Retired! ... Officially.

Today we are officially retired. It is Mark's last day at Twin Cities Federal Bank. We are parked in the parking lot at TCF, Plymouth, while he fulfills his final day of saying goodbye, cleaning out his desk, and eating cake. The car dolly is across the street getting new tires.

This morning we showed off our new rig to my former coworkers at ACS Motion Control in Bloomington. All our goodbyes have been said and we are heading up to Joel & Beth's for the weekend (our very gracious nephew and niece).

We're as ready for traveling as we're going to be.

The living room slide seems to be cooperating for the most part. We're able to take it out and pull it in, sometimes with a little coaxing, sometimes without. Our RV expert (Tom) advised us to remove the grease off the slide rails immediately. It's like glue, he said. So, that will be one of Mark's task for tomorrow, along with installing the Dish Network satellite.

Eventually, we'll probably have to replace the slide motor, but we hope to be able to put it off until the spring. There's a place in Shreveport, LA, that specializes in Alfa motorhomes, and we'll be checking in with him on our way across the south, God willing.

The only major problem remaining is the air conditioner.

Two weeks ago, we hired Tom's Mobile RV Service to replace the AC. He ordered the "refurbished" unit and brought it out on Thursday to do the swap, only to discover-- after five hours of grueling labor taking out the old one --that the company had sent us the wrong unit. The outside case was identical, but the intake and exhaust ducting were in the wrong place. So now, Tom has to ship the refurbed unit back, along with our original AC unit, and the company will repair/rebuild and return our original unit - then Tom will install it. The question is:  WHEN?

It takes a week to ship to California, and a week to ship back. That leaves them one week to fix the unit. Can they do it? If not, Tom will be gone to his winter work location in Naples, FL, and we will be on the road to Spokane and parts southwest. The good news is-- it's winter, and our furnace works great. The "bad" news is-- we may need to plan a trip to Naples, FL. Things could be worse.

Next week we should know more about what to expect and how to plan.

In the meantime, have a safe and pleasant Labor Day weekend. May your last days of summer be warm and dry!