THE LAST REPAIR JOB

Yesterday my friend Pat came over and installed the water intake door to the coach. Now everything is complete and I'm ready for my first camping trip. Planning on heading to Texas with stops in Livingston, Baytown, Liverpool, Port Lavaca, Port Aransas, and Corpus Christi.

ANOTHER TRIP TO HAMMOND

Today I went to Berryland and Camping World in Hammond. Picked up my water intake door at Berryland (for $56.00) then drove to Dixie RV and Camping World a few miles away. My friend Pat made the trip with me and we both enjoyed looking at RVs and shopping in the store. I bought a few items I needed like fuses, refridgerator bars, caulking, 50 amp adapter, and tire valve extensions. Also spoke to a sales rep who wanted to know why I purchased my motorhome in Florida. I told her the whole story and she said she would help me in any way that she could to help me get some of my many questions about the coach answered. She also showed me a 2009 Coachmen Freedom Elite for $49,000. It had lots of things that I liked that my coach does not have. But at this point in time I'm not willing to do a trade in. I've put so much money into my coach that it is now worth (to me) about $60,000. However, I will always regret buying in Florida and not waiting till I could find what I wanted here locally.

ANOTHER REPAIR JOB COMPLETED

Well, today I took Gypsy to Camping World in Hammond to have vent covers installed on the roof and to fix the bathroom light. The cost was $140.55. There is just one more thing that is needed. The cover on the water intake compartment flew off when I brought it home from Florida. It had to be ordered from the Coachmen manufacturer. The closest Coachmen dealership is at Berryland Campers in Hammond. I ordered it and they will call me when it comes in. So far I've spent $3,075.61 on repairs and improvements for this coach since I brought it home.

GYPSY'S BACK HOME

After spending 3 weeks at the Ford Dealership in New Orleans, my coach is back home. They sanded down the rust under the coach and undercoated the underside. They also fixed the problem I was having with hot air coming in from the motor into the coach. It was caused by the factory's negligence in proper installation of the dogie hatch. I'm just really surprised that the first owner didn't get it fixed. I was not charged for that repair job. The undercoating cost $380.00. It's good to have her back in my driveway.

GEARING UP FOR MY FUTURE TRAVELS

Today I got online and signed up for every "pay online" bill I could find in order to make my life paperless while on the road. Some of my bills will have to be paid on the phone with a credit card, some bills will be automatically deducted from my checking account, some bills I will have to phone in and get my balance and then mail the payment in and my home and autos will be paid in full for the year. I won't have to have my mail forwarded to me wherever I am in the country. So that takes care of that.

NEW SEAT COVERS

Received my beautiful blue seat covers today. A little darker than the website photos but really nice to cover that horrible brown. They cost $75.00.

GPS

Purchased a Garmin-Nuvi GPS today and hope that it will always get me to where I'm going safely. It cost $200.00.

GYPSY BOHO'S FIRST DECALS

I said I wasn't going to do it. I feared that it might hinder a future trade in or resale. However, today I put some really cool decals on my coach. I could no longer look at those black streaks across the body. It needed some color so now it has some.

ANOTHER REPAIR JOB

Today I replaced 6 tires that had dry rot - for a total of $1500.

ANOTHER MAJOR REPAIR

Yesterday I had the generator fixed at a cost of $535.06.

ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT

Today I had the oil leak fixed at a cost of $200.

BRINGING HER HOME

On September 27th, I purchased a 26 foot 2008 Coachmen Freedom Express motorhome in Tallahassee, Florida (with 11,000 miles) and I drove her home to Houma, Louisiana the next day. I enjoy driving the unit but it is a bit daunting.

Once home from Florida, she began to have issues. The generator would not start, the rear end was leaking oil all over my driveway, the bathroom light would not work, the water heater leaked, and the door to the water fill flew off coming home. I didn't panic but began making phone calls to find a Ford dealer who would work on the RV. Our local dealer is not equiped to work on motorhomes so I looked for help in New Orleans, an hour away.

I did find a local Onan generator technician who put me on a list and said he would call me when he got caught up. I found a local mechanic who does work on large trucks and said he would fix the oil leak for me next week. I was informed by Tallahassee's Camping World that there was a Service Department in Hammond, Louisiana that would work on my RV. I called the number and was told that Ford had to do the chassis work and they could do other types of service for me. I really did not want to drive out of town with oil leaking so I will take it here locally.


The first mechanic I took the RV to said that the under side of the RV was rusted pretty bad like it had been in salt water. He also said that the tires were cracked and dry rotted. He referred me to a local tire center and the workers there looked at the tires and said the same thing. I got an estimate of $1500 for 6 new tires.

I will have to take it to New Orleans for an undercoating to prevent the spread of rust. So my beautiful Freedom Express sits idle in my driveway, waiting for the RV doctors to fix her so she can take me onto the open road in search of exciting adventures that await us. However, I'm not sure there will be trips any time soon as the cost of these repairs will be about $3,000. A pretty big hit to my wallet, especially after paying $51,000 for the unit and $4,000 in taxes for Florida and Louisiana.

I'm trying not to have a negative attitude about all this, but I do feel that I got a bad deal on this unit. I feel sure that the technicians at Camping World knew about the tires and the rust. The generator was indeed working when we left Florida, however I don't know when the oil leak began as I did not pay any attention to any spots on the cement parking lot at Camping World. I'll just bite the bullet and fix everything I can. Perhaps some time next year I will consider selling it or trading it in on a camper trailer that I can pull. Life is a learning experience.

I've learned that people who care about you will tell you about things that can present a danger to your wellbeing. If I could have had the mechanic I deal with here at home - with me in Florida, I probably would not have purchased that unit... upon his recommendations. We live and learn, don't we?