What Have We Been "Up" To?

     We left Red Bay and meandered our way back to Texas. After a short stop in Cleveland, we drove to San Antonio to meet some of the grandkids for a spring break adventure. We went to Sea World, The Alamo, the Children's Theater, and had fun in the campground. The kids had a great time. The weather was warm and sunny and we were enjoying Springtime. Naturally we thought that Spring would be making its way northward and, with that in mind, we headed up to Kansas to visit with friends and family and to get ready for our summer trek to Alaska. Unfortunately Mother Nature had different ideas! Winter just didn't go away! We were met with record cold and snowfall. We were supposed to start our trip north on April 22nd, but there were significant snowstorms in the northern Plains states and upper Rocky Mountain states so we had to delay a week. Finally, we see some break in the stranglehold and Spring is finally coming to the area.

     Anyway, on April 20th, our daughter, Amanda, had her big 30th birthday. She has always wanted to skydive so she decided that now was as good a time as any. A bunch of her family and co-workers got together and we trooped out to a local airstrip and signed up to jump.

     The plane is small so they only take up two tandem jumpers at a time. Since it was her birthday, Amanda got to go first and Barb went with her. Here they are all harnessed up and ready to board the plane.

     Cramming four people plus a pilot into a little plane is a work of art. Once you are airborne and preparing to jump, it is an interesting "dance" to get turned around and hooked up to your instructor. You then step out onto the skid plate above the wheel and let go!! It is a weird feeling to be squatted there, not holding on to anything, hanging 10,000 feet above the ground and being tethered to the instructor by four little clips (not really that little but that's all that hold you on to the parachute!). A count of 1..2..3 then you do a forward roll off the skid and begin a 30 second free-fall. You reach speed in excess of 150 mph before the parachute is deployed (that's faster than I drove a NASCAR car at the Kansas Speedway!!) and the canopy spreads out above you. You then float down, and can steer the chute to spiral down or see the sights as you descend. At about 1,000 feet, the instructor takes control of the chute and guides you to a safe landing at the airship.

Amanda floating down...

Barb just before landing...

Brad turning and lining up for final approach...

Belle running out to greet Mommy after her successful jump.

Brad and Jeremy after their landings

Shawn after landing...

   We really didn't have any scares during our jumps. Brad and Jeremy (Brad's son) passed through some ice crystals in the clouds which were a bit uncomfortable at 150+ mph but didn't last long. Shawn had the most adventure on his drop and wrote about it on his Facebook page. Here is the text written as only Shawn can do it...

Instructor Mike: Ready?
Me: Yup
*cram into small airplane like a sardine
*take off
*climbing...climbing...climbing
*become extremely close to Mike as he hooks me into his harness
Instructor Mike: Hey Shawn, have you ever been to prison?
Me: Nope
Instructor Mike: Well this will feel like a first then
Me: -__-
*Plane door opens
*step onto platform
*convince my hand to let go of plane, as Mike has "got" me
Instructor Mike: WE'RE GONNA DO A FRONT FLIP OFF THE PLANE!!
*lots of wind
Me: HUH?! WHAT DID YOU...
*get pushed out of plane
Me: HOLY SH******************T!!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH........HHHHHHHHHHHHHH....
(30 SECONDS LATER)...wOOOOOHHOOHHOOOOOOOHOOHHHOOO....
*chute opens
Me: (inner monologue) oh my tenders!
Instructor Mike: Oh good. The chute opened.
Me: -__-
Me: Hey Mike, why is that corner of the chute flapping and the other one isn't??
Instructor Mike: Minor malfunction. No a big deal. Can happen quite often actually.
Me: Oh. Ok.
Instructor Mike: Wanna steer?
Me: Yup!!
*glide gently to the ground
*land safely
*Mike looks at corner of chute that was flapping
Me: Hey Mike, is that a tear in the parachute???
Instructor Mike: Yes Shawn. Yes it is.
Me: Is that why it was flapping?
Instructor Mike: Yes Shawn. Yes it is.
Me: -___-
Instructor Mike: Well, we're alive.
Me: High five!
Instructor Mike: High Five!
Me: (Inner monologue) I need a drink
*walk back to the hanger like a boss!

Shawn's chute with the rip...

A Quick Trip to Red Bay

     While in Galveston, we had an issue with our water heater. To make a long story short, we determined that the model of water heater in our coach was no longer safe and we needed to swap it out with a more conventional RV water heater. A call to the repair folks at Red Bay resulted in a direct return call from Bob Tiffin, President of Tiffin Motorhomes. Now everybody I know that owns a Tiffin motorhome has a "Bob Tiffin" story. Either they have met the gentleman at a rally or RV show, or they have had an issue that Bob has gotten involved in to resolve. Bob's commitment to customer service and satisfaction is why I own a Tiffin product and, should I ever buy another coach, would buy another Tiffin. Anyway, throughout the conversations with Bob, we determined that Tiffin would swap out the water heater if I could take the coach to Red Bay to have the work done. So Bob helped coordinate an appointment for me and we left sunny and warm Texas for cold, damp Alabama.

     While we were there, and having nothing to do but wait on repairs, we decided to go on the factory tour. The Tiffin factory tour is unique in that you walk along the production line right next to the workers on the floor! You wear a headset to hear the tour guide but walk among the staff while they assemble the coaches.

     Tiffin gets many of their chassis from Freightliner but, in some models, they make their own (known as the Powerglide). Above is the beginning of a new Tiffin Powerglide chassis.

     From there, the chassis is moved into the assembly shop where the components of the suspension and powerplant are attached. This is probably the cleanest this engine will ever be!! At the end of this line, the steering wheel has been attached but there is no drivers seat.

     The coach moves from here, under its own power to the next building where it will begin to look like the coaches we see on the road.

     Notice the little "seat on a stick" for the driver. We saw a coach like this tooling down the main street of Red Bay once. Not sure what he was doing or where he was going but it was sure a surprise to see. 

     An unbelievable amount of wires and hoses are added to connect all of the various components that are necessary to produce a quality, comfortable coach. All of the wires are assembled on-site using a variety of templates. Each wire is stamped with an identifying code every six inches along its length. This code tells service technicians what the wire does and where it goes should they ever need to troubleshoot during the coaches' lifetime.

     All of the woodwork in a Tiffin product is made by carpenters on site from scratch. Most of them use hardwood with very little particle board used. As you walk through the wood fabrication areas, you can see all manner of doors, cabinets, vanities, kitchens, and trim pieces being made and assembled for installation.

     Here, a washer/dryer unit is installed next to a shower and sink. You are looking from outside of the coach where the sidewall should be. (The sidewalls come later on.)

     Here a coach has moved on down the line and is having its sidewalls installed. The big cutouts will be where slide out rooms will be put in later down the line.

     The roof is made from from a single laminated composite. A computer controlled cutter cuts out holes and channels for roof mounted products and wire/HVAC runs. Extra support is added during the lamination process to strengthen the roof and make it possible to support the weight of a person after installation. The completed roof panel is then lifted with this device and installed on the sidewalls. After installation, all of the rooftop appliances (A/C units, satellite dish, digital TV antenna, etc.) are put on and hooked up.

     Above you can see the fiberglass rooftop has been put in position but not yet glued down. The wire bundles stick out of the end where the rooftop appliances have been pre-wired and await final assembly.

     Here the slideouts have been installed. The slides have already been pre-assembled with all of the furniture and cabinetry. They just slide in and are attached.

     A kitchen slide waiting to be installed.

     Here is a living room slide. The attachment for the TV is on the left over what will be an electric fireplace. The computer table and workstation is on the right side of the tall window.

     Most everything on a Tiffin motorhome is made at businesses in and around Red Bay. The exception is that some of the windshields are made in Turkey and shipped in and installed.

     After this point, the coach is a primer gray color but has the shape of the finished product. At the end of this three week process, it proceeds to the paint shop where it is painted and striped. All of the coaches are full body paint, no decals. There is a state of the art paint shop that Tiffin has built near Red Bay. The coaches stay there for another three weeks where they are leak tested and painted. Then they return to the factory for a three week final inspection and quality control review. At the end of nine weeks, it is a finished coach ready for delivery to a happy owner.

     At the end of the tour, your tour guide says you now know where everything is, so you are free to go back and talk to anyone you want to or go back to whatever area you want to spend more time in!! No escorts required! If you want, they even point out where Bob's office is. You are free to go over there and, if Bob is in, he will be glad to see you and address any comments or concerns that you may have. We walked in and were immediately ushered in to his office. We talked for 30 minutes or so and then took the picture that leads off this blog. I can't say enough good things about the Tiffin company and Bob's commitment to customer satisfaction.

Links to the Web Album

For those that want to see more of our Iceland or Aurora photos, here is a link to the Web Albums:

Iceland - Click Here

Aurora - Click Here

Going to Iceland's Beginnings

     Started the day with a drive around to the northwest today. Saw another nifty waterfall and tried to get to a lava tube. The road went bad and was listed as off limits for rental cars. We gave up on that idea.

     We headed back near Geysir to visit the site of the original settlement called Thingvellir. It is spelled differently as it uses the Icelandic alphabet that has a few more characters than ours. The pronunciation is also a challenge. I thought that German had some long words, but they have nothing on the Icelanders. We saw a sign that had obviously been marked up by a tourist. See the photo for a chuckle and get a feel for what it’s like to drive around Iceland. 

     Anyway, Thingvellir was the site of the first governmental gathering of Icelanders in about 800 AD.  The actual Icelandic spelling of the name is the letter that looks like a pregnant "I" followed by "ingvellir" (see the bottom left corner of the sign below). The pregnant "I" has a "TH" pronunciation. The "ll" has a hard "T" sound and the "ir" has a "ish" sound. So the pronunciation is close to "Thingvetish." 

There was no written language yet, so the rules were read aloud to the assembled crowd from a prominent point. 

The announcement hill

Those with grievances presented their claims and judgements were handed out. Interesting to note is that initially, enforcement of the decision was in the hands of the wronged party. Several hundred years later, the magistrate established a system whereby the enforcement of legal decisions were handled by government. The death penalty was not used but for serious offenses; rather they banished the person for up to three years. This meant that they did not get any assistance and could not live around anyone for the established period. Some made it, some didn’t. 

     Also located here is a meeting of two tectonic plates. The North American and European plates meet here. The difference is that instead of one running under the other these two are moving away from each other (to the tune of 8 cm a year). The European plate is also dropping. Hence in the photo above you are walking between two plates. It's an interesting geologic formation.

    So that was our adventure. The next day we boarded a plane and headed back to Denver. We saw some fantastic waterfalls, geysers, and of course the aurora. We spent our last night there going to a thermal pool which had five hot tubs of various temps and a large lap pool. It was -5 C outside but we were running around outside in just a wet swimming suit!! We sat in the hot tubs and had great conversations with the locals. Everyone we met were friendly and loved to talk with us. There is an intense national pride and the love to share their history with foreigners. The weather was fantastic considering our latitude and the time of the year and in fact was better than many places in the lower 48 of the US! The tourists haven't found out about this place yet, but I don't think it will be long before they do. If you have a chance to go there, any time of year, I'd highly recommend it! I want to go back during a spring/summer and see the differences. 

Valentine's Day in Iceland

     Valentines day in Iceland was not as big a holiday as it is here. They had their own celebrations in advance of Lent. On Monday it was "Bun Day." The various bakeries in town made a special creme filled pastry for only this day. On Wednesday, kids went around to the various merchants in town dressed in costumes. It was like our Halloween but the kids went to merchants and not to local homes. They sang a song or did something like that and were rewarded with candy.


     Left early this morning driving south and east along the southern coast. Highway 1 is called the "Ring Road" since it circumnavigates the island. We came up on an impressive waterfall before the other tourists arrived. Seljalandsfoss was its name. The neatest thing about it was that you could go behind it! 

 Found a neat heart shaped rock on the path. Timing was great being it's Valentine's Day. The picture is at the top of this blog.

Elf Home

An interesting thing about Icelanders is that 80% of them believe in elves. They believe that they live in caves and crevices in the hills. They either help you or they are mischievous and mess with you. 

The volcano, now dormant, lies snow covered behind the farm

     Went by the volcano that erupted in Apr. of 2010. Eyjafjallajokull. The Icelanders got a hoot listening to the various international news folks try to pronounce the volcano's name. At one point, an American journalist said "Let's just call it 'Kevin.'" Visited the visitor center staffed by the farm family that lived at the bottom of the mountain. Nice talk with someone who experienced it firsthand. 

Skogafoss Falls

The river drops at the falls

The view from the top of the falls

     We went next to Skogafoss falls. This waterfall is tucked back in the hills just off the road. There is a hiking trail next to the falls that follows its waters up into the mountains for 20 miles or so. We trooped up to the top of the falls and that was enough for us.

The Black Sand Beach in Vik

     On to the town of Vik (pronounced veek). Neat little village and great black sand beach. Went to a point and watched the surf hit the shore. Magnificent views. 

     Drove back and ate at a fish restaurant where Geoff wanted to have whale, another Icelandic dish. Not bad but looks like beef and tastes like fish. I was not impressed.

In and Around Reykjavik

     Stayed in town today. Visited the Settlement Museum and the National Museum of Iceland. First one was a good example of first settlers in Iceland. Actual dig site covered and surrounded by multi media facts and history. 

Second museum had artifacts from Iceland's history from 800 to present. Pagan from 800-1000. Then Christian. Catholic until Reformation then mostly Lutheran. Settlers mostly Norwegian but some from Hebredes, Ireland, Scotland. Danish control until late 1800's then independent movement to be a separate country.The Icelandic language is nearly pure ancient Norwegian. Not as much impact from other languages. Isolation helped it to remain pure. When you see or hear it, it has elements of modern Norwegian, German, and Danish. 

Icelandic book from the early 1100's

More artifacts

     Walked to large modern church, Hallgrimskirkja. It is an imposing concrete structure that took 40 years to build. It sits on top of a hill and is the tallest point in town. The statue out front is of Leifur Eiricksson (Leif Erickson) and was given to the people of Iceland by the United States to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of Iceland's parliament. It was also a tacit acknowledgement that Leif beat Christopher Columbus to North America by about 500 years. The elevator to top of steeple gave great overviews of Reykjavik. 

Inside the Church

Looking out of the Clock at the top

The view from the top

Went to Cafe Loki and Geoff ate the (nasty) fermented shark. This breed of shark has no kidneys so the waste water seeps through the skin. If you were to eat the shark fresh from a catch it, would kill you as the ammonia levels are so high. It is prepared by burying it in the ground for six weeks, then hanging it out to dry for another six months. Then it is sliced up in chunks and sold. The folks at Loki said the tourists either love it or hate it. We fell into the latter category! Even Geoff wasn't too impressed with the taste. Brad had lamb meat soup. Brenda had to leave the table the smell was so bad! 

Geoff with the shark sampler

     Ate hot dogs from a vendor labeled as the best hotdogs in the world and the busiest restaurant in Iceland. It was an OK dog but the locals seem to think it is to die for.  Kebabs for our evening meal.