There’s nothing better about RV camping then finally arriving at your campsite. Time to kick back, take in the scenery, listen to songbirds and maybe think about sliding in to your fancy new hiking shoes. Heck, we might even go out for a hike!
But, before we jump on the beaten path, another very cool thing happens. I put up the awnings. And, I have to admit, our RV neighbours seem mighty impressed with my slick awnings capabilities. So, on our arrival at Colorado’s beautiful St. Vrain State Park located in the foothills of the Rockies near the town of Longmont, it was time for the awnings.
After completing the job, I stepped back to admire my work and called out to Bernadette, “Sweetheart, you gotta come out and see these awnings. They’re perfect.”
You may find this unbelievable, but Bernadette is not nearly impressed with my awnings capabilities as our neighbours, but she did share some advice, “I just read that in this part of Colorado, you have to be very careful with RV awnings because of sudden wind gusts coming off the mountains. Maybe we should put the awnings up just to be safe?”
That made me laugh out loud. “Honey, you gotta be kidding. There isn’t a breeze in sight. And it’s scorching today. We’ll be fine. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on the awnings.”
At that, we retired for a late lunch in Ladybug. That sure was a nice lunch. Egg salad sandwiches, green salad and a very cold Colorado ale to wash it all down. What a beautiful day. Until I looked out to see our main awning swaying sail-like and flapping angrily. You guessed it, we were jumped by 45 mph gusts of wind that seemingly came from nowhere. And where did all that the rain come from?
I leapt out from Ladybug to get the awnings down. This was a four alarm emergency. To my great surprise, there was Bernadette right beside me. She bravely grabbed the main awning’s strap and held it with all of her might as the wind whipped dangerously.
After getting the bracings unhooked, I also grabbed hold of the awning’s main strap with Bernadette. Together, the two of us held on with every ounce of our strength, fearing that our main awning was going to be blown right off of Ladybug.
After about 15 minutes of being thrown around relentlessly by those gale-force wind gusts, the wind suddenly slowed for a few seconds which gave us time to ease the awning safely back into position. And as we got back inside of Ladybug, the gusts picked up once again thrashing everyone and everything in their path. It was another hour or so of very intense winds.
I don’t think the neighbours were very impressed with my awnings capabilities after all. But, I was sure impressed with Bernadette helping me in such a precarious situation. She is an amazing partner to have around and I am one lucky guy.
Rest assured, I will listen intently to Bernadette’s future weather tips and other warnings. And those awnings won’t be coming down again anytime soon.
