Westward Ho--Spring 2010--Day 1

A new trip, a new adventure. That was our attitude as we finally got back on the road again. We had no idea of how this adventure would start out. We rolled out about 8:30 this morning and headed south on Interstate 44. We had great weather all morning long other than a few rain drops around Lawton, Oklahoma. At Wichita Falls, Texas, the Interstate ended and we were on a pretty good four lane highway. That is also where we hit the wind storms.

This has got to be one of the worst stretches of wind we have ever driven through. It was picking up the dirt from the newly plowed fields causing the air to be brown. At some intervals it was like driving through a heavy fog with visibility down to a matter of feet. About halfway between Wichita Falls and Abilene we heard a loud bang and a flapping/flopping sound. My first thought was we had just blown one of our right rear tires. After pulling off to the shoulder we found the tires to be fine. The big, 20 foot awning that was attached to the side of our coach, not so great. The wind had caught the awning and unrolled it. The side arms were fully extended and the fabric was torn half off.

There was no way any repairs could be made to the fabric and the frame would not go back up to the side of the coach with that huge piece of material flapping in the wind. After pulling the ladder out from the storage bay I decided to attempt to tie the arms and overhead roller to the coach with bungee cords. During this time the ladder blew over three times, once with me on it. Fortunately the state of Texas had not mowed the grass on the right of way lately so I had a soft landing. About the time it was decided that Joanne and I were not going to take care of this by ourselves a car pulled up with three Texas state employees. Between the five of us we were able to get the awing material, which was still attached to the coach, from off the roof and I was able to cut it loose. With that we were able to get the arms and roller back against the coach and tied up. With some bungee cords, some twine and duct tape the awning frame is now riding securely. Now we just have to have the fabric replaced, hopefully during the RV rally we are heading for.

Oh yeah, the first purpose of this trip. We are currently headed to Tucson, Arizona, for a Monaco International owners club rally which starts next week. We are due to arrive in Tucson on Friday. Today we had planned to drive to Big Springs, Texas, and spend the night. When we arrived there the RV Park was full. With that news I got out my RV Campground books and saw the next closest was in Midland, fifty miles farther west. After a quick call to check on openings we headed west. We arrived at the Midland RV Park around 6:00pm and settled in for the evening. Tomorrow we'll head on west and hope that the wind will let up on us.