michaeldterry
12-05-2010, 10:10 AM
Vita and I drove Evangeline to Knoxville, TN Friday night to drop her off for some chassis work (replacing air bags, brake chambers, etc ) and a few converter side details that will be taken care of by Rob Russell at Russell Coach. We boondocked at the Cracker Barrel on I-40 at exit 398 and after a scrumptious dinner of comfort foods, got a peaceful night's sleep before meeting Jon & Di Wehrenberg and Rob Russell for breakfast Saturday morning. It was great meeting Jon and Diane! We enjoyed a couple of great hours of bus stories and idea swapping before heading over to Russell Coachworks to drop off the bus, go over the work list, and tour Rob's facility. Jon & Di led us over in the Hummer and stayed to visit some more and help with the work plan.
Jon has agreed to supervise the work locally as my eyes and ears since we are 4 hours away! I am thrilled with his generous and selfless offer and consider myself most fortunate to have someone with Jon's knowledge and experience watching my back. Having said that, I have the utmost confidence in Rob Russell, his work ethic, skills, and abilities and feel that we'll be more than pleased with the work he and his staff performs.
We got a chance to tour Rob's facility, go over a few of his own entertainer buses and also inspect some of the work he's done on other's buses (including some POGgers') and we were very impressed! Rob is capable of designing and building first class conversions from a bare shell (and has/does). The only thing he does not do is engine work (beyond routine maintenance). I've got to mention here that Rob's four bay facility is so clean and pristine that we found it hard to believe that the work is actually performed there! However, we saw the evidence in several examples of finished work product, constructed components awaiting installation (sofas, cabinets, etc), and well organized "take off" parts from recently completed projects.
The more time we spent with Rob (and his father), the more we felt in our guts that we had brought our beloved bus to the absolute right place to be cared for. I most definitely got the sense as I went over the bus with Rob that he would make it his mission to know every detail about her before he was finished and would be treating her with the love and respect that only a true "bus nut" can provide.
We'll report back as the project progresses and Jon said that he may even take pictures to post here to chronicle some of the work for the benefit of POG DIY'ers.
As always, I am deeply grateful for Jon's guidance, help, and friendship! When we go back to pick up the bus (tentatively scheduled for 12/30), we'll have the honor of spending part of the day with Jon and Di celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary! I also hope to get a tour of Jon's most excellent bus barn/pit while we're there and see his handy work on the salon on his bus first hand!
After seeing Rob's "renovation" of Jamie's bus, both Di and Vita are ready for Rob to design/build a new dining booth for both of our buses! (This is a 180 degree turn for Vita, as she has always previously preferred our stand alone dining chairs to a booth configuration. I, on the other hand, prefer the booth! SCORE!!!!) ;)
Jon has agreed to supervise the work locally as my eyes and ears since we are 4 hours away! I am thrilled with his generous and selfless offer and consider myself most fortunate to have someone with Jon's knowledge and experience watching my back. Having said that, I have the utmost confidence in Rob Russell, his work ethic, skills, and abilities and feel that we'll be more than pleased with the work he and his staff performs.
We got a chance to tour Rob's facility, go over a few of his own entertainer buses and also inspect some of the work he's done on other's buses (including some POGgers') and we were very impressed! Rob is capable of designing and building first class conversions from a bare shell (and has/does). The only thing he does not do is engine work (beyond routine maintenance). I've got to mention here that Rob's four bay facility is so clean and pristine that we found it hard to believe that the work is actually performed there! However, we saw the evidence in several examples of finished work product, constructed components awaiting installation (sofas, cabinets, etc), and well organized "take off" parts from recently completed projects.
The more time we spent with Rob (and his father), the more we felt in our guts that we had brought our beloved bus to the absolute right place to be cared for. I most definitely got the sense as I went over the bus with Rob that he would make it his mission to know every detail about her before he was finished and would be treating her with the love and respect that only a true "bus nut" can provide.
We'll report back as the project progresses and Jon said that he may even take pictures to post here to chronicle some of the work for the benefit of POG DIY'ers.
As always, I am deeply grateful for Jon's guidance, help, and friendship! When we go back to pick up the bus (tentatively scheduled for 12/30), we'll have the honor of spending part of the day with Jon and Di celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary! I also hope to get a tour of Jon's most excellent bus barn/pit while we're there and see his handy work on the salon on his bus first hand!
After seeing Rob's "renovation" of Jamie's bus, both Di and Vita are ready for Rob to design/build a new dining booth for both of our buses! (This is a 180 degree turn for Vita, as she has always previously preferred our stand alone dining chairs to a booth configuration. I, on the other hand, prefer the booth! SCORE!!!!) ;)