Davenport, Iowa: Escape From Iowa

You know our dilemma. This was our third day stuck in Davenport, Iowa, as we waited to get the wiring on our RV repaired and the AC fixed. Sunday we arrived at the Freightliner dealer only to be told they couldn't get to us that afternoon however, they said, if we made an appointment for Monday at 8 am the dealer would be working on resolving the issues by 9 or 10 at the latest.

Monday morning we arrived at the designated hour, filled out the paperwork, and were told the next available mechanic would be working on our RV. Excited? yes we were. Only the next available mechanic didn't get started until 1:30 pm, and he turned out to be the least experienced guy working.

He got the lights working (more on that in a minute) and then started trouble shooting the AC problem. Around 4 pm he was hopelessly lost and they pulled him off, telling us another 'more knowledgeable' mechanic was just finishing a job and would be with us shortly, certainly within the hour.

Well, by now you can see where this is going. The 'new' mechanic didn't start working on our RV until well after dinner, however he did finally determine the problem was a bad dryer. Didn't even know I had a dryer for the AC but I do and it was no good.

They could have one shipped normally and it would arrive in a week or so or I could have it overnighted for $35. They told me I would have to pay the shipping because Freightliner warranty did not cover expedited shipping. It was now around 9 pm and, having been stuck for two days, I said I would gladly pay shipping.

They spent two hours putting everything back together and at 11 pm, Mary Lynn and I pulled the RV out of the garage and onto the parking lot where we hatched our escape plan. No way were we going to spend another night. We got everything else ready to roll so that once the dryer was installed we could boogie out of town and head for the Illinois border, which was only a few short miles away....

Long story short, even though the part arrived by 11 am, we had to wait for a mechanic until 1 pm, and we discovered the lights were still not working correctly.

Finally, finally, the work was completed around 4 pm. As I was hooking the car to the RV the service manager comes out and says 'BY the way, the AC repair is not covered by warranty'. If I had been sitting in a chair I would have fallen out of said chair.

He goes on to tell me Freightliner will pay $550 and I'll have to pay the other $550. I was flabbergasted (love that word if not the feeling) and immediately called Freightliner Custom Chassis, spoke to a young man who said he would take care of it, and he did. Within 10 minutes the dealer was saying the AC WAS covered by warranty.

I quickly paid for the wiring and RAN to my RV, yelling all the way for MLA to start up the diesel. I climbed up the stairs, sat in the drivers seat, put her in gear, released the emergency brake and high tailed in off the dealer's lot. We didn't slow down yet alone stop until we had crossed the mighty Mississippi river and found ourselves in Illinois.

Yep, we had finally escaped the Iowa vortex.

That was at 415 pm; it's now around 2:30 am. We're parked at a Walmart in Ohio. We went all the way through both Illinois and Indiana just to make sure we didn't get pulled back into the Iowa force field.

I'll add pictures later; if you are nice maybe I'll show you my new dryer...

See Ya!