Stranded in Medford: Day 7


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At this point, the vacation is over, and we just need to get home.  I wanted to break up the drive home, so I had found us a boondocking site about halfway there.  I was actually looking forward to staying there.  But alas, it was not to be.

The day started promisingly enough.  Our part (a new ignition switch) was supposed to arrive on the morning FedEx delivery.  We woke up early and called Mercedes of Medford to verify that the part was indeed on the way.  They looked up the tracking number and verified that the part was on the truck for delivery.

That all sounded promising, so we loaded up the garbage bags for the what?  Fourth time?  Fifth?  Anyway, we checked out of the Homewood Suites.  We canceled our house-hunting appointment with the local realtor, and headed over to Mercedes of Medford.

When we got there, we were met by a rather disappointed looking service adviser.  The part had arrived.  The part had the correct name, and part number on it.  But what was in the package was the wrong part.  I wish I could say we were shocked.  New (and correct) part should be here tomorrow.  At this point, they were texting pictures of the parts to make sure they got the right one…

This is, uh, not the right part.

This is, uh, not the right part.

At this point, even the Mercedes shop started feeling bad for us.  They pulled some strings and got us into the Rogue Regency inn down the way.  We still had to stay in Medford, but at least we aren’t paying for tonight’s hotel room.  Of course, we had to go through another round of Garbage Bag Shuffle to get all our stuff into the new room, and then make two trips across town to get our bikes and groceries from the Homewood.  Good times!

Checking in to the Rogue Regency Inn

Checking in to the Rogue Regency Inn

We actually bought lottery tickets today.  This bad luck has to end sometime, right?

I do want to take this opportunity to thank Mercedes of Medford for all they’ve done for us.   They’re really trying to make this as pleasant as possible for us. We’ve put like a billion miles on the loaner car, and the room they put us in is really nice.  If you have a Sprinter based RV problem in southern Oregon, this is where you want to be.  Seriously.

Also, the restaurant at the Rogue Regency is worth trying.  They had an eclectic mix of things on the menu, and the chicken dish I had was actually quite good.

But really, at this point, I want to get going…



James is a former rocket scientist, a USA Cycling coach, and lifelong fitness buff. When he's not driving the RV, or modifying the RV (or - that one time - doing both at once), you can find him racing bicycles, or building furniture, or making music. In his spare time, he works for a large IT company.


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