TODAY’S WINDSTORM GOES INTO OUR BOOKS AS…..THE WORST WINDS EVER!!

INDIAN HORSES CROSSING A HILL BEHIND OUR RIG

Sunday’s winds subsided enough in the night to allow us some sleep but at first light they picked up again dropping the temperatures.  Cloudy with a few sunny breaks & we had to dress warmly to ward off the chilly winds.  Local weather advisory was out for 50 mph winds this afternoon & little did we know they were bearing down on us like a speeding freight train at that very moment.

3 DOGS HARASSING THE HORSES

Figured we would drive into the little town of Chinle which is just outside the campground, grab a bite to eat, get a few groceries & hit the canyon’s north side driving tour.  We did grab a bite but we never did make it to the grocery store.

 

THUNDERBIRD LODGE WHERE WE ARE GETTING OUR WIFI SIGNAL  

While eating we were suddenly hit with huge wind gusts turning the view outside into an instant brown sand storm.  We see these kinds of things in winter back home & call them white outs due to blowing snow.  Without further ado we quickly headed for the Jeep & raced back to the campsite expecting to see our satellite dish on the ground & both slide awnings torn to bits.

RACING BACK TO THE RIG TO GET THE SLIDES IN

The tiny awning was billowing like I’ve never seen it before.  We got out of the Jeep OK but when I opened rig’s door the wind caught it throwing me backwards into Kelly behind me who was hanging on to her cup of coffee.  Lid flew off the cup spraying coffee all over Kelly.  Managed to hang onto the door long enough while she squeezed inside, raced back to the bedroom, hit the switch & retracted the slide before the awning ripped off.  I remained outside for a minute before trying to get myself in.  Took me 2 tries to get & hold the door open long enough to duck inside.  I knew if the wind blew the door out of my hands it would dash it against the side of the rig & smash the glass out of it.

 

STRUGGLING AGAINST THE WIND TO GET THE LMB OFF THE DISH…WIND GUSTS WERE TOO BAD TO GET THE DISH OFF THE TRIPOD

I have blogged about bad winds many times before & we have been in some very nasty ones but this wind today goes into our books as the worst wind we have ever experienced.  Anybody caught out on the highway today with an RV is going to be in some very major trouble.  We are so fortunate to have got in here & set up at this campground when we did yesterday.  We hear Flagstaff was hit hard today & we had just past through there Saturday afternoon.  We sure dodged a nasty weather bullet there.  They had blowing winds & driving snow. 

The campground we are in sits below a bluff & is a bit protected area but if it’s this bad here it must be a total nightmare for people on the road.  I just have a feeling there is going to be plenty of wind damage when this finally lets up.  Our Motor Home has never rocked side to side this bad before.  At one point I did manage to get outside & take the electronic part of the satellite dish off but about 5 minutes later the wind gusts had twisted the tripod legs bending the dish down at an awkward angle.  Twenty minutes later another wind gust totally flattened the dish snapping off one of the tripod legs completely.  That’s the end of our Canadian Star Choice satellite TV for this trip:((  Am I complaining about all this?  Nope, just stating the facts.  I would sooner be right here in the  middle of a big darn old dusty wind storm any day as opposed to sitting at home during a big old miserable snow storm!!  And, would you believe that due to the high winds & blowing sand plus a small opening in our poor fitting kitchen window we now have sand dunes on our kitchen counter top!!

THIS COLORFUL RIGGED ROLLED INTO THE CAMPSITE AFTER THE WINDS DIED DOWN

I remember a saying from the old wild west gunfighter days that went something like, ‘no matter how fast you think you are, there is always somebody faster!!’  Same thing applies to bad days.  No matter how bad your day is or was there is probably someone somewhere who has had a more badder one.  (ya ya I know about the grammar) Thought we had a bad one a couple days ago until I read SASSY'S ON DA ROAD.  And then, if Sassy’s day wasn’t bad enough, I read Malone’s post at THE MOHO & OTHER TRAVELING TALES.  The post is entitled….’Vandalized!!’

ANOTHER GERMAN VEHICLE PULLS IN

We pretty much remained trapped in the rig for the entire day.  Kelly read for awhile & I sat here with the computer on my lap dozing off about 6 dozen times only to be awakened by the severe rocking of the wind battered coach every few minutes.

I wrote the above paragraphs this afternoon while the wind was beating us up.  It is now after supper, much colder, raining a bit & the wind has diminished.  I brought the broken tripod in as soon as it did & with a couple sticks for splints & about 6.4 miles of duct tape kind of made a shaky repair on the leg. 

Took it outside & set it all up again & surprisingly enough we have TV tonight.  If it remains up for the night that will be a bonus & if my repair lasts any longer than that it will be a complete miracle.  And if it lasts a week that will be impossible!!  Actually the leg only has to last us a few days longer while we are here at Canyon de Chelly (d’ Shay) because once we hit the road for home we will not be in any one place long enough to ever set it up again.  This is the last planned stop of our trip this winter.  No idea how long we will be here but it will be pedal to the metal once we leave Canyon de Chelly for home.

I KNOW IT ISN’T TOO PRETTY BUT AT LEAST WE GOT TV TONIGHT & I’LL BE ABLE TO WATCH ‘CORNER GAS:))’

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A duck walks into a pharmacy, and asks for Chapstick. The cashier says, "Cash or check?" and the duck says, "Just put it on my bill."