Part II - Getting Acquainted - October 23, 2000

First thing Monday morning we detach all our connections, leaving them neatly piled by our site, connect the truck, and drive down to Lazy Days from the Rally Park.  We pull into a parking lot and go see Jef, our service representative.  He discusses our problem and tells us what he's going to try to get from Fleetwood, including full warrantee coverage even though we're out of warrantee.  At loose ends, we sit in the customer lounge and read.

We walk out to the service bay and chat with the technician.  He shows us how the earlier repair was inadequate and tells us the Fleetwood will pay for a repair, but not for heavier jacks or an additional motor. The rig may be in the bay overnight, so we put the cats in and return to the Rally Park to put the stuff we have left there in order.  The people at the desk tell us security is an issue.  We attach the bikes, satellite dish, and chairs to the picnic table.  Our neighbor lends us an extra chain and lock to help.  We head for the recreation room where we plant ourselves on some comfortable chairs in front of a large screen TV.  I nap and read e-mail while Irene knits.  When I awake, we head down to the dealership to check on the progress of our repair and look at trailers.  The technician tells us that he'll be finished in a few hours.  Customers have complete access to their rigs while work is going on.  Lazy Days provides full hookups in each bay so people having extensive repairs may stay in their rigs as work continues.   One guy sits in a folding chair beside his motor home and joshes with the techs as they work.  We walk out to the display area.

We walk through a section of smaller motor homes then past a motorized lift where a long-haired, bearded man is preparing the back of a motor home to air-brush a painting on it.  An appreciative gallery sits on park benches waiting for the painting to begin.  The sales area seems as much like a park as dealership.  Live oaks and palms shade walks meandering through the area. Parking lots hold similar rigs in different sections.  Saturn toads are parked near motorhomes.  We walk to the towable section past Fleetwood trailers and fifth wheels and back towards the high line towables.  Avions, Westports, Carriages from Cameo to Royals International are parked.  Every rig is unlocked and available for inspection.  A few salespeople are around and available, their ubiquitous golf carts ready to drive us where we want.  The technician is still working on our fiver, so we walk over to the Cracker Barrel for supper.  There's also a Flying J adjacent to this facility.  We stroll back to our rig, prepared to spend the night in the bay and find it ready to roll.  We drive back to our site, back in and set up. Irene doesn't want to set up the satellite 'til morning.  It's been a long day and we're both bushed, but the landing gear are fixed.  Tomorrow, the truck and more shopping.