Went down to Austin last weekend for a Biker Wake(a rowdier than normal wake
) for a very longtime friend.
We parked in their driveway. Another friend, a trucker as well as Biker, went out there and trimmed tree limbs and such to clear the way.
Of course we got there at night. Their drive is a 90 off of skinny street out in the country. I did not get quite lined up well enough and dropped my right rears off when entering. I didn't know this put me up against a fencepost, when I pulled forward slightly thinking I could "bully" my way back on, I heard a "nasty" noise and stopped. My friend went and looked and gave me the bad news about the fencepost. I backed up and relined up, "knowing" I did some damage. @#$%
Once on the drive, I was faced with a 20ft bridge they have over a drainage dithc. I knew it was 10ft wide with railings on both sides, what I didn't know, they have a gate that folds back onto the bridge making clearance ~9ft, holy crap! I actually lined up perfectly and inched across with mere inches on each side. In the 2-3 minutes it took to cross that bridge, I kept wondering, "wonder what the load limit of this thing is?"
After that, the drive took a 90 to the left with a tree on right and large bush/tree on left. I had to drop right front on dirt to get a wide enough swing, but made it. Then I had to turn the MH around in their house/garage area to get it out of the way for when the crowd came tomorrow, and leave my w/c lift landing on pavement. All in all, took ~30min to get parked.
When I got out, I checked the damage. Yeehah, it was way less than I feared. I did put som scratches in the paint and a scrape across the water heater vent. The "nasty noise" was a tab busted off of the main awning arm. Not sure what these are for, they just look like places to hook bungee cords to or something. There are 2 on each base, I busted the inside one off the rear arm base. But the arm, base itself, and all other components were fine. Whew!!! Man, what a difference an inch can make.
The Wake went very well, with the MH acting as an impromptu party place. The house was full and it was cold and raining all day saturday, so it was miserable even standing under the carport area. I had the furnaces cranking and it was cozy in the MH, even when I sat with "my" door(a large hole in the wall) open, so people gravitated there. At one time I was thinking, "wonder how many people a MH can take?", it was pretty packed. But jacks were down and all went well.
Sunday was a gorgeous day, made for a great drive home. But with all the rain, it was trecherous ground around the drive. Two people sunk to their differentials in suv's when they got off drive and had to be pulled out with a tractor saturday night.
So, when I got to the 90 in the drive(now to the right), I didn't dare drop my left front into the dirt to make that corner. This time I got hung up on that bush/tree thing, right n the same spot of MH I trashed on the way in. My friend hauled back on the bush and said "just go", I had no other choice and pulled ahead. Seemed like just some more scrapes added, of course I can't get out and look.
So back across that skinny bridge, out onto the street and we are off! I get a phone call about a 1/2mile down the road. My buddy says" you know that black vent cover you scraped, I have it in my hand". @#$% He jumped in his p/u and drove it down to me. Didn't look too bad, just bent up a little.
When I got home I inspected closer(after having MH washed at a truck wash on the way home(it was filthy with mud). I added one more deep scratch(to the metal) and busted the side marker lght but not much else. My brother and I reattached the vent cover after straightening it and it is fine. I have ordered a new marker light housing.
Seems I have a penchant for "going where no man has gone before",
, probably not gonna be the last scratch I guess.