VIRGINIA
Michael & Sharon Vreeland (20733)
Virginia State Directors
It always amazes me how “life” gets in the way of the plans you make, usually unforeseen things that impact “your” plans. In this case it was Milton and Helene – terrible hurricanes that destroyed property and took lives. We have a number of Newmarians that live in Florida and from what I can tell a lot of them were lucky. My prayers go out to all impacted by these disasters. So, as it turns out, not going to Florida this year may have been a good idea, even if it was for a different reason. I am sure they will hurry to get everything back up and running so the tourist will return, but I had rather give them some breathing room.
Right now, I am at Freightliner Service Center in Gaffney for my annual service. I know most of us do the annual service and some not so much. It can be costly – we have never got out of service under $1500. But, if you look at what you paid for your coach, $1500 is just a drop in the bucket. Additionally doing your annual service significantly reduces the chance of mechanical breakdown – does not eliminate it, just reduces it. As we all know, when we do break down it is always right next to a Freightliner Service Center – not! Also, not doing your annual service may impact warranted items on your freightliner chassis and may not be covered if you do have a failure on a warranted item. Do your annual service; don’t do your annual service – it’s up to you.
As we all know owning an RV is an adventure. Last December I went to factory to have a water leak repaired on the kitchen slide and the kitchen slide top and front side replaced. They found the cause of the water leak and as you might expect did an excellent job repairing the damage and replaced the top and side. Problem solved and all it took was throwing money at it – that is a quote from Charlie. Well, I dropped something next to the sofa and when I reached down to pick it up, I noticed a “bulge” on the wallpaper under the big slide forward facing window. Typically, this indicates a dreaded water leak, so I started monitoring it. Sure enough, it got bigger and from what I can tell the water is leaking around the window. I used some gorilla tape on the top of the window on the outside which appears to have stopped the water leak. I now have to repair that wall. I found a great RV tech to do this and will get this done later this month. So, the lesson to all is to occasionally check your walls and see if you have a “bulge.” I also have a moisture detector which will let you know as well.
The Virginia State Rally is in the books, and everyone had a great time. It was a bit rainy – the leading edge of Milton – but we all left without incident. We did have one couple who were traveling further south, but they stayed over because of Milton. They sent us pictures of Misty Mountain Campground flooded. The campground had a fenced field with camping sites on the outside. This was all under water – a couple feet at least. So, we dodged that bullet luckily. Now the planning starts for next year’s rally.
As this is written, we are heading to the Region 5 Rally in Brunswick, Georgia. We are looking forward to meeting the new Region 5 Directors and of course, attend the Shrimp and Grits Festival. This should be a great rally and a chance to catch up with our fellow Newmarians.
We can be reached at beaglerv@gmail.com, 540-809-9830 (Cell Phone). Well that about covers it and we hope everyone is traveling safely. If you are snow birding, we hope all goes well. Safe travels to all and Happy RVing.
