Lola gets a makeover

After nearly a month in Michigan, it was time to turn our wheels west and south back towards Elkhart, Indiana. One of our reasons for planning this entire trip was to get some renovations done on Lola’s interior. A few folks have commented that from what they could tell, Lola looked just fine as she was. Well, that may be true on the surface but let’s just say she was getting saggy a few places and down right uncomfortable in others.

You have to remember that when we first purchased Lola, we were only thinking of her for vacations and long weekends. If the dinette and chairs weren’t that great, so what? We’d be back to our comfy chairs when we got back home to the bricks and sticks. But when Lola became our full time home, it made us realize that there were some things we really needed to change in order to feel comfortable 24×7. For instance:

• Captains/driving chairs. The original chairs did not have a lot of cushioning and what there was had been compressed to such a degree that even in a short 2-3 hour drive, Dan’s back and rear were pretty stiff and sore.
• Couches – we had two couches and we really only needed one. We had nowhere to put our feet up (other than the passenger captain’s chair which had a partial foot rest). In addition, the “pleather” on these seats were starting to peel, an unfortunate issue with seats made in 2013 and 2014. And finally, although we did not need them for beds, the reality was that neither would be comfortable as a bed if/when needed or for resale. We wanted to replace one couch that would be comfortable to sit in AND be comfortable as a bed. The other couch was to be removed and replaced with two wall hugging recliners and a small cubby in between.
• Dinette – this was the biggest mess of all. The table was not stable, mounted on a very wobbly telescoping leg, extended down too far, and basically made it nearly impossible to slide into the booth without hitting your legs. Although it was a u-shaped booth, we found it hard to sit two people comfortably at the table (and we had to hold onto any glassware in fear of spills due to wobbly table)
• Rug – and finally, there was the rug under the table and along the driver’s side slide floor that looked about the same as a rug in a frat house after a weekend party.

We planned to remedy all of this and more by replacing all of the above with new furniture and rugs. We also decided to get rid of our cloth window valances that came with the coach. Not only did they not meet our tastes, they also attracted and held onto dust and dirt and were impossible to keep clean.

So, on a Tuesday afternoon, we pulled Lola into Bradd & Hall so they could take her in for her makeover. Of course, this meant we had to find somewhere else to stay! Specifically, we packed up our stuff, some food, and the dogs and moved into a room at the local Candlewood Suites. The hotel came with a kitchen and did accept pets (and they waived the pet fee for us too!). Now, we had gone from a 400 sq ft RV to a less than 200 sq ft hotel room with two people and two dogs. How do you think that went? Let’s look at it in phases:

• Afternoon – housekeeping cleaning up rooms, maintenance making the rounds as needed. All of this creates noises, closing doors, etc. which results in….barking dogs
• Evening – Since many people staying at this extended stay property are working, they start to return from their jobs. This leads to people talking as they walk down the hallways, closing doors, and playing TV’s. Which results in….barking dogs.
• Night – Some of the guests go out for dinner…or for other things, come back later in the evening. Decide to walk around a lot with loud TV’s on, talking on phones, etc. Which results in….barking dogs
• Early morning (we’re talking 5/5:30 am) – The guests who are good, are getting up to go to the gym to exercise (which is just down the hall from us). This results in sounds of people walking in room above us, doors opening and closing, etc. Which results in…barking dogs.

You get the idea…lots of times that our dogs wanted to bark which meant we got very little sleep (and the ongoing fear that someone would complain and we’d be kicked out to sleep in the Volvo!).

Thus, on Wednesday am, we decided it would be great if the dogs both got a good bath and stay there all day. We went to an RV parts surplus store for a few things and then took a nap! The next day, Thusday, we were expecting to pick Lola up but had not had an updated on the renovations. Fearing we may have to stay an additional night in the hotel, we put the dogs in daycare and visited the shop to see how things were going. This is what we found:

The furniture was in but not installed. The new wooden valances were in and looked beautiful! The delay was with the carpet. But we knew Charles and the crew and Bradd & Hall would get it done so we did some shopping, checked out downtown Elkhart, and circled back later in the afternoon. By about 4:30 pm, all was in and we were ready to go. And the changes were amazing!!!

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Look closely at the above pics to see the improved custom wood valences as well as the new carpet. The folks at Bradd & Hall did a great job. Stephanie was so helpful in guiding us on what would work best in our coach (we did all the ordering 14 weeks in advance without seeing any of it in person or getting to sit in it), keeping us calms amid potential manufacturing delays, and ensuring all got done as promised. Charles worked tirelessly to get the install done as promised, taking the time to make it all perfect (he had to build special carpet covered wall boxes for two power outlets and even did some work on our entry stairs where they were missing a few screws).

Less than week since install and we are so much happier in Lola, so many places to sit or lay down and relax. It all looks and feels great! Lola may look the same outside but she’s all shiny and new inside and ready for our next adventures as we continue south.

Next up – We visit Ohio (another new state!) and work our way back to Kentucky for another visit.