110325 Over to Belmont for painting

I went to the plant alone this morning since it the Bus was largely completed, but for undercoating and mechanical, before being sent to Belmont for painting. I found the Bus in Station 18 waiting to go to the undercoating building, a move of about 100 yards. the coach was raised on a 30 ton lift and workers walked underneath spraying undercoating and painting any rust spots on the chassis.

The work took no more than 20 minutes, then it was off to mechanical where the chassis would be aligned, the height of the air ride suspension set and the headlights aligned. Then it was off for a test drive to check out the ride and handling - everything was great.

At that point I left for the campground to deliver the Phaeton to the cabinet shop for the final finishing of the repairs to the counter top. The job entailed glueing and clamping the countertop to bring it back into alignment. The clamp had to remain in place for several hours, so I decided to leave it on all night. One problem, the clamp extended out the kitchen window - and the temperature dropped to 35 degrees overnight! The furnace worked overtime to say the least!

All this having been said, the job was completed today and was done to perfection. We are very happy with the results and relieved that the craftsmen here were able to rectify my error. I can now trade the coach with a clear conscience!

Once the coach was back on site 20, Suz and I headed to Belmont for lunch and to follow the progress of the Bus as it was prepared for painting. Little did I know that our plans were about to change! We viewed the Bus in the sanding building where all the exterior imperfections are removed and the entire surface, except for the roof, sanded in preparation for painting. One does not stay in the sanding building long without respirators, let me tell you!

From there we headed up to see where the coach would go next - final prep for painting. There, the workers wipe down the coach to remove any dust or other foreign materials. then the coach heads into the first of several paint booths for its base coat - in our case "silver". Ah, but I get ahead of myself.

I decided to take Suz on a tour of the plant to view the coaches ahead of our in the various stages of completion. then it happened. At the final booth, Suz saw a Bus painted "Rocky Mountain Brown", and that was it. She was "in love." It just so happened that Lex Tiffin was in the plant and at that very moment came up to say hello. He heard Suz say she had to have that color and immediately took us outside to look and our selected color (Silver Sand) and her dream color (Rocky Mountain Brown) in the sunlight side-by-side. There was no question, she had to have the new color.

Lex wrote our service order on the palm of his hand and told us to call the head office and see if they could still put through a "change order" to make Suz's dream come true. Danny Inman was out of the office, so we jumped in the car (it being 2:10 on a Friday with the plant closing at 2:30) and headed back to Red Bay. We arrived at the plant at 2:25 and found Jerry Williamson, the sales manager, who immediately began calling the paint shop. After several calls, success. However, we needn't have worried, Lex Tiffin had already told the paint manager to expect the change order. Suz will get her wish (but I told her the trade was that she couldn't complain anymore about having to go to rallies!).

the entire experience is but one more example of how the Tiffin company and Tiffin people go that extra mile for their customers. We will long remember the wonderful treatment we have received and will strongly recommend Tiffin to any and all who will listen.

Being Friday night, and having succeeded in getting Suzanne's color change, we decided to head out to the Rattlesnake Saloon (about 25 miles from Red Bay - where they serve BEER). We arrived around 5:00 and enjoyed a pitcher of Miller Lite, stuffed breaded Jalapeno peppers (rattlesnake eggs), breaded mushroom caps (cowboy buttons) and a polish sausage in a bun, all for $20 including tax. Not a bad evening. We arrived back at the campground at 6:30 in time to watch the NCAA tournament game between North Carolina and Marquette (having taught at North Carolina, I guess you can imagine who I rooted for).

The weekend is here, and on Saturday, Suz and I plan to head to Russellville to the WalMart to re-stock. On Sunday, I think we will go to Tupelo to visit Elvis' birthplace and then drive a bit of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Monday will see us at the paint plant to watch the coach get its coat of Rocky Mountain Brown! Until then, Cheers from John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog!