Hudson, FL
After a three week stay in Georgia we headed south on I-75 into Florida.
“Welcome to God’s Waiting Room” is on the sign in small print
Soon after crossing the state line we just had to make a stop at the visitor center/rest stop for a free cup of fresh orange and grapefruit juice.
Our main reason for traveling to Florida (besides the warm weather) is for a visit to Suncoast Designers in Hudson, north of Tampa. All of the dual pane windows in our motorhome have developed a fog to some extent between the panels of glass. This seems to be a common problems with RVs constructed in the past ten years. There are a number of repair facilities around the country that will fix foggy windows. But Suncoast is one of the best, and they offer a lifetime full warranty to back up their work. They also have 22 RV sites with electric (50 amp) and water.
A number of the RVs scheduled for this week had only one or two windows that needed repair. We were their largest job for the week as all of our windows (13) needed to be repaired. The repair process involves removing the window frame completely from the motorhome. Each window is then taken into their shop where the glass panes are removed from the frame and separated. Each glass pane is then hand scrubbed before it is run through a machine similar to a car wash. Once each piece of glass is thoroughly cleaned the two panes are then placed back together with a new and much more robust seal keeping them apart. The joined panes are then run through a heating machine followed by a roller machine that insures a strong seal. The glass is then put back into the frame and the unit is ready to be re-installed.
The process began on Tuesday morning when the crew began to remove all the windows. It was quite a shock when we returned from breakfast to a motorhome with no windows.
Inside things were quite bright and airy!
But the crew soon returned to put temporary covers over the openings. The fancy window coverings looked so impressive we considered just leaving the old windows out and staying with the new look!
The look from the inside was just as impressive as the outside. So for the next two days we lived with cardboard and plastic between us and the elements. With warm temperatures and no rain in the forecast we knew we would be fine, but the noise was very annoying. It sounded like every vehicle driving by on the nearby road was going to go right through our living area!
John’s sister, Patty, and brother-in-law, Bob, have a condo about 45 miles to the south near St. Pete’s Beach. So one of the day’s during the repair process we drove down to have lunch with them. They suggested we eat at Spinners Rooftop Revolving Bistro and Lounge which sits on the 12th floor of the Grand Plaza Hotel right on the beach. The dining area in Spinners slowly revolves 360 degrees, guaranteeing every seat has a great variety of views while you are dining.
The Grand Plaza Hotel
The spinning seating area
View of the city of St. Petersburg Beach
St. Pete’s Beach
The Gulf of Mexico
The food was great, the service excellent, the price reasonable, the conversation stimulating, and the view spectacular!
Bob, Patty, Pam, and John
The next day the crew returned to re-install the newly refurbished windows. Once the windows were back in, we were amazed at how clear they now are. While we knew they were cloudy, we just didn’t realize how bad they were.
With our nice clear windows we are now off to Cortez, just outside Bradenton, for a six week stay at one of our favorite parks, Holiday Cove. Oh, and there appears to be a wedding on the horizon.
More on that later . . .
Oh, the Places They Go! 
Bet it is nice to have those windows crossed off your list and nice beautiful clear windows! Very cool restaurant!
We’ve been putting this task off for a couple years, so it is nice to be have it behind us:) It was a neat restaurant!
How nice to have windows as good as new! And in such a short period of time…that’s awesome!
Have fun in Cortez!
Thanks, Gay, we will surely enjoy our time in Cortez:) It nice to see the world so clearly:)
I bet the windows look great and the views from them even better 😊 I can’t wait to hear about the wedding!
Oh, yes, the view of the world is so clear now:) We’ll have lots of photos to share from the wedding next month!
I had the same issue with my floor to ceiling windows in my home….They sneak up on you with the fogging…Is it my eyesight…or???
Replaced them and now I know I don’t need new glasses….
David
Nice to know it isn’t our eyes or glasse:)
Definitely going to consider doing our windows this winter. We remember when Howard and Linda had theirs done. How far in advance did you schedule?
Jim, we made the reservation last May. They are just beginning their busy season now. We wanted to get in before it was too crowded which we did. They have 22 parking spots and they were not all filled. Most people only had a few windows done. The winter can be quite busy from what I understand.
“I can see clearly now” is playing in my head. Remember that song? NIce to have that off the list.
Yep! God’s waiting room for sure. Cannot believe the growth around Central Florida. All the groves and natural surroundings are giving way to massive developments. Sad to see. On the other hand, we have the beautiful Apopka Wildlife Drive. Come for a day and we’ll take you there.
Haha! Yes, Joan, I do remember that song:) And we are seeing very clearly now!!
We haven’t been to Florida since Feb 2014. There is definitely a lot of growth everywhere. The waiting room is filling up:) I’d say the economy is pretty good!
Glad to see your window repair went well. The apprehension before and during repairs is always the worst part!
I am thrilled this is a job that is finally over:) It is amazing how clear the windows are now!
What an experience that must have been!!! So guess you had another opportunity to get all of the stink bugs out-or rather they got out! We hope to have news about our battle with the bugs. Living in Florida for over 20 years, we’ve known how to fight them. But these pests are not easy to get rid of….
Sounds like it’s been a productive time! I can’t believe we never ate at the rotating restaurant! Beautiful views!
It was an experience alright! Nothing like cardboard and green tape windows:) We were hoping that the window removal would take care of the last of the stink bugs. But we are still finding a few every day. Hope you get your bug problem under control!
Oh the exciting lives of full timers! How nice to still live in our homes during home repairs! Lol
Oh those pesky bugs. Bill is a germaphobe so he keeps our home immaculate inside and out. Just call him Felix. So he’s scrubbed and sprayed and we thought they were gone…then one, then two, everyday a few more. So now we have to figure out where the nest is….We may have found it, so just resprayed…and now we’re being flexible and are heading to Pennsylvania for a funeral. Bill’s 97 year old uncle. What a blessing we can go and be with all the family, except his mom, her brother. She’s 95 and can’t travel.
Must feel great to have a sparkling clear view out of your windows. The beach looks so inviting….and not crowded!
The clear view is wonderful! It should be nice here this time of year before the huge rush of snowbirds starts Jan 1.
From bright and airy to dark and dreary…lol The motorhome looks fabulous darling.
That would be a really cool place to eat. Not a bad seat in the place. Beautiful views for sure.
Thanks, Marsha:) The restaurant was very cool!
What a fun restaurant. So nice to have family who know where to go. Really glad you are happy with your new windows. Sounds like they did a great job and with a life time warranty the only draw back would be having to come back to have them “redone”. Sounds like you won’t be in Cortez in January which is when we’ll be near there. Where do you go from there? Seems like after all this time we should be able to meet in person. Wedding? What fun! We did that almost 2 years ago now.
That’s a major job! How nice to have clear and clean windows (and somebody else had to do the cleaning!).
Yes, it is nice to have a crystal clear view and I didn’t have to do it:)
It was good meeting a fellow KEYSTONE State full-timer whilst at Suncoast. We also enjoyed our cardboard, plastic and green tape days, especially with our neighbor who seemed to enjoy taking out their hear aides and watching some sort of war movies, since they had the plastic, cardboard & green tape treatment it was like we were in their coach. LOL. Take care & Safe travels.
We were glad our “cozy” neighbor only had their driver’s window done on our side so we didn’t have to worry about TV volume. Hope it was a good movie:) Enjoy your time in Florida! Safe travels:)
You inspired me… I’ve started our blog: http://www.americantradition.net
LMK if you have any suggestions…
Good luck with blogging:) It’s a nice way to keep a record of your activities. Maybe we’ll see down the road. we are heading back to Hudson, Jan 1. One side of our small kitchen window shattered.
What a treat to get them all done, not only right but quickly! Love those big views from the restaurant 🙂 That wedding is getting close!
It is nice to finally have the windows finished. It has been on our mind for a year. Yes, the wedding is getting very close!! We checked out the site at the beach the other day:)
New windows–or rather old windows fixed–new view! It sure is hard to have work done on your “home” and still live in it!
It was rather interesting living in our home with cardboard windows. Thank goodness it was only two nights.
Glad you got that done and had some fun too. The revolving restaurant looks like a great view.
A real load off my mind, Gaelyn! The restaurant was a great place:)
Glad you had a good experience. We were there 2 years ago and it was a disaster. They bent the frame on our drivers side window, put in the wrong shaped glass in our emergency exit, didn’t clean up after themselves, even with an appointment took 6 days to replace 4 windows, had to redo two windows and seemed much more interested in volume rather than quality. On top of it all, they never told anyone there what was going on in terms of what to expect or schedule. I would not recommend them.
I am normally easy going and rarely complain. But we were treated so shabbily by these folks I just had to say something.
Glad to hear that your project went well. Looking forward to hearing more about the wedding planning.
Wish the windows had gone as well as we initially thought! We have since discovered several areas of damage and just today, our small kitchen window shattered in one half. The glass didn’t fall out but splintered from too much pressure. Guess we’ll be stopping on our way back north through Florida:(
I finally found a nice place for our dinner after the wedding so I feel much better. We stopped by the beach to check out the wedding site the other day and someone was setting up for a wedding! Turns out it was the same people doing our wedding. We went back at 4:45 to watch and check everything out. It was nice to know exactly how things will go. So plans are pretty well all set:)
OMG, so sorry to hear about the window issues. Thank goodness you have something pleasant to concentrate on, like a wedding. When is the big date?
The wedding is Dec 27th on the beach on Anna Maria Island at sunset. Should be lovely:)
Everyday as we look through our fogged up windows, Steve comments that we should go to Florida and have our windows changed. But then I read your reply to LuAnn 😦