We got caught in a "SEVERE" thunderstorm in the mountains. The storm came up very quickly and my husband went out to put the awning up. He lowered the awning all the way down in order to roll it up and got caught under the awning when the lightning and winds came. He stayed under that thing for close to 45 mins just holding onto it to keep it from being torn from the RV. The cloud to grond lightning was all the way around him and there he was holding onto the roller bar. Thank God he was not struck. It was a terrifying experience. The next day the neighboring camper came over to see if our RV had been hit by lightning. He had been looking out his window and thought he saw lightning hit us. He was unaware my husband had been outside the entire time. Next time we camp in the mountains and it looks threatening, we'll pack everything up immediately, we had no time to prepare.
Driving from Bend, OR, to Grants Pass, OR over the mountain in October. It didn't occur to me that Bend, OR can get snow in October. Anyway, I turned off HW 97 to proceed over the mountain, and it had started snowing. This was my second trip in my first RV (Fleetwood Jamboree 24 foot), so I was pretty "green" and the snow freaked me out. Secondly, I thought it was quite ODD that a jillion cars were going west (same direction I was) and NOBODY was coming east. What I mean is.... the eastbound lane of the highway I was travelling on had completely virginal snow, NO TIRE MARKS! I thought this was very odd, indeed. I found out the reason for the "virginal snow" on the eastbound lane: At the top of the moutain pass, there was a six car pileup, and an ambulance was part of the pileup. Nobody was going anywhere. It took an hour to clear up the accident. (During the stopping time, I thought of firing up my generator and cooking dinner in the microwave but I figured I would p**s off the people who were crammed in cars...... Instead I just played solitaire on my computer for as long as the battery would let me..... Advantage of the RV.....) During the stopping time, I had opened my side door to get out and check out what was going on. Finally the accident got cleared, and I proceeded. I had to drive down the mountain in the dark while it was still snowing. I kept hearing a "slushy windy" noise, and I couldn't figure out what this was. But I kept going until I was low enough in elevation for it not to be snowing any more. Then, I stopped and discovered I forgot to SHUT my entry door to the living area. I had driven a good ways with my entry door open. I was hearing the sound of my tires driving in the snow. I'm sure this isn't the scariest thing one could possibly experience in an RV, but it was scary to me! I'm surprised it didn't scare me away from RV'ing! JJ
Ok, one more. I'm at a campground in South Central Washington State (the desert part, yes, Washington State has a desert....), and during March and April, 60-70 mph winds are not unusual. Well, one came up. I have two slideouts. I feared I was going to tip over, so I pulled my slideouts in. It seemed to work! JJ
While heading to Florida in mid January one year, we hit a severe snow storm just outside of Jellico Tennessee. Anyone who has driven that area knows the grades are some of the steepest on I-75. About 15 minutes into the snow, which was coming down heavy and wet, so fast the windshield wipers could not handle it. The snow began to pack on the pavement and was turning into a glaze. My rear duals started slipping and I slowed down to a crawl. I had all my lights on including the hazard lights flashing. I looked for some way to get off the road, but it looked impossible. Four wheelers and some semi rigs were off in the median and the right side ditches. I kept the coach moving, having a lot difficulty keeping the rear duals from slipping. We were down to about 15 MPH for a number of miles. Going down hill was just as bad as going up, although I could gear down carefully to keep from locking up the rear end. About Knoxville it all ended and we broke out into sunshine and dry pavement. I was never that tired and beat from driving in my life, we found a campground and called it quits for 24 hours. I could not see exits or roadside pull offs due to the heavy snow. Pulling off the road on the berm seemed to me to be an invitation to a major accident, more so than keeping her moving. It was a freak snowstorm, and never happened again. We do check weather reports carefully during the winter months while traveling.
Somewhere between Rapid City SD and Atlanta GA I hit something and broke the bolt that hold the rear spring on the back axel of my 5th wheel. I never noticed anything while driving or while we were camping for several nights until I got home. While backing into my driveway, I felt a bump. When I went to unhook, I noticed the tires were about 1/2 inch apart and the 5th wheel was leaning alot to 1 side. Needless to say, I took it immediately to the dealer who was surprised that I had driven that far without the axel coming loose. From now on, I also look under the unit before everytime I travel and do a thorough check of the suspension. It is scary to know that at anytime I could have lost control over a 15, 000 lb trailer over an 1800 mile trip.
we had just parked in a yogi bear campground in Virginia on a hilly sloped site. My "know it all" spouse decided to put the slide out in the travel trailer prior to putting the jacks down and stabilizing the unit. Well, the trailer started rolling. Even though it only rolled a few feet, it scared me so now that everytime I now sleep in the trailer, I feel the thing rolling. Also during our maiden voyage, while going through a construction site in the wee hours of the morning, he hit against the concrete blocks damaging one side of the trailer in various places. Needless to say, we are now parked in a seasonal campsite in pennsylvania which I could not be happier about.
While camping at the NC Outer Banks one year and tornado came through. We were in a fifth wheel and were really rockin and rollin, but some of the people in pop up campers were actually lifted off the ground and turned 180 degrees before being set back down. We helped people who were in tents find stuff that was blown all over the campground. Really frightening.
I have two frightening experiences. The first was a number of years ago and it was the first time for me driving a motorhome and we were on our way to Florida and stopped at our half way point, South of the Border. I wanted a pull-thru site since I still was a greenhorn at backing up and it being night time and not having the greatest visibility, but they had no pull-thru sites available, so they gave me a back in. My dad got out to try and help guide me in and the place was essentially pitch black, very little lighting and I was backing up and all of a sudden I hear and feel a "thump" and my dad yelling. My heart almost jumped out of my throat...I thought I had hit my dad and tears started streaming and when I got out and started to the back I saw my dad was alright and it was a really bad positioned picnic table that I hit. After that, I have always looked to see where picnic tables are even when just backing a car up. And, of course, I thanked God I only hit the table and not my dad...even though he was highly upset at the damage that was done to the brand new motorhome. My second experience was when we were tent camping at Point Lookout State Park in Maryland and we sat in a tent under 100 foot tall pine trees while three funnel clouds were within three miles of us and wondering if the wind would demolish our tent if the trees didn't. After about 10 minutes the storm passed and it was sunny and beautiful again, but I still couldn't stop thinking of what could have happened that didn't.
Several years ago, while still camping in a tent, we were staying at a state park in New York State. A few hours after we had gone to bed we started hearing a bunch of drunken teens/20's arguing and fighting. At one point someone mentioned something about a gun and killing someone. The arguing went on for about 20 minutes. My husband and I sat in our tents pretty much terrorized, and then I heard my brother unzip his tent - I was sure he was going to get shot! A few minutes later the troopers came by and dealt with the group of them. I'm sure this was a unique experience, but you'll never catch me in a state park in New York ever again!!!
