Service...

 

With a smile.  We are at AF1 Racing, parked comfortably in their parking lot.  They came out and wrote up the service order before they were officially open (at 10:00).  Plenty of room in their parking lot for our rig, since their sales floor is open by appointment only (no walk-in traffic).  When you see the name "Racing" in their business name, you probably don't immediately think of Vespa.  ;-)  They are also a dealer for Aprilia, MotoGuzi, Zero (electric motorcycles), and others.  They build race engines for motorcycles and race cars.  Since Vespa is owned by the same parent company (Piaggio) as Aprilia and MotoGuzi, it make sense.  AF1 has a great reputation with Vespa owners.  They ship parts all over the country.  A good service department.  Knowledgeable sales staff.  A good inventory of new Vespas.

Back before Covid, we got a tour of the place when I first brought my other Vespa in for service.  Kind of unassuming from the outside, but well-set-up inside: a good size showroom, large service department, and a parts department with a smart shipping area.

It was a cold start to the morning... 34º.  We discovered that the heating blanket in the coach had quit working.  Joan turned up the heat and put extra blankets on the bed... I had flashbacks to my childhood, where there was no heat upstairs; "Mom - can you come up and lift the blankets so I can get out of bed?"  ;-)  Well, not quite that bad.  Rufus usually sleeps on the covers down by our feet; he came up to our heads to get under the covers.  Still, I slept good last night; probably because I didn't get much sleep the night before and had a long driving day yesterday.

The plan is to start heading south when AF1 is done with my scoot.  In the meantime, this is kick-back time in the parking lot.

A bit over an hour, and I just saw one of the techs go by on a test ride on my scoot.  Hoping that's a good sign.  There is a somewhat grassy area by the parking lot, Rufus got a short walk while we're waiting... the traffic noise doesn't bother him, but he wasn't impressed with the short scrubby grass.  We have different priorities.

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AF1 came in right where the estimate was, and right on the time.  We were rolling out of there by 12:10, heading south.  We knew it would be well after dark by the time we could get back to our storage unit, so we had already made a reservation for a park a couple hours from the storage unit.  When we get in tomorrow, we will have freshly dumped tanks and all our stuff packed up to go in the Honda after we put the coach away.  Less wear and tear on this old guy.  Speaking of which, this trip was as much about me spending plenty of time behind the wheel as it was about getting service for the Vespa... I was glad to be off the road before 5:00 today; tired, but happy I can do it.

The drive today was uneventful - just the way I like it.  Rufus got lunch before we left AF1, Joan and I ate finger food along the way; I was ready to make some miles.  I always mention that "Rufus is a good boy," which is true... most of the time.  Today, he was under foot... not good when I am driving in heavy traffic and Joan is getting us a snack.  He got put in "time out"...

Well, not really.  Joan put him up on his short tower, which was behind my driver's seat.  He stayed there, with his handsome face facing the wall.  Until Joan got up again, at which point Rufus took her seat...

"What?  She didn't call 'saved'!"  The boy cracks me up.

We got to the RV park around 4:30; I was ready to rest for a bit.  Our first time in this park, and it is pretty nice... long concrete pull-thru sites...

After his supper, I took him for a walk.  He is generally curious about new places, but he was a bit miffed...

"This grass is fake!"  Yep, Astroturf.  The bush was real, though.  He saw a dog coming at us as we were walking down the street; when the girl walking the dog looked up from her phone and saw us, she turned her dog around the other way.

"I think you scared that dog, Rufus," I said to him.

"I just wanna be friends.  I won't hurt him."

He's a good boy.  ;-)