More of the Dometic Refrigerator Saga!

Jan 14 – 17, Mon – Thur ... On late Monday, the part arrived at Camper Clinic and we were hopeful that we could get it installed on Tuesday but it was not to be. The earliest they could get us in was Wednesday. It’s pouring rain in Rockport, but we’ll be there when they open the doors. They advised us that the cooling unit install would take 5 hrs. We arrived back there at 1245p, hoping to get on the road. Well, their 5 hr job ended up taking 9 hrs, we didn’t get the motorhome back until 5pm. The refrig didn’t feel cold so we decided since it was so late that we had better overnight one more night in Rockport to ensure that the refrig was working properly. We headed to the local Walmart and overnighted there. All was well at 6am and at 7am we hit the road heading west (finally)! It is 1440 miles to Desert Hot Springs, which is our destination. We hope to arrive on Saturday!!!!!!

Jan 7 – 13, Mon – Sun ... Our plan was to fly back to Rockport tomorrow, Wednesday, however we are now having second thoughts. After talking with Camper Clinic today, Mike was told that the refrigerator part “should” be delivered today to their facility and the rep would call to confirm it. Well, surprise, surprise, no phone call. So, it’s unlikely that it will be repaired tomorrow so we’re going to delay the trip at least until Wednesday. The saga continues. Dixie is bound and determined she’s not going to spend the winter in Rockport, Tx. We’ll see. On Tuesday the 8th, we received word that the cooling unit did arrive at Camper Clinic. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it arrived damaged and could not be used. Folks, we’re looking at another week before another cooling unit can be sent. Oh when will this end?? We decided to say goodbye to Dixie’s family in Great Falls on Thursday and flew back to San Antonio where our car was. We overnighted there and drove back to Rockport on Friday. Before we did, we confirmed (after talking w/Dometic customer service yet again) that the new part was shipped that morning.

One more blog from Montana!

Jan 1 – 6, Tues – Sun ... The New Year finds us still in Great Falls, MT with Dixie’s mom and dad. New Year ’s Day was spent much like a lot of you may have spent it, that is, watching college football bowl games. On Thursday, we went to a pro (CBA) basketball game between the Great Falls Explorers and the Minot Electrics. The locals got beat badly. Good basketball though. Dixie has been working almost every day in her sister-in-laws medical billing business. That means a few extra $$ for the kitty. On Friday, we got word from a representative at Dometic (our refrigerator maker) that the needed and much anticipated part is en-route to Rockport, Tx where our motorhome is located. Yeah!! The plan is to fly back to Rockport on Tuesday and get in their face in an effort to speed this process up. We hope to be on the road to So. California by late next week, a 1,500 mile trip. Also on Friday Dixie's aunt and uncle and cousin & husband came to Great Falls. We all attended the high school basketball game. Dixie's cousin's son was playing for Butte and another's cousin's son played for Great Falls CMR. It was fun to watch! Saturday, we saw the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War”. It was mildly entertaining. Today, Sunday, Dixie and I, along with her dad, looked at several houses and condo’s both older homes and new construction—it was open house day. New is much better and we saw a couple we liked. It’s now a matter of making up our minds when we want to make an offer on one of them. Ideally, Great Falls would be a summer type home. In the winter we would head south to warmer climates. We’re still in the thinking phase!

Mike & Dixie.....Christmas 2007

The Hamilton Family (including Teague's and Humphrey's).....Christmas 2007

The End of 2007!

Dec 29 – 31, Sat-Mon ... It’s cold at the farm with night time temps in single digits and day temps in the twenty’s. There’s a little snow on the ground but not enough to do any winter stuff such as snowmobiling or cross-country skiing. Dixie did more work for Fran in the medical billing business while Mike read a good book and surfed the net. We also spent a lot of quality time with Dixie’s sister’s family and kids as well as her brother and daughter from Palm Springs. On Monday, we returned to Great Falls to close out the year 2007 by watching the ball drop ... in NYC ... which is 10:00 p.m. in Montana, plenty late for us “older” folks. On to another new year!

The nephews, Levi, Shay & Tyler and neice, Lexi on Christmas Day

Lexi and Shay busy with the computer!!!!

Merry Christmas from Montana!

Dec 24 – 28, Mon – Fri ... On Christmas Eve, most of the family attended a candle light church service. Dixie’s sister, husband and three boys drove to Great Falls from Hogeland for Christmas. We had dinner at Dixie’s mom and dads that evening. Dixie’s brother, Danny, was scheduled to arrive on a flight from Palm Springs but it was delayed due to a mechanical issue with the plane. He and his daughter made it to Salt Lake City where they overnighted and caught a flight to Great Falls on Tuesday morning. On Christmas day, Doug and Fran had everyone over to their place for dinner. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time with family and especially the kids. As a Christmas gift, Doug and Fran gave the two oldest nephews a trip to Disneyland in January. Before they were told of it, however, they had to solve several scavenger “clues”. Once they did that, they learned of the trip. They were very excited because neither of them has ever flown on a commercial jet. On Thursday, Dixie spent most of the day working on medical billing claims. This is a job she is being trained to do by her sister-in-law, Fran, who has a home business doing this service. On Friday we headed back to the ‘farm’ to spend a few more days.

Dec 17 – 23, Mon – Sun ... “The farm” is located in and around Hogeland, MT, a small farming community in North-Central Montana about 12 miles from the Canadian border and province of Saskatchewan. On Monday, we drove with Dixie’s parents the 175 miles from Great Falls. We had a great time visiting with Dixie’s sister and family (we attended a wonderful school Christmas program of their 10 year old son) as well as her brother and sister-in-law. The weather cooperated too; it was cool but sunny most of the time. Back in Great Falls on Friday, Mike called the Dometic Corp yet again. He spoke with a Customer Service manager in an effort to get them to come up with a better solution to our refrigerator dilemma. Unfortunately, the news was not good. Although the part is in the states, all Dometic distribution centers are closed until January 2nd. This means that the part can’t be in Rockport until about January 7th so more changes to the Western itinerary are forthcoming. We’ll likely stay in Great Falls until about the 4th or 5th of January rather than go back to a motorhome with no working refrigerator. We’ll deal with it while spending some quality time with family. On Friday, we drove in and around Great Falls with Doug and Fran, looking at some townhouses and condos. We’re not all that serious about buying right now, just seeing what’s out there.