Back in Texas

We are back in Texas (near Denton) to take care of several things. We need some maintenance on the coach. We need to get some medical and dental stuff done. We need to visit the daughter, three grown grandkids (and respective spouses), and three little great-grandkids (at 5 years, almost 3 years, and 4 months old). This is really early for us to arrive here. We usually get here around Thanksgiving and stay through Christmas.

Thinking About RVing…

Maintenance #1
Our first maintenance was handled by MCD in McKinney. We use their indoor sunshades on side windows and have a single, powered, privacy shade on the inside of our windshield. The powered shade totally stopped working when we were in Ruidoso, NM and we literally had to manually roll it up and Velcro it in the stored position in order to see to drive. This worked just fine but then we didn't have any front privacy screen. I called their tech support and was guided to check for a fuse but could not find one. So, we had to get to McKinney—luckily, close to Denton.

That is their production facility so they have everything there. We had made an appointment. They determined that there was an electrical short resulting from two bare wires occasionally touching (nothing dangerous here but just a functioning problem).

What made it almost funny was that when we pulled in and the tech finally came out. The first thing he did was to try the switch. It worked just fine! We had tried it many times over many days with no luck. Oh, well, they checked it thoroughly, fixed the wiring, tested it, reinstalled, and off we went to our campground in Lincoln Park.

Maintenance #2
I found a new RV service facility (new to me) in Lewisville, TX. Called the National Indoor RV Center it is a combination storage, detailing (wash/wax), and service facility. The place was spotless, people seemed really on the ball, we stayed one night (plugged into 50 amp only), and they tackled our coach in the morning. We had a problem with our air levelers (we don't have jacks). Something seemed to be leaking. Luckily, they did not find a leak and a total reset of the system (an easy fix) did the job. I was told by their general manager that they had the "best of the best" of the techs from the closing of the Buddy Gregg Dealership (also here in Lewisville last year). Everything was great except their labor rate. It was $120.00 per hour. That's on the high side of what I have been paying nationwide.

(By the way, the lowest I have paid is $68.00 per hour at All 4 One Service in Elkhart, IN. This business is owned by two former Monaco techs and they do excellent work. I've been there every year.)

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