Friendship at the Excel Service Center, KS - 14th June

We feel so lucky to have any problems fixed under warranty, when so many RV manufacturers have gone out of business this past year.

The service center is extraordinary, with two good sized lounges, both with a TV and large, comfy chairs, several tables, a computer with free wi-fi plus card games or puzzles for their customers.  Not only that but they have two very clean bathrooms each with a shower and one with a washer and dryer.  Howard and I feel that it must be one of the best RV centers around the country. 

During the day, our RV was pulled into one of the 8 service bays, at 06:30 (not usually a time we’re awake and certainly not up and about) and if it was pushed out for the night, we were able to stay there.  If for some reason, a 5th wheel has to stay in the shop for extensive work then the customers are put up for one or more nights at the quaintly furnished B and B nearby and Excel pay for it!  Where does one receive service like that nowadays? 

Making friends in unusual places

You’d think that a parking lot is not the ideal place to meet people, but we’ve met some interesting people at the Service Center.  Of course, we all have one thing in common, an Excel 5th wheel.

On a Sunday afternoon, we met several other couples.  Jerry and Judy, from North Carolina were both enthusiastic photographers and took some great photos of the grasslands and countryside and the old wooden cabin where the poem “Home, Home on the Range” was written and which is now the official State Song.  This is one of their photos and if you look closely at the sign, you'll see a buffalo and deer etched on the top.

Jerry and Judy kindly copied all their photos onto our computer, so we have some excellent pics of the cabin and prairie lands. We had such good conversations with them and now correspond via email.

Bill and Myra from Roanoke, Virginia, have two pet cats and needed to find a boarding place for them, so headed out to the country to find the nearest Veterinary office.  

Unfortunately, we’d had a lot of rain some days before and the country roads were covered in white limestone dust and mud and their truck was coated with it, but Bill wouldn’t return to us until he’d had the truck washed.  However, Myra had taken several photos of the evidence before it disappeared. We were all greatly amused by the story, especially when we heard that the vet’s office didn’t take animals for boarding and they then found a cattery a few yards down the road from us.

The following Monday, after spending almost a week in Nebraska, we met a fun English couple, Kate and David Pilgrim, who were touring the States during summer for six months, all that their Visas would allow.  We enjoyed visiting with them immensely - they had both been Police Officers in London and at one time spent 6 years living on a boat and taken it on a trip through France. They don’t write a blog but pen a newsletter from them both for family and friends, which is very amusing and we’re now followers too after requesting one.  Although this was not their first long term trip to the US, it was so interesting for me to get a newer perspective of how the English perceive the American way of life because I’ve been here for a few years and don’t have that fresh viewpoint anymore.

At one time or another, we had breakfast at the “Second Cup Café” with each of the couples we met.  You can just see it on the left side of the photo of the town.  This café is quite a hub in Smith Center.  In the early morning, the older men meet first and after they leave, the women arrive for a various function or other, but it's always busy for breakfast. 

We went there for Sunday lunch and it was packed. The Americans rarely sit with strangers at a table, but it was so busy, we joined another couple, a pastor and his wife and had most of our meal with them.  The pastor held hands with his wife and said grace before they ate - a custom, which seems to be common here when people eat out. Because it’s a small town, most people know each other and another couple joined us after they left. This particular lady had just retired from teaching for over thirty years.  She invited us to “hang out” on their porch even if they weren’t there, as a change from sitting in our RV.  This is typical of many of the strangers we’ve met in the US, inviting us over shortly after we’ve met.  She also had relatives in England and so was interested in talking to us.

Being an agricultural community, auctions of farm and other equipment are held sometimes every two weeks.  It was a shame we missed one; if you’ve ever seen an American auction on the telly, you’ll know that they speak so fast it’s hard to keep up.  They had tractors, old cars, very old tools, saddles and tack, squirrel cages, cob forks and dump rakes!   See what I mean? Another thing that intrigued us was the music we heard on the streets.  It was the local radio station broadcasting music through the loud speakers attached to lamp posts along the main street - it probably warns of tornados too.