Got the trailer back

Well we finally have our 5th wheel back! Doug drove down to Smith Center KS to the Exel factory to pick it up. The reasons why we took it for repairs were -- to replace the steps which broke, to fix a 'bubbly' spot on an interior wall, and a minor stove part. After the factory techs got to looking at the wall, turns out to be a MUCH bigger problem than we originally thought. Evidently somehow water had gotten inside one wall and had been there for some time. They had to tear out a large section of side wall and replace some wood. The factory people said they had never seen a water problem to this extent before. We don't know how or where or when the leak started but it must have been quite a while to cause that much damage. They did a good job and everything looks nice. Needless to say, this puts quite a dent in our budget!

The Excel people said that some folks come in every year or so for a complete check-up and maintenance. Sounds like a good idea. We always thought we maintained it well but guess some things need the experts. We are glad the factory is located in the midwest.

Now we will be loading up and getting things packed so we can leave right after Christmas. We've certainly had warmer than usual temps lately so maybe we will be lucky and have good road conditions. We will travel with anti-freeze in our water system and use anti-freeze to flush until we hit warmer weather. We plan to go from Fremont to Ponca City OK the first day. More miles than we like to drive in one day but do-able. We plan to stay overnight at WalMart before heading out the next morning. This will be our first time using a WalMart parking lot.