Our Rig Is Back To Where It Was Born - Again.

 

So, here we are again, Junction City, KS, home of New Horizons, manufacturer of 5th wheels and maintenance facility.  Sadly we know this place well as we have been here three times in the past ten years prior to this visit, each averaging about a month to get our repairs done.  This time looks to be no different, with the exception that we are in freezing winter rather than scorching summer.

But.... that was the purpose behind our departure from Georgia in mid-October.  We had been suffering from water intrusion that ultimately had damaged three-fifths of the ceiling of our galley/living area.  The leak was insidious, it remained hidden from view for an unknown period of time (at least a year) before a stain finally penetrated several layers of ceiling material and showed itself.  The hunt for the source of the leak commenced but no amount of caulking/re-caulking all the seams of the roof made any difference, the stain continued to expand.  And between Covid and reliability issues with our old truck we weren't in a position to get the rig to professional help for another two years.  But once a new truck had been secured and we knew we could travel with confidence again, we called to get an appointment for what we knew was going to be a big job.  That call was made in early July and we were told the first available slot was the 28th of November!  Oh well, we had already been waiting a couple of years, what's another 5 months.

The wait went fast enough and we built a little fun and family time into our travel schedule.  It could have been a shorter trip both in terms of distance and time but knowing how brutal it was going to be once we got to Kansas we wanted a little pleasure time ahead of that.  

From point to point we logged 1508 miles as a little caravan but we did at least another 1,000 miles of running around in the places we stopped along the way.  A really nice trip with a not so nice destination.

Now the reason for this trip gets underway.  Our departure from Texas was delayed a day due to a really large storm that stretched the entire length of our final leg, and then some.  Leaving Texas early was not an option as the storm had already formed and was on us days before we knew it would last well into our scheduled travel day.  So we made the decision to wait a day and make the drive in dry, albeit windy, weather.

We ultimately arrived late in the day of our scheduled start date but the folks at New Horizons were unphased.  They just hooked us up to power and water for a comfortable nights rest (well, except for removing all our junk from the cabinets, packing in moving boxes and storing in the truck) and took the rig from us at 7:00am the next morning, getting started with the interior demolition work right away.

While the weather was pleasant on our day of arrival, it turned into full-on winter within about 36 hours.  Temperatures dropped to the low 20's overnight and only briefly got above the freezing mark during the day.  We had planned on this being the case and was what was behind the topping off of our propane tanks mentioned in the last post.  However, the work being done on our rig was going to need protection from the elements so we had been moved into warm a building.  Yes!

Protected from the elements in one of the two bays of the 
New Horizons maintenance facility.

First order of business for the interior work was to get everything covered before the demolition start.

Thick cardboard was used to cover the floor and countertops.

Next, all the ceiling fixtures and ducting registers were removed.  It was sad seeing our ceiling fan and our island "chandelier" and all the other ceiling do-dads piled up on a pallet on the shop floor next to our rig.

Ceiling hardware removed.

With all the hardware removed the ceiling is now ready to be stripped and scraped, but not until the whole room (living and galley) is draped and taped.  This is going to be messy and it will be necessary to contain the debris as much as possible.

Taped and draped.  Let the demolition begin.

It was at this point we lost access to essentially everything but our bed.  No couch, no recliners, no refrigerator, microwave, stove or kitchen sink.  We expected this to be part of the process, we didn't expect it would be for more than two weeks instead of a couple of days.  There are fresh foods in that fridge that are not going to last more than a few days.  Not looking forward to de-draping day.

Once the water damaged Soft-Touch ceiling material had been scraped off we could get a good look at the base material, essentially a very thin plywood.  As expected it too showed damage from water but it was still heartbreaking to see.  Mold abatement is going to have to be done.

Much of this is just water staining but there is 
clearly mold present.

And yes, we have continued to live in our RV during all this.  We have to vacate the premises no later than 7:00am and can't return until 3:30pm.  Living in just the bedroom space, where we have access to our closet, bed, bathroom sink, and shower, was okay for a couple of evenings and nights.  But that confined space, which was mostly consumed by the bed, got uncomfortable pretty quick.  Propped up in a sitting position on the bed was brutal on both our backs and we resorted to bringing in camp chairs and setting them up in what little floor space we had.  Cyndee's idea of doing this proved to be a huge improvement in our comfort.

Confined spaces.
Camp chairs for sitting, step stool for an ottoman
Every square inch of surface covered with junk 
from the cabinets of the living area.

In the above photo Cyndee is all set up for doing cross stitch.  She's got her articulated desk lamp and a head lamp to light up her work.  One thing about living in this tiny space is that anything you have is pretty much within an arm's length.