Ricky’s Wash & Wax … by Brandon

Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama
Temps: Lo 34F / Hi 52F (1C / 11C)

After a night of heavy rain, we thankfully had a day of sunshine and blue skies for the wash and wax Mui had booked for the Phaeton.

Warmer temps would have been appreciated — especially by Brandon — but Mother Nature was being a little stingy in that respect. Adding insult to injury was the breeze that cut through our layers and kept us chilled the entire day. Oh well; at least it was dry!

Ricky Johnson’s wash and wax service is in his side yard.

Mui has always done the washing and waxing of the coach himself, but while in Red Bay he wanted to get a ‘spa treatment’ booked for the Phaeton. There are a couple of guys who provide such services; he opted to book with Ricky Johnson, a Tiffin employee who has his own detailing business.

Since our appointment was on a weekday, Ricky’s associate — Brandon — provided the services today. He came by our site at Camp Tiffin shortly before 8:00a and escorted us approx. 10 miles (16 km) on Hwy 24E to Ricky’s house. Hooking us up to a 50A pedestal, he went to work outside with Mui looking on. I opted to stay inside where a surprisingly strong internet signal gave me a chance to catch up on my blog reading. I even surprised Mui — not to mention myself — by taking a nap ;-)

Brandon worked on the Phaeton for a good six hours. He washed, he dried, he waxed — with Mother’s California Gold — and he buffed. All by hand. He also cleaned the windshield and windows, using a streak-free product called Invisible Glass that lived up to its promise. After all that, I don’t know how he had the energy to take on another rig, but he did … he gave Maria and Nigel’s Open Road the same treatment this afternoon.

Time to buff out the wax for a …

… beautiful shiny finish!

We would definite recommend Ricky’s detailing services; you can reach him at 256-668-0211.

We returned to Camp Tiffin, carefully negotiating the water-filled potholes on the old airport runway that serves as the campground. We didn’t get settled in, however, as we had plans to take the Phaeton back out at the end of the workday to get her weighed at the Sunshine Mills pet food plant.

Located on the corner of Hwy 24 and CR3 (aka 4th St SW), the plant has a weigh scale for its trucks. Nigel had found out that we could use the scales as long as we did not interfere with the trucks. So off we went. Because there was plenty of space to maneuver, we were able to do a rough four-corner weigh-in. We remain underweight, with the weight fairly evenly distributed … we plan to keep it that way.

The scales are to the right of the building on the left.

We’ll be leaving Camp Tiffin tomorrow. Our first stop will be a return visit to Bay Diesel before taking the coach to Brannon Hutcheson’s shop for an overnight stay. With a 7:00a appointment at Bay Diesel, we checked out of the campground today. Because so much of our time here was for recall items, Wade Humphries (service center director) gave us a 50% discount off the $20/night rate at the campground. Plus, we got a free night for doing the factory tour. Goody!

When Mui returned from the office after checking out, he mentioned that all 93 of the FHU sites here at Camp Tiffin are filled; they’re starting to put people in the overflow area. Time for us to move out and make room for someone else.

P.S. Mui stopped off at Lowe’s in Montgomery and picked up a couple of bottles of the Invisible Glass that Brandon used on the windows. Our mirrors have never been so sparkly. Two thumbs up.