Starting Over

[nealsoninc]

If you see the Avatar you might understand the heading for the post. Brief history as to how I got to this site. Been camping since the late 70's. I have camped in I guess a normal progression, tent, truck with a shell, then 8' overhead camper, tent trailer, Hybrid tent hard shell, finally (we thought) a 2015 Outdoors RV Blackstone 280RLS bumper pull. My wife and I spent 5 years (after buying trailer) preparing and planning a year plus trip around the US. Well the third day into our adventure a 23 year old darting in and out of traffic (probably all of you have experienced these type of drivers) on the I15 corridor just south of Victorville, CA, shot out from behind us, and lost control of the car. The person swerved left, over corrected and shot to the right hitting the trailer at the front. It jacked knifed us, then the trailer disconnected from the truck. It not only disconnected but tore the receiver off the truck never releasing the emergency brake. The truck then went over on the driver side and eventually ended coming to a stop on it's roof. The trailer ended up on it's side (driver) 50 to 75 yards further down the freeway. My wife and our lab were asleep when this all happened. Fortunately and I mean FORTUNATELY all three of us walked away from this disaster unscathed. My wife suffered 2 little cuts from the glass while crawling out of the truck. Both of my vehicles were declared total losses. I have bought another truck and after looking around we decided on a Reflection 337RLS fifth wheel. Was going to buy new but came across a 2020 that was in showroom condition (it's been in storage in his out building built for the RV) that had everything we wanted in a new one except the price. We just took our first trip of about 200 miles with it. So there you have it. Found this site and have been learning a lot about our unit. My wife loves this unit (so do I).

 

[FT4NOW]

Welcome to the forum! That's quite the incident, I'm glad everyone was ok. Feel free to ask questions, plenty of good info and people here.

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[jakev383]

Woah. That's a story! Glad you're with us and not giving up. Be safe out there!

 

[attaboy]

Welcome and you are to be congratulated on your bravery for not giving up on RVing.
Stay safe and happy camping:
Bob A.

 

[Second Chance]

1) Welcome to the forum, 2) so sorry about the accident!, and 3) we loved our 337 - great floor plan.

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Happy camping!

Rob

 

[geotex1]

Umph! The forces of the Universe were with you that ill-fated day! Glad to have you back in the driver's seat and with us! Welcome.

 

[el Rojo]

Welcome aboard!

Red

 

[Canyonlight]

My goodness, that's quite the scary accident ! Good to hear you all came out of that in good shape all things considered. Enjoy your new 337, one of GDRVs best sellers.

Dan

 

[nealsoninc]

Would like to thank all of you for welcoming me. It has been an arduous journey. As far as moving on with rving, I rely on a saying from an old Clint Eastwood movie that goes like this; "Well punk, do you feel lucky". Oops wrong movie sorry. The saying I actually use goes, "You have to adjust and overcome". My wife although, had and still has some issues since the accident. It took her several weeks before she would even look at another rig. When she did, we went to a dealer that had Grand Designs. The salesman showed us a couple of bumper pulls and then asked us if we ever considered a fifth wheel. He told us the lengths we were looking at (our old rig was 34'6" bumper pull) would be safer in a fifth wheel. That was all my wife needed to hear. We looked at a few fifth wheelers he had in stock, one being the 337RLS he had just got in stock. My wife on the way home said "if you ever want me to go rving again it has to be that unit". My reply to her was "yes dear, whatever you say dear, your always right dear". That night we decided to go back and buy the 337RLS. That night I just happen to look at the RV Trader for that rig. Lo and behold I found one just listed in Texas (we were in CA at our sons house) which by the pictures seemed to be in pristine condition and a fair price. Sent him an email right then and the next morning he called me. After a few questions I told him I would buy it. Three days later my buddy and I headed to Texas and picked it up. When we got there and saw it for the first time it was in better condition than I thought it would be. So again thanks for all your nice replies.

 

[Ynot4me2]

Wow, [emoji2962] sure glad you all came out of that ok and welcome to the group.

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