Hello from White Lake, Michigan.

radarmile · 09-15-2012, 01:07 PM

We traded in our 1997 Winnebago Adventurer on a 2013 Columbus 320rs. We don't have a truck yet, so we had it delivered to a park where we are seasonal. I retired from the FAA last December and now working for the FAA as a contractor. The wife and I both work out of the RV all summer long. Once I can draw full Social Security, we plan on spending the winters in Florida and the summers in beautiful Michigan.

**Terier** · 09-15-2012, 10:15 PM

Welcome to the forums! Congrats on your new 2013 Columbus 320rs too! How was it working out of the trailer?

radarmile · 09-16-2012, 08:50 AM

It was great Terier. The only problem was the internet is pretty slow, and on the busy weekends, it's almost impossible to get on and get anything done. When I run into that, I just go down to the lake and play for awhile. Life is to short to let the small stuff get you down.

TravelTracer · 09-16-2012, 08:57 PM

Welcome Radarmile....Hope you enjoy you Columbus 320rs.

WRROST · 09-20-2012, 08:14 PM

We have a 365RL on order from RV Wholesalers in Ohio. We also don't have a truck right now, so were having it delivered to a campground in Florida for this winter and than we'll see if we want to spring for a truck or use it for the winter months. Have you had any issues with your 320. The Columbus series sure are beautiful. Take care and good luck, we just got back from a trip to Mackinaw a couple weeks ago.

radarmile · 09-20-2012, 08:30 PM

WRROST,

I've had a couple of minor issues. The cable for the galley grey water became unattached after the first use and the digital readout on the fireplace disappeared. Both were easy fixes so I took care of them myself. Saved the expense of a service call.

I can't wait to start heading down to Florida for the winter. Still a few years to go. We will be going down to Satellite Beach for a couple of weeks starting the second week of October.

Phil57 · 09-20-2012, 08:53 PM

Welcome! We live in Grand Rapids but are from Muskegon. This is our first year with a RV but isn't it nice living around so many great places to camp. We just spent 10 days at the Muskegon Channel State Park. I give it a 10 out of 10.
Where did you buy your Columbus?

WRROST · 09-20-2012, 09:10 PM

We bought are Columbus 365rl from RV Wholesalers in Ohio, they were several thousand less than local dealers. They will deliver it to Florida for me for about
$1,700. For now that's cheaper than a truck.

Not_So_Mini-Lite · 09-20-2012, 09:14 PM

Welcome to the forum! The wife and I are from Wayland!

Rlawson · 09-20-2012, 10:10 PM

Used to live in Flint, now in California... bought our first dog in White lake.... Welcome.

radarmile · 09-22-2012, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil57

Welcome! We live in Grand Rapids but are from Muskegon. This is our first year with a RV but isn't it nice living around so many great places to camp. We just spent 10 days at the Muskegon Channel State Park. I give it a 10 out of 10.
Where did you buy your Columbus?

Phil57,

We bought our Columbus from Lloyde Bridges RV. They were at the local RV show. Had the best deal and gave us what we wanted for our Motor Home.

poppy127 · 09-23-2012, 10:47 AM

Welcome from Bay City, Michigan. Great to see so many Michiganders on here.

Road-King · 09-23-2012, 11:11 AM

Welcome to the forum... I retired from the FAA as well. Worked for WCG then Raytheon, till Raytheon laid me off. That was OK, I drew retirement and (for the first time in my life) unemployment for awhile. Were you in the ATC business?

radarmile · 09-23-2012, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Road-King

Welcome to the forum... I retired from the FAA as well. Worked for WCG then Raytheon, till Raytheon laid me off. That was OK, I drew retirement and (for the first time in my life) unemployment for awhile. Were you in the ATC business?

Actually, I was on the AF side of the house. I maintained a long range radar in Canton, MI. that fed the Cleveand center. I also maintained the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar in Sumpter, Mi. I went to work for Honeywell/CGH Technologies last January. Now I maintain all the security systems for the FAA. Ironically, most of my calls are for the Cleveland Center. I seem to be down there 2-3 days per week. I'm just waiting to get old enough to collect full Social Security. Then I think I will head down to Florida for the winters. Nice thing with this job, I can work both places if I want. It would be nice not to have to work, but I do like toys!!!!

Raytheon I'm very familar with. They installed a good share of the equipment on the submarines I was on. They also installed all the radars I worked on. What is WCG?

radarmile · 09-23-2012, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poppy127

Welcome from Bay City, Michigan. Great to see so many Michiganders on here.

Bay City, the gate way to northern Michigan. Been through there countless times in my life. I love camping in northern Michigan. We are kinda stuck here at Haas Lake Park because we don't have a tow vehicle. We love it here and will probably make this our summer home. If I could find something like it in Florida, we would have the best of both worlds.

Where do you go RVing. We have been all over Michigan.

Road-King · 09-23-2012, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radarmile

What is WCG?

I worked at Memphis Center for 13 years, then transferred to Nashville Tower where I retired 5 years ago. Wow! it doesn't seem that long ago.

WCG is the Washington Consulting Group, they had the training contract for about 20 years on the ATC side. Raytheon underbid them in 09 I think, then they could not make payroll, so in a lot of places they laid instructors and field staff off. In other words they are not doing what they said they would in the contract, cut staffing to the point that there are no instructors in a lot of places. But still getting paid from the FAA. Only would the government would take a bid for an ridiculously low number, be confused as to why the new company can not function and keep paying them anyways.

Oh well, c'est la vie...

BTW, I hope you have no dealings with OPM. What a nightmare...

poppy127 · 09-23-2012, 02:03 PM

We've been all over Michigan, except strangely enough, the Thumb. We love the west side best. But will go anywhere where friends and/or time take us. Heading to Cadillac this next weekend and then to Charlevoix for the Apple fest in a couple of weeks.
Poppy

Phil57 · 09-23-2012, 02:12 PM

At least you have Smugglers Cove on the lake. I'm sure you will want a truck soon. I think heading to Florida is in our plans soon maybe Feb or March. Can't go yet. Not looking foward to the snow.

TravelTracer · 09-23-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poppy127

We've been all over Michigan, except strangely enough, the Thumb. We love the west side best. But will go anywhere where friends and/or time take us. Heading to Cadillac this next weekend and then to Charlevoix for the Apple fest in a couple of weeks.
Poppy

Hey Poppy....Bay City is a great place. We used to store our boat during the off season at Bay Harbor Marina, enjoyed the restaurants and stores on Wilder Rd. Although, we sold our boat 10 years ago, we still manage to go to Bay City.

We've had a small cottage in the Thumb area since 1974. We've enjoyed Caseville and Pt. Austin mainly during the summer. The beaches are great, as is the fishing.

Next year we hope to expand our travels with our new trailer to the west side of michigan and definitely are planning on taking our Grandchildren to the U.P.

Tarcon · 09-23-2012, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WRROST

We bought are Columbus 365rl from RV Wholesalers in Ohio, they were several thousand less than local dealers. They will deliver it to Florida for me for about
$1,700. For now that's cheaper than a truck.

We bought our Sandpiper 292rl from RV Wholesaler too. Great place to buy. We drove out from Northeast PA to pick it up in person. I will buy there again.

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