham Cafe for breakfast. The country skillet was just as good as we remembered it. Glad we also remembered to split it because it was even larger than we remembered. We went to the Interurban Trail that runs from Chatham to Springfield get our exercise. We didn’t get the bikes out but did some good walking. Otherwise we cleaned out the truck, put tools away and readied things for travel today. Richard and Dianne came for a visit and we said our “see you down the road” with hugs. We have really enjoyed spending these last few days with them. All four of us have been through a lot of stuff since we were last together in 2016 but as it is with good friends, we just picked up like it was yesterday. We will really try to not let three years go by before we get together again.
Breakfast at Chatham Cafe
Walking off breakfast
We enjoyed these irises at the MMDC campground. Irises were one of Max’s mother’s favorite flowers.
Today we were up early, completed our packing and were on the road before 7:00. We originally planned to make it a two day trip home but just kept driving until we got home at about 6:30 this evening. Long day, but we shared the driving and stopped and walked around every few hours. With no bad weather it wasn’t too hard. Now it’s like we gained a day because we can get some work done here tomorrow. There is always so much to do when we get back to Alabama – lots of grass to cut. We are so thankful for another day of safe travel. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
RVing With a Purpose 