Thursday, September 27, 2012 (Guaranty RV Service and Travel to Valley of the Rogue State Park, Rogue River, Oregon)

It was just before 8 a.m. when we were met by John, our service rep at Guaranty RV, who told us that their audio/visual specialists were all booked up for today.  Hmmm...very disappointing since that was the main reason we had returned.  On the other hand, not critical...they had over booked their appointments to accommodate the RV-Dreamer Rally attendies and we have been without the air-antenna working for over 2 years since we had had the satellite installed.  It’s one of those things that we have wanted fixed but had just never gotten to...and while here in Oregon we are in the maintenance/”fix it” mode (with all the others from the rally)...and with no sales tax, we thought we would get it all done.  Oh well!  There are still a couple of things that we wanted looked at from our visit here on Tuesday...a visual inspection of the front landing gear that they “over-ran”...and a very shoddy finishing job on the sealant tape on the slider (instead of finishing off at the edge trim and caulking it, they ran the tape about 6 inches down the side).

John did the usual write-up of the work to be done and we settled in the waiting room where I set up the laptop.  I got yesterday’s blog posted while Steve read his book.  It wasn’t long before we were joined by DJ...and a little later, Gina.  DJ was having her truck serviced next door at Guaranty GMC and Gina was having the roof on her motorhome re-sealed.

Monte and Rose popped in mid-morning to say goodbye to us all.  The work was complete on their Montana fifth-wheel and they were just waiting to hear from the extended warranty people.  Rather than hang around waiting for that call, they decided to go over to AM Solar and talk to them about a solar system.  They will have to return to Guaranty to “settle-up”...hopefully the work is all covered by the warranty company...good vibes are being sent your way!

Just before 10:00 I got a call from Willamette Drapery...I had called the mobile company to come by and re-string one of our day/night shades.  Steve met with him and took him over to the trailer which by this time had been moved to a spot over in the camping area...Guaranty was finished.  Steve spent the next 45 minutes waiting for the paperwork and “finishing up” with Guaranty...no, we didn’t have to pay anything more but they still had the paperwork that needed to be done.  After the bad start to our service, over all we were happy with the way the staff dealt with the issues that came up and we don't recall hearing anything negative from the other rally attendies about their service.

It was 10:45 when Steve returned to the waiting room to tell me that we were all done and that Tim was just finishing up the blind.  I packed up the laptop and after “see you again” hugs with DJ and Gina, we headed back to get hitched up.

After a stop at the sani-station, we were on our way...it was about noon.  We headed south on highway 99 to Eugene where we connected with I-5 towards Grants Pass.  We knew we wanted to go as far as Grants Pass and had found Valley of the Rogues State Park...about 10 miles further along the I-5 in Rogue River.

Getting a run at the hill...doesn't look all that steep at this point...

Beautiful Oregon scenery...

Still very smokey/hazy in the distance...

Buster worked hard...managing the mountain passes well and after a stop off exit 61 to pick up the new satellite dish tripod from George at http://www.tv4rv.com/sunshop/ (he had suggested we meet there since our rig was too big to navigate the streets to his location...thank you, George!), we arrived at the State Park just before 4 p.m.

I had contacted the park to enquire about the sites, just to ensure that they would have some large enough for us.  The fellow said that our best bet would be loop B, the “first come/first serve” sites and that yes, they have lots of big rigs in the park.  When we arrived, we found that the roads in the loops were rather narrow but manageable. The back-in sites, while some would be long enough for the fifth-wheel, they were too short for the truck too. 

But we managed to find a pull-through that worked...site B20...and got leveled off...without unhitching.  The park is close to the I-5 so there is some distant traffic noise but the sites are large with plenty of space from your neighbour...and we have full-hookups (including sewer) for $24/night.  There is even a laundry room!

One thing we just couldn’t get over was how hot it was outside...32C/90F!  And a look at the forecast indicated that the temps over the next few days in the Rogue River area were going to be from the mid 20sC/80sF to low 30sC/90sF...wow...and this is the end of September!  So we decided to just stay here until Sunday...after spending the last few nights in parking lots and moving each day, it will be nice to just stay put.

Steve unpacked his new tripod and after moving the dish 4 times, he managed to lock onto a satellite.  He was concerned that we wouldn’t get a signal when we chose this site due to the trees but with perseverance, he did it! The tripod is a surveyers type with adjustables legs, compass, level, and an optional high wind tie down system (for Arizona.)

We had a rather late dinner (due to trying to find that satellite signal) and then relaxed to watch some season premiers on TV.  We are looking forward to sleeping in and having a relaxing morning before exploring the park tomorrow.