Saturday September 24th 2016

The temperature is in the high 90s during the day here in Red Bay Alabama. Today is my first full day of waiting for service at the Tiffin Service Area Campground. I stayed at home all day and got a few things done around the motorhome.

This is an interesting place. All the people here for service seem to have a very positive attitude. For some people it is an annual pilgrimage. It’s not that the service can’t be done at other locations across the country. The attraction here is the simplicity and quality of the service. At other places you have to make appointments well in advance, then often wait for parts and leave with unsatisfactory results. Here, you can’t make reservations, the technicians are well qualified and most parts are on site. It is worth the effort to come to this rural section of northwest Alabama.

The town of Red Bay has a population of around 3,500 people. The Tiffin Motorhome Company and supporting service companies dominate the town. The large influx of people to get service also feed the local economy. There are signs and other advertisements for many different local businesses all around the service center campground. Almost all of the ads are for small business, not chain stores. There is a McDonalds and a CVS, but the nearest Walmart or other big box stores are 20 to 30 miles away.

Over the air television is also sparse. I can get a PBS station and occasionally a CW station. Luckily the wide open parking area I’m staying in has a clear satellite shot. I’ve got all of my Directv stations. Those have kept me company all day. I need to find a local radio station for the weather, but that seems to be a non issue for a few days.

Map of the Tiffin Service Center Campground and service bays.

I’ve met a number of my fellow campers. Most conversations seem to start with “What are you in for?”, “How long have you been waiting?” or “Is this your first time here?”. Some people have very serious issues like broke slide out rooms, but others are here for simple things like a broken cabinet door hinge. My list is somewhere in between those extremes.

The campground has a very nice and inexpensive laundry. I got caught up on my laundry tasks. It was only a dollar per load of washing and seventy five cents for the dryer. I should try to find what else needs to be washed before I leave.