Gaffney Getaway

Freightliner Chassis Service Center, Gaffney, SC May 25 – 30, 2016

It is our habit to schedule a thorough maintenance checkup for Big Guy at the beginning of every trip. This helps make sure the RV is in good shape and ready to travel so we can spend more time exploring and less time in a repair shop somewhere. Normally, I call 6 weeks ahead of the time I want to show up at the Freightliner Chassis Service Center (FCSC) to schedule an appointment.

But apparently I’ve been flapping my big mouth too much, telling everyone how great the service is and they ought to go there. I called on March 28 to set up a mid-May appointment only to be told there were no openings. And they could only squeeze us in for one day on May 27, even though we had almost two days of work we wanted done.

So, our plan was to show up on their doorstep a week early, look pitiful, and hope they could squeeze us in here and there between other appointments (Sometimes it works). That way, if we could get some of the minor stuff out of the way, they could finish us up on the 27th.

Things rarely ever go as planned as they had a cancelation on the 26th allowing us to have 2 consecutive days for service. This meant we no longer needed to show up early. It’s a good thing to keep your schedule flexible and just go with the flow. As it turns out, FCSC was able to wrap everything up on the first day.

We altered our schedule to arrive mid-afternoon on Wednesday, May 25th, so I could check-in and let them know we were here and ready for our appoinment. This way I could beat the Thursday morning crowd of old men lining up waiting for the doors to open to sign up for service. It worked out pretty good. But maybe I shouldn’t say anything since this place is already getting too popular.

As promised, the service tech was knocking at our door at 8AM. We had unpacked the car and under the bed stuff the night before. All we had left in the morning was to load Ms Mocha and her paraphernalia into the car for the day. It was pretty warm out so we kept the car’s air conditioner running most of the day to keep her comfortable. She’s not spoiled at all.

Glad to have the service out of the way, but the early release didn’t help much as it is was Memorial Day weekend, meaning our chances of getting into a campground somewhere were slim to none. So we asked and got permission to stay right here in the parking lot. Turns out, there were 4 other RVs in the same situation, so we just made a social event out of it.

There was even a camp kitty which everyone kept well fed. It was a feral cat, you could tell by the clipped ear. Our next door neighbors Michael and Heather took very god care of it and tried to find a it a home by making up flyers.

One day EJ and I wandered over to Spartanburg to check out the RJ Rockers brewery.

While it was was fun…

The brews we tried, Boy Scout Stout and Son of a Peach, were just so so. The Tap Room is a warehouse with bar stool type seating and you can see the bottom of the tanks in the above picture. There is no air conditioning so it will get quite warm in the summer.

After our mid-afternoon beer we consulted an Android app named “Around Me” to find a place where we could take a walk. About 2 miles from RJ Rockers was the Hatcher Garden Woodland Preserve. A perfect place to spend an hour strolling through the woods and burning up a few beer calories.

Much to EJ’s chagrin, a much advertised Gaffney Farmer’s Market failed to materialize. We saw several advertisements for it, but whenever we went it was never there, even though we arrived during the posted hours. The only thing that was there was a fried fish restaurant on wheels. It didn’t look like he was doing much business either. He was probably wondering where everyone else was.

On our last full day at FCSC we invited all the older motorhome owners (2004 to 2006) over for a cookout. Dale and Barbara, Jaye and Suzi, joined us and we cooked filet mignon, hamburgers and hot dogs. It was good sharing stories and comraderie. We also showed our colors for Memorial Day in honor of those who have served and are serving to protect our people and our country.

Next stop, North Carolina.