Red bay, AL is where our Tiffin Allegro Bay RV was born; turns out all Tiffins are born right here in Red Bay. Good thing the plant is here because there is not a whole lot going on in this part of Alabama. About 1200 people are normally employed by Tiffin making them one of only two large employers 'around these parts'.
I say normally because Tiffin has recently cut production of RV's in half and has laid off about half of the employees as well. The high cost of fuel is impacting all RV manufacturers; it has already caused at least 4 RV manufacturers to go out of business. Tiffin has only recently started to see demand drop but credit and fuel issues are issues for everyone in this industry.
The cost of fuel has everyone cutting back; Many are postponing new RV purchases and existing RV owners are taking steps to minimize fuel expenses. Going to destinations closer to home; staying longer at each location, selling off the first born male child, etc. That reminds me, I have to call Christopher tomorrow.... Whatever it takes to keep RVing.
We planned to be passing close by Red Bay so we decided to stop in and have a few warranty items taken care of now rather than making a special trip later. Turns out Tiffin purchased the small Red Bay Municipal Airport when it shut down several years ago. We are literally parked 'on the runway' of the airport. It's the perfect place for moving ~100 very large vehicles around and into various repair facilities.
It's a busy and exciting place. Each morning about 6:30 or 7 am, RV's start shuttling into the aircraft hanger, er, excuse me, the service bays for repairs. There are 46 services bays plus another 8 outside work sites, grouped by function: paint, body, woodworking, windshields, etc. Plus there are ~ 100 camp sites. Not really camp sites as much as large place to park the coach while you wait for repairs, complete with water, electric and sewer connection.
This place is especially busy at the end of winter when all the snow birds pass through on their way home from over-wintering in Florida and elsewhere along the Gulf coast.
So we are on the runway. In the Alabama sunshine. It gets hot here; both AC's ran all day today without stop. Even driving first thing this am we had the generator going in order to run the front AC. Someone told me 95 degree's is 'mild' for Alabama in late June. Apparently normal is well north of 100 degree's. Let's hope it stays 'mild'.
The dog is totally confused when we go for a walk. Normally she can pick our RV out of all the others at a campground. Now she is surrounded by Tiffins, several of which look exactly alike. Well not exactly but close enough for government work.
Not a lot to do here when your coach is being worked on so we'll have to drive a bit to 'see the sights'; plus we cannot leave Dobbie in the RV while they are working on the RV.
Miniature Dachshunds are known to be vicious attack dogs. It's true, I saw here attack a June Bug just last week.
In fact, I bought here a spiked collar and call her 'Killer' when taking her for a walk. You should see the unsavory characters go running in the opposite direction when they see her hiding behind MLA's skirt. She (Dobbie, not MLA) was voted 'Most Likely to Hurt Someone' in doggie school. Of course, that's because she pees whenever she is afraid and she is afraid whenever she is around people. She peed so much the school was afraid someone would slip and hurt themselves, hence the award 'Most Likely To Hurt Someone'. Nope, just too dangerous to leave her here with the service technicians.
We will have a better idea tomorrow just how long all of this will take to get done. The service techs have some incentive to get it done quickly; there are scheduled to be on vacation next week. Let's hear it for national holidays!
Until tomorrow -- See Ya!
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