"if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room"

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

and I thought tires were expensive!

Wednesday we headed back to work. One of the disadvantages of working here is our schedules rarely coincide. We always have the same days off and "usually" work the same general hours but our start times, break times and end times rarely match. This is one advantage to having two vehicles available. Wednesday I started work at noon and Rudee didn't start until 2pm so I rode the bike in leaving her the truck to drive.
We have been having some really warm weather with the temperatures reaching into the 90's and the threat of afternoon thunderstorms pretty much everyday. Late Wednesday afternoon the dark clouds started building and moving towards us. I carry a 1/2 cover in the bike and decided I better cover it up to keep the seat dry, what I didn't expect was this:


The hail stones were about the size of a tennis ball but a lot harder!
My co-workers truck helped block some of the hail from hitting our bike but we still ended up with 5 large dents in the front fender. The cover protected the tank and the rest of the bike so all in all the damage wasn't too bad on the Harley. The Dakota, which was also parked in the parking lot, was another matter.





Every panel on the truck has large dents, the windshield is broken and the tonneau cover is stretched where the hail hit it. I have no idea how the sunroof was spared, I think ours was the only sunroof in the whole complex that was not broken!
The RV fared fairly well. The slide out awnings and window awnings all have damage to their canvas and the skylight over the shower was cracked. We also have some hail dents in the basement doors and our porch light lens and one clearance light lens were broken. Our RV has the air conditioner in the basement so we were spared damage to the covers that almost every other RV in our park experienced. No one here was spared from the damage and we have all been helping each other with ladders, plastic and duct tape trying to make everything livable again.
We have filed claims with our insurance and are waiting for them to do their inspections. I'm not sure if the truck is even repairable or not, we'll just have to see what kind of repairs are needed and how much they will cost. The cracks in the windshield do not interfere with driving so we are safe to drive it right now but they will spread so we will be needing a windshield pretty soon, the rest can wait since we will be back on the road in a few weeks. I'll keep you posted.

13 comments:

  1. So sorry to hear of all the damage.

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  2. Oh no! That really sucks. :( I have never seen hail that big and hope I never do!! Hope the insurance claim and rest of the process goes smoothly.

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  3. Jeez guys-- so sorry to hear about the damage. Since I have been through an episode like this make sure the roof of your RV has no bruises or soft spots from where the hail hit but did not penetrate the membrane. They were very evident on mine because they looked like scuff marks and when I pressed on the roof you could feel the damage underneath.

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    1. Funny but Rudee and I were thinking of you and the blog entry you wrote when this happened to us. :-)
      Our roof is fiberglass and appears to be undamaged. I have inspected it once but am going to do it again just to make sure there are no cracks or breaks. Thanks for the info.

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    2. Good deal on the fiberglass! I will always have the dents in the Suburban to remind me of the event as I did not get it repaired. Some of them are big enough to lay your fist in. Looks like you suffered no water damage from the hail? I fought electrical gremlins for months afterwards because of the good soaking everything got as well.

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  4. Oh my! Well you sure have had plenty to write about. Sometimes boring same old same old is good.

    We look forward to being there next year. May need to bring a garage.

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    1. might want to think about wearing your motorcycle helmets to work too! LOL

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  5. Man that sucks, I got a couple small hits and 1 big hail hit smack in middle of hood from a earlier storm there.
    Hope all goes well with insurance.

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  6. Yikes! We have applied to work in Custer area next summer. Maybe we should bring some metal covering for the Montana :)

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  7. Another reason to wear a helmet or at least have one available just in case you ride into hail or is it hell?

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  8. Phil, Rudee, so sorry to hear of your loss. Robin and I were on a bike trip to yellowstone when the last storm blew through. Stockade lake got hit too, but not like crazy horse! I hope it all works out. BTW we need to get another ride in before the season closes. Robin and I had a great time when we rode with you all last time.

    Jim

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    1. sounds good Jim, Rudee and I want to check out that new bike! The summer has certainly flown by! Hard to believe it's almost time to leave already.

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  9. Phil, Rudee we are sorry to hear that. That is terrible. Robin and I were on a bike trip to Yellowstone when the last hail storm came through. Stockade south got hit too, but nothing like Crazy Horse did! I hope it all works out for you. BTW I would love to get another ride in before the season closes. Just say the word.

    Jim

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