The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 4

The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 4

or why you should take your lunch with you to an assembly plant

8/14 - 9/1

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We ran back to the motorhome and grabbed lunch.  When we got back, we had a back wall, a passenger side wall, and a drivers side wall.  You will also notice that there really isn't much to those walls.  I guess I was equally surprised - I had forgotten that all of our coach was in slides.  The only "solid structure" was the bathroom, the rear closet and the 3 or 4 feet back from the front.

This is the passenger side from the front.  Is that really a wall?

Driver's side by the bathroom, looking forward

Bathroom structure 

Rear wall

Moving into scaffolded section 

Once the coach moves into the scaffolded section, your viewing opportunities become very limited.  The area is designated a Hard Hat Area and not having them with us told us it was time to take a break.

What happens in the next three stations isn't really a mystery, however.  The next areas are roof, ceiling, and slide prep.  Any cabinets attached to the front or back walls are attached.  All of these stations were complete by the time I came in the next morning.

The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 3

The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 3

8/14 - 9/1

(Want more detail?  Click on image to enlarge)

Once the floor was on the coach moved to the next station to start turning it into something other than a nicely tiled, flat floored, rear engined truck.

If you want to watch JIT (just in time) manufacturing practices, come to the Tiffin plant.  Just as the coach moved to the next station, up rolls a cart with the next parts to be installed ready to be unloaded.

Washer/dryer cabinet work

Main bathroom cabinet work

Washer/dryer cabinet and closet frame

Toilet installed!

Washer/dryer installed

Shower installed 

Main DC Fuse panel before

And after

Dashboard prep 

And install

The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 2

The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 2

8/14 - 9/1

(Want more detail?  Click on image to enlarge)

We picked up at Station 2 bright and early the next morning.  Station 2 is for flooring, the engine cover, and the stairwell.  

The subfloor is laid in place and then adjusted...

It's aligned with the side rails and flattened as needed

And attached with screws to the frame

The tile floor is built at the Belmont facility and then all of the cutouts for
wiring, heating, plumbing are cut using a CNC water jet system 

The hoist uses suction cups to hold the floor which is bonded to the subfloor with mastic and temporary screws. 

The engine cover is added

And the front framing is added

The Birth of a Phaeton - Part 1

8/14 - 9/1

(Want more detail?  Click on image to enlarge)

Our new coach started its build on 8/14 in the Weld Shop.  This is an area closed to visitors due the hazards associated with cutting and welding steel.  We hoped it was in process we took the plant tour on Wednesday 8/15.  We looked for our chassis during the tour but we didn't see it.  We did talk to one of the workers at the first station and she assured us that we were the next one scheduled.  Since the next start time was 12:27pm, lunch and a dog walk seemed appropriate.

On our way back from lunch, we ran into Bob Tiffin which made us miss the all important "chassis driven into the assembly area" picture that I wanted to take.  It was nice to meet Bob, however.

The Weld Shop constructs the basic framework of what becomes the basement of the coach.  They also install a number of important subsystems including the hydraulics (slides and levelers), the chassis A/C system, coach wiring harness, battery systems, and basic plumbing.

Station 1 - Everything below the Chassis Rails Installed (8/15)

First minute at Station 1

Front end

Most of the wiring you see is for the washer/dryer and the TV systems

Storage compartment lining is added.

Tanks, Freshwater on top

Wet bay install.  The plywood floor just ahead of the wet bay is the storage bay floor.

House batteries wired in

First option - a sliding storage tray

Finished with station 1.  Chassis backed out so they could clean the floor.

Red Bay, Alabama - Home of Tiffin Motorhomes

8/14 to 8/26

When we decided to go fulltime, we concluded that our current motorhome, a Tiffin Allegro Open Road 32CA, probably wasn't going to be best choice.  Since it is only 1 year old, it seems a bit early to be looking for a new one.  It's original purpose was to allow us to take 3-4 month trips and then return to a home base somewhere.  It did those functions perfectly.  We were gone on extended trips last year and again this spring, but we felt lost when we returned to our sticks and bricks house.  We missed traveling; we felt lost in the big house; we were bored.   

We had initially planned late last year to relocate to New Mexico and use that as our base to explore the west.  And then we changed our minds...

We had visited Lazy Days while we were in Florida in April.  We hadn't made any decisions and really were just going to look at a few Tiffin models we had not seen.  We looked at gassers (the popular 36LA and new 31SA), some Allegro Reds (entry level diesel pushers) and finally a couple of Phaetons (much more upscale diesel pushers).  Nice place to look at new motorhomes but we could tell that this was a high overhead operation and probably not a place to buy.  But it was fun to look.

So we did our due diligence and started checking out Winnebago and Newmar motorhomes.  Our local Winnebago dealer wasn't too far away so we went to snoop.  Both he and the next closest dealer didn't really stock too many of the diesel models.  Hard to compare when you have nothing to look at.  Newmar was a bigger disaster - no Newmar dealer within 200 miles of us had any stock - an occasional gas unit, but no diesels, not even used ones.  When you live 50 miles from Washington, DC in one of the wealthiest regions of the country, few dealers and minimal stock says something is amiss. 

We knew Tiffin, we knew how the Tiffin dealer network was configured, and we felt comfortable with the Tiffin products.  We have had an excellent experience with our little Open Road (and we might be the only motorhome in Red Bay that isn't here for service).  So it was going to be another Tiffin product.

Procrastination does have its benefits...

We looked at enough floorplans online that we might be experts in what is where in each model.  We had seen some of the new ones for 2013 at Lazy Days and were really impressed with at least two of them - the Allegro Red 33AA and the Phaeton 36GH.  The Red was eliminated as it didn't have enough basement storage, and the Phaeton was looking better and better.  And then Tiffin released their Phaeton dealer update and 2014 pricelists (thanks Tiffin RVNetwork) and we got serious.

We placed our order with Sherman RV in Sherman, MS the last week in June.  Our house closed July 26th and we arrived in Red Bay, production schedule in hand, August 14th, the day the chassis went into the weld shop.

We are currently staying at the fabulous Red Bay Self-Service campground.  At $20/night, $100/week with full hookups its really not too bad for a gravel lot.  Lots of other Tiffin owners to talk to and we have had fun swapping stories and quick fix tips as well.  While we could have moved over to the regular Tiffin campground, we decided to stay here as we were not here for repairs and the Service Center is doing a booming business the last couple of weeks.

Added benefit - free rainbows!

We found out later that we could have stayed for free at the Service campground but after riding our bikes through there, I'm glad we stayed in the Self-Service Campground.

Franklin, NC - Fun in the Highlands of North Carolina

August 5 - 12, 2013

(For larger images, click on photo)

Franklin, NC is one of the hidden treasures in the Western North Carolina.  Just south of Smokey Mountains National Park and just north of the Georgia state line, it is the home to big mountains, gems, waterfalls, and lots of things to see and do.  While we had been to Asheville and the Smokeys, we had never ventured this far back into the more remote areas.  This is not to say that this area is that rural, it is not, but it is rugged terrain and there is lots to see.

We stayed at the Great Outdoors RV Park just north of the city of Franklin.  This was a very nice park that was carved into the side of a mountain.  There were a number of seasonal residents that chose to "summer in the mountains" staying with us.  Very friendly people and a number of Tiffin owners.  We had two Open Roads, two Phaetons, and two Allegro Busses in the park while we were there.  They were pretty interested that we were on our way to Red Bay to see our new coach built.

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the RV park.  

As I mentioned, there are lots of things of natural beauty in that part of North Carolina.  First up was a half day trip to Natahala Gorge.  This area was chosen for the white water venues for the Atlanta Olympics.  If you like white water rafting or kayaking, this is the place to go.  There are simply miles of river to play in.  We took a break in the area where they held kayaking competitions to watch the kayakers.

Watching these kids do rolls and flips was rather intimidating.  I'll stick to flat water kayaking.

Franklin, NC is also known as the gem capital of North Carolina.  There are natural deposits of rubies, sapphires, and other gemstones in Cowee mountain just north of Franklin.  Several "gem mines" exist to help relieve the tourists of their hard earned dollars.  A number of them "salt" the dirt you have to sift through.  We opted for a non-salted mine for our adventure.

Intrepid miners hard at work washing the mud off of gravel.

A genuine rockhound

Our take from a morning of washing rocks wasn't bad.  We have three rubies and three sapphires for the morning.  These are not gems yet and they just look like rocks, but we do have them.  The interesting thing is that, as you are washing and sorting them, they are significantly heavier than ordinary rocks.  One of the sapphires even retains some of the shape of the original hexagonal crystal.  

There is an abundance of waterfalls in and around Franklin.  Most can be found towards the south and into Georgia.  Some are easy to drive to, others require a real hike to see.  We, being almost old people, opted for the easier ones to visit.  Some of the best are along US64 from Franklin towards Highlands, NC.  This road is narrow, twisty, and is not suitable for trucks or RVs but the scenery is great and the waterfalls easy to get to.

Cullasja Falls

Bust Your Butt Falls

(and popular swimming hole)

Nice butterflies in the Cullasja gorge

Dry Falls from the walkway

Under Dry Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Given that we had monsoon rains every afternoon across the county during our stay, water volume for August was pretty impressive.  

Our last full day in Franklin, we decided to explore the little town of Sylva just a few miles north of the campground.  We were really heading for the local chocolate shop but it wasn't open, so we did the next best thing, visited Sylva, NC.  And we found the most impressive court house either of us and ever seen.

On 8/12 we departed for Red Bay, AL because on Wednesday, 8/14, our new home was going to start construction.  When it is all done in early September, it should look like this:

Fort Chiswell, VA, Friday August 2

Finally found some time when we weren't relaxing to update this.  Last Wednesday, July 24th, we said goodbye to our house, piled into the motorhome, and drove a whopping 35 miles to Gettysburg, PA.  We had spent the previous 5 days packing the motorhome, getting rid of the last of our household items, and cleaning the house for the new owners.  We were hot, tired, and ready to get started.

We hadn't even got to our destination when I realized I had left an important piece of electronics in our house - the Hopper satellite receiver.  A frantic call to our neighbor, a rolling phone conference, and a few minutes later it was rescued before the new owners got there for their walkthrough.  Dodged that one.

Friday, we were back in Frederick for the closing and dinner with our neighbor Beth (who I highly recommend if you ever need a really good neighbor).  Sunday we were back in Frederick again - Mary needed a hair cut, the critters needed food, and I needed some goodies at Lowes.  Then it was off to our son's place for brunch and depositing the final load of "stuff" from the house.

On the new motorhome front, we still did not have a build date from Tiffin by July 26th.  I e-mailed Tiffin on July 31st while we were en route to Fort Chiswell, VA and finally received a response (I think we were just past Roanoke, VA) when we got the build schedule.  Start date is August 15th and ship date is September, 11th.  Yea and now we need to get to Red Bay.

Fort Chiswell (at the corner of I-81 and I-77 S) is a great layover point in Virginia.  Two Flying Js nearby for fuel, a really nice campground, and things to do if you don't mind jumping in the car and doing a little driving.  We, on the other hand have been sitting and trying to figure out where we are going this winter.  All I will say is no decisions have been made at this time.

Saturday, we will be visiting friends in Galax and taking in the fiddling convention.  Stay tuned for updates.