There Will Be Bad Days

We enjoyed our stay in Grand Marais, MN.  We got lucky upon our arrival.  They have reserved sites and non reserved sites.  We had reservation for 3 days, but we wanted to stay at least a week.  I figured as big as the place was I would be able to, upon arrival, wangle a spot of some kind.  One of the lake sites which are non-reservable had just become available.  I was asked if I wanted a water spot, and my reply, "if I have to" :).  While the smallest of the sites along the water, it had a beautiful view.

We were close enough to town to walk to eat and close enough to the local areas to take a leisurely drive to see the sites.  We took a drive up to Grand Portage and the border and were to surprised to see a lovely area.

The first picture is overlooking the bay and the second is High Falls in the State Park.  The town of Grand Portage also has a nice National Park informational area discussing the Obijiwa Indians and their involvement in developing trade in the area.

After two weeks were going to have to move so we decided to head on down the road towards International Falls.  We had to go all the way to Duluth to stop by Walmart and get our meds renewed.  All went to plan until I pulled into the Walmart parking lot which was within a mile from the Int Airport.  My MCD shades went haywire and wouldn't respond and my direct wired windshield night shade went 2/3d's the way down and stopped and wouldn't do anything.  I thought the batteries had gone out so I went in to get new ones.  That didn't fix the problem.  Called MCD and after about 30 minutes he asked me if I was next to an airport and I said yes, the map indicated one reasonably close.  Seems that some airport frequencies will override the wireless controls to the MCD shades and when we move away they will start responding.  That would not work with the windshield shades as they are direct switch wired.  The closest dealer for MCD was Anoka, MN which is about 2.5 hours south.  A couple of calls later I had a place to stay the night and headed that way.  After a few miles I tried the wireless shades and they were working correctly.

Upon arrival and unhooking the truck someone, I think at Walmart, had backed into the MH.  I was a little perturbed.

The next morning called Shorwood RV in Anoka, MN and luckily arranged to bring it on in and they would work me in.  It was determined the motor in the shade was dead.  A call to Tiffin to find out the stock number revealed they had 26 of them in stock.  I think this is a recurring problem and they would send one out UPS that day to arrive tomorrow.

We arrived about 9:30 and my part had just arrived.  I was parked on the street, and the Svc Mgr said he would be right out. :)  When he arrived we were standing outside on the curb talking when a pickup pulling a brand new trailer pulled out of the Dealership.  I immediately started saying and yelling he was not going to make it and was turning to sharp when he hit my DS front mirror. 

Luckily the mirror broke away and HE stopped before it got into the windshield frame and cracked the windshield.  The mechanic went and got wrenches and we got it back into place and all of the mechanics still work.  It just has a pretty good scratch on my big chrome mirror. After all of the problems the last few days I did speak a little harshly to him, but after a few minutes of repairing and calling Tiffin for part prices, I did go and apologize to him and shook hands.  It happens to all of us and no one was hurt.  Since he had insurance it was just a little inconvenience. 

We got our shade motor replaced, it had completely come apart and he had to dig gears and such out of the tube.  We motored on to St Cloud, MN about 50 miles away and are waiting to hear from his insurance adjuster.  Maybe Wednesday or Thursday we can go on.  Anyway we have full hookups and there is a little to see around the area.  The fulltiming lifestyle allows for instant changes like this and I've had to react to similar changes throughout my working career.  So it is no problem.  Also, the leaves are turning, we'll do just fine. :)

When life throws you a lemon just make lemonade and watch a sunset. :)