NO SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THE COACH, GREAT FACTORY TOUR, & WE’LL HAVE THE BIG WHEELS ROLLING IN THE MORNING

OUR AFTERNOON FACTORY TOUR

Winds picked up in the night setting Kelly’s bedroom slide awning to a flappin.  It went on all night disrupting her sleep.  Mine as well but being out in the living room it wasn’t as annoying.  A steady cold wind blowing as I took Pheebe out around 6.  Could see stars again & that was encouraging to know we might have sunny skies to start another day on the windswept Canadian Prairies.

THE RIG HEADS INTO THE SHOP THIS MORNING ABOUT 10:30

We had received an email awhile back from a blog reader living in Winkler & this morning we met Jake & Anne Wiebe at McDonald’s for a quick coffee.  Nice folks who have a 40’ Dutch Star diesel pusher.  Jake’s been reading our blog for a couple years now.  Had us a nice chat before we had to scurry back across the road to Triple E.  Soon as we got arrived they were ready for the rig so we quickly hauled in the slides & disconnected water & electric.  A fellow came out & drove it around the building into the shop.  Rig was inside for 2.5 hours.  We waited in the waiting room while Pheebs waited in the Jeep.  We slipped out to take her for a couple walks. 

JAKE & ANNE….I’M THE GRUBBY LOOKING GUY IN THE MIDDLE

Rig was driven back out of the shop & parked back in the customer service spot about 1 o’clock.  Nothing serious.  No problems found with the fresh water tank fiasco.  They filled the tank & re-calibrated it.  Furnace problem turned out to be a pinched wire.  A few other systems were checked out, questions answered, & we were shown a few things on the rig.  Total bill was $92 & we are good to go.  But not too far.  Had a factory tour at 2 p.m. so we decided to spend one more night in Winkler with water & electric before heading out in the morning.

HANGING OUT IN TRIPLE E’S CUSTOMER SERVICE WAITING ROOM…KELLY’S ON THE COMPUTER IN THE CORNER

Our 1 hour factory tour began at 2 o’clock & went to 4:30.  Only 1 other couple on the tour besides us & that made it especially nice.  A fellow by the name of Mark Ratzlaff conducted the tour & did an excellent job.  Answered all our questions & took extra time to explain everything.  I have too many photos of the factory tour so will space them out over the next couple days.  For the finished product of what we were seeing under construction today click on this link….LEISURE TRAVEL VANS.   Had some auto focus problems with my camera today so you will notice some photos will appear a bit fuzzy

A VAN BEING PREPPED FOR THE PAINT SHOP

 

AND THE STRIPES ARE PAINTED ON NOT PASTED ON

First thing noticeable was how clean everything was & the second thing we noticed was the attention paid to quality & detail & that we think comes from the many Mennonite folks & women working in the plant.  I think around 250 employees. 

A VAN ROOF TAKES SHAPE

LEISURE WAY DOES ALL THEIR OWN SEAT UPHOLSTERING…EACH VAN MODEL HAS IT’S OWN SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED HOLDING TANKS

We were told so much information on this tour today that I’m lucky if I can remember half of one per cent of it.  All Leisure Travel vans being built at the moment are customer orders with delivery dates backlogged to next summer.  Eighty per cent of their units go to the States with the other twenty per cent being sold in Canada.  Quality is evident everywhere as we were shown how wood joints went together, fiberglass molds were built, wood & metal framing etc. etc..  Never saw one sliver of particle or pressboard in the whole place.  Metal parts are laser cut for accuracy.  Mercedes Benz chassis with 6 cyl diesel engines have about the best gas mileage in the industry.  And the decorative stripes on the outside are painted on & not stuck on like most RV’s.

LOOKING DOWN ON THE SHOP FLOOR

 

MARK POINTS OUT HOW THEY ALTER & STRENGTHEN THE MERCEDES FRAME

We were told an Italian woodworking designer has been brought in from Italy & Triple E Leisure Travels Vans are excited about some new ideas & revolutionary designs builds coming up.  After what we saw at the plant this afternoon would we ever consider buying one of their Leisure Travel Vans??  Darn right we would but it’s not likely we will.  First, we could not afford a new one & second it just simply comes down to space for us.  As readers know we did try to live in the smaller space of a couple Class C’s & it just didn’t work for us.  But, that’s just us.  Guess we’re just space hogs.

FRAMEWORK FOR THE FLOOR

 

THE FULLY UNDERCOATED BOTTOM SIDE OF THE VAN WHICH FITS ONTO THE CHASSIS FRAME

We will dump our gray & black water tanks in the morning over at the community Park, hook up the Jeep & hit the road.  Westward-Ho.  Next stop Brandon Manitoba to meet probably our longest blog follower.  Seven years these folks have been reading my posts & Don has often sent us suggestions & helpful solutions & ideas to different RVing problems we have had

THIS FELLOW IS SPRAYING FIBERGLASS INTO A MOLD

  

DON’T THINK I WOULD CARE TO WORK IN THE FIBERGLASS SHOP…TOO SMELLY

LEISURE WAY MAKES ALL THEIR OWN FIBERGLASS MOLDS…VERY LITTLE IS SOURCED OUT IN THE BUILDING OF THESE VANS & THAT WAY QUALITY CONTROL IS EASIER TO CONTROL

REAR VAN CAPS CAN BE SEEN STACKED ON A CART HERE

And Ivan sent us this little ditty about the Corner Gas movie coming up.  And ‘no’ the main set didn’t burn down.  It was just one of the small buildings in the town of Roleau Saskatchewan that was occasionally used for a few location shoots.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( I took four tires to a friend’s garage sale and was asking $30 apiece. I needed to leave for a few minutes, so I asked him to watch them for me.
"Sure," he said, "but if someone offers less, how low are you willing to go?"  "Try for more, but I will accept $15," I said, and left.  When I returned, my tires were gone. "How much did you get for them?" I asked excitedly.  "Fifteen dollars each."  "Who bought them?"  "I did!"

A LONG DAY WITH A LOT OF READING & A LOT OF MUSIC LISTENING…..WE ARE SOOOO READY TO MOVE ON

GUESS THIS KINDA SUMS UP OUR SUNDAY

I was heartened to see a starry sky when I had Pheebs out about 5:30 this morning.  Soon as old Sol broached the horizon we had our big windshield curtains open to let his warming beams flood into our coach.  Sat on our reclining couch reading with the warmth of the sun on my outstretched legs.  Thought to myself, ‘I’m just going to sit right here all day’.  I didn’t.

<<< AN ONTARIO REST STOP AREA FLOWER

One small half eaten cold piece of pizza remained from Saturday so I ate it & washed it down with a nice hot bowl of oatmeal.  Traffic on highway 32 had quieted right down.  It was Sunday morning in a small town.  We are actually on a service road about a hundred yards from the highway.  With nothing much to do Kelly pulled out the rigs manuals & we began discovering some additional features on our rig we didn’t know we had or if we did know we had forgotten about them.  Heating our hot water tank without propane while driving was one of them.  Can also heat the rear of the coach while driving & discovered a dash switch that allows radio to be played when the engine is off.  No need to switch the key to auxiliary.  We have quite a list of questions compiled for the folks here at Triple E when we get in the service bay Monday.  All things being maybe equal we may even leave here a snort smarter than when we got here.  But then there’s that age related memory lapse thing now.  Darn!!

KIND OF A SLEEPY DAY AROUND OUR HOUSE TODAY

It was 10:30 before we all piled out of the rig for our morning walk.  If not for the wind we could have had a nice day but that biting cold prairie wind just went right through us.  Maybe folks out here say, ‘ya but it’s a dry cold wind’.  Dry or damp cold is what cold is.  Period.  I’ll be glad when I can once again start my complaining about it being too hot.  I only did half our walk & turned back.  Kelly & Pheebs went all the way around the long windy block.  Heartily hardy travelers they are.  On the flip side, with today’s big bright Sun shining through our windows it was so nice & toasty in the rig all day.  We was whoppingly warm:))

WHAT A TREAT IT IS HAVING CENTRAL VAC

Let’s see if I can clear up a little bit of confusion regarding our coaches heating problem.  We have 2 furnaces, one for the front of the coach & one for the back.  Rear furnace works fine but the front furnace will only blow cold air at the moment.  Could be a simple thermostat problem or maybe something needs a part replaced.  In our Damon we never used the rig’s furnace because we had a Legacy Blue Flame heater installed in Quartzsite back in 08.  Much more efficient than an RV’s furnace.  Used that Blue Flame heater while boondocking a lot in those earlier years.  We do have the thermostatically controlled Blue Flame heater with us but it is not plumbed into our propane.  We use it in our Congress house during the winters.  Not boondocking nearly as much as we once did so we’re not sure we want to go to the expense of having the Legacy Blue Flame installed in the Big EEE.  Our coach, built in Canada is very well insulated & we think we’ll be just fine with our duel furnaces for the shorter boondocking periods we are into now.

<<< JUST A COUPLE PARKING LOT LIGHTS IN DRYDEN ONTARIO A FEW NIGHT’S AGO

Have had a few emails coming in as of late inquiring about the camera/cameras I use.  I do have all that info on my side bar to the right down towards the bottom of the column but I will share my response to one reader who inquired about what kind of a camera to buy.  In part I said….."Equally as important as a good camera is a reasonably good photo editing program & I recommend Google's Picasa 3.9.  It's a free download & is the program I have used for years.  Probably the most user friendly photo editing program out there.  Many times what the eye sees cannot be accurately reproduced by even the best cameras & that is where a photo editing program comes in.  You can tweak the colors, contrast, saturation, & lighting as close to possible what your eyes saw in the first place.  Depending on your level of interest is the deciding factor what kind of camera to buy.  If seriously interested & creatively inclined settle for nothing less than a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera (DSLR)  Both Nikon & Canon make excellent DSLR's.  They are bigger & bulkier but it is all part of the overall picture quality.  If just a casual interest for a few pics now & then I would recommend any of the excellent Point & Shoot cameras.  Lots of makes & models to choose from.  One tip...if you do decide on a point & shoot camera make sure it has a 'viewfinder.'  Much easier to put the camera up to your eye to compose a photo than holding it out at arm's length on a bright sunny day squinting to see an image on the camera's screen.  I carry a point & shoot on my belt wherever I go & in Friday's post the photo of me in my yellow rain coat gassing up the rig was a selfie taken with my Canon SX210 point & shoot”.  This camera is the only one I have without a viewfinder & needless to say it is my least favorite.

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Despite our poor internet connection I have been able to get onto our own blogsite a few times.  Noticed we have a new blog follower.  We welcome LESLIE ALPEN to our travels.  You may need your winter coat right now Leslie but hang on, we’re headed for warmer weather shortly:))  And it seems someone has stolen SANDI' WHEATON'S small A-Frame pop-up trailer in Halifax Nova Scotia.  And no it is not our Jeep towing the stolen trailer in her picture…………:))

It has been my Kindle that has kept me from going bonkers these last couple days just sitting here in the rig.  My nose has been buried in it for hours at a time.  Takes me back to my book reading days of long ago.  I would get into a book & just stick with it until it was done then right into another book & another & another.  I’m already over half way through the nearly 800 pages of ‘Shakey’, Neil Young’s biography. 

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We have our fingers crossed everything goes well in the morning & we can maybe get back on the road sometime Monday afternoon.  Of course we are well aware how Murphy’s Law loves thwarting thoughts like that.  As you can imagine we are anxious to make fast tracks west to Roleau Saskatchewan where I hope to drop in to see the set of Corner Gas.  It won’t be a long stop, maybe only a few minutes or half an hour.  Just want to get some photos & maybe see the inside of ‘The Ruby & Gas Station’ where the majority of filming was done.  From there we will point the Big EEE’s nose south & make even more fast tracks for the border & on down to Custer South Dakota.  How long we stay there will depend on the weather.  I’m thinking we should be in Utah the week after this coming week.  Sooooo looking forward to warmer weather, deserts, mountains, canyons, forests, cactus & just about everything else the great South-West has to offer………………:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  When I go to casinos, the most ridiculous sign I see is the one that says: "If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER."  I thought about it for a moment and dialed the number. When they answered I said, "I have an ace and a six. The dealer has a seven. What do I do?"

CAMPED OUT IN WINKLER MANITOBA AT THE TRIPLE E LEISURE VAN MANUFACTURING PLANT….Brrrrrrrrr:((

ONLY PHOTOS I HAVE TODAY ARE FROM AROUND THE TRIPLE E RV MANUFACTURING PLANT

Slow internet connection where we are parked here at Triple E in Winkler Manitoba & for that reason was not able to finish publishing Friday’s post till Saturday morning.  Took over an hour.  It was cold & windy here at 36F first thing Saturday morning.  No TV channels.

THAT’S US ON THE RIGHT

 

MOST PHOTOS TAKEN THROUGH A CHAIN LINK FENCE

We are parked in Triple E’s customer service area with electric & water.  We carry a small ceramic heater with us so Pheebs & I were finally warm last night.  Thoroughly enjoyed a longer hot shower this morning as well.  Facing East it was nice to see & feel a big morning Sun streaming straight through our big windshield into our coach.  Despite the driving conditions Friday we sure are glad we made the decision to head on over to Winkler Manitoba from Kenora Ontario.

Feeling the need for a Pizza breakfast we all hopped in the Jeep & headed on over across the road to what appeared a fairly large mall.  Had seen a sign saying Dominos Pizza so that is where we ended up for breakfast.  Sitting in the Jeep eating Pizza……with the heater going full blast I may add.  A bit too much spicy sauce of the Pizza for us but darned if we didn’t just sit right there in the parking lot & eat most of whole darn thing.  Say did I mention how cold & windy it is again with the sun making only very rare appearances behind yet another cloud cover.   Actually there was some warmth in the sun & had it not been for the cold wind today I might have considered washing the Jeep.

I’M SURPRISED PHEEBS DIDN’T HAVE HER NOSE IN THIS PHOTO, SHE’S IN THE BACK SEAT

Decided to take a spin around town & quickly found out Winkler is much bigger than we had thought.  Very spread out across the flat prairie land.  Surprised at both the French & Mennonite influence here in these parts.  Guess some of us Ontarians simply don’t know a lot about our closest neighbor folks right next West of us.  Surprised at the bustling amount of traffic in Winkler.  The Mall we were in reminded me of a fast & furious game of ‘bumper cars’ going on.  Didn’t seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason for people coming & going to wherever it was they were going to or coming from.  In contrast to that we found a nice quiet community Park with RV parking for maybe a dozen or more rigs.  Water, electric, & sewer.  Big grassy area for pets as well.  Probably better internet & TV signals too.  I think our problem could be the big metal building we are tucked in beside.

  

LARGE EMPLOYEE PARKING LOT WITH ELECTRICAL POLES FOR WORKERS TO PLUG THEIR VEHICLES IN ON WHAT MUST BE SOME ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL TEMPS HERE IN THE WINTER

With no TV & exceptionally slow internet we had no choice but to turn to our reading devices & for me it was my Kindle.  Still reading the trials & tribulations of singer/songwriter Neil Young.  Sure gives a revealing look inside the lives of many popular singers, songwriters, & groups years ago.  As much as we all love the music of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young it is truly amazing any of that music was ever made in the first place.  As serene & peaceful as that group appeared it was rife with chaos, drugs, egos, & in fighting.  Especially the rampant drug scene.  Why more of those finely talented people never died from drugs back then who knows. 

I’M GUESSING OUR RIG WILL ROLL INTO ONE OF THESE LARGE BAY DOOR SOMETIME MONDAY MORNING

Not much more to write about today.  We just basically hung around in the rig where it was warm.  Just too cold & windy to step outside but we did manage to get Pheebs out for a few stretches when the sun was out.  Walked around the TRIPLE E complex.  A number of large buildings cover quite a few acres here.  Mercedes Benz chassis seems to be the cab of choice for their Leisure Vans.  Did see a couple Chevy vans.  Triple E stopped making the larger Class A coaches like ours in 2008/09 but thankfully will still service them. 

Winkler is located at the junction of highways 14 & 32 with Triple E on the West side of 32 about a block south of 14. Lots of traffic going by on #32 highway which runs south to the U.S. border.  The American border appears to be not that far away.  Winkler is South-East of Winnipeg.

 

OUR RIG IS ACTUALLY VISIBLE DEAD CENTER AT THE CORNER OF THE GREEN BUILDING

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The New York Times, among other papers, has published a new Hubble photograph of distant galaxies colliding. Of course, astronomers have had pictures of colliding galaxies for quite some time now, but with the vastly improved resolution provided by the Hubble Space Telescope, you can actually see the lawyers rushing to the scene.