RV Improvements - Geico Insurance Comes Through

Several weeks ago I turned my RV into an older neighborhood here in town to make a simple U-turn. Big mistake. An old oak tree reaching out over the road scraped my roof up pretty bad. I didn't notice much of a scrape or think much of it until weeks later when it rained for 10 days and my master bed got soaked (down to the waterproof mattress cover, that is). I dried my bedding and took it to a trial that weekend, then brought the RV to the shop where it's been for the last 3 weeks. Picked it up a few days back.

Much to my amazement, Geico insurance covered a whole new roof to the tune of $6,000. All I had to pay was my $500 deductible, and I didn't even pay that. Sweet.

While they were at taking off the old A/C and skylights to install the new roof, I had those replaced with a larger (15,000 BTU) A/C and thermostatically controlled overhead vents. Of course I had to buy those, but the labor to remove the old and install the new items was included in the insurance. And when the old roof was stripped off the workmen noticed some rotten wood near the front, which I paid to have replaced while it was exposed. It ended up being a much bigger job but the cost was far, far less than if I hadn't incurred damage from that oak branch.

While it was in the shop, I had the 22' electric cord replaced with a 35' cord, had them replace all the plastic seals around the cargo bins (the old plastic was brittle and falling apart), seal the windows, fix the generator (the air filter was filthy and the carborator needed a good cleaning but the Onan unit, they said, is still strong and one of the best on the market), and repair the drain pipe in the fridge. So now everything is supposedly ship-shape.

John picked up the tab for our part of the repairs as my Christmas present, and ended up spending only half what he thought it would cost when he was planning to pay only for a new roof. Now that is a very, very, very sweet deal. I was doubly gifted! And so was he.

One thing I can say about motor homes, from past and present experience, is DON'T GET ONE unless you have considerable savings set aside for repairs. And realize they aren't designed to save you money over hotel costs. Their attractiveness is simply in comfort and convenience, and staying in places where you could not stay otherwise. You pull into a rest area or commercial parking lot and fix a sandwich or take a nap or pottie break any time you want. You don't have to bother checking in or out, or unloading your stuff into a hotel room then packing the car up again the next day. You don't have to drive 5-10 miles to and from hotels at trials. You sleep in your own linens, sit on your own pottie, and eat inexpensive meals from your own fridge. For a home body like me, and with dogs along that few hotels will accept, that's an enormous convenience. Plus, the RV community that shows up at trial after trial, becomes a sort of RV family that shares communal meals and helps you out when you run into a problem. That's a real plus for me. I like my time alone doing my own things, but I don't like being stranded.

So now I'm packing up the unit, ready to head out this weekend for New Iberia, then two weeks later to Monroe for more trialing.

Upwards and onward!