Taking Endie Back To Coburg

We bestow names onto our vehicles and our Holiday Rambler Endeavor is Endie.  She needs a check-up which I suppose is not uncommon with new coaches any more than it is with older ones.  Endie was made at Monaco RV in Coburg, Oregon in the spring of 2011.

The ride north on I-5 from Grants Pass to Eugene was not a new route for us. We came this way last year.  As we ride we found ourselves looking for familiar sites -- like where we stopped for lunch last year and where we bought fuel.  It's an old folks thing to do that, I'm pretty sure.

The sky was mostly overcast and rain threatened most of the way but we only had a few sprinkles and enjoyed the always beautiful Oregon scenery.

We'll stay overnight at Armitage County Park Campground where we met last summer with Tom and DJ before separating again going different directions on the Oregon coast.

A call to Monaco Coach resulted in a 7:30 service appointment in at the Coburg Service Center the next morning.  We have a list of items we'll have checked -- leading with the apparent leak around the water heater.

Until today, I had not realized that the assembly of diesel coaches had ceased at this facility. Now I'm especially sorry we didn't tour the plant last summer.  All Monaco and Holiday Rambler assembly is now done in Indiana.  All that remains in Coburg is this Service Center. All the equipment and the remaining buildings here are sold -- an auction was held just a day before we arrived.

I don't know what this is... lavender maybe?

Notwithstanding the sad feelings of the Coburg facility closure, we are hopeful that Navistar, the new owner of Monaco, will be successful and the Monaco and Holiday Rambler lines will continue.

The Service Center is in one of several former Monaco buildings. There were about two dozen coaches in the service center campground area the day we arrived.

Despite being a "work in" Endie was taken by 9 a.m. to be checked. We listed the issues in order of importance so the most urgent ones would get attention right away. It is possible we'll have to return in July for a scheduled appointment to get to the others. 

Beside the possible leak, our repair list goes like this:  (1) No gas heat comes from the vents in the rear, (2) propane alarm sounded when we used gas water heater, (3) entry door sticks, (4) audio interference on the front TV, (5) freezer thermostat gets colder than setting, (6) ceiling lights go out often, (7) there's a rattle and too much air noise at the front door.

This is Val, our service advisor.
She's taking us into the service area to see what's going on with Endie.

Around noon, Val called to give us an update on Endie.  The water heater was leaking and the leak has resulted in mold growth in the wood cabinet at the corner of the closet.  Randy, our service technician had already removed the damage, bleached it and applied a mold killing agent before building a new water heater cabinet box.  A huge fan was blowing outward from inside Endie.  It is suggested we get a motel for the night as the chemical smell is strong.  Randy will complete our list of other issues while the great blower does it's work. 

Wayne, Val and Randy, our service technician.
Both Val and Randy are natives of this area and have worked at Monaco for decades.
We enjoyed learning about the history of the plant and learning of Navistar's plans for the future.
Val worked for many years inside the assembly process. 
She told us that Endie was made in Spring 2011.

For just the second time while we've been traveling, we took a room in a motel while the coach is in the shop.  We'll stay overnight at LaQuinta in Eugene with mixed feelings.  We truly dislike being displaced but Lexie and Ozzie seem to like having a giant bed all their own.  They explored the motel room with excitement.  I brought their foam steps to help them get up to the bed.  We gave each a warm bath in the motel tub so they were clean and fresh smelling!

In the motel room. 

It took almost all of the next day to complete the list of repairs, but by 4 p.m. we were on our way.

Finished and ready to go.

The Marathon Coach company is down the road from Monaco.  Wayne loves seeing Prevost and Marathon coaches so he wanted to drive down the road to take a peek.  There were just a few repair coaches in the lot this day.

But this one is more our speed.

We'll spend the week in nearby Harrisburg where we stayed last summer.  From here, we'll try again to get to Oregon's coast.   The weather is almost perfect, sunny and warm.