We Made It

Our first casino camp experience. At the Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie, Pennsylvania.

After being stranded for almost six weeks, the awning was finally replaced and we left the dealer in Barrie, Ontario yesterday at 4:15pm and arrived at the Casino parking lot around 9:30pm.

Difficult driving conditions for the most part. Heavy rains and heavy traffic all the way down to the Canada – U.S. border.

Despite all my preparation for the border crossing including investment statements, banking statements, utility bills, travel history, inventory of valuables, travel insurance policies, heck even the dog’s medical history, the U.S. customs officer simply took our Nexus cards, asked us how long we were going to be in the U.S. and whether we had anything to declare. Oh, and could I give him the license plate of our toad.

We are now at the Stonewall Jackson State Park, having logged another day of driving. Much easier drive today. No rain and no eye strain. Man is it hard to drive at night with torrential downpours. I could barely make out the lane markings.

The drive itself was uneventful although we did track a few dozen miles with another Class A from Ontario. They were quite enthusiastic and waved energetically as they finally elected to pass us on I-79.

Tomorrow we land at the beautiful Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort in North Carolina where we will be spending a couple of days to get ready for the next leg of the southward trip.

By the way, I found out more about the awning issue that has plagued our motorhome. It seems to be a widespread issue. I’ll post more on the issue in the next few days.

In the meantime, if you are driving a recent model Newmar, you may want to unplug the 110V lines to your Girard awnings while you are traveling in your coach.

Even though we have received a new controller and awning assembly, I think the problem is potentially so severe and widespread that Newmar should do a product recall.

Until then, we are driving with the Girard awnings unplugged.

Better safe than sorry.