RV Slide Woes & A Total Change in Plans
“When life throws you a curve ball, learn to hit a good slam off it” Anonymous
There are a bunch of classic quotes centered around the life and curveball theme, but they all got one thing in common. Sometimes things just don’t work out as planned and so you gotta learn to play the game differently.
That pretty much summed up what went through my mind after we’d spent 2 full days (that would be 48 hours for those counting) sitting at the RV repair shop only to hear the tech tell us “I’ve tried everything I can think of and I just can’t fix it”.
Bummer!
The thing is, I really believed him. This shop (Humphrey’s RV) in Grand Junction came highly recommended and our experience, apart from the fact that we couldn’t get our problem fixed, had been excellent. The customer service was friendly, the tech and mechanics up-front and honest. They let us stay overnight (with 30Amp) on-site and ended up only charging us for 4 hours of labor (!!) because they felt bad they couldn’t fix the issue. Honestly, I would recommend them wholeheartedly and had nothing (at all) to complain about.
But that still left us with the situation of a broken slide. You know the story of the leak and bend from our “incident” in the mountains, but turns out our slide problem was much more serious than that (and *not* by the way related to the “incident”). Over the past year of RVing the whole slide seems to have somehow gone out of alignment and the back corner was “catching” the side of the RV everytime it came in , bending the RV wall and causing a “pop” on release (yikes!)
We’d made a note of it about a month ago and thought it could be fixed by a simple alignment. But ohhhhh, nooooo…..the slide was fully aligned, fiddled, checked, taken apart, put together, even had a shimmy put under the back (to raise it 1/4″), but nothing worked. After spending several hours with Monaco on the phone and trying everything they could it looks like we might need a total slide re-build.
OK…not what I had planned…hmmm, what now?
The manufacturer of our coach is in Oregon and looks like that’s the logical next step. That means Idaho is out the window and Oregon in. After feeling rather depressed and decidedly “non-Zen” for an evening, we found some bright spots in the whole ordeal:
- Weather: The weather in Oregon seems fabulous right now. Idaho (at least the southern part which was our plan) is roasting. Ass in the sand and feet in the ocean…oh yeah, I can dig that!
- Hair: The 2 days we spent at the RV shop gave me time to get a haircut of which I was in dire need (my last professional cut being over a year ago). Hairdressers worldwide are rejoicing at my transformation.
- Time: Paul’s got a couple of weeks on his own next month (while I go to Denmark for a family reunion) which will be fruitfully spent getting repairs. Time-wise it’s kinda perfect.
- Money: We have an extended warranty which covers the slide, so it’s not like the financial concern is there.
- Why Not? We’re mobile and fancy free, so why not make the drive?
So all in all we’ve decided run with this curveball and take it where it goes. That means a TOTAL change of driving plans which we’ll be working on over the next 2 days. In any case, Oregon here we come….
Everyone should learn to “roll with the punches” as you do. Great outlook on life. Enjoy your time in Oregon-I couldn’t get enough of the weather as you may or may not have read in my blog. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. Idaho will wait; and you may be fortunate to see it in all its fall glory. I always wanted to spend a fall and winter in the west. Hope Jack and I can still do it one day.
I sure hope you get there too! And yeah…looking forward to the weather big time.
Nina
Great post. I love your positive attitude and love your list of bright spots! We have been side-lined too with RV issues and all you can do is make the best of it. 🙂
Oregon should be great this time of year!
Thanks…definitely on the life-long plan to stay positive.
After all most of life is just a state of mind 🙂
Nina
A few things to ponder…explore the Oregon coast about 70 miles from Coburg to Florence….some awesome wineries in the area….plus Oregon is beautiful!e
We just thought about the wine today and that is a DEFINITE draw.
This idea is looking better and better…
Nina
Oregon is a great state to be broke down in. The stat parks are great.
That’s what I’ve heard! We’re hoping it’s not too late to get into them.
Seems like alot of popular parks booked out at the moment.
We’ll see!
Nina
LOVE the new DO
Thank you! Supercuts has done it again 🙂
Nina
Sorry to here you guys have a mechanical detour. Sometimes those extended warranties are worth it. How old is your Rambler? Also, please let us know how your warranty coverage works out. If you are happy, we may want to consider it for our rig when we get it.
We just returned from Oregon. Check out Bend. We wanted to move there it was so nice. Coast is great. More importantly, great wine and some fantastic microbrews if you want a change.
Our Rambler is only 2008 so still a newbie. Not sure what happened here,
but it’s one of those things.
And thanks for the tip on Bend. Everything seems booked out there at
the moment, but we’ve found a spot to stay a little further south
(LaPine State Park) and hope to check it out!
Nina
Three Sisters area is nice too. I bet you could find some Boondocking sites. Either every Thurs or every other Thursday there is an outdoor fest on the city park on the Dechutes river. If it’s going on and you are nearby, I would take the Toad by and check it out. Also great restaurants in the “Old Town” area.
Oh, craptastic! Good on youse for finding the silver lining behind your slide. And, really, Oregon in summer. What’s not to like?
Yeah, we’re looking forward to it. Why not after all!
Nina
2008 almost new :).. If I recall correctly you guys are using Good Sam’s for your extended warranty. If you could let us know once all is done how satisfy you were with the extended warranty it would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping that it will not only be fix right the first time but that it’s not a structural design issue.
Yup, we’ve got Good Sam’s and will most definitely be posting on how it goes. We bought the extended warranty exactly for this purpose (some unexpected large repair) so we’re counting on the fact that they come thro’. I too (very much) hope this is not a structural issue and it gets fixed properly.
Here’s to all the naysayers on extended warrenties, they sure are nice to have when you need it!!! As we say, great to be full timing as you can change plans on a dime, enjoy Oregon, crabbing is supposed to be great also.
Yeah, I’m a big believer in the extended warranty. We bough one with a larger deductable
for the very reason that we only planned to use it for a “major” situation.
This is going to be that situation…no doubt!
And we’re very happy we have the warranty.
Nina
I love the new “do”. You look all of 22 years old! If there is one lesson to learn about this type of lifestyle is…don’t make too many plans ahead of time. Glad you two can just up and go where ever the motorhome leads you. If you need any places to visit in Oregon, we have good friends that live up that way and have a great blog with all types of places to see, best chowder to eat and where the best beaches are located. Enjoy the ride.
Haha….well I sure appreciate the 22 comment. That’s very generous of ya 🙂
And PLEASE DO send me that blog. I’m always interested to find new spots
and locations. Would love to get the low-down from the locals!
Nina
Look on the bright side……..it is like the weather ,I never spend energy on the issue as I have no control on it.
Very true words!! Nina
Well, you guys have said it in your previous posts, which gives us all a way to view life – enjoy the journey!! So go with it, have fun and enjoy! Oregon is wonderful.
Sorry about your slide, but it will be fixed. We purchased our coach in Oregon and have been to the Monaco plant. If you get to Bend go to the Pilot Butte for a fantastic sandwich.
PS: you look great! It is one of the worst things about traveling (maybe not that bad, but just inconvenient) – finding a place and then taking a chance on getting a good haircut!
No worries – enjoy yourselves!!!
Thanks! We’re definitely gonna enjoy our journey.
And cheers for the tip on the spot to eat!
Nina
That’s the beauty of the RV life, you can be flexible and change plans as needed. But then, if it wasn’t for the RV lifestyle, you wouldn’t have to make this change! Enjoy the journey, if you happen to get to the coast, there is a super animal park to visit just below Bandon where you can sit in a pen with tiger and lion cubs crawling over your lap. Animal people like us love it, plus you walk around the place surrounded by deer, goats, sheep, etc. I see it’s about 150 miles from Coburg. There’s also the drive-thru park in Winston which is closer and you can go through in your RV, assuming you still have one!
Oooooo…I LOVE the sound of that animal park.
I’ll look it up and put it on the list.
It’s not difficult to tell that I’m a huge animal-lover 🙂
Nina
don’t forget to check out city ,county parks and fairgrounds…BTW Laurie does a great job (as I am sure you know) of describing many parks in Oregon..
Jil,
Yeah, cheers for the reminder! I’ve actually been spending a few
days on Laurie’s site and we were able to find a county park in
Eugene (thanks to her reviews) that has the space to take us.
Lots is booked up, but there are a few open spots.
Nina
Bummer! Glad to hear you have some warranty coverage and there are certainly worse places to go than Oregon. Maybe this means we’ll be able to cross paths this year after all!
Oh DO let us know if you get close. We would love to meet up.
Kinda feel like I “know” Horton personally from your blog 🙂
Nina
Forgot to suggest Redmond fairgrounds. New project. No trees but great distance views and close to Bend.
Cheers for the tip! We were able to find a spot just south of Bend, but
it’s always good to have ideas of other places to go.
Oregon is heavily booked out this time of year.
Nina
Hi – Sorry about your problems. I’m in Grand Junction (for the moment) and know the RV repair centers here well. If you haven’t tried Bob Scott’s, don’t give up yet, they are truly the best here (I have no affiliation). I know you liked H’s, but Scott’s has been able to fix things no one else could for me and they’re reasonable. Best of luck!
Oh thanks so much for the tip. We’ve already made our
plans to go to OR (incl. a plane ticket in Aug) so we’ll be off on Monday,
but it’s always good to know about the best places in town.
We will probably keep coming through Grand Junction in the future.
By the way since you’re in town you’re most welcome to come by!
We’re in Fruita (at the State Park). Lemme know if you’re open!
Nina
I am a avid follower of Paul’s investment website and was wondering why his postings were not as frequent lately. I came across your posting on RV.Net the yesterday and realized why. Having just gone through a slide problem of my own, I wish you guys success in your trip to Oregon.
Slides are the best and they are the worst!
Sure love ’em, but slide problems can be a major pain in the you-know-what.
Sounds like you got yours fixed?
Nina