6/24/2010 Oh Man, What a Storm!

What a day this has been!

Since we didn’t have to work today we took our time getting up and about this morning. Bob sat outside under the awning with his second cup of coffee while I put a load of clothes in the washer.

We took care of a few chores around the house just to keep up on things because the cleaning fairies didn’t show up AGAIN. I made use of the awning being out by putting the load of shorts I washed on hangers and air drying them in the sunshine and ocean breeze using the handy hangers Bob made for me.

By early afternoon Bob and I were itching to get out of the park. We’ve been meaning to get over to a local RV dealer to look at a rig that is on their sales lot. Bob noticed this beautiful 5th wheel a week ago and we wanted to get a closer look if it was still there. I had my doubts, I thought for sure it would have sold already as I had looked at the info and pics online.

Surprisingly enough, it was still there. And we fell in love with it. We opened all the cabinets and drawers, sat on all the furniture, checked out the medicine cabinet, ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the cedar lined closet, marveled at the dual pane windows, were ecstatic over the storage space in the basement (Bob more so than me) shouted with joy at the pull all the way out clothes drawers that were both deep and wide and looked in awe at the NEVER USED stove/oven and convection oven. I truly don’t think a meal has ever been cooked in this rig. We envisioned watching TV in the leather recliners warmed by the FIREPLACE! Oh yes, a fireplace. Not wood burning of course but it gives out heat when we want it to. It has a computer desk built in and a four door fridge. It is nearly showroom condition and its an ‘07 model. Did I mention it has four slides?

When I looked at the rig online I couldn’t help but notice the low, low price. I plugged all the info into Google to find others of this make, model and particulars for sale. I found three right away and the prices ranged from $56,400 to $58.700. This one is for sale for $38,000. WHY, we wondered.

It was time to find a salesman. Back in ‘99 we bought a Jayco 5th wheel here and our salesman was Jeff. He still worked here so we asked for him. A few minutes later he came out and we told him that we bought a 99 Jayco from him, yada, yada, yada. Much to our surprise he looked at us and said, “You stayed at the National Guard camp and he looked at me and told me where I worked at the time. WOW! Talk about a memory!

So we told him we loved the rig and we wanted to talk. Jeff then dropped the bomb. It’s there are on consignment. No trade-ins taken. That stopped us in our tracks. We were so disappointed! So why is it priced so low? The fellow who owns it, paid cash for it and just wants out of it. He’s an elderly gentleman and his knees went on him and he can’t do the steps anymore. He just wants it sold. He put the truck on the lot too and that is already gone.

Sooooo,,,,,we’re putting OUR rig up for sale. If we find someone who wants it, we’ll call Jeff and make sure the rig is still there, if it is we’ll sell ours and buy that one. We are hoping it all works out and is meant to be. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

We ran a few more errands and went back to the camp.

We had heard on the radio that we were due for a thunderstorm and we heard on TV all the problems this storm brought to the Long Island, New York area. Bob started watching the Doppler radar and after awhile I got dinner started. I was really looking forward to this because we were having corn on the cob for the first time.

So dinner is ready and I’m just finishing up the main portion of dinner and ready to start on the corn on the cob, yes, we eat our corn on the cob last, don’t ask me why we just do. And then it started. Our 5th wheel rocked! We looked at each other and said simultaneously, “What the hell was that?” We looked outside and the storm was HERE…..NOW! It came in much, much faster than we thought it would. Things were blowing everywhere, people all over the park were scrambling to secure lawn chairs and towels that were hanging out to dry and beach toys were flying down the street. A lot of us were caught off guard and had to fight to get our awnings up. Some lost that battle, us included. The wind was blowing at 60 miles an hour and awnings were just ripping to shreds right before our eyes. Don’t forget, we’re at the beach so when the wind blows at 60 mph SAND is blowing everywhere which means that you have to do everything with your eyes shut or at least nearly shut. And the rain came down. Torrential downpour! Within mere seconds we were soaked to the skin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a storm come on so fast and so strong.

Of course our awning getting ripped was MY fault. Oh yeah, I got blamed for that one. I KNEW the storm was coming but I made dinner anyway. Uh,,,,yeah. We HAD to eat first, we couldn’t go put the awning up first. Um….we’ll why didn’t YOU go do all the stuff that I can’t reach anyway???? Huh? Huh? Oh well, we have insurance so I’m not worried about it.

After the rain stopped I went out to see the damage.

The rain came down so hard and so fast the ground just couldn’t absorb it fast enough.

No volleyball playing today!

This awning was literally in pieces all over the campground.

The cover may be gone but the aluminum frame is still there.

Another awning bites the dust.

All over the campground aluminum skeletons of gazebos were left, their canvas tops nowhere to be found.

Even the street signs couldn’t stand up to the wind.

….and of course, there was the sunset, such as it was.