Upcoming plans: a new rim, a tow bar, the Tampa Show, and a bit of Fort Wilderness

Having found a place to park the rig near the Orlando International Airport, which is only about 15 minutes from my soon-to-be-sold house, it's time to look ahead and make a few plans for the near future.

While we were at Stone Mountain, my neighbor suggested that I look at the Tyron Flat tire protection system.  This system consist of bands that are wrapped around the hub of your tire rim (there's a well inside that the band fills).  The bands prevent your tires from quickly being shredded by the rim in the event of a blowout, allowing increased stability and control.  They also allow you to continue driving a short distance.  Tyron bands seemed like a great safety feature to put in the front tires, so the day after leaving the campground, I asked our dealer to install them.  Tyron bands are not cheap:  it was a little over $1000 per tire.  But the peace of mind and the capabilities it provides will undoubtedly pay for itself.

While our dealer was installing the Tyron bands, they made two small scratches on the right front rim.  To their credit, they told me about it immediately and even made all of the arrangements to have a new one shipped to the closest dealer to my house (Independence RV in Winter Garden, FL) for installation at their expense.  Again, I can't say enough about National Indoor RV Centers and, in particular, Todd's staff at the dealership in Lilburn, GA. 

Next up will be a trip to Independence RV to have the new rim installed. 

During the last week of December, we're trying to line up a few things with Lazy Days in Tampa.  Ideally, we want to go over and spend two or three nights while they install a Blue Ox towing bar on our coach and a base plate and an Air Force One braking system on our Ram 1500.  We can also both attend their Driver Confidence Course while we are over there.  We're waiting on Lazy Days to call and let us know if they can put it all together.

On January 12th, we'll head over for five nights of camping on-site with the Newmar Kountry Klub at the Tampa RV SuperShow.  It's a buddy rally, and my brother-in-law is bringing along his new Fleetwood Expedition 38s.  It should be a great opportunity to learn a lot from all of the other Newmar Owners, see all of the things at the show, and buy some items at the exposition's.  If all goes well with Lazy Days, we can even tow our truck over and go out to some local restaurants for dinner!

It won't be over when we leave the fairgrounds on Sunday morning.  We'll be heading straight to Fort Wilderness Campground at Walt Disney World for a three night stay.  This time, two of my grandchildren will be joining us - and so will my sister, brother-in-law, and two of their grandkids.  

That'll take us through January.  Guess it's time to start thinking about the months to follow...