Back in Fredericksburg, VA

We're in Fredericksburg, VA now, but wanted to post some pictures we got along Skyline Drive on Thursday before Hurricane Matthew passed by.  Gorgeous day.  We took a second longer hike around Stony Man Mt and met a really nice couple from Israel along the way.

Whenever we have the trailer serviced and we're able to get all the appliances

working, we're always looking over our shoulder waiting for that first one to break  We got to Thursday - 8 days.  Our record?  2 weeks.  I always take this opportunity to point out to people shopping for RVs that the RV industry's core value is to build a pretty, visually appealing RV that makes you want to buy it.  Quality, durability, reliability do not exist.

If you were to take a manufacturing tour of a RV manufacturer, you would be dismayed and depressed.  Pride of workmanship does not exist in the RV industry's manufacturing process.  Buy an RV at your own risk.  There are organizations looking out for the RV manufacturer, dealer network, and campgrounds/RV parks.  There are no organizations looking out for you.

Lemon laws have been rescinded.  Warranties are hit n' miss.  Donna & I have not experienced a good warranty situation since we retired.  I'm told there are good ones out there, but we haven't found them.  What we have experienced are expensive pieces of paper.

On Thursday morning we lost our over-the-air antenna.  Our current antenna is our second one on this trailer.  They're no longer made.  We had planned to replace the antenna with a newer one, but was talked out of it by the service center due to numerous problems with the newer, replacement antenna.  So we have one dead appliance with no viable replacement.  Typical RV industry result.

Mid-afternoon Thursday my cell phone died while trying to check emails at Big Meadows Lodge.  We've since ran it through a safe mode and uploaded all app updates.  It seems to be working fine now, but the battery life appears to have been cut in half. That may be due to our location here at the KOA.  We'll just have to wait & see.  I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that I'm part of the generation that made Bill Gates a billionaire by buying his software that didn't work.  For everyone that comes after me, I do regret that it now appears that's the business model everyone is trying to emulate.  I'm truly sorry that we created this situation for you.

Thursday evening, our generator died.  The generator has been a workhorse for us for 8 years and provided for many pleasant visits to the Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah NP.  I'm only upset that it picked an extremely inconvenient time to break down.  We were extremely low on battery power, and I was counting on that generator to give us the power we needed to pull the slides in on Friday morning, raise the leveling legs, and hitch to the truck.  We decided to completely shut down everything on the trailer, move food that we would use to an ice chest, and keep a couple of buckets of water available in the shower to flush the toilet.  We woke up Friday morning, turned on the batteries and found we had 11.5v of power.  We plugged the trailer into the truck.  When the voltage climbed to 11.7v, we got the trailer ready for travel and put it on the truck.  As Donna says, it all moved real slow, but it moved.  Once on the truck and trailer ready for travel, we turned the frig back on and left. We never shut the truck off until we were in our campsite at the KOA.   Everything worked well.  We had ice by the time we got to Fredericksburg, VA.  We didn't lose any food.  We'll work with the manufacturer, set up appointments, and get the generator taken care of the next time we're in Elkhart.

For us, Hurricane Matthew has come and gone.  We had a lot of rain.  Today is sunny and windy.  Donna's out picking apples.  I'm listening to football and on the computer complaining about RV manufacturers.

Next problem up for us is Spotsylvania Post Office playing hide & seek with our absentee ballots.

We moved to Fredericksburg, VA in May of 1996.  It took a week for me to determine that Fredericksburg, VA post offices are the worst post offices in the country.  By our retirement in 2010, they were still the worst post offices in the US.  We've traveled coast-to-coast and border-to border in the last 6 years.  Fredericksburg Post Offices are still the worst post offices in the lower 48 states.  Apparently, it has now spread to Spotsylvania Post Offices as well.  Our pastor preached this morning on storms that pass through our lives, why they come, and how to solve/survive them.  When it comes to the local post offices in this area, I wish I could be the storm.  They're affecting Donna and my right to vote in the upcoming national elections.  As much as I hate the ACLU, it may be time to give them a call this week and see if they can provide any pressure to help us get our absentee ballots.

Later, David