We made it to Oklahoma and checked in at the Tinker AFB
FamCamp. We have many fond memories of
the FamCamp at Tinker and often say, “This is where it all started.” In 1996 we were stationed at Tinker AFB and
took our 3-year-old son on a bike ride around base where we stopped at the base
lake near the FamCamp. We had been
thinking about a pop-up camper and we saw a fellow near a nice Coleman
unit. I had no idea that Jim Bury would
become a life-long friend. We talked about
the pop-up and some of the things he did to make it an easy set-up and tear
down. Within a couple months we
purchased our first RV, a 1993 Coleman Sequoia pop-up. That was a great unit to enjoy with a young
family on a budget. We could take short
vacations in comfort and at a reasonable cost.
While in OKC, OK, we had the AquaHot serviced and they found
two of the four pumps were bad. AquaHot
honored their 2-year warranty (the unit had been installed just before we
bought it) and they replaced the pumps.
Now we have heat, sort of. It
tends to turn itself off when it gets tired in the middle of the night. We will need to keep an eye on it and
schedule service again.
We were able to connect with some friends in OKC, OK. My friend Mike owns Custom 4X4 Fabrication
and we have designed several Jeep products together over the years. I mentioned to him that I was concerned about
bending the tow bar brackets on the front of my Jeep when I go off-road. This is probably not a concern for most
people; but if you go off-road, it would not take much of a hit to tweak the
brackets enough to prevent hooking up a tow bar. Mike came up with an elegant skid plate
design that can be quickly attached/detached as needed. In a few hours he made the prototype and I
later painted them to match the bumper.
They look good and will protect the attachment points.
We also visited Ed Wright who I served with in the USAF, Ed
has a beautiful home in OKC and he invited us over for grilled steaks and
football. It was good to see him and
discuss the latest happenings in the USAF.
We departed OKC and spent one night just west of Memphis at
a roadside campground before arriving in Tuscaloosa, AL. My mom and sister live in Tuscaloosa and
there is a campground about two miles from mom’s house. We were able to spend Thanksgiving with her
and my sister’s family. I was able to
help with some chores for mom and we watched the Auburn vs Alabama game
together. It didn’t end the way we would
have liked, but Auburn gave it a good try.
We left Tuscaloosa and headed to Auburn, AL just as the
football crowd thinned out and were able to score a great campsite right on a
little creek and spent a week visiting our sons and completing our annual
doctor’s appointments. We figure
December is a good time to do it as we will probably be back in this area for
the holidays each year. Of course, we
fed our college student sons and their friends a few times and somehow got
suckered in to helping them cleanup around their house. I thought I was finished with this yard work
when we hit the road!
Our next stop will be Birmingham, AL at the Cummins Service
Center to get The Bus’ oil changed. From
there we plan to go by Red Bay, AL and let the technicians at Tiffin’s service
center look at our AquaHot system. Until
then, thanks for following us at keepingupwiththejonesrv.
RV Tip: Buy a couple
foam yoga mat squares and keep one in a lower bay on each side. It really helps when you get on your knees
digging around the storage bays or working on systems below the floor.
