After a rather emotional closing dinner for our 50th anniversary Arc Light-Young Tiger reunion, this morning we packed up (in the rain) and headed South.
We are taking a slight detour on the way back to Beaufort - to the tune of an additional 700+ miles. I've been looking for an excuse to go to the Tiffin Motor Home Factory in Red Bay, Alabama. Red Bay is in the Northwest corner of Alabama on the border with Mississippi.
We think we may have a water leak through one of the bedroom slide outs, and there's no better place to have it checked that at the factory. Plus there are a couple of other minor items that need a little work. And I want to go anyway.
Tonight, after a strenuous 6 + hour drive, we stopped just outside Mammoth Cave National Park in Southern Kentucky. A nice little park, Singing Hills RV Park- just what we needed after the big days drive.
Saturday, June 20
My intent this morning was to go the the National Park, but it had rained all night and rained heavily this morning about the time we were in the area of the park, so we skipped it. I sure hate to skip a National Park. They are all special places. But wet wins!
After an all night rain (which is supposed to be the remains of Tropical Storm Dan which came ashore in Texas sometime in the past week) and not a drop of water in the coach, it may be that our trip to Red Bay is just to see how a motor home is built. Rather strange though, because we certainly had some wet spots in the carpet one night on the way up here. We'll see.
We had picked a State Park in Alabama as our destination tonight, but as we were rolling along, I saw a sign for David Crockett State Park while still in Tennessee.
So, there was a fork in the road and we took it!
For those old enough, you'll remember the TV program some years (maybe some decades) back "Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier...."
In reality, David Crockett was a pioneer, soldier, politician, industrialist, legislator statesman, patriot and hero. He was killed at the Alamo in Texas in 1936 while aiding the Texans in their fight for independence from Mexico..
Tennessee sure knows how to build a park. This is among the nicer parks we've stayed in. Nice cabins, a lake, a fantastic Olympic size swimming pool, lots of things for kids and adults and a decent campground.
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| Next to the Park there are some wide-open fields, where the cows and deer play |
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The original Trail of Tears runs through the park, and in some places the tracks of the wagons still remain.
The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of Native American nations in the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The removal included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations, some of whom chose not to assimilate with American society, from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern U.S. to an area west of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian Territory. Some Native Americans who chose to stay and assimilate were allowed to become citizens in their states and of the U.S.[1] The phrase "Trail of Tears" originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.[2]
Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while going on the route to their destinations, many died, around 2,000-6,000 of the 16,543 relocated Cherokee.[3][4][5] European Americans and African American freedmen and slaves also participated in the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, Creek, and Seminole relocations
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Sunday, June 21
After a short drive today, we are at the Tiffin RV Park in Red Bay Alabama. I really shouldn't call it an RV park, it's more like a staging area for motor homes that are getting worked on or getting upgrades here at the factory.
Tiffin is known for serving their customers after the sale, and from the looks of the number of motor homes here, there's a lot of service after the sale. They build a fine motor home, but it is a motor home - and it has lots of parts and pieces, and things do break. There were 20 year old homes here as well as new ones.
We're planning on getting tile flooring put in the bedroom and get rid of the carpet.
Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26
It’s been a long week.
Sometimes extremely frustrating and sometime okay.
Red Bay, Alabama is out there. It is right on the Alabama-Mississippi state
line. It’s relatively poor country, hot
in the summer and I guess mostly mild in the winter. The only reason for
coming here is it is the home of Tiffin Motor Homes. Otherwise, I doubt there’s much visitation. It certainly isn't a tourist area.
Tiffin is here because the owner, Bob Tiffin, who started the business
is from here. From the stories we’ve
heard, there are at least four generations of Tiffin's that have called this
home. The current matriarch of the
family, Bob started the Tiffin
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| This is one of the early Tiffin motor homes. This is a 1976 model that is sitting outside the entry to the manufacturing facility |
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| The bedroom of the 1976 motor home |
Tiffin is the largest employer in the area, with around 1,500 employees
spread around the main facility and outlying facilities, plus lots of spin off businesses that cater to motor home
owners. The spinoffs do a lot of upgrades and
specialty work, and they all started at Tiffin, developed the entrepreneurial
spirit (or got tired of the low wages), and started their own businesses. We’re using two of these spin-offs this week.
We checked in Sunday afternoon to what is probably the least
desirable RV Park we’ve been in. Of
course, it’s not really a RV park – it’s really a waiting area for repair work
that has hook-ups. That’s okay, at least
it’s relatively cheap ($20/night which may not even cover the electric usage – it’s
hot and all three air conditioners are running just about
24 hours a day on our coach and everyone elses').
Monday we were introduced to the process. First come, first served. Someone comes around the first day (Norris) and goes over
the repair items, then you're assigned either extensive maintenance or express service. Thankfully, we have little to be done, so we're assigned to express service.
Then someone comes around to see how much of the work will be done under extended service contracts (we have one).
Then there are daily (sometimes several times a day) trips to see Wanda to see when we may get our work done.
Then someone comes around to see how much of the work will be done under extended service contracts (we have one).
Then there are daily (sometimes several times a day) trips to see Wanda to see when we may get our work done.
Mostly it’s just waiting.
On Tuesday, I did the factory tour of the
manufacturing/production facilities. It
is a huge place with about a million square feet under roof and they’re
expanding. I really wanted to see how
these things are built. It is
interesting.
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| This is where it starts with a Freightliner chassis which is brought in from Gaffney, South Carolina |
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| Then it is driven to the assembly line |
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| Here, the generator has been installed in the front of the chassis |
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| The dash |
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| 500 Horsepower Cummings Diesel Engine |
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| Flooring installed |
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| Interior Walls and furniture are starting to be installed. Basically, the home is built from the inside out. |
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| Back of rear bathroom before the walls are installed. |
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| Wall sides ready to be installed |
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| Walls Installed |
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| The rear cap ready to be installed |
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| Slide for bedroom with bed in place |
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| Slide for the living room ready to be installed. |
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| Slide being installed |
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| It's beginning to start looking like a motor home |
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| Most of the glass is in place now |
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| After painting and putting the Diamond Shield on the front |
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| Ready for delivery |
It takes about 5 days to build a motor home from start to finish. They finish up about 12 - 15 every day!
Some people order their home at a dealer, then come here to watch it being built, then drive it out of the plant. That must be a real good feeling.
While we’re waiting, we decided to take advantage of some of the specialty shops. We wanted to get rid of the carpet in the bedroom and have matching tile with the rest of the coach installed. We got some strong recommendations for Daniel (who had previously worked at Tiffin). We contacted him and scheduled the work, hoping he could work around our timeline and those of the service department.
Some people order their home at a dealer, then come here to watch it being built, then drive it out of the plant. That must be a real good feeling.
While we’re waiting, we decided to take advantage of some of the specialty shops. We wanted to get rid of the carpet in the bedroom and have matching tile with the rest of the coach installed. We got some strong recommendations for Daniel (who had previously worked at Tiffin). We contacted him and scheduled the work, hoping he could work around our timeline and those of the service department.
The service department is huge –
32+ bays where the work is done. They do everything in those
bays that can be done. It was amazing to
see.
Wednesday afternoon we got into one of the “Express” Bays
and in two hours, we were finished. They
really know what they’re doing and they do it quickly. I only had three issues – an awning motor had
to be replaced, some bolts needed to be tightened on one of the slides, and
new, improved rubber gaskets on the bedroom slide where the water probably came
in the other day.
Later Wednesday, TJ (another former employee of Tiffin) came
by the coach to give us an estimate and took our order for a new cabinet. We have a ridiculous number of TVs (4) in our motor home, and
we wanted to replace the TV next to the refrigerator with a good spice
cabinet. Done! (or at least ordered –
it’ll be shipped to Beaufort next week, then I'll remove the TV and install the cabinet).
Thursday morning at 7 am (yes AM, way to early), we dropped the coach at Daniel’s shop (which is in
Mississippi) a few miles out of town. It
will take 1 ½ days to do the work and of course we can’t use the coach while the
tile is being installed.
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| The bed is taken out and stored in the front |
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| Everything comes out of the bedroom |
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| Finishing the last piece of tile |
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| The inspector is pleased with the work. |
After we dropped the coach off at Daniel's, I decided that I'd do the tour again while Clara waited in a lounge at the RV park.
Earlier in the week, I had made a reservation for a cabin
just outside town in Sleepy Hollow. I
figured a cabin would be much better than a hotel room – and I was right. It’s not much, but it is a quiet place in the
woods by a creek. Much, much better than
a motel room.
Thursday evening we headed into town for dinner. About a mile down the road, we saw a place
that had been recommended to us earlier, Swamp John's. Thursday night is catfish night, so we
stopped and decided to give it a try. It is an abandoned and closed
gas station that still has the gas pumps installed. I’d hate to think what their sanitation
rating may be, but the food was great.
Friday morning we get to Daniel's place around 9 AM and they've already finished, so we're ready to roll. They did a terrific job - looks like it was installed at the factory. After all the oohing and ahhing, we start heading East.
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| Lounging on the porch at Sleepy Hollow |
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| Swamp John's |
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| You can dine by the gas pumps if you want to. It was a little to warm for that today. |
We've stopped at a terrific County Park about 60 miles West of Atlanta, Little Tailapoosa County Park. We had a heckava time trying to find it because it doesn't show up on any of our RV park apps on our smart phones that we use to find parks. We had to call the office three times to find it and it's only 6 miles off the Interstate. It was worth the annoyance trying to find it. It's one of those places we wish we could stay a couple more days. There are miles of horse trails and hiking trails. Some of the hiking trails are newly paved 6 feet wide.
Saturday, June 27
Now it's just a matter of slogging across Georgia and South Carolina to get home. Tonight we're at Sesquicentennial County Park near Columbia, SC.
Sunday, June 28
We're glad to be home. That's unusual for me to admit, but the last part of this trip has been rather tiring.
Saturday, June 27
Now it's just a matter of slogging across Georgia and South Carolina to get home. Tonight we're at Sesquicentennial County Park near Columbia, SC.
Sunday, June 28
We're glad to be home. That's unusual for me to admit, but the last part of this trip has been rather tiring.
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| 2040 miles. The motor home averaged 9.2 mpg, which is better than we ever saw on our smaller motor home |
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