Tuesday, May 29, 2012

It Has Been Quite Awhile

It seems that we are always busy whether we are traveling or at home. Being at home means that we are going out with our Traveling American Camping Group for weekends just not going out for weeks at a time. The first weekend of each month from April through November a campout is scheduled and when we are home we generally go with the group. The first weekend in May the group camped in Delaware at G & R Campground. We have camped at this campground several times before and enjoy going back to the area. Norm, the owner and manager of the campground, always extends his hospitality to us and accomodates our needs. Tom and I along with Larry and Joanne hosted the Western Theme weekend. For dinner on Saturday evening we had made chili (I made a regular chili and Joanne made a white chili)and the others filled in with salads, rolls and desserts- and some of us donned cowboy hats, boots and clothing for the evening. We had been able to eat breakfast on Saturday outside but then the weather turned chilly and Norm opened up a clubhouse for our use the remainder of the weekend. After that weekend we spent time with doctor/dentist appointments. I believe we are finally caught up for a little while at least. The weekend of Memorial Day we attended the Maryland Good Sam Samboree in Frederick, Md. along with 5 other couples from the Traveling Americans. On Thursday when we started out we realized that there was a problem with the motorhome when a light on the dashboard displayed a yellow warning. Tom called Tiffin and was told that a fuse had blown. So a trip to auto supply store and a new fuse was installed- the first fuse installed blew immediately and the second fuse blew when we got within the city of Frederick. We did get onto the Fairgrounds okay but another call to Tiffin was made and it was deduced that the sensor for the DEF (Diesal Exhaust Fluid)needed to be replaced. Initially, we were told that a tech from a Cummins repair facility would come to us as it felt the problem was too critical for us to travel to a repair facility but later that was changed that we would be able to travel to Harrisburg, Pa. on Monday after the Samboree. So Monday we left Frederick and drove about 80 miles to Harrisburg without any further problems. Since it was a holiday the facility was closed but Tom had been told that we could hook-up to electric which we did. We spent the night there comfortably since we had 50-amp electric to combat the90 plus degrees of outside heat. Tiffin was sending a part to this facility. So Tuesday morning (today) Tom talked to the service manager and found out that the part had not arrived yet but about 10 or 11 am it could arrive. About 10:30 the service manager informed us that it did not arrive so we emptied the refrigerator and gathered up our meds and other necessities along with laundry and loaded these things in the Jeep and headed home. Hopefully, the part will arrive tomorrow as we have plans to camp with the Traveling Americans this coming weekend. The Samboree was a nice time of being with our club members along with other clubs from Maryland and other states. This Samboree seems to getting smaller every year, unfortunately. It is a problem that is occurring in many of these camping groups. Some of the men, Tom included, went golfing on Friday. We went out for dinner each evening with a group of folks and then attended the evening entertainment. During the day there are a few seminars and activities or just time to sit around socializing. It was a very warm weekend and on Sunday evening a storm with gusty winds blew through.