Tiffin at Red Bay, Tennessee, and Finally Florida!!

     Here it is February 28, 2018, and we've finally arrived for a month's rest at the Sun-N-Fun RV Resort, in Sarasota, Fla.  Yesterday it was 88 degrees and very humid.  Today a much nicer 83 with less humidity.  We've been on the road just about a month now, leaving Santee on 1/25/18.  After lots of visiting in Texas, we headed northeast to conduct a little business in Alabama and Tennessee.  We arrived in Tupelo, Ms on 2/16/18, checking in at the Tombigbee State Park for a 2 night visit. 

We spoke with the ranger hours before arriving, and he assured us that there were plenty of open sites in the campground.  February is not a popular time for camping in Mississippi.  It is located about 45 miles from Red Bay, Al, which is where we were destined to get some minor repairs completed on Big Red.  We had a nice back in site with full hookups for $24/night, and although the roads leading to the park were narrow and the signage was poor, the Garmin led us to the front gate with no problem. 

 Tupelo, Ms, of course, is the birthplace of Elvis, and all tourists are required to at least drive by the old homestead.  Tupelo has done a nice job developing around Elvis' memory without making everything too gaudy.  The downtown area seems clean and prosperous, and there seems to be lots of attractions around town to keep everyone busy and entertained.

       On Saturday we made the short drive over to Red Bay to see how operations worked over there at the Tiffin Service Center.  All rigs not under warranty are worked on, on a first come first served basis, and we had heard horror stories of people waiting weeks to get service.  But February seems to be the time to come to Red Bay.

     As we completed the paperwork registering for service, the ladies assured us that we would probably be in a bay on Monday afternoon or at the latest Tuesday morning.  Since we had additional business to conduct in Tennessee starting on Thursday, we seemed to be right on schedule.  We arrived around noontime on Sunday and were assigned a campsite on the property.  By Sunday evening, every site had been taken, and others were moving into an overflow area.  Most of the rigs appeared to be pretty new, and we hoped that not all of these guys were scheduled into the Express Bays.  What was explained to us was the Express Bays are used for non warranty work, and Tiffin provides each customer 2 mechanics and 3 hours to complete any work needed on the rig.  We had only listed 3-4 repairs on our forms, but since we had 3 hours, maybe we could get a few more cosmetic issues resolved. 

      We were told to expect a visit from the head mechanic Monday morning to go over and prioritize the list of our repairs.  Monday morning we were up and dressed and ready, when suddenly the phone rang and we were directed to bring Big Red to Bay #9.  Suddenly we weren't so prepared!  But we scrambled to get everything closed up, and within 15 minutes we were sitting in Bay #9.  The Express Bays were massive, and it was very impressive watching all the selected rigs in the campground moving in line to their appointed bay.  We were greeted by 2 mechanics, and even though they had no idea what we wanted because the paperwork, had not arrived yet, they went over our list and started ordering parts.  Our first priority was getting an electrical issue resolved, and they called for an electrician.

     Across the aisle, we could see the massive warehouse also housed an impressive parts department.  Employees on golf carts were busy making parts deliveries to all the bays, and soon parts started being dropped off in front of Big Red.  Parts were sold at wholesale prices, and our short list of repairs suddenly started growing!  By the end of 3 hours, we had replaced the gas stove, tv antenna, hot water check valve under the washing machine, and house battery rack.  Debbie was able to purchase new bathroom faucets, rubber step covers, numerous LED lights for the interior of the coach, and new glue on letters for the front of the coach which we had lost at a truck wash somewhere.  We were very impressed at the speed at which these guys repaired each item, and moved to the next.  Our decision to come to Red Bay was a good one.
     Now we found ourselves a day ahead of schedule, which provided us the opportunity to take a tour of the Tiffin factory, where all these machines are produced.  This is something that all visitors to the area, especially Tiffin owners, must do. 

     At the front gate of the factory, we found an old service station, which now serves as the Visitor Center.  The tour is free of charge, and after a short video, we headed for the production line.  And I mean the production line!!  Our first exposure to the Tiffin production process was the woodworking portion of the factory, where all the cabinetry is hand made.  Stacks of cherry, walnut and oak, were being cut, sanded, curved, and glued as the assembly of all the interior cabinetry was going on in front of us.  All the workers were extremely polite, even though we seemed to be constantly in their way. 

      Debbie could not believe the "up close and personal" exposure we were getting in the factory, as she worked her way through the various work stations. 
     After the wood shop, we headed for the assembly line, where the Tiffin magic was completed.  In the parking lot we got a close up view of  the various chassis used in the assembly of the Breeze, RED, Phaetons, and Bus.  The tour guide sometimes got a little too in depth with what we were seeing, and it was soon blah, blah blah, as he fed us statistics about each coach design. 

   

     Outside we were pointed toward the "Yellow Brick Road" where there are completed RV's awaiting our inspection.  Definitely a great sales trick to lure in prospective buyers.  We zipped right by them, as we are just thrilled to have Big Red, and he seems to be running just fine.  Every once in a while the urge comes to look at an upgrade, but that also includes a larger coupon book, and the feeling soon passes!  We wouldn't want to spend all the kid's inheritance, would we???

     After Red Bay, we found ourselves continuing northeast into Tennessee to meet with David and Eddie to help move Rosie over into Va and closer to her family.  Our high school buddy Tom had passed in early December, 2017 in a tragic accident at hunting camp, and Rosie needed a little help.  Many hands made light work, and her brother Jimmy, and other nephews chipped in to make easy work of it. 

RIP Tommy