On Friday, they accomplished pretty much what I expected at RV Renovators – then they did something I didn’t expect. After a meeting with Izzy, Levi and the owner and president of RV Renovators and Germaine RV sales, Monty Germaine, Monty revised the plan for the new siding.

Monty didn’t want them to use wood studs in the reconstruction, he wanted rectangular aluminum tubing instead. He also came up with a new layout for the panels. Instead of orienting them vertically and cutting the excess height, he wants to lay them horizontally. This will result in fewer seams and a much more efficient use of panels.

They finished cleaning up the framing and removing all traces of plywood – except for one square in the upper right corner of the slide out which is necessary as it backs the microwave/convection oven. Then they made a trench in the foam block insulation and put 2-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ rectangular aluminum tubing studs place.

Aluminum stud in place

This took all day to accomplish, then they knocked off for the weekend.

Saturday I had to send a FedEx letter. Donna and I walked to the FedEx store about one mile west of here on Main Street. On the way there, we saw a temporary race track for electric-powered radio-controlled (RC) cars in the lot of a business. On the way back, we stopped there to watch.

They were practicing for the afternoon’s races. It was chilly out – in the mid-60s but windy. We hung out for about 15 minutes and watched the quick RC cars lapping the track. We could clearly see some of the cars had better set-ups than others. Some of them cornered like they were on rails while others over-steered with the rear end sliding out through the turns. Obviously the skill of the driver comes into play as well.

RC cars on the track

Guys working on their set-up in the pits

We wanted to stop at a fish and chips place for lunch on our way back. When we crossed main street at the restaurant, we found it was out of business! We back-tracked to a Vietnamese Pho place and found it was closed as well. I guess times have been tough for small restaurants in this area. We ended up having lunch at home – I cooked some ramen noodle with leftover chicken.

Our friends Howard and Sara Graff picked us up Saturday evening. They live a few miles away off Gilbert Road. We had dinner reservations at Baja Joe’s. I had made the reservation for four not knowing their 14 year-old daughter Jenna was coming along. The restaurant accommodated us by giving Jenna a table next to the four-top they had held for us.

We enjoyed our meals and sipped large, excellent margaritas with it. Afterwards we stopped at their house and continued to visit until about 9pm when they dropped us back at RV Renovators.

Sunday was a nice, sunny day. The temperature reached the 70s in the afternoon and I had the coach door open. It was still breezy, but comfortable. Sara and Donna went shopping at the Tempe Marketplace. I hung out and read a book.

When she returned, Donna made guacamole with pomegranate seeds and later cooked a new dish – One Pot Shrimp with Herby White Beans and Tomatoes. She served it with slices of baguette to dip in the sauce and it was excellent – definitely a keeper though Donna will add garlic to the recipe next time.

One pot shrimp

Our stay here at RV Renovators is giving us good practice at ultra water conservation – Donna made our dinner using far fewer cooking utensils than usual.

A pan, colander, bowl and utensils is all it took to make a delicious dinner

On Saturday I hooked up our fresh water hose and filters and filled our fresh water tank. It took about 40 gallons to fill – it’s been 14 days since I last filled it. We’re averaging less than four gallons per day, plus a few gallons of fresh water from jugs we used for coffee.

This morning we woke to sounds of workers back at the shop and music on the radio outside. Monte came by and examined the work performed so far. He told me he expects them to have the aluminum studs welded in place by noon and they’ll start installing the new fiberglass this afternoon.

We expect clear sunny skies all week with daily highs in the mid-70s. The rough southwest winter may be over!