Pittsburgh, PA to Elkhart, IN

Well, sorry to say we need to go back to Elkhart, Indiana for more repairs to the RV. We have had trouble with our awning since we purchased our RV in February, 2008. Last summer, we had a new awning installed because the original one had pin holes along one side. The dealer installed the new one, but couldn't get the adjustment correct and it never quite retracted all the way on one side. While in Pennsylvania on this trip we were retracting the awning, it was about six inches from being inside the awning box when we heard a loud snap. It was obviously broken. So, we continued to push it into the box as we did not want to be in a position to have the awning out and be stuck there. Thus, we called the factory, and they told us to bring it right in. Pittsburgh to Elkhart was only about a four hour drive. We arrived in Elkhart and it rained and rained....5 inches in one day! Oh, do we wish we could have sent all that water back to Lake Nacimiento. After dropping the RV off at its birthplace (Phoenix USA factory), we drove our truck to South Bend, Indiana and took a tour of the Studebaker National Museum. South Bend was the main factory location for Studebaker for most of its history. Studebaker's history goes back to the 1830's when they made covered wagons and horse drawn carriages. In the early 1900's they began to make automobiles until the company's demise in 1966. In the gift shop, we saw a rather humorous bumper sticker, "Bailout Studebaker!" Photos of the collection of carriages and automobiles tracing the entire history of the company are to the right. They include the oldest Studebaker still in existence, a carriage built in 1856. Also, a Conestoga Wagon from the 1850's, a silver lined carriage (not a Studebaker), built for the Marquis de Lafayette for his 1822 visit to the USA at the invitation of President Monroe. Also, a carriage belonging to President Abraham Lincoln during his presidency. In addition, we have included photos of several Studebaker automobiles. One of them is the 1950 Studebaker Commander (the red one with the "bullet nose.") Next to it was a plague indicating it was donated by the estate of...then the name of the donor. Steve was shocked to see the name, because it was a friend of his from the mid-1970's when Steve attended law school. Steve had not seen him in 30 years, and did not know he was deceased. The last picture is one of the remaining structures from the Studebaker factory. Back in Elkhart we learned that new parts to the awning had to be ordered from the awning manufacturer. It's unclear at this writing when the parts will arrive, so we have decided to take a drive in the RV up to Michigan and wait for Phoenix USA to call us when the parts arrive.