Saturday, February 29, 2020

A Nightmare I Never Saw Coming

AJ, AZ   High 80  Low 49

On Thursday, Jim and I went to Sky Harbor Airport to pick up a friend of ours who was flying in from Maine. We made sure we got there a little early so we could find short term parking. We even got a parking spot about as close to the door as you could get. 

While we were waiting I glanced up and saw some interesting things on the walls. I also noticed that most people getting off the plane didn't even see these things because they were headed for baggage claim and just wanted to get out of that airport. 

These two pictures are part of the Phoenix Airport Museum. I'm sure there are many other items that we didn't see.

This picture is of the Bright Angel segment of the Grand Canyon as seen from the North Rim at sunrise. The artist, Merrill Mahaffey, wet the canvas and applied acrylic washes of color with a big brush. After the washes dried, he projected slides onto the canvas and laid in the details with small brushes and an air brush. The painting took four weeks to complete.




This one is called The Aviators and was done by Donald Lipski. The artwork celebrates Arizona's abundance of sunshine and rich aviation history. The 29 foot wide steel frames weigh more than a ton and feature chromed fiberglass lenses. Details include full-functioning hinges and vinyl nose pads. The sky is hand-painted on a 90 foot wide canvas.




 On Friday, Jim and I headed out to do some grocery shopping. I wanted to add to our food supply so we would be a little more prepared if things get really bad with the coronavirus stuff that is wrecking havoc around the world. We also stopped to have lunch at Papa Kelsey's. Great sub sandwiches.

We were gone about three hours which is about as long as we dare to leave the old dogs alone. I got out of the truck and climbed the steps and went in the door. It wasn't until I actually got inside that I noticed something was horribly wrong. All three of our slides were pulled in. My first thought was for the dogs. Rocky met me at the door so he was okay, but Skitz was not there. When our slides come in you can't get to the living room area unless you climb over the island counter. My thoughts went into overdrive and I was scared to death that Skitz had been trapped under a slide and had been killed or was badly hurt. Jim was outside in the truck and I screamed for him (I'm sure the whole park could hear me). 

He climbed up onto the island and was able to see that Skitz was still in her bed and was just fine. I'm not sure she even realized that anything had happened. Once I knew the dogs were okay, I was able to breathe again and Jim could focus on figuring out what had happened. Skitz was able to squeeze her chunky body between the slide and the island and get over to the kitchen where we were. 

Jim called a 24 hour technician from Camping World (where we bought the trailer) and between them and our neighbor, Pat, they were able to finally figure out what happened. It seems that water got in the hydraulic pump compartment and shorted out and blew a fuse and kicked the circuit breaker. This caused the slides to come in all by themselves. It took the guys about two hours to finally get the slides back out again. Jim drilled a couple of holes in the bottom of that compartment so this can't happen again.

This was truly a nightmare experience.


 You spend all this money for beds and they just want to lay on the floor.


 

 

27 comments:

  1. Wow! What a nightmare for sure! I bet that made your heart stop for a bit. I know it would have mine but glad everything finally turned out fine.

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  2. I know how scary that must have been!! I am sure, like me, you know exactly where the pets are when the slides go in or out. I wouldn't even move them unless the cat was in my arms or not in the rig at all. Scary!!!

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  3. Wow. That's really disturbing. But all's well that ends well.

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  4. Holy Cow! Who'd ever expect slides to retract by themselves? Glad the doggies came out ok. There have been times when my slides didn't want to retract when I wanted them to.

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  5. That truly is the nightmare scenario. So happy no dogs were harmed during slide movement.

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  6. OMG, how terrifying that must've been for the dogs. So glad no one got hurt.

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  7. WOW! I would have panicked too! So glad your dogs were unhurt. Scary.

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  8. Scary indeed! As to sleeping on the floor--it's much cooler on hot days.

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  9. Thats scary that the slides can move by themselves. We are starting to think about increased food supplies as well.

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  10. WOW I would freak out to. Never heard of this happening before but I guess there is always a first. Glad the pups were OK.

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  11. Oh and the paintings are fantastic!

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  12. Had to Google RV slide out. That would be scary!

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  13. I had NO IDEA! Although I DID see people out around your rig. Terribly frightening! (I would've thought the same thing) And what a ridiculous feature! WHY?
    I'm glad everything is okay! ❤

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  14. Electricity does strange things, we're just glad the dogs weren't harmed and nothing else damaged.
    It might be wise to pull the breaker or fuse to the Hydraulic Pump so you don't have the same problem in the future.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  15. That is the strangest thing I've ever read! Poor babies!

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  16. The slides coming in all by themselves is really weird. Would never have thought that being possible.

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  17. Oh my gosh, how horrible. We are so happy that the kids were not not. I can just imagine how you must have felt. Glad you got the slides fixed and life is back to normal. Miss you two.

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  18. Beautiful artwork! Of course I love the aviator glasses ;)

    Knowing how those slides work I would have been upset too. I am happy to see that Skitz is enjoying her slumber and all is well.

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  19. Oh my! I'm so glad that the pups are okay. Hopefully, the problem is solved.

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  20. What a scary moment. The things that can happen to us and what is our first response - the Dogs. I'm glad they survived that incident without getting hurt or any lingering effect.

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  21. Never thought of something like that with slides. Thanks for posting the info.

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  22. Your heart must have been pumping so fast and probably took you a while to calm it down. I'm glad the dogs were ok - and one slept through it? We could all take a lesson from dogs - open one eye to see if there is immediate danger; close eye and go back to sleep.

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  23. Wow, never heard of that, glad there was no serious damage!

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  24. What a nightmare!! I know how we are when we think our furkids are in danger. Not a feeling you like for sure.

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  25. Oh my!!!! I would have panicked and had a meltdown until I could find all my babies!!! I am so glad they were both ok!!! How scary!! So glad you all got things fixed so that can’t happen again!!

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  26. Oh my gosh, that would have been soooo scary, glad everything turned out ok...

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  27. I just read your blog trying to see where you've spent your winter after the comment about all the rain this winter. First off, so glad the puppies are okay! That would be scary. Wonder how the water got in there?
    We have been in Yuma, Quartzsite, Lake Havasu, Bullhead and other than the last 3 days have only had about 2 rain showers. So weird! This is our hottest winter yet and only our 4th year. I was just curious of your location.

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