Wow... What a long trip home that was. We pulled over Saturday Night to get some sleep. I really didn't sleep very well. Got up at 4:30 AM. Grabbed some quick breakfast (Cereal) and got on the road. After a couple of hours of driving, a lot of coffee and a 5 hour energy (UGH. Nasty tasting
), I realized I needed a bit more of a rest to continue. So we pulled off at the Harrisonburg, VA Pilot travel center. I set the alarm for 90 minutes and went RIGHT TO SLEEP. This time There was no tossing and turning. I went out. (Even with all the caffeine).
I woke up in about an hour and felt much better. So we packed back up, pulled around front to top of the gas since we were already there. No problem. DW went inside with DD12 while I got the gas. I finished up and went to be the "Courteous" person to pull the rig out of the way. Well wouldn't you know it, people were parked in such a way to make it inconvenient. There was a car straight ahead of me in front of the building that was pulling out, and the rest of the side of the parking area where I was going to turn was clear. Great... I can pull out far and take it wide. So it pulled out and another car pulled in to a spot towards the right. It prevented me from taking it as wide as I would have liked. (Sigh). Okay... I won't go as wide as I wanted... Well that was a mistake.
Crunch..... Tail swing on a 37 foot TT is a lot more than most. And my driver's side tail of the TT decided to jump into the pump and the concrete on the end.
Crunched some of the lower trim, bent the stabilizer and crumpled (a little) of the bumper for the sewer hose. The only thing it really did to the pump, besides knock the hose down was busted the Plastic hook that the hose rests on.
Took me about an hour (with some help to a wonderful bystander who left before I could truly thank him). I ended up having to "Unhitch" re-position the truck to change the "Angle" of travel a bit. But in the end I did get it out. I was more upset that it happened at all and less about the damage (which was minor in comparison). The manager (Peggy) was so nice. I asked if she needed anything from me for a report or insurance, she was just like, "No honey... At least you stopped to take care of it." Apparently a couple of weeks earlier an "Impatient" driver in a "CAR" took out 1 or 2 pumps and just kept going. Wow!
So while we did make it home safely, it was not unscathed. A few "Bumps" and "Bruises" on the TT but I reckon it could have been much worse.
So now I work on the recovery, of ME, the Family, and the trailer. A new set of stabilizers is about $100 (with the shipping added in). Although that's for 4 of them and I only need one, I am happy to have the spares. Might even consider installing some in the middle for better stabilization.
Still need to sort through all the pictures, so more to follow.