After Kathy spent months researching what our new home on wheels would be, we finally settled on what we think will be the perfect coach for us. This story begins on September 4th, 2010 when we took the trip to Stoltzfus RV to make the deal to purchase our Tiffin Allegro RED QBA38. We liked the RED because of the layout. Most important to me since I am still working, is that I need a place to work where I can make work phone calls and not disturb others. The QBA38 had an area for bunk beds, so the plan was to remove the bunk beds, and turn that area into my office. There are doors that can be closed to seperate that area from the rest of the coach so it was the perfect choice for that. Also since it was a Rear Engine Diesel, and on a raised rail chassis, the basement storage area was huge. If we are going to be on the road for months at a time, having a decent storage area was important.
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| our first glimpse |
On October 10th, we made the trip to Red Bay Alabama to see our new coach on the assembly line. They let you see three days of your coach on the line where it comes in as a chassis and engine, and leaves for the paint shop almost fully built. We missed the first two days because of the Schutzhund trial for Gus's BH (we passed, yay!!). So we were there for the third day on Monday, and stayed on Tuesday to get the full tour of the plant and see what we missed with our coach by not being there the first two days. It was very exciting, and a lot of fun. They let you walk around, getting in the way, asking questions, and not a soul even hinted that we were doing anything wrong or getting in the way. In fact they continually asked us if everything was ok, and was there any questions or concerns that we had that they could take care of. Getting there was another story. We left Newark airport and headed for our connecting flight in Charlotte North Carolina. When we got there we were told that our flight to Huntsville Alabama was cancelled, and that we would have to fly to Reagan National airport to get another flight to Huntsville. Then, that flight was delayed for three hours. We finally got in to Huntsville and picked up our rental to head for Red Bay. We arrived finally at the bed and breakfast we reserved and crashed from exhaustion, and to get up bright and early the next morning to see our new coach on the line.
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| waiting for under coating |
We took video of our time there so that we could refer back later to verify what we heard and saw. Here is a picture of the new coach coming off the line so that it could go to the bay were they do the under coating. At this point it was close to being done on the line. It would go back for a few hours the next day before going off to the paint shop a few miles down the road. We could have stayed for that, but you know the quote about watching paint dry and all that.
On October 22nd, 2010 Kathy and I made the trip to Stoltzfus RV to pick up the Durango after getting its modifications so it can be towed. We also had them add the braking system. We got the SRI Air Force I which is a unit installed into the engine compartment and ties into the car's hydraulic braking system. I liked it because there was nothing to disassemble each time you want to drive the toad. Just disconnect the hitch and go. It also is keyed to trigger the brakes proportially by signals from the air brakes on the coach, not on sudden deceleration. While I was settling the bill in Service, our salesman Frank asked Kathy to accompany him outside, and that he wanted to show her something. It just so happened that our new coach just came in from Red Bay Alabama that day, and that Frank didn't get the time yet to call us at home to tell us. He was surprised that we were there that day coincidentally. This is the first time we saw her painted and got the chance to actually walk through her before we took ownership. The following week on October 29th we came back to finalize the paperwork and bring the new coach home.
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