Finished up at Junction City, KS

(Storm update at the bottom)

After the third week at Junction City we were ready to depart, but not before being delayed by a day of high wind forecast.  We stayed until Thursday 4/24 just to be safe side, even though we were ready to go Wednesday.  We enjoy the slower methodical pace, what's the hurry anyway?

We had larger more durable wheels installed, along with a new air ride hitch and heavy duty pin box.  Plus a number of smaller repairs and enhancements and we are ready to go on to our next adventure.

Air Ride Hitch shiny and new

  Hitch Installed in Pepe´ our truck

Heavy Duty Pin Box Installed

 Hitched up with the new Pin Box and Air Ride Hitch, now she's dirty

 Dan installing new wheels

 Gari checking out new bigger wheels

 New Wheels 17.5" YAY!!!

Test Drive to Abilene, KS 40 mile round trip from Junction City

Pulled like a dream!

We headed out early Thursday morning for Manhattan, KS where we had a date to install mud flaps and rear axle air leveling bags on Pepe´ our truck.  The Ford OEM driver side front flap came off within 500 miles, the passenger side lasted an entire 1,000 miles.  We asked our dealer to replace them and they said "not warranted".  That was probably a good thing because we know how long they last.  With very little luck these after-market flaps will outperform the Ford non-solution.

 Pepe´ in the shop getting refitted with flaps and bags.  Sounds like the latest plastic surgery fad.

Out for a test drive at Tuttle Creek Lake State Park

Check out the flaps!

Now it was time to check into our new temporary home, Tuttle Creek Lake State Park.

The locals call it Tuttle's Puddle.

Lot 57, a peaceful spot with 50A service to boot!

Our Backyard through the rear window; see the puddle?

 View from atop the earthen COE Dam; see Penelope in the trees?

 On a walk down by the river...

We were all ready to go, then the storms came.  The meteorologists were saying it was going to be the worst outbreak of tornadoes this season.  That got our attention!  We looked at the forecasts and maps and decided there was no place we could get to that was not at risk so we stayed at Tuttle's Puddle.  That's when the storm came right over this park and set up the train situation, and we were right on the tracks.  Luckily the wind was not bad, just lots of rain and lightning and a little hail.  We saw worse hail in Junction City.

We checked out the available storm shelters the day before.

 It's all concrete, even the roof

This storm came in the middle of the night, and we were fortunate that we did not have to go to the shelters.  We did spend the night with the slides pulled in on our rig and that was not so comfortable or convenient  Monday 4/28 we leave Kansas and continue the journey to South Dakota.  We have our sights set on York, NE for the night tomorrow.  We are looking at the weather there and there are tornado watches in York and North Platte tonight.  I guess it was a good thing we waited, and I remind myself that I am not in a hurry!

This just in...
We just saw this map of where the severe storms and tornadoes broke out today.  It looks like we made a good guess by staying put in Manhattan, KS.  The storms were all around us!  Tomorrow the severe weather is forecast to move farther east, so we will head north and hope for the best.  We understand this slow, moving system is expected to carry severe weather all the way to the east coast by weeks end :(

New Horizons RV Inc., Junction City, Kansas

We have been at the New Horizons RV factory, of our coach Penelope, for two weeks now.  We spent the first week in the service area with the talented maintenance team of Dan, Tony, Mike and Jeff.  It was amazing to us how quickly those guys were able to pinpoint and resolve problems in our coach.  We now have water tank monitors again, YAY!!!  Now we can tell when we really are full of p@@p!  The dining slide that was catching is now gliding in and out smooth as silk.  The bottom of the slide was catching on the trailer floor and that was completely resolved.  We established a plan for the fiberglass de-lamination on the roof, and that is a new roof!  We will return to Junction City later this year to tackle that repair.  That is going to be a doosey of  repair!  Our new 17.5" H-Rated rims and tires came in last Friday and we are scheduled to install those new wheels tomorrow.  We are still waiting for the new air ride 5th wheel hitch to arrive, but the pin box has been swapped out to the more heavy duty model.  A few other minor cosmetic repairs are also complete and we are feeling like we have a brand new coach once again :)

The second week started with a last few repairs and then we were moved away from the service area where we could test the fixes.  We are happy to report that we have experienced good results from our testing and are moving closer to departure with each action.  We also had time to mingle with other customers and compare stories and repair agendas, etc.  We met Jack and Danielle Mayer, a couple of fulltime RV legends in our mind.  We BBQed with them over the weekend.  Jack smoked a turkey breast that was so tasty that we are going to have to investigate a smoker!

New Horizons RV Inc

Junction City, Kansas

Lobby

 Lobby

Lobby

 Service Building

Service Area

 Penelope (left) in the Service Bay

 

 Our worldly cargo possessions on the pallet

 Existing Pin Box-Hitch configuration.  Our truck Pepe has a little squat which we will remedy with the addition of Firestone or AirLift air bags.  Right now we are leaning toward the Firestone product.

Measuring the trailer to truck rail clearance pre-hitch modification.  About 9"...

and I just noticed the homemade bandage on my ring finger.  While I was coming down the ladder on the back of Penelope, my wedding ring caught the edge of a rung just as I was hopping off to the ground.  It cut my finger to the bone.  Let me say that ladders and rings are not good things!

One thing RVers play is "What is the last thing you bought" game.  Our response today is an On the Go Water Softener.  Sure is nice to have soft water again after having it on the farm for the last 20 years!

While our coach was in service we had to be out at 7:00 AM each morning.  We spent time in the nice New Horizons Customer Lounge.

The "Donkey House" at the top of the hill.

Some of the donkeys

Cox Brothers BBQ Brisket, the reason we walk to the Donkey House at the top of the hill!

Spring Lake RV Resort

We spent a relaxing week in Halstead, Kansas at the Spring Lake RV Resort.  That spot is about 110 miles from the New Horizons RV factory in Junction City, KS.  Spring Lake is a Passport America campground so the rates are outstanding.  We met some new friends at Spring Lake and enjoyed the rural setting around the lakes on the property.  I attempted fishing only one time.  The wind blew strong most of our visit, but we did get in many nice walks.  This is guy code for "I didn't catch any fish"  ;)

We departed early Sunday morning heading to Junction City, KS and our RV factory for warranty work.  The weather forecast predicted 45 mph winds and we didn't want to drive our high profile trailer in that so we rose early and planned to beat the arrival of the wind.  It worked.  We arrived safely in Junction City before 11 AM.