It's been a fairly uneventful week, all in all. The weather turned much colder over the weekend, with highs in the 50's and lows in the 30's. I must be acclimating quite quickly to Florida, as I really feel cold, even though I know, deep in my northern heart, that it really isn't that bad :-).
We did get the truck back, finally! All I can say, is that I am extremely happy that we had made the decision to take the Ford extended warranty when we purchased the truck, as we are now well ahead of our investment in it! In order to do the work, they had to remove the cab of the truck from the chassis in order to get to the engine and make a diagnosis. They did discover a bad valve lifter, as well as the cam shaft damaged, and a rocker arm was broken. All in all, I'm amazed that we were able to limp our way to the dealership. Once it was all diagnosed, they also had to remove the engine itself to do the repairs. Ford only authorized replacing the known faulty valve lifter rather than all of them, and we opted to pay out of pocket to replace them all, seeing as the engine was torn down that far. So all new lifters, new cam shaft, new rocker arm, all new seals and gaskets....it was a large amount of work! She runs just beautiful now, seems even quieter and our miles per gallon has increased a bit. We're very pleased with the work done by the mechanics at Langdale Ford in Valdosta GA and all the service representatives were great as well.
Chelsea, however, didn't have such a good week. One morning she had an allergic reaction to something after our morning walk. Her face swelled up, her skin turns bright red, and she starts panting very heavily. This necessitated a quick trip to the veterinarians office for a shot of benadryl, which eased her symptoms quickly. When we go back for her vaccination updates the end of the month, I'm going to ask about carrying a shot or two with us as this is the second time this has happened, and at times, we are not near a medical facility for her! It didn't end here for her, though, although the reaction never came back. A few nights later, as we were getting ready for bed, we noticed her backside was wet and gooey. Investigation revealed that one of her fatty cysts had burst, like a boil, and we now oozing yucky stuff. Eww. We couldn't get the flow to stop, so it was off to the 24-hour facility in Spring Hill to get that taken care of. Needless to say, the "pet" portion of the monthly budget was blown for February! Anyway, they cleaned her up good, and gave us antibiotics to fight the infection. It needed to stay open though, so it wouldn't abscess, so we were following her around with paper towels for a couple of days, and had tarps covering all the carpeted areas! She's doing fine, now :-).
The only other thing of note the past week was getting together with some blog readers, Bonnie and Richard Waltman. They've been readers of ours for some time, although only in "lurking" mode :-). They are from New Jersey, and are waiting for the house to sell so they can hit the road. Being in the area at Chassa Oaks RV Resort, they sent me an email, and we got together Sunday afternoon for a good long chat session. They are also RV-Dreamers, having attended the rally at Hershey PA. It's an amazing thing to me, still, that even though we've never met, we all feel as if we know each other. It's a "like-minded" sort of thing I guess :-). So we can add another new set of friends to our group!
We have a pretty busy week coming up, having an old friend from New York visiting us this week. It'll be a lot of golfing for Al and Ed, and we have a few outings and restaurants in the line-up. I expect to start having some pictures to go along with my dialogue again soon! Stay safe, and warm in those northern climes.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Better Days
Yes, we are seeing better days, or at least it feels that way! Problem updates:
1. The truck has been diagnosed, valve lifter and camshaft need repairs, Ford warranty has approved the work, and the repairs are underway. Langdale Ford in Valdosta GA has been great to work with, and gone the extra mile for us so far. The warranty only approved replacing the one bad valve lifter and the camshaft, and we opted at our expense, while the engine is torn down, to have the other valve lifters replaced as well. We figured it made sense.
2. The transport company delivered the Cougar to the Keystone factory Thursday, before the snow and ice started up there. They've already taken it into the repair shop, ordered the new wall, and have talked to us about a few other items. So far, I am very pleased with the customer service at Keystone :-).
3. The antibiotics are clearing up the infection in my mouth, and I should be ready for my cavities to be filled on Wednesday...not fun, but neither is achy teeth!
I finally went through the few pictures I had taken at Walt Disney World (oh, yes, I sent my Coolpix camera to Nikon to see if it can be repaired, and yes, it can, yay!) and thought I would show you a couple pictures of the new Fantasyland area, and the Beast's Castle where we had our marvelous French dinner.
1. The truck has been diagnosed, valve lifter and camshaft need repairs, Ford warranty has approved the work, and the repairs are underway. Langdale Ford in Valdosta GA has been great to work with, and gone the extra mile for us so far. The warranty only approved replacing the one bad valve lifter and the camshaft, and we opted at our expense, while the engine is torn down, to have the other valve lifters replaced as well. We figured it made sense.
2. The transport company delivered the Cougar to the Keystone factory Thursday, before the snow and ice started up there. They've already taken it into the repair shop, ordered the new wall, and have talked to us about a few other items. So far, I am very pleased with the customer service at Keystone :-).
3. The antibiotics are clearing up the infection in my mouth, and I should be ready for my cavities to be filled on Wednesday...not fun, but neither is achy teeth!
I finally went through the few pictures I had taken at Walt Disney World (oh, yes, I sent my Coolpix camera to Nikon to see if it can be repaired, and yes, it can, yay!) and thought I would show you a couple pictures of the new Fantasyland area, and the Beast's Castle where we had our marvelous French dinner.
The entrance to The Beast's castle, across the moat, with the castle turrets above
Entering the massive front doors
Beautiful mosaics reminiscent of the mosaics at Cinderella's Castle
The napkins were roses, naturally! No pictures of dinner, it was just too dark while dining, and the food was so yummy I simply forgot :-).
The statue of Gaston and LeFou at the entrance to Gaston's Tavern, a quick service eatery. Must try the giant warm cinnamon rolls next time we're there!
Prince Eric's castle, from The Little Mermaid, which houses an Ariel ride...line was too long, so we'll try that one a different trip.
Our last day was spent at Fort Wilderness with the remaining family members...
playing Marbles and Cards, of course! I love the large square picnic tables at Fort Wilderness, perfect for large family gatherings. The sites here in the 1200 loop are so large and roomy, I just love them.
Back home in Homosassa, after our aborted attempt to take the Cougar to Indiana, and straightening out the myriad of issues we had, we had several errands and chores to be done. We did make a little time for some fun stuff, visiting with friends from back in New York one day at Downtown Disney, and finally went geocaching two different times, receiving our Florida "badge" for our first find in Florida. We collected 8 out of 30 caches that form a cross pattern in the Withlacoochee State Forest, and will return another day to collect more. No pictures from that hike, though, as there was a "prescribed burn" going on somewhere to the south of us, and it was kind of hazy...not too much scenery there anyway. We were doing a bit of "bushwacking" through the forest, so I didn't take the camera out!
We also did a "kayak geocache"; all the caches are along a waterway and you can only get to them via kayak or canoe. We thought that sounded like fun, and got us out kayaking for the afternoon.
Directly across the Homosassa River from the boat launch we saw this funky little fish market...local color!
Ospreys are nesting everywhere in the area
Pelicans and cormorants chilling out on a little rocky island
We turned into Price's Creek heading to our first set of co-ordinates. I found the "shoreline" interesting...its old oysterbeds!
Close-up of oysterbeds, pretty neat
Do you know what he's doing?
Yep, there's a cache hanging in the tree!
Continuing on up Price's Creek...there's a total of 5 caches along the creek. Once we got off the Homosassa River, it was extremely quiet and peaceful, not a soul around...
except this dude...
and this dude...it took me awhile to spot him, but I could definitely hear him drumming away
The scenery back here is very pretty...not jungly, but wide open.There were also several manatees cruising the area, but I was never fast enough to catch a picture of their snouts breaking the water's surface.
After finding all our caches for the afternoon, we headed back to the Homosassa River, and passed this small fleet of boats.
More cormorants striking poses for me
An osprey with his "catch of the day" flew right over us!
Back to the launching ramp, where I will not amuse you with pictures of disembarking the kayaks...is there any graceful way to do that??
That's pretty much all the news from this part of the world at the moment. next week are more appointments and errands, hopefully the truck will be ready to be picked up, a card game is in the works one afternoon, and we continue to do our volunteer thing at the Wildlife Park. Hope everyone out there has a good weekend!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
A Little Black Cloud...
Our second week at Fort Wilderness was just as much fun as the first...imagine that :-)! We were so fortunate that the weather this year was sunny and warm while we were there. There have been winters that we've gone that have been quite chilly!
Highlights of our second week included checking out the new French bakery in the France pavilion at EPCOT...not just once, but a total of three times...dare I even say, TWICE in one day!! Oh, we're so bad. The consensus is that the refurb is very nice, and the food and pastries delicious! One afternoon we had a wonderful lunch with dear old friends from Sag Harbor NY (our original hometown) who were visiting WDW the same week. It was great to catch up with their lives, and hopefully it will become and annual event...yes, we have already booked our reservations at The Fort for next year...any and all are welcome to join us :-)!
We were also lucky enough to have scored reservations at the newest restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, Be Our Guest in the new Fantasyland. The restaurant is set in the Beast's castle, and there are three separate dining rooms: The Main Ballroom, the West Wing, and the Rose Gallery. You really feel as if you are entering the castle straight out of the movie. The detail is that authentic...except there are no singing and dancing candelabras, clocks, or teapots! We did, however, receive a visit from The Beast twice during dinner :-). Food was French, naturallement, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals, right down to the assortment of cupcakes and cream puffs for dessert. Highly recommended for anyone going to WDW, but be sure to jump on the reservation bandwagon as early as possible, it books up quite quickly!
Our last day at The Fort we had another cookout with all the family, played Marbles and Cards, and made our reservations for next year :-). It had been so much fun, not just to spend time at Disney but to share it with family. It doesn't get better.
Now, you're probably wondering with such a glowingly good time, where does "the little black cloud" in the title fit in? Well, as most of you know, or have heard, now we have to deal with our trailer issues. Specifically, getting it back up to Keystone, where the necessary repairs can take place. Upon packing up at The Fort, we left for our short journey home to Homosassa, where we parked the trailer in front of the house and proceeded to empty its contents into our garage. Its only been two years since we started our journey, but wow, the "stuff" does accumulate, doesn't it?! I had hoped to be able to leave my stuff in it at least on the side that wasn't in need of repair, but upon requesting clarification I was asked to have it completely empty, as "while replacing the passenger side wall of the trailer, they may need to remove the other side of the trailer as well"...yes, you read that right. The are anticipating replacing the entire wall on the passenger side of the trailer. The also anticipate needing "several weeks", which is why we need to get it up there pronto so that we can get to Bar Harbor by the first of May.
So, we emptied all our possessions, boxed it all up and commandeered the back corner of the garage. At this time we plan on renting a u-haul trailer in April, picking the trailer up in Indiana and heading on to Maine from there. Ugh. At least we did "purge" quite a few items, figuring if we hadn't used them in two years, it most likely wasn't needed.
Early Monday morning, we headed out on the open road, headed towards Indiana. The pups were staying in Florida with their aunties, so we could travel faster. We had hoped to make it to Louisville, KY before stopping, arriving at Goshen Tuesday early afternoon. Well, we made it as far as Valdosta Georgia when the "little black cloud" descended again. I think I had written that starting back in October, while in North Dakota at the beets (I REALLY have no fond memories of that state at this time!), the truck started making a "tick tick tick" sound on and off. Unfortunately, never when it was at a dealer :-. Al, having worked on diesel engines in his boat, was fairly sure it was a valve lifter problem, but unfortunately, no-one was going to tear apart the engine, under warranty, on his saying so. Well, as we pulled out of the first rest area on I75 just south of Valdosta, the truck started running very rough, and making all kinds of racket. I really couldn't believe it. Long story short, we found a large Ford dealer with diesel service 11 miles away, we were able to get there under our own power, they heard the issue and agreed with it being the valve lifters, and (Thank the Lord) we have the extended warranty through Ford so the repairs are covered. The folks there have been great, so far, letting us store the trailer in their secure lot, and arranging for a rental car while the repairs are taking place (also covered under the extended warranty).
The bad part, at this point, is that the trailer has not made it to Keystone factory yet! As of Friday afternoon, they still hadn't finished getting into the engine to ascertain the exact problem, then they have to contact Ford to see exactly what they will cover having done. Then they can finally start fixing it. So we are looking at it being most likely another week before getting it back. So, I did some research, and at this time, we decided our best course was to hire a transport company to take the rig up to Indiana for us so we don't lose our spot in the repair cycle there. I was surprised, it isn't actually going to cost much more than what I would have spent on fuel round-trip, hotels and eating out while on the road. I think it is our best option at this point. We do have to make the trip back up to Valdosta tomorrow, though, as we didn't think to leave the keys to the trailer there, and the truck company needs to get into the bay to turn the battery on so the brakes will work! Always a good thing :-). Plus we left Al's toolbox in the basement as he wouldn't travel without his tools, so we need to collect that. I also need to call Keystone in the morning and apprise them that this is what is going on and they can expect the trailer Thursday or Friday. I really wanted to personally speak to the service department and go over the trailer with them, but I'll do the best I can on the phone.
So, that's our story. I'll keep everyone apprised of the situation as it unfolds, and ask for continued well wishes from everyone!
Highlights of our second week included checking out the new French bakery in the France pavilion at EPCOT...not just once, but a total of three times...dare I even say, TWICE in one day!! Oh, we're so bad. The consensus is that the refurb is very nice, and the food and pastries delicious! One afternoon we had a wonderful lunch with dear old friends from Sag Harbor NY (our original hometown) who were visiting WDW the same week. It was great to catch up with their lives, and hopefully it will become and annual event...yes, we have already booked our reservations at The Fort for next year...any and all are welcome to join us :-)!
We were also lucky enough to have scored reservations at the newest restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, Be Our Guest in the new Fantasyland. The restaurant is set in the Beast's castle, and there are three separate dining rooms: The Main Ballroom, the West Wing, and the Rose Gallery. You really feel as if you are entering the castle straight out of the movie. The detail is that authentic...except there are no singing and dancing candelabras, clocks, or teapots! We did, however, receive a visit from The Beast twice during dinner :-). Food was French, naturallement, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals, right down to the assortment of cupcakes and cream puffs for dessert. Highly recommended for anyone going to WDW, but be sure to jump on the reservation bandwagon as early as possible, it books up quite quickly!
Our last day at The Fort we had another cookout with all the family, played Marbles and Cards, and made our reservations for next year :-). It had been so much fun, not just to spend time at Disney but to share it with family. It doesn't get better.
Casey is going to miss his Uncle Billy :-)!!
Now, you're probably wondering with such a glowingly good time, where does "the little black cloud" in the title fit in? Well, as most of you know, or have heard, now we have to deal with our trailer issues. Specifically, getting it back up to Keystone, where the necessary repairs can take place. Upon packing up at The Fort, we left for our short journey home to Homosassa, where we parked the trailer in front of the house and proceeded to empty its contents into our garage. Its only been two years since we started our journey, but wow, the "stuff" does accumulate, doesn't it?! I had hoped to be able to leave my stuff in it at least on the side that wasn't in need of repair, but upon requesting clarification I was asked to have it completely empty, as "while replacing the passenger side wall of the trailer, they may need to remove the other side of the trailer as well"...yes, you read that right. The are anticipating replacing the entire wall on the passenger side of the trailer. The also anticipate needing "several weeks", which is why we need to get it up there pronto so that we can get to Bar Harbor by the first of May.
So, we emptied all our possessions, boxed it all up and commandeered the back corner of the garage. At this time we plan on renting a u-haul trailer in April, picking the trailer up in Indiana and heading on to Maine from there. Ugh. At least we did "purge" quite a few items, figuring if we hadn't used them in two years, it most likely wasn't needed.
Early Monday morning, we headed out on the open road, headed towards Indiana. The pups were staying in Florida with their aunties, so we could travel faster. We had hoped to make it to Louisville, KY before stopping, arriving at Goshen Tuesday early afternoon. Well, we made it as far as Valdosta Georgia when the "little black cloud" descended again. I think I had written that starting back in October, while in North Dakota at the beets (I REALLY have no fond memories of that state at this time!), the truck started making a "tick tick tick" sound on and off. Unfortunately, never when it was at a dealer :-. Al, having worked on diesel engines in his boat, was fairly sure it was a valve lifter problem, but unfortunately, no-one was going to tear apart the engine, under warranty, on his saying so. Well, as we pulled out of the first rest area on I75 just south of Valdosta, the truck started running very rough, and making all kinds of racket. I really couldn't believe it. Long story short, we found a large Ford dealer with diesel service 11 miles away, we were able to get there under our own power, they heard the issue and agreed with it being the valve lifters, and (Thank the Lord) we have the extended warranty through Ford so the repairs are covered. The folks there have been great, so far, letting us store the trailer in their secure lot, and arranging for a rental car while the repairs are taking place (also covered under the extended warranty).
The bad part, at this point, is that the trailer has not made it to Keystone factory yet! As of Friday afternoon, they still hadn't finished getting into the engine to ascertain the exact problem, then they have to contact Ford to see exactly what they will cover having done. Then they can finally start fixing it. So we are looking at it being most likely another week before getting it back. So, I did some research, and at this time, we decided our best course was to hire a transport company to take the rig up to Indiana for us so we don't lose our spot in the repair cycle there. I was surprised, it isn't actually going to cost much more than what I would have spent on fuel round-trip, hotels and eating out while on the road. I think it is our best option at this point. We do have to make the trip back up to Valdosta tomorrow, though, as we didn't think to leave the keys to the trailer there, and the truck company needs to get into the bay to turn the battery on so the brakes will work! Always a good thing :-). Plus we left Al's toolbox in the basement as he wouldn't travel without his tools, so we need to collect that. I also need to call Keystone in the morning and apprise them that this is what is going on and they can expect the trailer Thursday or Friday. I really wanted to personally speak to the service department and go over the trailer with them, but I'll do the best I can on the phone.
So, that's our story. I'll keep everyone apprised of the situation as it unfolds, and ask for continued well wishes from everyone!
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