February 27, 2024

Our 52nd day.

Well we made the trip to Cedar Crest, NM and a hell of a drive it was. Sustained cross winds in the 30-40 miles per hour. Steering wheel was always turned to the left to keep me going straight. It was only supposed to be a 4 hour drive, we left at 9:30 am but did not arrive until 2:30 pm. 

After about 2 hours we pulled into a wayside for a break. I let Buddy out and heard something banging. Put Buddy back in coach and did a walk-a-round. That is when I saw the bed slide awning flopping against the coach. I quickly got my ladder out and extended it to the awning. Diane came out to see what was going on and held the ladder as I climbed up.


 

I grabbed the loose part and it took off like a kite, luckily I was able to hang on or who know where it would have ended up. I told Diane to watch her head and I got control of the part and made my way down the ladder. 

Now the question was: how do I control the awning from unraveling while driving? I grabbed a few zip ties and headed back up the ladder and fashioned several ties on the front end, this was not going to do it. I grabbed a few more ties and a connector pin and worked on the rear section and was able to use the pin to lock the rotation of the awning. 

With six ties in place we made it to our destination. The winds are supposed to gust in the 40 to 60 MPH range on Tuesday so we left the passenger slide in. This we hoped would minimize the roll of the coach. I think it did the trick. The coach would shake during the night as the gust of winds increased but we both managed to get a decent night sleep. 

We are keeping the slide in until Wednesday when the winds are supposed to subside.  Then perhaps we will venture out and explore the area. [Note from Diane; Ken will be so stir-crazy by Wednesday, I KNOW we will be going out somewhere, lol]

Our campsite for the next two weeks. We do have internet but no local TV. Ruffing IT.


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