Spent a couple of hours with RV Coach people taking care of some minor issues with the coach. Had to go back to dealer for some work. Underway late on Wednesday the 25th and booked a night off the road in Ehrenberg, AZ at the Western Horizon resort Colorado River. Then on Thursday the 26th, headed for Casa Grande, AZ. The day looked fine, but winds continued to build and by noon we had gusts of 30-40 mph. Decided to avoid Phoenix and took hwy 85 south off hwy10 to hwy 8 into Casa Grande. Shari following behind the coach in the car as we have yet to have the tow bar installed , scheduled for 4/7.
Well, things happened in a hurry. Driving at 60mph +, Shari hit a 50-60mph wind gust tearing the kayaks and rack right off the roof of the car. Scary!! I lost her in my rear view mirror, but not to concerned as she would call me if trouble. Well, she had no cell coverage. A passer by helped pull the kayaks off the hwy and loaned a cell phone with local coverage to call me. By then I was 20 miles down the road. Turned around and headed back Arriving at the scene, hugged Shari for concern and observed the situation. Another citizen to our rescue, a law enforcement gal, already had loaded the kayaks in the back of her small pick up. Kayaks still fully attached to the rack, so the whole rack let loose. Trashed the rack, some roof damage to Shari’s new car, kayaks survived with out too much damage. Thank god no one hurt! Well, now what to do, two kayaks, no rack, and in the middle of “no where”. Well, the gal that came to our assistance offered to drive the kayaks in her pick up to “Cabelas” (a major sporting store) in Glendale, about 30 miles away, thinking we might be able to repair or replace the rack. We took her up on the offer. She called a friend to join us, we tied the kayaks securely, and off we went, still in heavy winds. Arrived at Cabelas, contacting the store manager and sending our helpers on their way, refusing to accept any payment, but managed to force $60 in their pocket.
Working with Cabelas proved to have no easy fix for a car rack option, and quite frankly, after the event, we were not excited about putting them back on the car roof, so with two kayaks laying in the parking lot, we decided to ship them home. Arranged for Conway freight and $500 later they were on their way. WOW! What a day. Cabela manager allowed us to stay overnight in the back of their lot. Relief that we found a solution, no one got hurt, and minor damage to the car can be fixed, we did get a good nights sleep.
Up early Friday AM the 27th to head to Casa Grande. Hit major morning traffic going east on hwy 10 right into Phoenix. Traffic crawled and Bob driving a new coach for the first time in major traffic. About an hour and ½ later traffic freed and we were well under way. Arrived at our RV resort around 10:00am and got situated relatively close to our friends Bill & Jody, feeling good to be settled once again. What a couple of days!
Saturday & Sunday spent the days getting acquainted with the workings of the coach. Lots of systems to learn. Automatic leveling, Air bags, GPS navigation, Sirius Satellite Radio, DC Inverter system, Washer Dryer, Home entertainment system, Sanitary system, and the list goes on.
roof damage to 
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