Since Oma was not visiting with us, we decided to make a change in plans and we rolled in our awnings and headed up I-75 on Saturday, March 30th heading for northwest Alabama to see the Tiffin motorhome factory where our motorhome was made. The only problem was we happen to hit I-75 with thousands of other folks who were exiting Florida after spring break and the end of March when most RV snowbirds head north. It was a parking lot moving at 5 to 15 MPH! Doug got on the CB and the truckers and southbound motorhomes were telling us it was like this since they left Atlanta, 6 hours away! We decided to take some back roads so we headed up the west coast. Even those roads were slow and we got as far as Albany, GA for the night. The next day we pulled in to the Tiffin Campground at the factory in Red Bay only to find that many of the snowbirds make the factory service facility there spring and fall stops for maintenance on their motorhomes on their way south or north. It is a first come, first serve service department so we got our names on the list and then proceeded to enjoy a few days of down time getting to know the area, the other owners (there were over a hundred of us in the campground), and touring the factory. We met a fun Christian couple (who beat us playing dominos several times) from New York who had spent 6 months last year in Alaska. Their stories made us want to forget everything and head north! Met another couple from IL who both retired early from the FBI. He was an agent. She was in data processing. Too much stress. They had lots of good stories to share. We toured the factory and saw how they put the motorhomes together. The first photo here shows a chassis starting on its journey down the assembly line. The second photo shows the walls be built. The third photo is a front end cap and the fourth photo is a fiberglass roof about to lifter to the top of a coach. The week went by fast and soon we rolled in the patio and awnings and headed to Charlotte, NC.
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