Service at Freedom RV - Day 1

We left Pima County Fairgrounds and drove the short distance to Freedom RV for our service appointment. We were to be there for 8am check-in - we got there about 7:30am, unhooked the Jeep, and then waited until the service advisors were ready for us. Our service advisor, Dusty, came out to meet up with us, verified what we needed to have completed:

• two front slides needed work on the locking mechanism and we had brought two new actuators with us as we anticipated that was the issue
• looking into the electric elements on the Oasis water heating system and determining why they were not working
  
• chassis oil and filter change (since we are unfortunately not going to be heading to Virginia anytime very soon for that service to be completed by our primary mechanic and source of counsel on diesel engine stuff!)

Dusty was confident that their technician could do the house system work (slides and water heating) on Tuesday, that we could stay overnight in their lot, and have the chassis maintenance completed on Wednesday morning. We were hopeful, but honestly, not confident that the slides and Oasis repair could be completed that quickly. 

We went out for breakfast, and then waited in the waiting room at Freedom RV. After lunch, Carl checked with Dusty and she let him know that the technician had finished on the slides and had started on the Oasis. She took Carl back to where the technician was working on the Oasis. The technician said that the "aqua-stat" (we're not certain what that is) was intermittent and appeared to be from a wiring issue -- he was cleaning up the wiring and removing and replacing all the wiring nuts. He said it was quite spaghetti factory in there and he was working on straightening it out. He was certain that just tracing through the wiring would correct the problem.

Sure enough, about 3pm, Dusty came out and let us know that the technician was done, and Gracie had been moved into her overnight location in the lot. Dusty took us out to show us where Gracie was parked. Gracie was plugged in to 50A. We leveled her in the spot, and, for the first time in several months, were able to put both of our front slides out! Whoo-hoo! We also tried the hot water, but since the technician had already been testing it, there was already hot water in the system so the elements did not come on. We turned the elements off to let the water cool down (well, cool down as much as it would when the outside temperature was over 100F!). We'd check it again later.

Meanwhile, we had planned to meet up with niece Ginny and great-nephew Evan (unfortunately, Josh was out of town on business so we would not get to see him). We drove to their home a little north of Tucson and had a great meal and visit!

Unfortunately, we didn't think to get a picture until Evan had already gone upstairs to bed... I need to have a word with the blog photographer!!!

Dusty had gotten us a key to the lock on the gate at Freedom RV, so we knew we would be able to get back in. When we got there, the night patrol was a little surprised by our arrival but when Carl indicated that he had a key, the patrol was okay with us entering the lot. 

We switched on the electric hot water system and it successfully came on!

We should be able to finish up on Wednesday before noon and be on our way to Mesa!