The service building is quite astounding, with room for over fifty coaches inside. The space is conditioned, well lit, and provides total security for both workers, clients, and their possessions. The facility has been expanded since our last visit and now includes a well appointed customer lounge with puzzles, a fireplace, comfortable furniture, and a computer/office area. Conversation areas allow for socialization with other customers without disturbing those who need a bit of quiet time. A variety of states and localities are represented, with some of us coming from the west coast, and consequently struggling with the time change. Getting up at 4:30 am Eastern time is a real shock to those of us who are accustomed to sleeping in until 9 or 10 am, Pacific time! This time of year, the sun rises about 6 am and sets at somewhere around nine thirty, so we rise when it's dark and go to bed when it's still light! By the time we reached Friday of this last week we were really feeling the effects of the lack of sleep and today, Saturday, we slept soundly from 10 last night until 8 this morning!
Since Lynn is not able to drive our motorhome from the company provided "campsites", we chose to drive across town ourselves and meet him at the Service Center at six am, and then meet him again at 2:30 pm to drive home. Lynn and his crew have a well defined work ethic and were working on the coach within minutes of arrival. Generally, between one and three techs are working on any given coach, and float around as needed to help where they can if they don't have a coach to work on. That doesn't happen very often, because they are scheduling work out about six months currently.
We arrived with a list of almost 90 items that required attention. That sounds ridiculous but most of those were simply cosmetic things. Lynn told us that we had been scheduled to be in service for three weeks when we first talked on Monday, but he was optimistic that we would be out sooner when we last talked on Friday. This next week will be a bit different because we'll be out of the coach for at least three days. A windshield replacement will require two days and several paint corrections will require another two, so Newmar is comping a hotel room in a very nice hotel a few miles away. All we'll have to pay is a small fee for our canine companion. Beyond that, a few days of final touchup and we'll be out of here!
After spending our first night in what's lovingly called "the overflow area", we were able to score a nice nice in the full-hookup section. Nice, since we have sewer and water facilities as well as electricity. It's not the Ritz, but it's perfectly fine!
On Friday we took a short drive north to Shipshewanna for a Dutch Apple pie from the Blue Gate Bakery and some meat and cheese from Yoders Meat and Cheese (!). Along the way we saw this iconic picture of Indiana farmland.
Today, Saturday the 15th, it's raining again. We've received over an inch of rain since 1 am and it shows no sign of stopping. It's been a good day for laundry and movies. Right next door to the Newmar facility is Amish Acres, a themed location that caters to those who want a taste of farm life and a good meal. They also have theater productions on weekends that showcase the Amish culture. Today was supposed to be a long-planned day of celebration and adventure, with hot-air balloon rides, a truck and tractor pull competition, and vendors scattered about the site. Unfortunately, after all the planning, Mother Nature has had other plans.
We're hoping for a semi-nice day tomorrow but the weather forecast is for at least a 40% chance of rain all of next week. Ouch!
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