September 13, 2012

RV Corral, Eugene, OR

Yes we are still here at the RV Corral.  Monte talked to the techs who said they are still trying to get some guidance from Keystone on what to try.  In the meantime, Monte called Dometic because we wanted to know when to expect the replacement generator we bought back in Elkhart, IN.  (We hadn’t used it until we got to Yellowstone and it only ran for 3 hours before quitting on us.  We had called the store we purchased it from and were pretty much told it was our problem.  We called the manufacturer several times but kept getting put on hold and then when we finally got to speak to someone, the call would drop because the reception was very spotty in the mountains.  When we did speak to someone they gave us a list of several repair places but when we called the stores they all said they did not work on generators.  Being without a generator really put us in a bind because the campground we stayed at in Yellowstone did not have electric hookups.  When we first got to Eugene, we called Dometic again and insisted on speaking to a manager.  She informed us that she was going to ship out a replacement generator to the RV Corral.)  When Monte called this morning and spoke to the Dometic manager she said she would check into the status of the shipped generator.  Well when she got back to us she apologized because the generator hadn’t shipped.  She assured us it would ship today.  She called again later in the day with a shipping number so hopefully we should be getting our new generator in the next couple of days.

I wish the problem with the slide could be solved that quickly.  Monte decided to call Keystone directly to find out what is going on.  After supplying the vin#, the rep told Monte that her records did not indicate any complaint had been made and no action was being taken.  She also reminded him that we are not the original owner and therefore the rv is no longer under warrantee.  Monte was pissed when he got off the phone with the rep from Keystone.  He went in search of the techs and got a printout of the communication they are having with Keystone including a reference number.  He then called Keystone back and spoke to a different rep.  After providing the reference number the tech was able to tell Monte that Keystone has been in touch with the techs at RV Corral and are trying to troubleshoot the problem.  She also reminded Monte that the RV was out of warrantee.  He informed the rep that we did have an extended warrantee but if the issue was as a result of an error made at the factory, Keystone should stand behind their product.  I doubt they are going to admit the problem originated at the factory.  BUT the rep did say they are going to try their best to troubleshoot the problem so that the techs at RV Corral can fix the problem.   

Since it didn’t appear like this issue was going to be resolved today, we decided to go to a park and have a picnic lunch.  I tapped on recreation areas on my GPS and it showed that the Willamette National Forest was very nearby.  We followed the directions and when the GPS announced that we had reached our destination we were in the middle of the city. ????  Okay, plan B.  We decided to check out the next closest park.  We drove past the park looking for a picnic area and when we found it we saw that all the tables were taken by what appeared to be homeless people.  I say that based on the fact that there were shopping carts lined up on the road in front of the benches like cars parked in a lot.  Sadly, it appears that Eugene had a huge population of homeless.

We moved on to the next park in the GPS list and it brought us to Owens Rose Garden. 

It is nestled next to the Willamette River near the Washington/Jefferson Street Bridge.  It had several picnic tables and was a very nice place to have lunch.  The roses were beautiful. 

  It didn’t take long for the bees to show up and then to add to the experience, a worker started cutting the grass very close to where we were sitting.  After lunch, we took a walk around the garden and then along the river.  We met a woman there who had a dog that retrieved the ball she threw into the river.  It was really cute until the dog came out of the water, ran towards us, dropped the ball at my feet and then shook so that I got sprayed with the water.  I was lucky enough to experience this three times!

 

After the park, we shopped at a few stores and then went “home”.  Monte had purchased a water softener a while back but hadn’t hooked it up yet.  He did that after dinner and I took a shower to test it out.  What a difference.  We watched the America’s Got Talent finale and then went to sleep.  It hadn’t been a very exciting day, but I got to spent it with my best friend and that made it a good day.