Tuesday 4-3

T his was the day that the service center opened for the first time. Kevin had a possible conflict in his schedule. We both wanted to get our RVs serviced while here in Oklahoma City. The service center was to open at 8:30 and Kevin had a class that would start at 8:30. This was the opening day for the Blue Bird donut bus, so we headed over that way. The serving of donuts, coffee and hot chocolate began at 7:00. We grabbed our continental breakfast and our complimentary "USA Today" newspaper.

A good place to start the day The Blue Bird donut and hot drink motorcoach

To be sure we were able to get to the front of the service line we went directly to the service center. We arrived at about 7:30 with no line formed yet. Kevin and I found our way to the Dometic booth to get our motorhome refrigerators repaired. Tina went on the National RV booth to get their motorhome serviced. We all were at the head of a non-existent line. Kevin found a folding chair to take a load off his feet while he waited and took this opportunity to read the newspaper.

It was about 15 to 20 minutes before people began to arrive and get set up in the service booths. We were in luck, the Dometic representatives began to make appointments before the normal opening time. Shortly after 8:00 we were both set up with a scheduled service visit This was almost a half an hour before the booths were supposed to open. This allowed Kevin and Kay to take off to go to their oil painting class where they would arrive right on time.

After Tina finished getting service scheduled for her motorhome, she and I went over to check out the concessions. Tina had a short list of accessories she wanted to find. In my case, I was looking for something I couldn’t do without that I didn’t know I needed. I did find a booth I wanted to find again.

For three years I’ve tried to buy a hat made in Australia. The first time I saw this particular brand of hat was at the FMCA convention in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1998. At that time there was only one hat that would fit me, but it was a shade of green that I didn’t like. At the FMCA convention in Pomona, California the same guy was there with the same brand of hats, none of which would fit. So, I was hoping that the third time would be a charm. Nope, again there was only one hat that would fit and it was a tan color. The color of hat I’ve always wanted was light gray. Again I would have to leave without a new hat. I think I’ve now lost interest.

The hat is the right size, but not the color I want — Photo by Tina

I found a booth for a tire company that sold motorhome tires. I told the tire representatives my story about not being able to find tires of the correct load range for my motorhome. I was assured that they would be able to find a nearby tire dealer in Oklahoma City that would have the tires I needed. I was told I could have the tires delivered to the fairgrounds and the tires would be mounted on my motorhome without having to move it from our campsite. Then all I would have to do is stop by the tire store on my way out of town to have the tires balanced.

One of the people in the booth got on the phone to call a tire dealer close to the fairgrounds. They had bad news for me, it seems that the United Parcel Service (UPS) had replaced the tires on a lot of there delivery trucks the previous week. As luck would have it, the UPS trucks used tires of the same size and load range as our motorhome. As a result, there were no tires in town that were the correct load range. Also, a new shipment of tires would not arrive in town until the next week, too late for us. Oh well, it seems I’ve heard this story before.

So, I was asked were I would be going from the show. When I told where we were heading after the show, I was given a phone number to call to find a tire store in Wichita. Later I would call the number and select a tire dealer that was near where Kay’s parents live. I called the dealer and he said he had two tires which he would set aside for me. He didn’t ask for my name when he asked what would be a good time for me to come in. I made an appointment for 10 o’clock Friday morning.

We continued up and down isle after isle to view all the RV stuff a person could ever want. There was enough for us to see that we were able to use up the time equal to the duration of the painting class that Kevin and Kay were attending. Tina and I decided to head over to see how Kay and Kevin were doing.

Artists putting the finishing touches on their paintings

An art critic looks over Kevin's masterpiece

We arrived at the classroom shortly before the class was finished. Kay and Kevin were busy applying the finishing touches on their respective paintings. It seems that at the beginning of the class, the instructor asked a sports oriented question. Kevin was the first to answer the question correctly. For his answer, Kevin won the painting being done by the instructor. Tina and I had arrived in time to see the instructor sign his painting and present it to Kevin.

Kevin is presented with his prize

When the oil painting class was over we all went back to the concessions building. It would be Kay’s first chance to look around the concessions. Close to the entrance we used to enter the building was a booth selling microwave cooking utensils that we saw being used in a microwave cooking class. We looked over the selection of clever devices made just for microwave ovens. We bought an egg cooker that had been demonstrated in the class.

Kay and I became separated from Kevin and Tina as lunch time approached. So, I wanted to try something I’d heard from our friend Archie. We found our way to the onion-burger trailer. I ordered two onion-burgers with drinks and a single order of curly fries. One order of curly fries was fairly large.

While I was waiting for our order I had an opportunity to watch curly fries being made. The process used a special cutting device mounted on the end of a long shaft chucked in an electric drill motor. The cutting device was pushed against a whole potato and the drill trigger was pulled for only 2 or 3 seconds. The process was so fast that it looked as if the potato exploded into a pile of curly fries. The resulting wad of raw potatoes was then tossed into a deep fryer filled with hot vegetable oil.

Nearby, in the cramped cooking quarters, a heap of sliced onions were being cooked on a big flat grill. As the onions cooked they would be flipped and turned several times. In the process the grilled onions would be moved along until they were cooked to a nice brown color.

A large quantity of cooked onions were then taken off the grill with tongs to be piled high on a grilled hamburger patty. Another onion-burger was ready for consumption. More raw onion slices were added to the pile on one side of the grill right after the cooked onions were removed. There was a continuous production line of grilled onions. The aroma drifting from the trailer was great.

After our culinary adventure Kay and I made our way back to our motorhome for a pit stop. We were unable to rest for very long because we had an appointment to take a motorhome for a test drive. So off we went to the Monaco display lot where we found Tucker waiting for us.

Tucker took us over to a booth where Kay and I both had to sign waivers that released the Oklahoma State Police of any responsibility during our test drive. After signing the papers Tucker introduced us to the Monaco company representative who would be taking us for a ride. Our driver was a young woman named Sarah. She took us to the motorhome parking lot with a golf cart. She took us to a Knight model motorhome that was 30 feet long. I wanted to drive a longer Knight, but this was the only one available at the time.

Sarah is showing me where the controls are located

Once in the motorhome, Sara drove us over to the Oklahoma State Trooper driver training track. As it turned out Monaco had the exclusive use of the test track during the FMCA convention. That was the reason for signing the waivers earlier. Sara put the motorhome through its paces. She made that RV do things I wouldn’t try with my car. Sara did a very good job of demonstrating the abilities of the motorcoach. This demo also gave me more confidence that I would be able to handle the coach easily.

A happy camper at the wheel

Sara turned over the driver’s seat to me and showed me how to set up the cockpit. Now it was my turn to drive around the track. I found that I was able to make it around the whole track a lot easier than I expected. I was especially impressed with the motorhome’s ability to maneuver through a slalom. When I completed my trip around the track, Kay took over the driver position. She had a fun time driving us around the track for a third time.

After completing another trip around the track Sara asked if I would like to take it back to the storage lot. Of course I jumped at the chance. Kay and I were both impressed with how nice the Monaco Knight handled and the ride was comfortable. After returning to the Monaco display area we talked for a while with Tucker.

We had a nice area for outdoor meals

A nice place for an after dinner visit — Photo by Tina

It was time to head back to our campsite to prepare for dinner. We would be barbecuing and eating outdoors. Once back in camp, I set up our barbecue and started a fire. There was no rush on this evening as we would not be going to the arena. The entertainment was provided by the Tulsa Philharmonic. We would miss the performance. All four of us took the opportunity to rest and relax in the balmy evening air. I really enjoyed our visit and talking about our activities during the day. This also gave us a chance to plan for the next day which was going to be very busy. Our chat session was a nice way to end another day.