Its December and you are heading NORTH!?!?!

Well we finished up in the Keys and are ready to start a slow journey west to Santa Anna National Wildlife Refuge in SW TX along the US/Mexican border.   We are excited about our volunteer gig there from February through April before we head to Alaska in May.
We wanted get some work on Tucson, our valiant RV, on our way west. Red Bay, AL in far NW AL is his birthplace and they have an extensive service facility separate from the factory.  Many, if not most Tiffin RV owners regularly visit Red Bay for service on their RV.  We were not enthusiastic about going to north AL in Dec but we were felt we wanted the service done before we went to Alaska next summer and this was really the only time. The procedure is to get there and wait until your number comes up - the number you get when you arrive!

Inside the service facility, service bays are on each side of this center aisle!

So we were anxious to get there and get our number so maybe we could be done by Christmas.
It took us a day and half and we got here in minimum time and got our number. The next day Norris, the "gatekeeper" came by and reviewed our work list with us and with a few minor mods said he could fit us into the schedule for an express bay in about a week, otherwise it might not be done before the Christmas break when the facility closes between Christmas and New Years.

Exterior view of one side of the service facility

 Express Bay means the work can all be done in one of the 50+ service bays by two technicians in 3 hours!  The bays start at 0700 and at 0630 you can hear the campground come to life as those with bay assignments crank up the RVs and start moving to the assigned bay - reminds me of being on the flightline as it comes to life in the morning!

So we relaxed and "enjoyed" the freezing temps and daily rain and waited for our number to come up!  Nightly lows were in low 30's when we got here and they kept dropping lower every night. The last several nights they have been in low, very low 20's! However, the last two days have been sunny rather then the rainy, wet days we had.  At any rate on our 7th day we got "the call" to be at bay 31 at 0645 the next AM. Hallelujah!

View of Tiffin land at sunrise. This use to be Red Bay Airport and this was the runway! Now it is campground for those with a number for service!

So by 1000 hours they were through except for one item that required some drying time for some stain to dry. And, by early afternoon that piece was installed and we were released and ready to roll.
So we are heading SOUTH in the AM. We have made reservations at a famcamp on a Navy base just south of New Orleans and we plan on being on the road by 0700 tomorrow. We should make it tomorrow afternoon and looking forward to visiting New Orleans for the first time since our honeymoon there 40+ years ago!  

This guy could not decide which of his vehicles to leave at home so he brought both!

Always at home, no matter where we are!!