April 30th we traveled from Lexington, SC to Crooked Creek Campground near Seneca, SC in the upstate near Clemson University. We went to attend a joint NC/SC Newmar Kountry Klub state rally. We traveled with our friends John and Dede Fisher from Chapin, SC.
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| From 04-09 NC-SC Newmar Rally |
Almost 30 couples attended in their Newmar RVs. What a great bunch of people. Everyone was very welcoming. We enjoyed getting to know several couples and hope to be able to join them again for another rally. We had great food
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| From 04-09 NC-SC Newmar Rally |
and fellowship.
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We even learned a fun new game called "Joker" (At least I think that is the correct name. Or perhaps that is what they were calling John)
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| From 04-09 NC-SC Newmar Rally |
Crooked Creek sits on a low hillside above an inlet to Lake Keowee. We had a beautiful view down the hill to the lake waters and surrounding countryside.
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| From 04-09 NC-SC Newmar Rally |
We enjoyed a pleasant Saturday touring an art gallery, antique shop and several other stores in downtown Seneca with John and Dede. (John and I also enjoyed wondering down to a local fudge shop to sample some wonderful fudge while the ladies shopped without us.)
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| From 04-09 NC-SC Newmar Rally |
While at the rally I helped John finish programming his new Duran 360 Tire Pressure Monitoring System. It has small transmitters that screw onto the tire valve stems. These transmit to a receiver mounted on the dash. The system immediately proved its worth when it reported that one of John’s rear tires was at 70 lbs, about 20 lbs too low.
Later going home, it alarmed and reported high pressure in the rear tires. At the same time John and Dede were hearing some strange noises. We all pulled over to investigate. Standing back from the motor homes, Dede noticed that the rear of their coach was too low. John realized their rear air bags had deflated. John let the engine idle for a long time, and the pressure slowly built back up to a safe driving height. We drove another 10 miles or so when the noise returned. We pulled over again and John spent several hours on the phone with Spartan Chassis and then his extended warranty company who also provides emergency road side assistance. Meanwhile I was talking to Coach Net who I had recently selected as my emergency roadside assistance company. Coach Net was much more helpful and quicker to respond with information. John eventually got a tow truck sent out by his provider. (I think he now plans to join Coach Net)
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| From 04-09 NC-SC Newmar Rally |
The tow truck guys were great (they were recommended by Coach Net). They could not tow the coach without the air bags being filled. The guys figured out how to raise the coach using the leveling jacks and insert wooded blocks under the frame to keep the coach high enough off the tires. Then John was able to slowly drive the coach back to Greenville to the local CAT dealer who also services Spartan Chassis. At that point it was around 6pm, and we continued back to Lexington.
Sunday had been a long and difficult day for John and Dede, but early Monday morning John drove back to Greenville. The CAT folks were great. They got his coach right in and discovered a malfunctioning air valve. They located a replacement and had the repairs complete by early afternoon. We were delighted to hear that the problem had been solved and done so quickly. We were also glad the problem had happened on this trip rather than a few weeks later when John and Dede were headed to Colorado to visit their son’s family.
We told John and Dede this is just another RV story to add to their list. We all have some. As you have probably heard us say before, ours are more of the “don’t do that again” variety. But we have had our share of breakdowns. Fortunately so far all have been in our prior coach and not the Dutch Star.
