After writing my last post Monday morning, Donna and I visited with Jeff and Deb Spencer over a cup of coffee and enjoyed the desert morning. Our time with them was too short, but I finally had to say we needed to pack up and go – Jeff also had work to do.

It was nearly 11:30am by the time we rolled out of Ogilby Road. I looked at the GPS and saw our predicted arrival time in Mesa was 4:40pm. Doh! I forgot about the time change and loss of an hour when we crossed into Arizona.

We had to drop the trailer at Mike Hall’s house before we could go to our destination which was RV Renovators on Main Street in Mesa. RV Renovators is the outfit that will repair the fiberglass damage on our coach from the deer that hit us in Idaho. They said they have hook-ups so we planned to stay on site at their shop.

I was afraid they would be closed and have the lot gates locked before we could get there. Donna phoned them and was told they close at 5pm. We made arrangements to stop there and pick up a gate key before we went to Mike Hall’s place to drop the trailer. We made it there a little after 5pm but the gates were still open and many of the employees were still there. They showed me where I would park the coach and gave me a key to the gate.

I should have inquired more about the hook-ups when we were here last October. They told me it was no problem for us to remain on site – many customers that are full-timers do it. It turns out that “hook-ups” means they have a 50-amp power cord on electrical fittings at various places around the lot and shop. No sewer or water hook-ups.

At Mike’s house, I unloaded the Spyder before I dropped the trailer. Donna rode the Spyder back to RV Renovators and opened the gate before I arrived in the coach. We got set up in our designated area. It turned out to be quieter than we thought it would be. We’re situated between two shop structures that block most of the road noise.

The shop on the south side of us is a tall building and it also blocks us from direct sunlight. The temperatures have been colder than usual here – it only reached 64 degrees yesterday. Without direct sunlight, we needed to run the heat pumps most of the day. I’m thankful for the 50-amp power! But we’re in full water conservation mode.

Our site at RV Renovators

The tall shop next to us also blocks our satellite antenna – so no TV programs for the duration.

Jim, our service advisor, compared the damage on the coach to the estimate provided by our insurance adjuster. He had an expert in fiberglass repair named Levi look at the areas of damage. We all agreed that the insurance estimate was inadequate and a supplement will need to filed. Levi says the only way to correctly repair the damage on the living room slide is to remove the old fiberglass laminate and completely replace the entire wall.

This is a lot of work. It will take time. One of the reasons I chose RV Renovators for the repair is their experience with extensive fiberglass work. They have the panels needed to make the repair in stock, so we won’t have to wait for parts to be ordered. The insurance supplement is the hang-up at this point.

Our insurance is through Nationwide. Their offices are located in Dublin, Ohio. I’m hoping they are on the ball and don’t leave us hanging for too long. The insurance adjuster thought we needed a week to get the work done. Jim at RV Renovators thought it would take two weeks. Now Levi says it will more likely take three weeks.

I anticipated this and held off on making any reservations for a place for us to stay until I’m certain of how long we’ll be sitting here. Finding a site in the Phoenix area in February can be a challenge, but we’ll worry about that when the time comes.

Donna spent the day writing articles – she has several assignments to keep her busy for a while. She did get out for a walk on the nearby Consolidated Canal Trail. Though her foot is still bruised from her fall playing pickleball last week, the swelling is going down and she managed to walk nearly 3 miles without any discomfort. While she was out walking, I rode the Spyder over to Lucky Lou’s and found my friends Leendert, John and Stan there. I’ll probably head over there again this afternoon and likely find Mike Hall and his wife Jodi there.

The weather forecast is not promising. We’ll hit the mid-60s today but if the weather guessers are right, we won’t see 60 again in the next seven days. It will be cold and wet over the weekend.