Run down to our UK trip

 When we get to UK they will probably be in contact again as they want to film us buying a motorhome over there and living in it, to contrast the differences.

Our whole plan changed as soon as we were back in Sundance. We instantly went from “Relaxed Mexico Campers” to “Oh my goodness only a month until we go to UK!!!”.

But first we had to get the rig back out of storage and go back to Yuma! I know, we just came from there right? Well when we were looking around one of our favorite places - The Arizona Marketplace, we found a couple of RV upholstery stores.

One of them had done the sofa in the Rexhall 8 years ago and although they did an excellent job of the sofa, they also killed the batteries in the coach and then fried the alternator trying to get the engine running,

The other one, Action RV Upholstery, were working right there in the marketplace and their work looked excellent. We talked to them and took pictures of the vinyl on the loveseat, sofa and headboard that is falling apart in the rig.

A little explanation. The manufacturer of the vinyl covering used on RV furniture had a bad year which resulted in the vinyl surface peeling off, Of course this happened after all the warranties etc had expired! Ours was one of that batch so the alternatives were - replace the furniture or reupholster. We had a few quotes locally but they were extortionate.

Total failure of the vinyl on the loveseat.

Anyways we sent them pictures and dimensions and they gave us a really attractive quote. They basically are looking for work after the snowbirds left April 1^st and we were there looking so it worked out.

We took the coach to them in Yuma and left it with them, it will take a couple of weeks then we’ll take the Edge back there and pick it up. Should look spiffy when its done!

We had a celebratory “Happy Hour” when we got back to Sundance to say Hi to all our friends and celebrate several birthdays various people are having around here.

We squeezed in a few dinners out with friends who are leaving the area and at the Elks. Our social lives are so busy!

Meanwhile the trip to UK was only 4 weeks away and there was a LOT of stuff to do related to our plan to buy a motorhome there. We had to get our finances together, join camping clubs, find rv dealers and explain what we wanted to do, call our daughter and set things up with her. Just a million details to get checked off the growing list. Plus sort out our wardrobes for the UK climate.

One helpful thing was T Mobile’s “Stateside International Plan” which for $15 a month gets us International calls free instead of $3 a minute. It paid for itself the first time we used it and we can cancel anytime.

We found what we hoped was going to be a suitable motorhome in Cheshire, not far from where our daughter and our sisters and brother lived. After several calls we thought we were on the home stretch and asked Barb’s brother and Sister in Law if they could go see it before we laid out any money. Luckily they kindly did so and came back with a poor report. They had looked at another at the same dealer that might work for us and we made more approaches about a buy back deal. Unfortunately their offer was totally inadequate and we decided to just wing it when we get to UK.

Barbara's sister Hilary checking out the potential UK motorhome

More plans were in the works for storing the rig indoors in Tucson. We normally store it here at the park but that is in the winter when temperatures are mild and the sun not to fierce. This year it will be full Arizona summer with temperatures up to 125F and boiling desert sun. For the sake of the paint and interior of the rig we decided to try an indoor storage warehouse we had seen in Tucson.

The upholsterers called, all finished and a week ahead of schedule! We made another fast trip to Yuma to pick it up and it was very nice. The color we chose was Elk Buckskin Brown which matched the driver seats very well. We hadn’t noticed the sample having an antique leather look but when we saw it on the furniture it looked nice. And anything to do with Elks is good by us.

The newly upholstered loveseat in ELK BUCKSKIN material

While driving around Yuma we had notice a very large self storage building that advertised indoor RV storage. We tried their website which wasn’t very helpful. We were on the verge of calling the Tucson place to make our reservation when out of the blue we got an email from the Yuma place saying one of the owners had a unit that would suit our coach and for the months we wanted, better yet it was half the price of the Tucson place! We took him up on the offer and added ANOTHER trip to Yuma to the list. 

If you are counting this will be the FOURTH time in Yuma in 4 weeks!

Model airplanes were back on my things to do list. Apart from flying them I have to put them somewhere that won’t subject them to extreme temperatures so I had to get sorting out the ones that could survive in the shed and those that could be put in the trailer I share with some friends. Flying, fixing and running engines filled lots of mornings too.

Then another friend asked if I could do some work on his model to get it flying and after I did it he surprised me by giving me an old and fairly beaten up P51 Mustang model as a thank you! It had been hanging on his wall for at least 10 years! It was big too and would take a lot of space in storage, but I can never turn away a project so into the trailer it went!

Not much to look at now bit it will fly again!

Things kept getting added to lists of things to do then getting crossed off as they were done. We got our second Covid booster shots. That laid us low for a day but we feel a little more at ease having had them.

Money transfers, cash for the trip, credit card companies notified, suitcases procured, seats booked for the flight, travel to the airport, phones, GPS units…… Oh it kept rolling along, but at least it kept rolling somehow.

It’s going to be so relaxing to actually get on the plane and go!

We managed to fit in some dinners out with friends in between all of that so life is still good! Not long now......