New "Shoes" For The Motorcoach

New Castle, DE (68 degrees, cloudy skies)

We are on the road again and heading down to Florida for the winter. Our motorcoach needs new tires and after a lot of research decided to have them replaced in Delaware.  Some of our Facebook friends have asked for information and we thought some of our blog friends might find our experience helpful too.  We have attended seminars at rallies in the past about tires and it's recommended to have them replaced at 5-6 years of age regardless of wear or mileage.  Did you know there is actually a birth date on your tire (click link -how to tell how old a tire is)?

 

We wanted to replace them as a planned event and not as an emergency going down the road due to a blow out.  Along the side of the highway you can be at the mercy of a tire shop and a blow out can cause a lot of damage to the rig.

FMCA (Family Motorcoach Association) has a great benefit to its members.  They have a special program though Michelin Advantage Program (click link for program details).  We saved $92 per tires by utilizing the program. We also researched the state tax of the ones on our route to Florida.  Delaware has no state tax. In New York we would have paid 9%.  These new "shoes" are expensive ($3546 for a set of six).

FMCA is a motorcoach organization that offers rallies, seminars, forums, and much more for motorcoach owners.  We've attended several of their rallies and found them very informative and well organized.  If you are a new motorhome owner we would highly recommend joining.  There is a big learning curve to a motorhome and their seminars have been very helpful.  Right now membership is open only to motorhome owners, however, this may be changing in the future.

From the website on FMCA we found Service Tire and Truck Center  in New Castle Delaware (suburb of Wilmington).  Brian was very responsive to all our questions by phone and looked for tires with a recent birth date.  Our tires were quickly replace and we were back on the road in about two hours.   We were very pleased with this tire center. 

 

 

They did say we could boondock in their parking lot.  However, we decided to stay at a nearby Elks Lodge about one mile from the center.  It is tucked in the middle of a neighborhood and there are two sites with 120 electric only.  We were welcomed warmly and enjoyed our stay there for the night. 

Elk Lodge New Castle Delaware

 

 Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks are next on our itinerary.  Check back soon for all the details. 

 

 

 

We Are Alive & Well

(Watkins Glen, NY) 54 degrees, rain


Letchworth State Park (Middle Falls)

It’s been a quite awhile since my last post.  We’ve been workamping in Watkins Glen NY since May 1st and let’s just say its been very hectic.  Most of the time after getting off work we’ve just collapsed into our chairs, cooked a quick dinner, and relaxed by watching TV. Not exactly a blog worthy moment. 

 

 

 

We only have about a week left and then we’ll  be back on the road.  This winter we’ll be hanging out in sunny Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve enjoyed our time in the Finger Lakes. It is a beautiful area and we have our treasured our days off by seeing so much of it.  The waterfalls and state parks are spectacular. Right now the leaves are turning and in a few days the hills should be in their full glory. We especially enjoyed visits with our friends J.C. & Bev, Jerry, Marcia, & Crystal, John & Eileen, and John’s sister Martha. 

 

 

 

 

 

Working full time for five months in a campground is a long time.   It has met our goal, however, of paying off the recent renovations and new roof to our motorcoach. We want our retirement money to last. We’d prefer not to work for such a long period of time, but sometimes you just have to do what is right for the bigger picture. We hope to stay on the road for a long time and spinning through all our savings would not be very prudent.

 

Robert Treman State Park

 

Update about our winter plans:

 

For the month of November and December we’ll be working in a kiosk in Port Charlotte Florida for a company called Slippermania.  Our workamping friends (Danny & Gay) from the Indy KOA recommended this “gig” to us and it will help pay for the new motorcoach tires.

 

 

Our friends J.C. and Bev will then be joining us in for three months  and we’ve planned a great route traveling all around Florida.   Be sure to check back.  Some of the highlights include: kayak paddle adventures, swimming with the manatees, swamp tour, Segway tour along Cocoa Beach, visit to  the Disney Parks, and an extended stay at one of our favorite places -  Key West.  We are so looking forward to this trip together.

 

 

I promise to post more often and catch up with all my blogger friends.  Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you on the road someday soon.