Larryheadhunter
X-Rookies Still Luving it
Hi everyone,
Many Heartland owners and friends have asked me about my 2009 Big Horn 3400RE, and the fact it is now gone, totaled, but not forgotten. It's not a pretty story but that's the way a RV bounces. It goes something like this........
I guess I should hate Flag City RV Park in Lodi. That's the park where my rig got totaled in March 2010, as well as the place I was forced to turn around and head home in early June, and endure my spinal fusion, instead of going on to the Oregon Rally and a 2 month summer trip.
Back this March 2010, we were stopping in Lodi, before heading on to Deb Duryee's Oroville No Cal Rally. We woke up one bright and cheery morning and hitched up the rig, or so I thought. Unfortunately, our hitch decided to fail us, so as we headed out of our site, I heard a loud crash, and voila, the kingpin came out of the hitch, and smashed our tailgate to bits, and fell to the ground behind us. In a flash, I jumped out of the truck, assessed the damage, threw our beautiful new RV Stromberg-Carlson tailgate in the trash, and had a bright idea. So I pressed the extend electric button on our front jacks and like I was hoping, the rig creakingly arose from the ground. I was quite amazed but what the heck, the rig rose up to hitch height, and so we re-hitched, made sure we were locked in this time, and headed out to Oroville, shaking off the accident, and said to my DW Debbi, as I have a few times, LOL " that's what RV insurance is for."
Little did I know, several months later, in the same campground, I would be unable, due to severe shooting pains up and down my legs, to continue on to the Oregon rally. While I was lamenting my horrible pain, that I had ignored, I noticed that there was a crack going from the roof down to the end of the bedroom slide, and a bulge in the other corner of the slide. I had thought the day before, when we were setting up, that the bedroom slide wasn't working too smoothly. Luck shows itself in weird ways I found out later. We were meeting Art and Teresa Mitchell, Heartland Chapter Leaders of Central CA that morning, to caravan up to Redding. When they saw my physical condition, Teresa's mother instinct came out and she insisted we turn around and go home, as I could barely walk, although I was determined to continue on to our next stop on the way to Winchester Bay, OR. Several minutes later came a phone call from John and Lori Dawson, our new Heartland Pacific Region Directors, with the same directive. Thanks, my good friends for setting me straight. As many of you know, once I got home, I was soon in the operating room to enjoy a 6 1/2 hour lumbar spinal fusion surgery, but that story is in another thread.
The bottom line is pretty cut and dried. A few days before the surgery, I dragged my butt out of bed and drove the rig over to a Progressive Insurance RV repair facility in Lake Elsinore,CA. Soon thereafter, I got a surprise phone call from the insurance adjuster. Guess what, I had 3 breaks in the frame welds and the cost to repair it was over $40,000. Holy cow, when it rains, it pours. To make a long story short, the other day, they decided to total our baby, after hauling it 22,000 loving miles since February 2008. Yesterday, I signed the papers, and it is now a done deal, heading to the salvage yard next Monday.
This coming Saturday will be the Big Horn 3400RE funeral, so anyone who lives in SoCal, that wants parts, including four nearly new Goodyear 614 tires, can come to the Giant RV repair facility, and help us pack up our belongings, as we head home to San Clemente, to continue my personal repair job, oops, recovery from my surgery. If you live close by, and want to hear what's available to scavengers, please PM, email or call me. The caveat is you have to help us pack, just like Bob and Patty, our illustrious So Cal Chapter Leaders, are being kind enough to do, while I sit and direct. The doc said no BLT's, (no bending, twisting, or lifting for 6 months).
We will still see all of the attendees at the 2010 SoCal Fall Buellton Rally in mid-October at Flying Flags RV Resort. You can find us in one of the cabins next to Jim Beletti, our HL Director of Owner Interests.
And that's the end of my story. The lesson to be learned is, make sure you have completed your check list before leaving a campground. That includes making sure your hitch is locked in good and tight. Come early next year, Debbi and I hope to be driving our new 2011 3500HD Chevy Silverado, hauling a new 2012 Heartland Landmark down the road to our next destination.
Many Heartland owners and friends have asked me about my 2009 Big Horn 3400RE, and the fact it is now gone, totaled, but not forgotten. It's not a pretty story but that's the way a RV bounces. It goes something like this........
I guess I should hate Flag City RV Park in Lodi. That's the park where my rig got totaled in March 2010, as well as the place I was forced to turn around and head home in early June, and endure my spinal fusion, instead of going on to the Oregon Rally and a 2 month summer trip.
Back this March 2010, we were stopping in Lodi, before heading on to Deb Duryee's Oroville No Cal Rally. We woke up one bright and cheery morning and hitched up the rig, or so I thought. Unfortunately, our hitch decided to fail us, so as we headed out of our site, I heard a loud crash, and voila, the kingpin came out of the hitch, and smashed our tailgate to bits, and fell to the ground behind us. In a flash, I jumped out of the truck, assessed the damage, threw our beautiful new RV Stromberg-Carlson tailgate in the trash, and had a bright idea. So I pressed the extend electric button on our front jacks and like I was hoping, the rig creakingly arose from the ground. I was quite amazed but what the heck, the rig rose up to hitch height, and so we re-hitched, made sure we were locked in this time, and headed out to Oroville, shaking off the accident, and said to my DW Debbi, as I have a few times, LOL " that's what RV insurance is for."
Little did I know, several months later, in the same campground, I would be unable, due to severe shooting pains up and down my legs, to continue on to the Oregon rally. While I was lamenting my horrible pain, that I had ignored, I noticed that there was a crack going from the roof down to the end of the bedroom slide, and a bulge in the other corner of the slide. I had thought the day before, when we were setting up, that the bedroom slide wasn't working too smoothly. Luck shows itself in weird ways I found out later. We were meeting Art and Teresa Mitchell, Heartland Chapter Leaders of Central CA that morning, to caravan up to Redding. When they saw my physical condition, Teresa's mother instinct came out and she insisted we turn around and go home, as I could barely walk, although I was determined to continue on to our next stop on the way to Winchester Bay, OR. Several minutes later came a phone call from John and Lori Dawson, our new Heartland Pacific Region Directors, with the same directive. Thanks, my good friends for setting me straight. As many of you know, once I got home, I was soon in the operating room to enjoy a 6 1/2 hour lumbar spinal fusion surgery, but that story is in another thread.
The bottom line is pretty cut and dried. A few days before the surgery, I dragged my butt out of bed and drove the rig over to a Progressive Insurance RV repair facility in Lake Elsinore,CA. Soon thereafter, I got a surprise phone call from the insurance adjuster. Guess what, I had 3 breaks in the frame welds and the cost to repair it was over $40,000. Holy cow, when it rains, it pours. To make a long story short, the other day, they decided to total our baby, after hauling it 22,000 loving miles since February 2008. Yesterday, I signed the papers, and it is now a done deal, heading to the salvage yard next Monday.
This coming Saturday will be the Big Horn 3400RE funeral, so anyone who lives in SoCal, that wants parts, including four nearly new Goodyear 614 tires, can come to the Giant RV repair facility, and help us pack up our belongings, as we head home to San Clemente, to continue my personal repair job, oops, recovery from my surgery. If you live close by, and want to hear what's available to scavengers, please PM, email or call me. The caveat is you have to help us pack, just like Bob and Patty, our illustrious So Cal Chapter Leaders, are being kind enough to do, while I sit and direct. The doc said no BLT's, (no bending, twisting, or lifting for 6 months).
We will still see all of the attendees at the 2010 SoCal Fall Buellton Rally in mid-October at Flying Flags RV Resort. You can find us in one of the cabins next to Jim Beletti, our HL Director of Owner Interests.
And that's the end of my story. The lesson to be learned is, make sure you have completed your check list before leaving a campground. That includes making sure your hitch is locked in good and tight. Come early next year, Debbi and I hope to be driving our new 2011 3500HD Chevy Silverado, hauling a new 2012 Heartland Landmark down the road to our next destination.
