Georgia, DC and Kentucky

I left Tuscaloosa at the crack of dawn but only made it to Anderson South Carolina before my beloved truck broke down.  My check engine light came on, followed in about 10 minutes by a lightning bolt icon followed by a message saying exhaust problems, see dealer immediately.  I pulled into a truck stop and they checked the error codes (there were several).  Because my truck is still under warranty I decided to wait till Saturday and take it to a local dealer.  This is where I first ran into problems.  I called 3 dealers before I found one who would even see me before Monday.  I was there first thing Saturday morning and the mechanic on duty said all I needed was a new fuel filter.  He changed it, cleared the codes and told me to drive it up and down the highway to clean out the fuel system.  I did and all the lights/error messages were still there.  I called the mechanic back and he said he really didn’t have the expertise needed, he recommended another dealer with more experience.  I made an appointment first thing Monday morning and was waiting when they opened. By mid afternoon they decided they needed a part that couldn’t be delivered until Tuesday morning.  Tuesday afternoon, they decided they needed another part that couldn’t be delivered until Wednesday morning.  On Wednesday afternoon when they told me they needed yet another part; I hit the roof.  After talking to the service manager for quite some time, he apologized for the poor service and lack of communication.  He admitted that the mechanics had little experience working with diesel trucks (I was at a Dodge dealer) and were having problems figuring out what the problem was.  He ultimately got off the phone with me and called someone is Detroit who was able to talk them through the repair.  Basically it started with water in the fuel system which clogged up the exhaust system.   The dealer replaced every part in the fuel system at no cost to me and at least my MPG has increased a bit.  I finally got my truck fixed on Wednesday at 5PM.  I went home, got some sleep was on the road by 11PM. 

Initially my truck was drivable, so I was able to get my RV to a very nice KOA;  life could have been worse.  I would have loved to explore the area more, but the dealer told me each day that my truck would be fixed in the morning, so I spent all my time ready to go and waiting by the phone.   In addition to being stuck for 5 days, I was missing the RV rally in DC, I missed visiting my cousins and visiting my friends. 

I made it to the rally in DC on Thursday afternoon.  My friend Frank was already there and had never been to DC.  I took him on a quick tour of the city including Andrews AFB and Bolling AFB.  Later that evening we met up with my friend Ann and her beautiful daughter Norah.  Anyone who knows me at all knows that I’m not particularly kid friendly, but I am in love with baby Norah!  She is the sweetest baby out there and I really enjoy her. 

On Friday the rally group hopped on a bus for a city tour.  In the evening we headed over to Arlington Cemetery where I was one of 4 people honored to participate in a wreath laying ceremony on behalf of the Forest Rivers Owners Group. There were 2 retirees and 2 parents.  Myself and the other retiree were in the front with a member of the Old Guard beside us and the parents were behind us.  When we walked back up the steps and disbursed I looked behind me to find the mother with tears streaming down her face.  While I found the 2 minute ceremony to be an honor, she found it extremely moving.  Oddly enough, this made the ceremony seem like a much bigger deal.  I guess being in the military, I’ve seen and taken part in many ceremonies over the years.  Seeing the look on her face, made me see it from a parents perspective which was very moving. 

While I’m glad I finally made it to the rally, I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to spend more time meeting the people there.  The ones I did talk to were really great.  I hope to meet them again at future rallies. 

On Sunday morning I packed up and headed to my next Habitat build in West Liberty Kentucky.  The trip was uneventful and I’m happy to report my truck hummed right along.  I know everyone on the build except for one couple, so I was looking forward to being reunited with friends and meeting new ones. Although the CAV builds are normally 2 weeks, several of us were staying at least a month on this one.  That evening we were met by Greg, who is a one man show for the local Habitat affiliate.  He is the Executive Director/volunteer coordinator/building manager/sole construction guy and everything else all rolled into one.  He gave us a bit of background on the tornado that tore through West Liberty in March of 2012.  Basically an EF4 tornado ripped through the town leaving a path of destruction 6 miles wide.  425 homes were destroyed, countless more damaged and 42 people died.  The affiliate serves Morehead and West Liberty.  The towns are about 45 min apart from each other. 

news account: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120303/NEWS01/303030059/West-Liberty-Kentucky-Town-just-gone-residents-sent-shelters.

Pictures:
https://www.google.com/search?q=west+liberty+ky+tornado&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS291&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=R5RxUffrC6qVyAHumoGoCw&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=800

West Liberty was hit by the tornado while Morehead was unaffected.  There are currently 2 houses under construction in Morehead and 5 in West Liberty.  I'm working on the 2 in Morehead, the rest of the CAV’s are in West Liberty.  The two in Morehead are nearing completion and the homeowners need to be in by the end of May.  We have all worked together some, I worked in West Liberty for 2 days and some of the crew came out to Morehead for a day, but basically we are separated.  There is a great crew from Lexington who comes once a week and they have really been a big help.  I believe they are the ones who built both houses up to this point.  Last week I spent 2 days painting and staining in preparation for the Lexington crew coming to build the window sills.  These houses have really thick walls, so the window sills and door frames have to be custom made.  I was exhausted but everything was ready and we got all the sills and frames built and installed in one day.  This week we are expecting more CAV’s in West Liberty and we’ve been promised 2, so that should move us along at a faster pace.  We have to install the interior doors and kitchen cabinets, build the porch roof and install siding.  Then comes the tedious finishing work, but that won’t be for a week or two.

Tomorrow  I’m finally going to take a day off and do what I love to do, go hiking!  Greg and his wife Linda have a small A frame house they're letting me stay in because the commute from my RV to Morehead is so far.  It’s so nice to have a full size kitchen, a couch, a real shower and best of all a washer and dryer.  On the down side, no TV and very limited internet.  It’s enough to be able to get on line and I have lots of movies, so it’s all good.  Greg has two huge dogs, a St Bernard and a Giant Pyrenees.  Both are very friendly and really like Brutus, especially the St Bernard.  Brutus doesn’t seem to like her quite as much, but he can’t really get away from her as she is right on top of him as soon as she knows he’s out.  There are also 2 cows, chickens and some geese, so it’s very entertaining to sit out on the front porch in the evening and watch life on the farm. 

I’ve done a very good job of maintaining my 25 lb weight loss, so I rewarded myself with a trip to the big city of Lexington on Friday for some shopping.  Oh how I love shopping!  I limited myself to 2 new pair of jeans (everything I have is now too big), some sorts and 2 new skirts and tops.   Brutus also got to go and came home looking like a puffy little fluff ball.  He looks so different when he is groomed, they wash him then blow dry his fur and it is SOOOOO soft and fluffy.  I may try to do it myself next week, but it so much easier to have a groomer do it!  I think his St Bernard girlfriend really liked it too, she paid him even more attention than normal.  I wish I could have prevented her from slobbering all over him though!