Groundhog Day!

[Colliemom]

Good Morning. And before I go any farther, I will give you the news from Punxsutawney. Phil has predicted an early spring this year! The grand announcement was just announced I enjoy watching all the hullabaloo going on in Punxsutawney as having been there with O’Sharon, I can relate. Not in the winter of course. It was a beautiful summer day when we went to Gobblers Knob. Now to see what our local NWS office has to say about that. I follow them on FB, so am sure thry will put something out as they have a great sense of humor up there at the office. They are also great teachers as they post some bter sting graphics and tell us about a lot of different weather things. Stuff you don’t see on the TV. Gives an insight on the intricacies of modern weather forecasting technology.

Enjoyed reading all the posts yesterday. Seems a lot of us do FB in one form or another. I like to keep up with the groups I belong to, RV, Weather Service and two really nice U.P. groups who post a lot of beautiful pictures, talk U.P. related stuff and keep politics out of the scene. I just skip over the politic related junk.

Judy, like your thoughts in the wide open spaces. I like open spaces too, but only for so long. But I don’t like camping in places where I am secluded in the trees. I like trees on my sight for the shade for myself and my dogs, but I camp in open sites too especially if I can get a view. After having been in that storm un SD with it’s 90 mph winds, I get gun shy about being too open. I enjoyed seeing the wide open plains on my trip west and have been across the Canadian Prairies and touched a bit of desert area in WY, but after a bit, I am pining for my woods and Waters. Anita, I know what you mean about being leery of planning spring trips. The weather in the plains and other areas is getting more violent and frequent. It’s why I kinda have been sticking to MI past few years.

Need to get myself moving here as will be leaving for mass in a little bit. Then couple errands. Have a great day everyone.

[JudyJB]

Sue, I do agree about being careful in some of the Plains areas. Three years ago I chose a prime, overlooking the lake, site on a bluff in Minooka Park Recreation area. Lovely. At least until a storm came up. Radar showed it staying the opposite side of the lake, except at the last moment it headed directly towards me. It was dark and late, but I jumped up and put my slides in--too late to prevent a rip in the slide awning and a bunch of water blowing in. By this time, I could feel the wheels lifting up, so after I put slides in, I put on my jacket, grabbed my purse and strapped myself into the drivers seat in case we rolled!! My rig was sideways to the wind, on a bluff, and it was very scary. Weather said 65 MPH winds and I was right in the middle of it. Later, I saw camp host's 5th wheel was cabled to the cement pad it was parked on!! He told he a couple of smaller trailers turned 90 degrees during the storm and a couple of 5th wheels that were on those front posts, fell off the posts and moved slightly. Luckily, it was a weekday and there were no popups or tent campers!!

The groundhog here is no doubt spending his day on the beach or enjoying the Everglades because it is sunny and warm. If we get a couple more months of this winter, everyone will be thrilled!!

We had a lot of rain yesterday, about an inch, and because there is limestone so close to the surface, it is taking a very long time to sink in, so we have shallow ponds everywhere. Haven't seen the local alligator either.

[BarbaraRose]

Judy, that must have been a very scary experience!

I too, would prefer a late spring, being here in the desert! Would love to keep the weather as it has been for as long as possible before the heat starts moving in again.

Woke up with a little tickle in my throat so will hit the ZiCam here and nip it in the bud! No time for that!

Just watched the church service on-line. Saves me on the gas to drive all the way across the valley and back. Still relaxing in bed, going thru my gourd books from the library. Lots of great ideas and information! So much to learn! Can't wait to get started on practicing. I just got a box of stuff I ordered from the gourd farm near Fallbrook, CA. Gourd pieces for practicing techniques and some other supplies I will need. I need to get things set up in my porch to get started.

Will go to the trailer in awhile and get that cleaned out, etc. Then clean house this afternoon while the big game is on. Have my chips and dip ready!

Have a great day!

[Bethers]

I'm at my first site with hookups after 6 weeks without. I elected to pull in instead of being in because this gives me a lovely view with a pond. I wasn't thinking, however, that while the electric easily reaches, when it comes time to dump I'll be turning around. I'm hoping I can wait until I leave to do that.

Whether here is turning cold for the next few days. My electric heater will get a work out, and my propane user will drop. Just by luck I'm here during the cold spell. Yay.

Barbie, I agree. This winter has been great. That said, I'd like spring in April.

Judy, cross winds are definitely the worst. Hate them. That said, I was in a park full of trees. We didn't feel the winds. The trees did and there were several rigs severely damaged by tree limbs coming through various parts of their rigs.

[Colliemom]

Judy, I remember you telling about that storm. My Storm was in a KOA in Kennebeck, SD and came up during the night around midnight. Had checked radar before going to bed and nothing was showing anywhere. Well.... Molly woke me up cause the lightning was really flashing and the wind starting to kick up and her collie instincts were saying this is bad mom. Didn’t think too much of it at first, but then my trailer started shaking around. At that point I threw on my shoes and socks, grabbed my jacket, my hearing aids, truck keys and Molly and evacuated to my truck. We got soaked before we got half way to it and it was hitched to my truck. I’ve never seen a storm like it. And I wasn’t the only one in their vehicles either. We had no time to get to the laundry/bathroom area of the park which was just at the end of the road where we were. That storm lasted a hour. I could feel my trailer tugging on my truck and I think, had it been unhitched, it would have either gone over or been turned sideways. The fact I had this huge tree next to my site may have helped break the Wind. When it was over, a 5th wheel in the end of the row was flipped on it’s side, still hitched to the truck, with a big dent in the truck where the hitch crushed it, a pop up camper two sites over from me was flipped and took out the water spigot on it’s site along with it, so they had to shut down the water system. Another popup behind me was turned sideways, a couple camping in a tent lost their tent and everything inside to heavens knows where. The roof of the KOA office was ripped up, allowing the rain to pour in, destroying the store and all the office computer equipment, plus we lost power and Kennebeck’s grain elevator was shredded and metal thrown across I-90. I had my jacks down and blocks under them and when it was daylight, I discovered they were gone except for one corner, so figured my trailer must have lifted or rocked, not to mention the aluminum picnic table next to my trailer was flipped against it, puncturing a hole in the side and damaging the marker light on the lower corner. Fortunately the hole wasn’t that big, so duct tape took care of that. Also found my jack blocks scattered around next to my site and in the road and somebody found my marker light cover. Since then I have gotten leery of storms in open areas. The winds were clocked at 90. I read later, that some areas around there had 100 mph. When I evacuated my trailer, my first though was a tornado. Fortunately nobody was hurt and the emergency people were there as soon as the storm let up, getting the people out of that 5er and making sure everybody was okay. We all gathered in the big laundry room, people, kids, dogs. The owners were fantastic in maki g sure everybody was okay, taking those who’s rigs were damaged over to the tornado shelter at the city hall for the rest of the night, despite the loss of their roof and computer/reservation system and anything not tied down to the four winds. But everybody stayed calm and cool and we were all out come daybreak checking on everybody and everything. Everybody went back to their rigs after it was determined the front had gone through and all was clear behind it, but I don’t think anybody slept. People there from SD told me thry have bad storms, but never like this. It was just pure raw fury.

[JudyJB]

My storm also came up very, very quick, so I had no time at all to head for a restroom or other more substantial shelter. You were smart to get into your truck. When the storm it, I also could feel my rig lifting up, which was very scary, but luckily my rig weights almost 15,000 pounds. The rigs that moved were mostly lightweight trailers and smaller 5th wheelers.

My lessons learned from my event were as follows, and I strongly suggest others follow them:

First, put things away at night. Preferably, don't get out more stuff than you really need anyway. I see a lot of campsites strewn with chairs, extra tables, kayaks, etc. Even if there is no chance of a storm, put as many things away as possible, lashing things like kayaks down, if you can. Tie them to a tree or something.

Second, get a weather radar app for your cell phone and an emergency radio. My app is called "Hi-Def Radar" and costs me very little per year. It does an excellent job of not only showing radar, but it also has a screen for things like wind speed. Check it periodically.

Third, I never go to bed without putting in my awning. I learned my lesson about this at 2 am once in Zion National Park when i had to get dressed and go outside in a strong wind and put it in with the sand hitting me as I struggled. Never again. I have also seen a lot of damage at rigs where people put their awnings up and then go away for the day!!! No, no, no.

Fourth, if it looks like a storm is coming, put your slides in sooner than later. I waited much too long because I did not think the storm was going to hit me. I should have put slides in anyway. You would not believe the amount of water that came in during the heavy wind and rain. And I still need to replace my town slide awning.

Fifth, I think I was a long way from shelter, but since it was dark and I never use campground restrooms, I really had no idea where they were or how sturdy they were. Know where shelter is. I can't imagine what that storm would have been like in a tent or popup, so I am glad I had a heavy rig, but better to be in a cement block building. Getting into a truck or car is good if you have no time to do anything else, but make sure you buckle yourself in with your seat belt. In my case, I figured if the vehicle rolled over, the seat belt and airbags would protect me.

Sixth, I do not have levelers, and I have no idea what you do in a trailer when it is propped up on flimsy blocks?? Leaving it attached to the truck sounds like it helped in Sue's case. Suggestions?

[Colliemom]

Judy, your moment to are exactly why I made up that Severe Weather post and also why the Weather Channel pushes making up a “go bag” as they call it. You only get one chance in storms like that. Either you go unscathed or everything goes topsy turvey. You should have seen the inside of that 5er that got knocked over. Everything in the cabinets and on the walls from one side was a smashed and jumbled mass of broken glass, objects and what not. The poor lady was inside trying to salvage what she could, putting it into garbage bags and passing them to her husband. I gave her a couple more to fill up. Can you imagine trying to find meds or other necessary stuff in that mess, not to mention trying not to get cuts. They had to break the rear window glass out in order to get them out after the storm. . He said they could feel the trailer start to sway a couple times before it went. That’s when they should have abandoned ship.

As to stabilizers, trailers have them on all 4 corners, but most of us set them on a block or blocks of wood to keep them from sinking into to the dirt and add more stability. Without them, you get a shaky trailer when you walk around in there. They help stabilize the unit and actually are a good help in wind. I’m surprised you don’t have stabilizers as I see MH’s with them all the time.

[BirdbyBird]

Sue on RVs like class Cs and As the are considered “levelers” to help make the vehicle level on the ground. They really don’t serve that much of a stabilizer. The Levelers are generally located near the wheel and or axels

[JudyJB]

Mine did not come with levelers and the dealer said I should wait until the warranty was up as putting them on would negate any frame warranty. I just use boards under tires on the few times I really need to be level. Yes, my rig does move a bit when someone walks around because of the vehicle springs and shock absorbers, but because I am by myself it is not a concern.

[BarbaraRose]

You can get jacks without welding them to the underside of the RV if you don't want to void the warranty. It isn't a foolproof set up but is better than nothing.