On Thursday we sent down to St. Augustine Beach to check out a restaurant. While pulling through the parking lot, a gal in a Beamer backed into us, hitting the back left door. We're gonna have to put the truck in the hospital. Grrr….
Ouch!
Very little damage to the Beamer. Just scratches.
Last night I went to Abigail's school for their Christmas Activities Night. The kids did a sing-along thing among other activities. it was a lot of fun to watch the children enjoying themselves.
Abby is sitting to the left of her best buddy Zimmerman.
Daddy and Abby made a Christmas card.
12/22/2012
Joyce and I went up to Jacksonville yesterday to get some last minute shopping done. Made a stop at Costco which was very, very busy. In fact, the traffic in Jacksonville was crazy.
After getting back to the park our neighbor's joined us at the Elks Lodge for dinner. Had a good time talking about our hosting experiences and just generally relaxing.
Got really cold last night and the forecast for tonight is to be even colder. Some parts of St. Johns County will see temperatures down to 30 degrees. Burrrrr…
12/23/2012
Burrrr……!
12/24/2012
Since the temperature has dropped what else could happen but our furnace has quit working. Well, not completely but it pops and makes a lot of rumbling sounds. There is an obstruction in the burner can for sure but blowing air into the exhaust didn't correct the problem. So, I called a mobile RV guy who just happens to be out-of-town for Christmas and won't be able to make it out here until Wednesday. Ran out fireplace heater and a portable in the bedroom all night so we stayed fairly warm last night.
12/26/2012
On Christmas Eve the whole family went to the Le Pavillon restaurant here is St. Augustine for dinner. Although the food was rated "just alright" the good cheer more than made up for that.
Abby is keeping tabs on Santa with NORAD, using her Daddy's phone.
After our dinner, we did the Old Town Trolly Tours "Holly Jolly" ride through downtown St. Augustine. When you board the trolly you are given 3d glasses to wear which turns all the lights into beautiful Christmas ornaments. This has become a tradition with Harold and Michelle and which we all enjoy. It is really hard to beat Christmas-time in St. Augustine.
Yesterday morning we got over to the Skidmore's at 6:52 AM (Michelle wanted us there early) and guess what? Yep, we had to wake everyone up! I was reminded of my father who couldn't wait for a decent hour for everyone to get out of bed to enjoy Christmas morning.
Santa had arrived and of course left a lot of toys for Abigail and Skyler. It was fun to watch them open their presents and just enjoying the morning with family.
Lookie what Santa brought me!
Michelle got a new iPhone5!
12/28/2012
The mobile RV repairman came out yesterday and after some troubleshooting without finding the problem, he removed the furnace and took it to his shop. A few hours later he called to say he found the burner tube had cracked and he would have to order one. Total cost is $456 dollars of which we'll be responsible for $112. Our warranty company will not pay the $12 freight for some reason.
Folks have asked us about buying a extended warranty and if it is a good value. For us, we bought one when we purchased our 2007 Bighorn and that transferred to the Landmark when we traded in 2010. However, in all the work we have had done on the two rigs, we still haven't paid for the coverage. Ours is a 7-year bumper-to-bumper policy so we'll have to see what happens in the next few years but, I'm not optimistic about breaking even.
Would we buy one again? Probably not. I would much rather set aside two or three grand somewhere to cover inevitable breakdowns. I would look at the most costly item on your rig and at least have that much in the bank. For us, that would most likely be our refrigerator.
So, we're trying to stay warm with space heaters and our fireplace which are doing the job but not enough for me. I was cold all night last night! So, I am going to buy another small space heater today and run another 20 amp cord into the rig.
The Traveler's Insurance adjuster came out this morning and did an estimate on the truck damage. I asked how long it will take to get this all done, thinking it would be at least a week. Not so! He got the estimate done, got approval from the claims adjuster, emailed a copy of it to the body shop and started the process of getting a rental car for us. All of that took about 45 minutes tops!
After he left we called Tom Wilson Chevrolet. The estimator said he would call us back soon. Very shortly later, he called and said we can drop the truck off next Wednesday. So, we'll have a rental car to drive down to Miami for our 3-day cruise, saving fuel and wear and tear on the truck. Sweet!
That's all folks!
Barry & Joyce
