Gaffney

If you're looking for something to see in Gaffney, this giant peach is probably it. "Peachoid" is a 150-foot tall water tower that holds one million gallons of water and welcomes motorists along I-85 to South Carolina. This upstate landmark was built in 1981 to promote the fact that South Carolina produces almost as many, as many, or more (depending on who you ask) peaches than that "other" state. Upon learning that we were headed this way, our friend Margie told us, "Just look for the giant peach." Now we know what she meant!

Just around the corner from the giant peach is the Freightliner Custom Chassis Training and Service Center. With a service appointment scheduled for last Thursday, we arrived in the heat of Wednesday afternoon and were assigned to our spot: lucky number 13. It wasn't much, but it was free. (If you don't include the cost of the service to come!)

During Bullwinkle's stay in the Freightliner hospital, our tech spotted a leak in the oil pan gasket. Because our engine is under warranty, we had to make an early morning trip on Friday to complete the work at Cummins in Spartanburg, some 20 miles away. Here's Bullwinkle getting reading for his early morning ride to Spartanburg. That's the moon up there in the sky!

With the gasket replaced and oil change complete, we traveled back to Gaffney and checked into the KOA. After spending a couple of days in service center waiting rooms, we were ready to kick back and relax for the weekend before we headed to chassis school.

That's right, we went back to school! Monday and Tuesday we attended "Camp Freightliner", a two-day class designed for owners of motorhomes with a Freightliner chassis. That's Mike, our instructor, pointing out something vitally important on a demo chassis. It is fascinating to see the "innards" of our moose. Everything is so much easier to see, reach and understand without a motorhome sitting on top.

After two days of learning about everything from alternators to zerks, we have a much better idea of what goes on behind the scenes when we turn the key and run down the road. Let's see, up front there are a couple of air tanks. Behind that is the fuel tank. The batteries are behind that. And, way back there in the back is a big ol' Cummins engine, an air cleaner and a radiator. Miles and miles (That might be a bit of an exaggeration,) of wires and lines get strung through after the chassis arrives at the motorhome factory. We learned lots!

With our chassis and engine service work complete, Bullwinkle is ready to run trouble-free for the next year. With our new-found knowledge, we have a good idea of how to help make that so. Yep. After our week in Gaffney, everything is just peachy!