I Really Screwed Up!

[Dreamscape]

As I was leaving my in-laws the other day I had to back up through a gate to get headed in the right direction. Trees in front were to low, did not want to pull a "Nick".  It was o dark thirty, sun had just set. Becky opened the gate so I could back into the corral far enough to head back out the driveway. As I was watching the trees in front of me I heard and felt the bus rock a little. Well you guessed it, the tail end swung wide and hit a steel fence post. I looked at the damage only saw some white paint on the bumper, no big deal right! Well yesterday I was walking around the back of the bus and looked up and saw that I not only put white paint on the bumper I also almost flatted the air intake on the passenger side!
I spent several hours today removing several coats of paint and primer with paint remover. straightening out the aluminum louver, riveting it back on and spraying primer over the area. Not what I had planned today that's for sure.

Oh well, live and learn!

Tommorrow final packing and bus checklist, then we're off bright and early Thursday for TBR 2007!

Hope everyone has a safe and uneventful trip.

Paul

[Brian Diehl]

I feel for you Paul!  I'm sorry you managed to trade paint with a lowly fence post.  UGH!   Look on the bright side, it could have been MUCH worse!  For sure aggravating, but much better than what NCBob (I thing it was NCBob -- if not sorry!) has to deal with on his bus/tree root experience!  Have a great trip and enjoy your rig!

[captain ron]

at least it wasn't a guy wire and a nice dually truck hooked to a newly purchased bus.

[Gary LaBombard]

Nice repair job Paul, she'll get her supply of air now.  Have a great trip, again, wish we could be there with the Rustless Money Pit.
Gary

[JackConrad]

I think the tree root thing was Dave in Wilmington.  Sorry to hear about your mishap, but as others have said it could have been worse. Our rear bumper has a small ding from a backing episode when we first got the bus. Since then, our policy has been: If anything is behind the bus (trees, vehichles, post, people, etc.), Paula goes behind the bus and is the only one I will listen to while backing. We use FRS radios. I have seen cases where everyone wants to direct you when backing and you get conflicting orders from different "helpers".  Jack

[Dreamscape]

Believe me Jack and others, Becky will be behind guiding and watching from now on. We have a rear view camera that has sound, so you can bet I will use that from now on! I will also check the area thoroughly. 

Going out to crawl under the bus and check stuff. 

Later,

Paul

[JackConrad]

Paul,
   Our rear camera has sound also, but I found it difficult to Paula's soft speaking voice over the noise of the DD, therefore the FRS radios. Jack

[Dreamscape]

Good idea Jack, We both have cell phones so that should work too.

Any other helpful hints?

Paul

[kyle4501]

When I had to back (my new to me 32' camper trailer) in to a tight camping spot at dark:30, I'd back up a little then get out & do a walk around. After repeating about 30 times, I was backed in as well as possible with no unplanned custom bodywork. 

I figured taking an extra 20 minutes that night would be quicker & cheaper than backing up until I heard something expensive.   

Oh, I told everyone not helping to get out & go exploring. That eliminated the "are you done yet?" questions. 

[JohnEd]

Kyle,

"Heard something expensive"  GREAT!

Thanks,

John

[Christyhicks]

"heard something expensive", hhahahah, you crack me up.

Let me tell you about the first time Larry had to back the bus into a spot. .. . you see, if there's one rule Larry has, it's to get him off the road and into a campsite before dark.  I try, I honestly try, but it just wasn't meant to be! 

We were headed to the Florida Keys, first full day out with our new purchase, and we agreed, it was absolutely a necessity that we find a mattress store asap and replace that hard "pallet mattress" with a real one.  Well, OK, I was the one who insisted it was a priority,  from the minute I dropped down onto it on my knees to change the sheets, and instead of a gentle bounce or sag, my knees went "THUD" and I mean, "HARD THUD".  We might as well have been sleeping on the ground UNDER the bus! 

(I was going to tell the WHOLE mattress story, but don't want to make my posts too long, so I'll save those details for a different time I guess)  Let's just say that we lost a lot of time, and by the time we got on the road to the Keys, we also discovered that it was about a 40 mph road, for a loooooooooooong ways.  Yep, she's pretty doggone dark before we make it to Boyd's. 

If you've ever been to Boyds, you probably know that the spots are pretty tight, and not at all designed for buses, especially when those buses are driven by a tired, stressed, "newbie" who barely has had a chance to get the "feel" of his new bus, much less any experience backing it.  In fact, the only time he backed it up so far, he had blown a power steering hose, but then, THAT'S another story, ha ha.

Now, Larry and I, well,  we ARE a finely tooled machine, having spent every day of that last 20+ years working together, so I jump out and get ready to direct him back.    As you can imagine, the rumble of that 8v71 and the presence of a bonafied bus brought every neighboring guy out of their campers.  I asked one guy to move his truck and three others jumped in theirs and moved them too.  Now, I prefer to believe that they sincerely just wanted to help, and they were making no statement whatsoever about their impression of Larry's backing skills!

He starts backing into a spot that has a total of 8 extra inches on one side of the bus and about 18 inches on the other, to stay between the slab, the trees, the neighbor's awning, etc.  By now, we've got a herd of guys trying to help, and Larry's trying to ignore them all as much as possible.  He's backing up and, well, in MY opinion, he was getting JUST a little too close to about a $30,000 shiny motorcycle, so I yell stop, and when he doesn't quit stop as quickly as I'm anticipating, I slap the side of that bus as hard as I could and yelled "STOP!!!!"     I imagine every guy in the park stopped what he was doing at that minute!

Boy, you should have seen that guy come flying out of his trailer to move that scooter!

Finally, we got rid of everyone except one guy who relayed my directions to Larry and he backed that sucker in, with maybe one time repositioning, right back into that spot as slick as snot!  When he was done, she was straight, she was placed in perfect alignment with our slab, and the excitement was suddenly over. 

Sure, maybe we'd prefer to enter a park with a little less fanfare, but we DID meet a lot of our neighbors quickly and every one had a good laugh, including Larry.  Well, maybe he didn't laugh so much until AFTER a good night's sleep  . . . and boy, yes-siree, was it a good night's sleep on that Tempurpedic mattress.  The next morning, he asked me again, "Now, HOW much did we have to pay for this mattress honey???" and I assured him that "Whatever it cost in time and money, wasn't it worth it honey?  Honey?  Uh, Honey?   Christy Hicks

[beckthespeck]

Hey Christy -  Can't wait to meet you!  I can tell you are a little shy and all, but maybe I'll be able to draw you out of your shell.  I somehow am imagining Larry as the strong silent type.  Guess I'll find out tomorrow, huh?  I can certainly relate to the mattress need - am wondering how this blow up mattress Paul got is going to work out..........he got a memory foam topper for it and I added a new mattress pad and sheets (300 thread count - they feel fine!) but the first time we start losing air in the night will be the day I contact you looking for that mattress store and the good mattress - a real one!  OK, gotta go hem my new jeans, only because I'm a little short on one end and don't want to be tripping over them in front of all my new friends.  Still have to pack a few things to wear and get on to  bed so we can hit the road bright and early.  See you all tomorrow!  Becky - Mrs. Dreamscape

[Christyhicks]

I'm looking forward to meeting you guys too, but I need to warn you of two things. . .first, I'm not funny at all in person. . .well, maybe "funny looking" , but mostly just a normal boring person.  The other thing I need to tell you up front, is, geeze, I CAN'T believe this is happening, I seem to sort of have laryngitis.  I'm recovering from "the crud", and I guess working the last couple of days was the wrong thing to do!  

I was pretty hoarse already by Tuesday afternoon, and I'll tell you what, even Larry remarked how it just seemed like even though it was obvious I was having trouble talking, the people just kept trying to keep me on the phone. . . I'd be coughing and apologizing and they'd just be wanting to tell me about their homeowner's warranty or their builder problems,  ha ha.  One builder called me at 7:00 p.m. to whine about his cabinet guy!  I'm thinking, "Well, if instead of calling me and whining, maybe you should have called HIM and raised HECK!". . . course, I'm THINKING that. . . just not SAYING it!

I just didn't dare take off more work, since I already missed Monday and was taking off tomorrow and Friday, poor Margie just doesn't deserve that!    By this morning, I was pretty much reduced to a soft whisper, and the guys had great fun teasing me by answering their cells with a raspy, whispery voice!  I'll get them. . .just wait till they see all the jobs I have scheduled for them while I'm gone!   By noon, Margie was pretty much screening most of my calls to the point that only a special few actually got through, so that helped.

I'll stay off my voice tomorrow and mostly use Messenger to talk to the office, and I'm really hoping that by tomorrow afternoon, I'll have a big turnaround on the whole deal. Now, if I could just get Larry to quit saying "WHAT??? WHAT???" every time I whisper to him,    Christy Hicks

[niles500]

Christy - When I see you and your hub - remind me to tell you about the 2007 Pepsi 400 and the UNASSISTED backing WITH crowd - have a good time at the party - Niles

[Christyhicks]

When I see you and your hub - remind me to tell you about the 2007 Pepsi 400 and the UNASSISTED backing WITH crowd

Awwwww, come on now  .  . . you're not going to make us wait for that story, are you?  I bet you "high dollars" that everyone would LOVE to hear it right and now!  Come on. . . .give, ha ha.  Christy Hicks